Anyone help with information on northern Mexico

[Jwoot]

I took a job down here In Chihuahua City about 7 months ago which you can see the location in the picture below. I'm getting pretty bored since college football season ended and Todd Hoffman can't find any gold so I may as well try. I have to be a little careful as it can be a little dangerous and the I don't know the laws(tough research with my weak Spanish) so I will try to keep it on private land.. Its still a bit like the old west down here once you leave the city. I am having a lot of trouble finding information on mining history, I would think the Spanish would have documented it to a degree. Can anyone help me out with information? Anything would help.

There is a gold/silver belt called Sierra Madre Occidental right to the west and some maps show it well over Chihuahua City. I believe that's the name of the mountain range but I'm not sure. There are a lot of mines in this belt(just to the west of Chihuahua city) and then there are quite a few a couple hours to the south of the city as well. Most of them are mainly silver mines that also mine gold as a by product in pretty decent quantities I believe.

A few of the guys who work at the plant with me have private property in their family and would let me prospect around. There is no water so I guess I would take bags and sample a few places in a couple creeks then pan it at home. If I found anything I could get a dry washer.

You can see the city a little ways south of Juarez/El Paso









Here are some photos of a creek near work. Just to give an an example of the terrain. I dont know why the photos are showing up sideways. They correct when you enlarge them.

 

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[Jwoot]

Is it normal to find silver in nuggets like that?

 

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[medic7a]

Bedrockdreams.com just wrote a few articles on gold mining in mexico. His experience was from the early 80s so he dosn't get into legalities but his experience is definately relative.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Is it normal to find silver in nuggets like that?

Silver nuggets are actually much rarer than gold nuggets. Silver combines with other elements easily so it's seldom found in a pure metal state. When it is formed as a free metal it is easily dissolved by organic acids.

Even so when you do find a silver nugget it will have friends, cousins, sisters and brother nuggets nearby. If you ever find one keep hunting and get all it's friends and relatives. Be nice to any silver nuggets you find, they get lonely when they are alone.

 

[Lanny in AB]

For some excellent advice on hunting silver with a metal detector, check out postings by username

Jim Hemmingway.
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This guy really, really knows his stuff when it comes to metal detecting for silver!

All the best,

Lanny


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[aussco999]

Hey Jwoot:

For the past couple decades I've been involved in several mining projects in Mexico and Central America, and spend a lot of time there. Except for one open pit (placer) operation, all other projects have been hard rock mines. I don't have a lot of experience with prospecting (the locals have already done that work for us) or small placer mining in Mexico, but I can give you an idea of what you can expect from both the people and the government.

All of Mexico's vast nature resources (on both public and private lands) are controlled by the government and that web link that Clay posted is a great starting point regarding Mexico's mining laws. Check out the “Clavos Clause” dealing with mining concessions (claims) owned by foreigners.

Most of the rural lands are designated as agriculture and must be converted to mineral rights to do any serious mining. Some minerals are protected by their constitution, but fortunately for us, gold and silver aren't on that list. You can make your best deal with a landowner to prospect or even mine on their property, and on a small scale you won't normally have any problems. It's not until you decide to go big that your headaches will start.

And, it's not unusual for the locals to know nothing about gold/silver mining, even if they live right on top of a vein structure. As you've noticed, in a large part of the rural areas the people are just to busy trying to feed their families. They don't have the luxury of prospecting as a hobby like we do here in the states, but they really do know how to grow a large corn crop on a mountain side.

Our current hard rock project is opening up a large vein structure between two mountains with a small pueblo located almost dead center. We've done 100s of assays and exploratory work showing high PM numbers, but the locals still don't do any serious mining. You can eat corn, but not rocks. Go figure....

There are a few short drifts (tunnels) and a lot of small gopher holes in this area. If they need a little extra money from the mountain, they'll crush ore with an arrastra and extract with mercury (the Patio process). Gold recovery is very low. I think any technology (i.e. metal detector, dry washer, etc) you bring in could be a game changer, but if you become successful, they'll want one too.

IMHO, if you've been in Mexico for 7+ months, you should be speaking and reading Spanish like a native. If not, get out of your comfort zone and hang out more with the locals, they'll be glad to help you learn the lingo. None of my drinking buddies in Mexico can speak much English beyond curse words, but the more Indio Negro beer I drink, the better my Spanish becomes. Just saying.

Here's one of the Mexican government's web page (in Spanish, of course) showing the largest mining and exploratory sites by area. Get a cold beer and start reading. Camimex :: Home If you want, I'll send some more info later.

Also, you may want to look in T-Net's Treasure Legends Forum and open up the Sub-Forum “Tayopa”. Jump in and say “Hola” to Don Jose de La Mancha (Mr. Joe Curry) Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp, and explain your situation to him. He's a very knowledgeable expatriate living in Alamos, Sonora, and he probably knows more about mining in Mexico than all of us put together. Nothing like learning from the best. Enough said for now.

Good Luck and keep us informed of your progress.

John