AZ sluicing and highbanking

I don't recall ever seeing or hearing of any restrictions for high bankers here in AZ* but then I'm pretty sure most are run recirculating using hauled in water. I personally would not rob or dirty up water from man made or natural catchments since they are essential to support wildlife and stock but if I had a running water source I would use it.

*The public area on Lynx Creek probably has restrictions but is on NF land.
 

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LC has rules against everything except pans and detectors. Even hand rockers.
 

File yourself a claim and your good to go. I run a 4" dredge on mine and BLM Rangers stop all the time and no problems they just ask if I have seen anyone hauling supplies for a dope grow.
 

Do you visit a lot if so look for a claim using LandMatters and then you always have a place to go and not worry if you're on someone else's claim.
 

I am only there 3 weeks per year. Plus, claims are quite expensive to keep. I would lose money fast. Plus I am just now learning which end of a sluice is which.
 

A claim will cost you less than $250 to file with the county and BLM. If you do your annual maintenance which is easy to get $100 worth of work in 3 weeks you can file small miners waiver which is $10 to BLM and $15 to county each year. At least that's the fee in Yavapai county. $25 a year and a little work is pretty cheap. That gives you 20 acres to mine every year.
 

That is way less than I was told, and the figures I was shown. However, I have not found gold yet. I still have to look for it.
 

faribo said:
That is way less than I was told, and the figures I was shown. However, I have not found gold yet. I still have to look for it.
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Even if you just pay maintenance fee it's $155 to BLM and I believe $10 to county. Still not bad to hold the claim but if you work it file small miners. What time of year do you go to Arizona?
 

I go in late Jan or Feb.

I still have to find it though. Hence the prospecting tools.
 

Lynx creek or rose park in Prescott would be a good place to learn your panning. It all starts and ends with a pan anyways. They are public areas in good gold creeks so you don't have to worry about being on someone's claim. If it's something you like start testing open ground and get a claim. Claims with water in Arizona are a very rare thing a drywasher might be a better choice than a highbanker.
 

you may want to consider finding gold with a pan before you spend a bunch of money on gear that needs a lot of water in a place with very little.

Hibankers and dredges are for production not prospecting.

It is kinda pointless to file a claim you can only visit a few weeks a year
 

I have the gear and I have a few places around the country in mind. And Goldwasher is right. No sense in filing a claim I can't visit often.

I just needed to know if it is kosher to use the sluices and highbankers once I find the gold. From what I gather from the responses, it is cool as long as you are not pouring silt on fish.
 

The only restriction on dredging or highbanking in Arizona is the extreme lack of water.

okbasspro found good gold ground on a running stream in Arizona with a bunch of research. Running streams with gold are very rare in Arizona but they do exist. There is no reason you couldn't spend your non prospecting time each year researching to find such a place so you could prospect during your vacation.

Truth be told most of the running streams with gold have been mined extensively. There is a lot of good gold left in Arizona because of the lack of water. If you are willing to work dry you can actually do a lot better than gas money. It is more work running dry material but it's probably the only way you can be sure you can strike it rich in the desert.

Do the research - it really does pay. It's still out there. Go get u sum! :thumbsup:

Heavy Pans
 

I already have some places in mind. One spot, people have been pounding the hell out of boring quartz in a remote road cut. Never could figure out why. I think I might know now. Plus I have a few spots in mind where I can do some sample panning and take the classified stuff to water if it has enough gold to be worth a 20 mile drive. Not to mention the stuff I can dig out of the many bedrock cracks I have found in the past.
 

faribo said:
I already have some places in mind. One spot, people have been pounding the hell out of boring quartz in a remote road cut. Never could figure out why. I think I might know now. Plus I have a few spots in mind where I can do some sample panning and take the classified stuff to water if it has enough gold to be worth a 20 mile drive. Not to mention the stuff I can dig out of the many bedrock cracks I have found in the past.
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Still involves research every time you go out. You don't want to end up on someone's claim. That being said there is a lot of ground open in Arizona. You could always join a club and use their claims also.
 

I do lots of research. I sit at a desk most days and when I am not having to deal with the inmates, I can do a lot of research with our limited internet.
 

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