Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[EagleDown]

Halito Lanny,

A very good lesson, for the ones who pay attention. I use to think the same thing, that is, why don't the how to's books talk about the potentials of bedrock?

Frankly, I came to the conclusion that most books on prospecting and/or metal detecting are not written from direct experience aquirred recently.

For example: I read a book written years ago on the experiences of a particular author. Years after the book was written, I purchase a new metal detector and go out prospecting with the knowledge aquirred from reading about this persons experiences. The problem is, though my detector is vastly superior to the one the author was using, I myself still don't know that my detector will pick up signals, where his much older machine was useless. So, unless I do a lot of experimenting, or read a thread such as yours, I still don't have any more knowledge than the person who wrote the book I read. (I hope I'm not confusing anyone here.) Of course, there are the ones who read several books on a particular subject and suddenly become experts and write a book based on what they read.

You (and I) have the experiences of not only metal detecting, but also dredging. And, by combining what you've learned from both occupations, you know more than anything found in any book on the market. So, when you write your book, it will be light-years ahead of what use to be considered the definative word on metal detecting/prospecting. And, in a few years after that, someone will probably ask: "Lanny wrote such a good book, I wonder why he didn't cover this"?.


Times change, and instructions need to change also. Or at least be "updated" to keep up with current technology. This is the reason that your book is desparately needed by so many.

Eagle

 

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[SushiDog]

Hey Eagle....you have summed it up the best! 101%!.....SushiDog

 

[SushiDog]

Well....I am getting ready for my next treasure hunt....er....gold mining trip?.....er.....metal detecting?.....er.....how 'bout just some great recreation and relaxation? - yeah!.....This Tuesday morning, I am heading out to Hefty's mining claim, and will be there until the late afternoon on Friday.....Hefty is going to meet me at his claim on Thursday morning and stay until Sunday....so we will be able to enjoy at least one camp fire together on Thursday night, and I will help him set up his camp site....we couldn't sync up our time tables for this trip, but we shall do so on the future trips....IF I do find anything.....well....that will just be icing on the cake....I am just happy to have some place to go for an outing, and Hefty has been very gracious and generous for giving me the opportunity, and I am deeply grateful to him for it.....SushiDog

 

[EagleDown]

Hey Eagle....you have summed it up the best! 101%!.....SushiDog

Just 101%?? Aw man, I was shooting for at least 112%!!

Good luck in your endevours.

Thanks SushiDog

 

[SushiDog]

I'll do one better Eagle.....1001%.....you and Lanny have a gift for story telling.....and story telling is truly a gift!....you guys are the BEST!!!!!!!....SushiDog

 

[63bkpkr]

Lanny,
As others have stated Good Info and a Good Reminder! My workout last year as a tender foot third class as well as all the comments from my postings and pictures have set me up for this year however, your shared experience about clean bedrock is a good thing for me to keep in mind before the fever kicks in again.

Good luck with your detector and even better luck with your new dredge setup. I look forward to all of our shared experiences and acounts of just of just what goes on "out there" this year........63bkpkr

 

[Lanny in AB]

Halito Lanny,

A very good lesson, for the ones who pay attention. I use to think the same thing, that is, why don't the how to's books talk about the potentials of bedrock?

You (and I) have the experiences of not only metal detecting, but also dredging. And, by combining what you've learned from both occupations, you know more than anything found in any book on the market.

Times change, and instructions need to change also. Or at least be "updated" to keep up with current technology.

Eagle

Eagle, as always, you make some excellent, insightful points. Well done, and thanks for the perceptive input. I'll definitely consider it as I move forward with my project--your wisdom is much appreciated.

All the best, and thanks again for your valuable input,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Lanny....as always.....thanks sooooooo much for teaching this cheechako a valuable lesson indeed!!! (smile) SushiDog

Thanks Sushi--I sure hope you guys find some nice, sassy gold on your outing.

I took the 5000 for a spin on the weekend at the mine. Man, will that thing ever go deep, and on tiny targets too! I'm still wading through the owner's manual--it's going to take me a while. I didn't get any gold, but I'm still learning and cross-referencing that learning with the manual and realizing the mistakes I'm making.

I got invited to detect some virgin bedrock, but I arrived too late! They'd already set up a pump to drain the bedrock (Close to a football field's worth of the mother rock, intruded long ago by two drift mines to boot!) so, I'll see if I can get out next weekend and hopefully they won't have covered it all up, as they're pushing a new chunk to get to a virgin channel.

All the best, and let us know how your excursion turned out,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

I'll do one better Eagle.....1001%.....you and Lanny have a gift for story telling.....and story telling is truly a gift!....you guys are the BEST!!!!!!!....SushiDog

Thanks Sushi--a very generous compliment--much appreciated.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Lanny,
As others have stated Good Info and a Good Reminder! My workout last year as a tender foot third class as well as all the comments from my postings and pictures have set me up for this year however, your shared experience about clean bedrock is a good thing for me to keep in mind before the fever kicks in again.

Good luck with your detector and even better luck with your new dredge setup. I look forward to all of our shared experiences and acounts of just of just what goes on "out there" this year........63bkpkr

Thanks BKPKR--keep us informed how things go for you as well. I'm sure that with every outing you'll refine things just a bit more and wind up with more gold in your poke.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Question: Was it possible to pass your metal detector over this bedrock to get a signal? Or, even a good pin pointer? SushiDog

If I'd have had a Falcon Gold probe, I sure could have used it in a situation like this one--it would have been great--perfect actually. That's one of it's primary uses--targeting crevices. Great suggestion Sushi, thanks. I'm actually getting one of them to add to the arsenal. I've got the 705 gold-pack on the way as well, and when my Falcon gets here, I'm pretty much set as far as electronic capability will take me.

It's truly wonderful the extra sets of eyes that electronics provides you with as a gold prospector. The oldtimers didn't have to worry as much about it as we do now, as they had virgin streams with excesses of gold to prospect. Most of us now are chasing what's left, and we need every advantage available. And, my philosophy is, "Why not employ the technology to help get the gold?"

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Halito Lanny,
I was just sitting here thinking and my mind meshed with a trick I pulled years ago, and one of your earlier posts. I thought you might someday get some use out of it. You told of finding old aluvial that was well above a flowing stream, but even though someone had tunneled into it, you didn't work it as the materials would have had to be carried down to the flowing water. Back in the 80s, I was working a bench of aluvial that was a little over a hundred feet above a stream. I was getting enough gold to make it worthwhile, but climbing up and down that steep hill with buckets was just about to kill me. So, I ended up making a run down to Fresno to a salvage company. I bought 15 10ft lengths of 6", schedule 20 (thin wall and light,) PVC. I got them really cheap since they had been on a job site and were scarred and scuffed. When I got back to my site, I joined them together (without glue) as I went up the hill with them. I managed to keep them in place by tying them to bushes, trees and boulders. I made a sort of a funnel out of a thin sheet of aluminum and put that in the top end. At the bottom end, I had a 50 gallon oil drum that was split in half for a hopper. All I had to do after that was shovel materials into the funnel and the slope down to the stream was so steep, it just slid down and into my makeshift hopper. Once the hopper was full, I would slide back down the hill and run the materials through my sluice. Then, it was back up the hill to do some more digging. Of course, some grading of the materials has to be done, to keep from plugging up the orifice of the funnel. My only regret to the whole venture was that I didn't get 8 or 10 inch PVC.

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

What a great idea Eagle--nice and light, easy to set up, and good for pushing a lot of volume through to boot.

Thanks for the tips, and thanks once again for sharing, excellent ideas as always.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

What a great idea Eagle--nice and light, easy to set up, and good for pushing a lot of volume through to boot.

Thanks for the tips, and thanks once again for sharing, excellent ideas as always.
All the best,
Lanny

You're very welcome Brother. just remember:

If Necessity is the "Mother" of invention,
then surely, Lazyness must be the "Father".

I take after my "Father".

 

[Lanny in AB]

What a great idea Eagle--nice and light, easy to set up, and good for pushing a lot of volume through to boot.

Thanks for the tips, and thanks once again for sharing, excellent ideas as always.
All the best,
Lanny

You're very welcome Brother. just remember:

If Necessity is the "Mother" of invention,
then surely, Lazyness must be the "Father".

I take after my "Father".

Eagle--I had a good chuckle about your last statement, thanks.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

I'll post some pictures later this week, and write up how it all happened. I found some gold with my GPX 5000--it's a great machine. I still have tons more to learn about it though, but it did a great job, nonetheless.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Well, it’s time for another story about bedrock and gold. But, I have to backtrack a bit and fill in a few details.

I had a chance to head up to the goldfield a couple of weeks ago. The problem was, I was only going to be there for part of a day, spend the night, and then I would have to come right back out.

So, the main reason for the trip was to make my way in to camp to check things out, to see how all of the camp items had wintered. (I’d tried to get in to camp two weeks earlier, but the ice and snow at the upper elevations had turned me around.) Everything looked fine on the outside of the two homes away from home, so I opened the first one, the camper, and it checked out just fine. All tight, dry, and undamaged after sitting through nearly six months of confinement, high in the cedar and pine covered mountains in the Rocky Mountains.

Next, I hustled over to the trailer to see how it had wintered. As soon as I opened the door, I knew all was not right with the world—not by a long shot. I immediately noticed that there were bits of foam all over the floor. Moreover, a glance at one of the cushions that surrounded the table let me see that a large corner of the cushion was torn open, with pieces of foam scattered on the other cushions near the table.

My concern mounted when I looked at the sleeping area in the rear of the trailer. The curtains above the windows, on all three sides, had holes all along the tops of them! Some even had smaller holes in their mid sections. Moreover, the bed cushions had pieces of the fabric torn loose. However, there was no strong, overpowering rodent smell like there always is when a packrat has set up shop in a dwelling. That stumped me, as the place sure looked like a packrat had just started to tear it up.

So, I began a search of the entire trailer. I noticed that one of the curtain rods at the front of the trailer, over a side window by the table, was knocked completely loose from its brackets. To investigate that area thoroughly, I removed all of the cushions, opened all of the forward compartments, but discovered nothing amiss. As a matter of fact, even the stash of toilet paper was unmolested, as were all of the other items stored in the front cupboards.

I checked out the bathroom, and absolutely nothing had visited there. It was exactly the way I had left it in the fall.

Next, I opened the drawers by the sink and stove. Well, things were not in order in those drawers—no, not one bit. There were all kinds of things stuffed into them that had not been there in the fall, and many of the items had been rearranged, moved to different drawers in fact. So, I stuck with my investigation. I opened the cupboard doors under the sink, and I made a significant discovery. There, on the shelf under the sink, was a nest about the size of a basketball! It was round, made of soft ferns and moss, and the vegetation was fresh and moist.

Well, I removed all of the nesting material, dumped and cleaned the drawers and then set about to discover if I could find the intruder. I opened every space in the trailer and searched every nook and cranny with a powerful flashlight, but I was the only living organism present. This only deepened the mystery.

However, I was determined to discover the point of entry, to find how the intruder had gained entrance. So, I crawled under the RV with my turbo-charged three-watt L.E.D. flashlight and searched the entire undercarriage from stem to stern. It was all covered in solid metal, and there were no penetrations whatsoever.

Well, I returned to the interior of the camping trailer to see if somehow I’d missed something. Just after I’d started searching the compartments under the bed, I heard the sound of little running feet above my head. “Oh rats”, I thought. “Whatever it is must be in the ceiling!” But, as I listened to it running around, the unknown entity was moving much too fast for something that was plowing through the insulation in the ceiling compartment. So, I hopped outside and quickly scaled the nearby camper ladder to access its roof so that I could see what was scurrying about on top of the trailer.

Well, there on the roof of the trailer was a squirrel with a pinecone clutched in its paws, frantically running all over the roof, peering over the far edge, but looking quite distressed. I quickly hopped down and ran around to the other side of the trailer, and there I saw something I’d completely missed when I’d pulled in to camp. A small spruce was bent over (most likely by the winter’s heavy snowfall) and it was leaning up against the small vent window on the side of the sleeping area. I saw with alarm that a hole had been torn in the window screen, the little window (which had been cracked to allow a tiny bit of circulation) forced open, and all of a sudden it all made sense to me—the mystery of the break-in was being quickly solved.

At that moment, some details flooded back to me. The absence of any rodent smell in the trailer, the fact that there were numerous pinecones stashed in the drawers beside the sink, the building materials for the nest—fresh ferns and moss—the frantic squirrel on the roof packing the pine cone. It was now certain. I had been the victim of a squirrel home invasion, and it had only happened a few days earlier or the trailer would have been torn to bits. Thank heavens there had not been a nest of babies to deal with, or heaven forbid, an entire family of squirrels living in the trailer. It had simply been a lone mama looking for a safe place to raise her young.

In retrospect, I could tell that she’d had a lot of fun tearing around on the curtains (probably much like an amusement ride) and pulling up pieces of the cushions (probably like stress therapy after a long, uncertain winter), and it was most fortunate I’d made my way in to camp that weekend or it would have been far too late to patch things up with a little duct tape, and thoroughly clean things up with a little bleach solution. Moreover, I was very lucky it had not been a packrat or I’d have had to set fire to the whole outfit—nothing gets rid of the disgusting smell, and the insensible destructive insanity of packrat.

So, after I’d secured the camp, I had only a couple of hours of daylight left to try out my shiny, new GPX 5000. But, that’s a story for another day—I’m off to a meeting.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Hefty1]

Hi Lanny
Thank goodness you got there before she got to comfortable.
And thank goodness it was the four legged kind of intruder. I wish the four legged kind was the
problem i have to deal with. The first time in about 20-25 yrs i have to deal with 2 legged intruders.
Last week i went up to check out how my equip, had survived the winter and high water.
What i found was the stuff had survived the high water behind that rock wall, but did not make it
through the varmits that went through everything just trashing just about it all. They even took the wheel of my wheelbarrow
Going up this weekend to salvage whatever i can and do a little recon up stream.

Let ya know.

Hefty

 

[SushiDog]

After having my RV totaled out a few months ago, I know how you felt when you first went inside....however, you were able to salvage the situation, and that's a good thing.....get a couple of Hawk decoys to put up on your roof to keep the squirrels away....who knows, it may work?
Last week I went up to Hefty's claim as I had mentioned to everyone here, and I arrived on a very early Tuesday morning....Hefty was due to arrive on the claim on Thursday morning.....anyway, when I did arrive on the claim, I saw all of his equipment strewn all over the place.....I didn't move anything until Hefty got there, figuring he would want to know what it LQQKed like when I got there....sure enough, some "dirt-bags" ransacked the two neat piles of equipment we had stacked neatly against the rock wall, and covered with tarps.....I told Hefty that whomever stole the equipment, that karma would follow them, and it is not going to be pleasant.....I believe in this, and whatever happens to these thieves deserve everything they get....it's really a sad day when the "honor" system among men and miner's has come to this....but....perhaps....these were not men, nor miner's.....SushiDog

 

[Lanny in AB]

Sushi--it's awful when things like that happen, and I certainly believe that the karma train will pull in to their station one day. I detest wanton destructiveness. I can certainly understand an animal's desire to survive, and to prepare a place for their young to survive (as was the case in my trailer), but the human animal that destroys in the guise of a human being, that human animal is a disgrace to the entire animal kingdom.

I'm sad about what has happened to you and Hefty. It's not right, and it most certainly is not fair. I know many miners that still watch others' claims and equipment when they know their neighbors are away, but there are getting to be more and more unscrupulous no goods all the time, and the willful, purposeless crimes they engage in are a true tragedy for the victims of their valueless actions.

Hang in there,

Lanny