Gold in Sacramento?

[matthews1026]

Is there any gold in the creeks in and around Sacramento? Such as Dry Creek by Elverta/Rio Linda area? Or even Miners Ravine Roseville area? Is this to far for the gold to travel?

 

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[Onedigger]

I took a hand auger down to 12 feet in my backyard after finding six colors in a pan taken from my front yard on top of hardpan. Went through 4 feet of topsoil, 4 feet of cemented gravels and then hit loose, course sand. Tiny specks in the sand. Thinking about opening it up to 4x4feet and get past the sands as this area was not dredged.

 

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[russau]

Kinda like digging a "wishing well" for real ! Good luck !

 

[tamrock]

I would think so. I worked for a mining equipment company in the later 1980s there in Rancho Cordova. Much of the American River basin was dredged for gold with these big bucket line machines. The ground on where our shop was was dredged up by a mining company called the Natomas Company. The landlord who owed our building had been around since the dust bowl days as he was a kid when his Okie parents lost it all and headed for California. He knew a lot about the old gold dredging operation there in the Sacramento Valley and I believe he told me he purchased much of that land around there from the Natoma Company after they dug it all up. I'm sure there's still a little color left around in the creeks and maybe even the irrigation ditches to pan out.

 

[mofugly13]

Did these dredged scrape down to bedrock? Thats the idea right? But, I cant see that those buckets effectively scraped the top of the bedrock... and if those gold fields had gold suspended in the aggregate.... wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be quite a bit sitting right on top of the bedrock that a giant cast iron bucket would be unable to catch?

 

[tamrock]

Did these dredged scrape down to bedrock? Thats the idea right? But, I cant see that those buckets effectively scraped the top of the bedrock... and if those gold fields had gold suspended in the aggregate.... wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be quite a bit sitting right on top of the bedrock that a giant cast iron bucket would be unable to catch?

I've wondered that myself.

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

This is true, there is undoubtedly pounds of AU left on the bedrock that the bucket dredges couldn't get.... The issue is: Getting down to bedrock to get the gold. This is a perfect example of the common theory that most of the gold is still there. The problem is that the majority of the good gold that still exists is too difficult/ not profitable to get to.

 

[Sandra22pol]

Ahhh yes - Sacramento County, where I first learned to pan. I lived in Fair Oaks from 1962 to 1972, (in Rancho Cardova 59-62) when most of the area was still "wild and wooly". My father worked for Douglas, and was deeply involved with the Apollo S-IVB testing done at the Sacto plant. I remember the old dredge that sat for years just off south Sunrise Ave (when Sunrise dead-ended at Douglas Rd. We lived next to a sheep ranch when we first moved to Fair Oaks, and a year or so later, the ranch was developed into a housing development. Between Fair Oaks and Orangevale, on Madison Ave, there was a lot of open land, and a we had the "goat man" who herded a large herd of goats in the open, undeveloped land between Madison and Sunset Aves. I get sad when I look at Google satellite photos and see how it is all built up. I lived on Illinois Ave, just off Sunset, and Illinois Ave. dead-ended at the American River at Sailor Bar. Piles and piles of dredge tailings, and the river had some pretty steep banks in some areas. It was about a mile from my house, and a short bike ride for me whenever I was out of school. I pretty much "owned" (in my mind) all the north side of the riverbank between Sailor Bar and Nimbus Dam. I worked the area for a couple of years, and found some color - just enough to keep me interested. In the two years I spent digging in that area, I "might" have accumulated a 1/2 ozt. I didn't find a glory hole there...but the north fork of the American up near Foresthill is a different story... I'm told that the Sailor Bar area is all county- or city-owned parkland, walking/bike trails, so likely nothing allowed other than "hands and pan", if even that.

Ahhh yes - Sacramento County, where I first learned to pan. I lived in Fair Oaks from 1962 to 1972, (in Rancho Cardova 59-62) when most of the area was still "wild and wooly". My father worked for Douglas, and was deeply involved with the Apollo S-IVB testing done at the Sacto plant. I remember the old dredge that sat for years just off south Sunrise Ave (when Sunrise dead-ended at Douglas Rd. We lived next to a sheep ranch when we first moved to Fair Oaks, and a year or so later, the ranch was developed into a housing development. Between Fair Oaks and Orangevale, on Madison Ave, there was a lot of open land, and a we had the "goat man" who herded a large herd of goats in the open, undeveloped land between Madison and Sunset Aves. I get sad when I look at Google satellite photos and see how it is all built up. I lived on Illinois Ave, just off Sunset, and Illinois Ave. dead-ended at the American River at Sailor Bar. Piles and piles of dredge tailings, and the river had some pretty steep banks in some areas. It was about a mile from my house, and a short bike ride for me whenever I was out of school. I pretty much "owned" (in my mind) all the north side of the riverbank between Sailor Bar and Nimbus Dam. I worked the area for a couple of years, and found some color - just enough to keep me interested. In the two years I spent digging in that area, I "might" have accumulated a 1/2 ozt. I didn't find a glory hole there...but the north fork of the American up near Foresthill is a different story... I'm told that the Sailor Bar area is all county- or city-owned parkland, walking/bike trails, so likely nothing allowed other than "hands and pan", if even that.

I just today stumbled on sailor bar, I live a mile away as well. I been seeking history about the mine op that occured there. All I can find is the name. The tailings are literally everywhere. Not sure if worth panning out there and where. Is it possible gold is within the actual dirt or trenches the miner dug. Theres tons of trenches. Any advice for a newbie?

 

[Sandra22pol]

Ahhh yes - Sacramento County, where I first learned to pan. I lived in Fair Oaks from 1962 to 1972, (in Rancho Cardova 59-62) when most of the area was still "wild and wooly". My father worked for Douglas, and was deeply involved with the Apollo S-IVB testing done at the Sacto plant. I remember the old dredge that sat for years just off south Sunrise Ave (when Sunrise dead-ended at Douglas Rd. We lived next to a sheep ranch when we first moved to Fair Oaks, and a year or so later, the ranch was developed into a housing development. Between Fair Oaks and Orangevale, on Madison Ave, there was a lot of open land, and a we had the "goat man" who herded a large herd of goats in the open, undeveloped land between Madison and Sunset Aves. I get sad when I look at Google satellite photos and see how it is all built up. I lived on Illinois Ave, just off Sunset, and Illinois Ave. dead-ended at the American River at Sailor Bar. Piles and piles of dredge tailings, and the river had some pretty steep banks in some areas. It was about a mile from my house, and a short bike ride for me whenever I was out of school. I pretty much "owned" (in my mind) all the north side of the riverbank between Sailor Bar and Nimbus Dam. I worked the area for a couple of years, and found some color - just enough to keep me interested. In the two years I spent digging in that area, I "might" have accumulated a 1/2 ozt. I didn't find a glory hole there...but the north fork of the American up near Foresthill is a different story... I'm told that the Sailor Bar area is all county- or city-owned parkland, walking/bike trails, so likely nothing allowed other than "hands and pan", if even that.

Can pan and detect there as much as you want. No one is ever there. Can access anything you want.

 

[Sandra22pol]

I'm talkin about gold creek under gold creek bridge in orangevale on orangevale ave.

Just went down there today. Parked at orangevale bridge, hiked down, couldn't get to the water as was huge drop off. Found a dried up creek flowing into main creek on the steep hill. About a foot deep. Cobbles all throughout, looks like old clay and pack. Panned out a bucket of dirt. Did find some fines and small little chunks. But first time. Gonna keep going to find something worth mentioning.

 

[Sandra22pol]

Just went down there today. Parked at orangevale bridge, hiked down, couldn't get to the water as was huge drop off. Found a dried up creek flowing into main creek on the steep hill. About a foot deep. Cobbles all throughout, looks like old clay and pack. Panned out a bucket of dirt. Did find some fines and small little chunks. But first time. Gonna keep going to find something worth mentioning.

Yep. That's exactly where I went. Parked on the bridge, climbed below, steep hill, but actually water was below super steep grade. Couldn't even get down there.

 

[July21x]

There's definitely a lot of potential in the Sacramento area creeks, especially near historical dredging sites like Sailor Bar and others around the American River. While some parts of these creeks have been heavily dredged in the past, it’s true that plenty of gold might still be sitting on or near bedrock especially in spots where dredges couldn't effectively reach or scrape the bedrock.
Creeks and rivers can concentrate fines and even small nuggets in cracks and crevices, especially where water flow slows down. Dry Creek, Miners Ravine, and similar spots have promising indicators, especially around cobbles and clay layers, which often trap gold. Testing multiple spots in these areas can help reveal which deposits are worth further exploration.