Good day yesterday....

goldenIrishman

goldenIrishman

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Feb 28, 2013
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Golden Valley Arid-Zona
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Well the Better half and I started doing some testing in the wash that runs through the property yesterday and fund some gold. Not much but some. We loaded up the packs, Grabbed the Munchkin (Grandaughter) and the dogs and walked over to the wash and hit what looked like it would be a good area to check. Since we don't have a dry washer as of yet we took some samples, classified them and brought them back to the house to pan them down. I found some very small pieces in the first two gallons worth of samples and will pan the remaining samples down today to see what (if anything) they hold. I've also been finding good quantities of black sand as well as some nice little garnets.

At least we know for sure that there's gold on the property and we had a really nice time wandering through the wash with the Munchkin and the dogs. Now I need to cut a trail from the house to the wash so I can get the truck down there as hauling buckets back to the house is a major pain in the posterior! Now the search is on to find where the best places to dig are going to be.
 

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Well it's supposed to be yet another high wind day here so I'm going to be doing maintenance and clean up on the equipment today. I've also got a couple of little experimental projects I'm going to try to get knocked out.

The last couple of days I've gone back to the wash to do some more work on the area I was checking out before Robi decided we needed to check out the culvert at the end of the driveway. I headed out to the wash on Monday and started digging and classifying my way back up-stream from where I had left off. I found that the bedrock I'd been following started to go deeper and formed a nice little ridge. The material there had a lot of larger rocks and tightly packed gravel and it was some hard digging. I filled up two buckets and headed back to the house.

When I had made it back to the house I started working on the second bucket as it came from deeper in the hole and I wanted to check for gold other than flour. Well I haven't panned down the cons yet but the tailings from my second round of classifying turned up over 40 Garnets in the first pan alone!!! In the second pan I also came up with two pieces of some metal that I've run into before but have yet to be able to I.D. I know it's NOT lead but as to what it is I haven't got a clue so far.

A lot of people toss the Garnets out when they find them in their pan, but I've got a little project in mind for the ones I've been finding so I'm saving them up. I also do work working and I'm going to mix the garnets with some clear resin and use that to fill areas on some fretwork projects like humming birds and dragons. I'm also going to use some of the other stones I've been finding in these projects. One thing you have to admit about this part of Arizona is that there's a lot of colorful minerals! I figure that if I'm going to take the time to dig, haul, and wash all this stuff I'm going to get some use out of it even if it's not gold. ;) It's not going to be long before it gets to hot to be hauling dirt, so these projects will give me something to keep me busy and out of trouble until I can get back out in the field.
 

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Our daughter is going to be four tomorrow, she comes with us to the claim, can pan and find gold, and loves to dress like Tom Massie. I think its great that you teach your munchkin about prospecting. The memories you're creating are probably the greatest tresure you could find.
 

Well right now she is at that age where she knows EVERYTHING except when to admit that she doesn't know anything. She is learning though and getting so she can ID different minerals. Right now everything in the pan is gold (even if it's not) and she often gets discouraged if she can't find anything. We've explained to her that not every pan is going to have something worth while in it but at least she keeps trying.

The best times are when we're out in the field with her and the dogs. the dogs not only provide security (we're in a high undocumented worker zone) as well as give her something to do when she gets bored with digging in the ground.
 

Well folks it's back to the wash to get more materials hauled to the house. The last stuff I brought back had a lot of flour in it but I've yet to find anything close to a picker. The garnet count is still high and in the last batch I found some lead fragments so I know there are heavies getting caught in this area. I'm going to work a little higher on the bank today as I follow the bedrock ridge. I hope I find something that was deposited during one of the many flash floods that rip through this wash.
 

goldenIrishman said:
Well folks it's back to the wash to get more materials hauled to the house. The last stuff I brought back had a lot of flour in it but I've yet to find anything close to a picker. The garnet count is still high and in the last batch I found some lead fragments so I know there are heavies getting caught in this area. I'm going to work a little higher on the bank today as I follow the bedrock ridge. I hope I find something that was deposited during one of the many flash floods that rip through this wash.
Click to expand...
Hey GI...have you ever done the surface of the main channel? Seems (apparently) gold can be found on or near the surface in like areas. Talk about your labor saver.:icon_thumright:
If you get skunked up high, try it! I know I will next time out, as BOTH of my hot spots are on the surface and down maybe 6 inches
 

Hey Jeff! Yeah... I gave the surface materials a try some time ago. It was pretty much flow sand and nothing more. VERY little black sand, very few garnets and it really wasn't all that deep to get to the bedrock. When this wash floods the straight sections get scraped down to the bedrock. Maybe once it cools off and the monsoons are over I'll clear off the overburden and check some of the cracks to see if there's anything trapped in them. Right now that's too much work for the level of heat if ya know what I mean. That seam I'm following on the bank is getting better and better so I'll stick with it for the time being.

"The OTHER Jeff
 

Yeah, flour gold would do that. I have a moss trap at the base of a small waterfall that always has a little flour gold in it when I check it. Maybe I'll send you the material I collect from the that moss/area for your birthday! Cards are so overrated:thumbsup:.
GH
 

Jeff95531 said:
Yeah, flour gold would do that. I have a moss trap at the base of a small waterfall that always has a little flour gold in it when I check it. Maybe I'll send you the material I collect from the that moss/area for your birthday! Cards are so overrated:thumbsup:.
GH
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I just noticed your avatar. Gold prospector's position, staring intently into his pan.
 

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