Got out a little today....................

[Capt Nemo]

That's not Cape Disappointment...That's Cape Pee My Pants With Excitement!!!

I don't think a D11 could make a dent in that beach! I think we're going to need a bigger sluice....

 

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[johnedoe]

Sometimes you have to dig down a bit to get to the layer.......... I reallllllly need to get up there and spend a few days.

 

[wildminer]

Yeah baby! Also square tip shovels rule on the beach! (haven't been on here in awhile as 'puter has gone insane, got to upgrade) Go get 'em JD!

 

[mike(swWash)]

Meanwhile, just on the other side of North Head.....

If you hit blue/black sand....you are on the best layer

 

[johnedoe]

Hey Mike....
Good to see your around. Have you been able to get to the beach lately?

 

[mike(swWash)]

Not dug any this winter yet.
Stopped by on my way back from visiting family in Astoria but had no time to sift. I did however fill 3 buckets with sand to try out the new sluice I'm building. It's outfitted with Gold Hog mats for dredging or high banking gravel or for running beach sand with a quick change to the top 3' section. It's 9.5' long when all sections are hooked together.

 

[oneguy]

Meanwhile, just on the other side of North Head.....

If you hit blue/black sand....you are on the best layer

Best tunes on a vid I've heard in a long time....gotta luv a Hammond B3 organ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mytimetoshine]

I wonder if the Gold Cube would work if it were bigger? Think about just how much gold is on the beaches and probably under water as well. hmm...

 

[gorsimi]

Hey John I'm originally from your neck of the woods but currently live on the East Coast. I will be coming back home for 3 weeks this summer and am looking to take my young boys out for a little hunting. I will be spending the majority of the 3 weeks hitting the creeks and beached between Newport and Northern Cali but mainly the Florence area. I was intending to bring something small and portable with me to collect that shiny. I was thinking of a 50 inch folding sluice with some hog mats. I would be interested in what mats or set up you would recommend for the area. I need something that is easily altered between creek and beach mining. Any input on hardware and locations would be great. Thanks

 

[arizau]

A few years back and on another forum, Doc recommended I use razor back and down draft mats for sluicing Oregon beach sands (newer mats are out now so...?). I have only used them once since stream flows/black sand accumulations are often not adequate when I am out there.* The one time I used them the flow was sketchy but I did manage to get gold. Deep vee mats are used by some and are said to do ok. No motors allowed on the beach so some hose water from culverts to sluice setups and gold cubes and do well. I usually check out some noted placers: two creeks N of Bandon, one just north of Gold Beach (probably the best place if there is flow) and also Whales Head down close to Calif. border. That one usually has abundant black sand and has two creeks but hard to set up sluices due to lack of slope and or flow depending on the time of year. Check this out. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1934/0008/report.pdf.

Have fun with the boys!

*5' sluice, 1' shallow vee mat ramping up to alternating pairs of RB and DD. First 10" of vee runs with the flow and last two are cross wise and shows gold while sluicing.

 

[gorsimi]

A few years back and on another forum, Doc recommended I use razor back and down draft mats for sluicing Oregon beach sands (newer mats are out now so...?). I have only used them once since stream flows/black sand accumulations are often not adequate when I am out there.* The one time I used them the flow was sketchy but I did manage to get gold. Deep vee mats are used by some and are said to do ok. No motors allowed on the beach so some hose water from culverts to sluice setups and gold cubes and do well. I usually check out some noted placers: two creeks N of Bandon, one just north of Gold Beach (probably the best place if there is flow) and also Whales Head down close to Calif. border. That one usually has abundant black sand and has two creeks but hard to set up sluices due to lack of slope and or flow depending on the time of year. Check this out. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1934/0008/report.pdf.

Have fun with the boys!

*5' sluice, 1' shallow vee mat ramping up to alternating pairs of RB and DD. First 10" of vee runs with the flow and last two are cross wise and shows gold while sluicing.

Great information. There is a few inland BLM spots in the mountains I'm going to check out while the kids catch dinner. Then it will be off to beach to find a nice stream dumping into the river. Much like what john has posted in his videos. Reading back through this thread I will more than likely be hauling cons on a plane home to deal with the nasty magnetic black sand.
This will be extremely different to Virginia (My current residence". Here there is no BLM land and your restricted to walking down stream and rivers which are all owned by the state. Everything else is private property and requires begging a land owner. It really sucks here. I appreciate the insight and am counting my days.

 

[johnedoe]

Hey John I'm originally from your neck of the woods but currently live on the East Coast. I will be coming back home for 3 weeks this summer and am looking to take my young boys out for a little hunting. I will be spending the majority of the 3 weeks hitting the creeks and beached between Newport and Northern Cali but mainly the Florence area. I was intending to bring something small and portable with me to collect that shiny. I was thinking of a 50 inch folding sluice with some hog mats. I would be interested in what mats or set up you would recommend for the area. I need something that is easily altered between creek and beach mining. Any input on hardware and locations would be great. Thanks

The biggest problem with the Oregon beaches is that you can't use any power. So you have to use a creek and set up what we call a ground sluice. There aren't that many areas with both gold and water flow available to really be able to do much ...
There is a little beach a few mile up the coast from me that I go to but I haven't been there this winter at all. In fact I have only been out a couple times and that was to an area south of me a couple hours.

Anyway get in touch when you get closer and I will be happy to help you out with some locations.
As to the equipment your gonna need matting that works in lower flow situations.

I use Deep "V" , Sawtooth , and cleangold magnetic sluices .... My ground sluice can be configured in several different ways and as a ground sluice I have up to 10 feet that incorporates all the different mats in whatever order I choose to set them.
There is one beach I goto that I can actually set up my sluice in a high banker configuration since I can get water to it from a higher source.

If you want to PM me and send your phone number I will be happy to talk with you.

 

[gorsimi]

The biggest problem with the Oregon beaches is that you can't use any power. So you have to use a creek and set up what we call a ground sluice. There aren't that many areas with both gold and water flow available to really be able to do much ...
There is a little beach a few mile up the coast from me that I go to but I haven't been there this winter at all. In fact I have only been out a couple times and that was to an area south of me a couple hours.

Anyway get in touch when you get closer and I will be happy to help you out with some locations.
As to the equipment your gonna need matting that works in lower flow situations.

I use Deep "V" , Sawtooth , and cleangold magnetic sluices .... My ground sluice can be configured in several different ways and as a ground sluice I have up to 10 feet that incorporates all the different mats in whatever order I choose to set them.
There is one beach I goto that I can actually set up my sluice in a high banker configuration since I can get water to it from a higher source.

If you want to PM me and send your phone number I will be happy to talk with you.

View attachment 1568316

I will for sure hit you up as we get closer John, I really appreciate it. I love those cleangold sluices. I have considered a small one myself for cleaning. I'm going to have to take a close look at mats and see what I can get that is super light for travel and usable in some mountain creeks and rivers as well as the beach. I was thinking RB and UR or DD Mats. Im not familiar with the sawtooth.

Furthermore, the ban on electrical pumps has peaked my interest considering ATV's and such are all over the beach in many areas (Florence). So it has me wondering, has anyone ever thought about trying to make a water ram for extra water for the sluice? Wonder if it would work enough to make it worth it and would it me considered a loop hole? Also are the beaches at state parks open to mining? I know Heceta Beach has a nice stream.

 

[johnedoe]

Hey gorsimi....
There is a caveat to the Oregon no power thing..... You can run a recirculator if you are above the high tide line also known as vegetation line.
That falls into another jurisdiction. The Oregon state park beach zone is from mean low tide to mean high tide vegetation line.
I will PM you my cell number so you can give me a call. We can go over the finer points then.
Also here are the Oregon beach mining rues..... Vague and nonsensical as they are.

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard...Fdv6D9-IM8yl!1921945976?selectedDivision=3421

 

[gorsimi]

Well guys...
I purchases a folding sluice for my trip to Oregon. Made a few upgrades and then stripped the riffles and put in some GH matting *Yuk/ML/UR* (Thanks OregonViking for the links). Cant wait to get over to Florence and get all that gold dust. With all the wacky weather has anyone gotten the chance to get out to the beaches?

 

[arizau]

Well guys...
I purchases a folding sluice for my trip to Oregon. Made a few upgrades and then stripped the riffles and put in some GH matting *Yuk/ML/UR* (Thanks OregonViking for the links). Cant wait to get over to Florence and get all that gold dust. With all the wacky weather has anyone gotten the chance to get out to the beaches?

One of the main things is to hope for sufficient stream flow and gradient to make the Ghog mats work in a stream sluice. That usually depends on current or recent rainfall in the area. Unfortunately that has not always been the case for me for beach mining on several of my annual trips up there. The mountain placer creeks can slow down too.

Another thing is some visible indication of black sands concentration on the beaches or shallow layers found under the blond sands that usually cover the beach. I usually can find them in the Florence area even when the creeks are too low to run one of my sluices that also has Ghog mats. Frustrating.

Good luck.

 

[johnedoe]

I have only gotten out a couple times this year.... hasn't been anything to get too excited about...And I haven't felt particularly motivated....... unfortunately.
Drop me an email when you get to Florence and I see what I can do to give you a hand.

 

[gorsimi]

Well I took a few buckets of beach sands that I classified down to 60 mesh. Took them to the creek by my house with my folding sluice and hog mats. The creek is very slow running so not good water flow. Seems to be a Oregon beach theme. Mats seem to need a little adjusting but worked pretty good of course I was having problems with the mats clearing the materiel due to no water flow and very little angle. Just for curiosity I'm going to test it with a pump and see what the minimum GPH is for those mats. I am bringing with me a roll of V-Matting just in case I need to swap out the GH mats. If all fails It will keep the kids busy and then ill spike the pan at the end with pyrite..lol

 

[Reed Lukens]

I thought that this should be here in your thread johnedoe

Old Govt papers on West Coast Black Sands
Origin of the Black Sands of the Coast of Southwest Oregon
http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/B/B-024.pdf

Beach Placers of the Oregon Coast
https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1934/0008/report.pdf

 

[johnedoe]

Thank's Reed. Those are good publications.
I did finally mange to get out a little today.. Went down to Gold Beach. Summer is not the time to beach mine but it was nice and I did get some gold.
A total 1.6 grain.... I will try not to spend it all in one place....