Help me find the paystreak on this section of the Trinity River

[NeoTokyo]

Heya everyone;

So this is a section of the Trinity River ( around the Willow Creek area ) that I have been wanting to dredge for a while as there is just too much material to have to move to snipe it.
I was invited to go prospecting there the last time my friends went hunting and was told that if dredging were to ever be legal again that I could dredge there.
I did find some gold in the shallow area's that were easy to access.

I swam the majority of this area to get a better idea of how the water was acting.
In the picture that I edited from google earth you can see the comments that I make about it.

The LARGE low pressure and whirlpool area's are filled with sand, the front of the main whirlpool is pure bedrock before dropping into the sand.
The area is about 10' deep and I am going to assume that there is probably around 4' of overburden in the first whirlpool area.
This area has a couple submerged logs.
This front whirlpool area seems like it would be a low pressure drop zone when flooding and the whirlpool remains while flooding as well.

The back of the whirlpool area butts up to a HUGE sand dune that is probably about 15' high to This is where the bedrock dropoff is causing the negative pressure zone and it goes much deeper at that point. The bedrock to bank is a very steep if not sheer dropoff after that with a few smart car sized boulders just underwater.
I can assume that this would be a great area for gold to be trapped but is also very dangerous because it is so deep, its in the middle of the current and its a large negative pressure zone.

The backside after the large dune is a very flat and somewhat shallow (4-6') expanse of sand that goes almost all the way down to the rapids where it is cut with cobbles before hitting the next set of rapids.
The sand borders up to bedrock on the slow side of the river as well.


So tell me what you guys think, where would the best paystreak be and where would be the best place to start?

In my mind it would seem like the first whirlpool would be the best place to start, and if I had enough bawls then the bedrock dropoff.


My dredges:
Keene 4" 6.5hp w/air
Keene box with King pump 2.5" 5.5hp w/air (I was told this one was a 4" pump that was necked down, I dunno know about that one...)

I feel like this area has so much sand that having anything smaller than a 6" mini might be a waste of time. I dunno, its a huge area.
At the small section where the front whirlpool area is, GoogleEarth is saying that's 105' bank to bank. Downriver the widest section is 200'
The water is also high in this photo, it looks about 2' higher than when I was there judging by what is underwater.


Thanks guys, I appreciate your knowledge, experience and input.

 

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[QNCrazy]

I just happen to watch Doc's (Gold Hog) video last night on this very subject. Check his sight out. Based on the information in the video, find out how deep the large sand bar is on top of the bedrock. He suggests working the shallow bedrock areas first before moving to the deeper sections depending on the equipment being used. Test pan the areas before you get started and find out which area has the best concentration. Instead of gong deep for the bigger gold, I would use that 4" and blow off the overburden in the shallow area and get the gold that is there.

If you use a 6" wouldn't you be subject a BS inspection by the BLM or Forestry Service per the 94 regs?

 

[Hoser John]

Trinity is a 8-10-12" river as all else is a folly-this is what's required as beaten to death by 5 waves of miners during spikes in gold prices.Read the 94 regs and procede thusly as they are again the recognized rule of law at this time. On the 23 the truth will be revealed for all to see. The Trinity River Restoration animals can/will cite all between trinity dam and just past Helena as adjudicated pre 1989 plan. The LAST 21 claims are gone in august as 100s taken already,they call it SEGREGATION for the next 20 years so no mining of any kind, as Bureau of Reclamation has a court approved proven withdrawl. John

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

So everything above Helena is closed for mining for 20 years?

 

[calnatv]

Trinity is a 8-10-12" river as all else is a folly-this is what's required as beaten to death by 5 waves of miners during spikes in gold prices.Read the 94 regs and procede thusly as they are again the recognized rule of law at this time. On the 23 the truth will be revealed for all to see. The Trinity River Restoration animals can/will cite all between trinity dam and just past Helena as adjudicated pre 1989 plan. The LAST 21 claims are gone in august as 100s taken already,they call it SEGREGATION for the next 20 years so no mining of any kind, as Bureau of Reclamation has a court approved proven withdrawl. John

That looks the monster that ran below Big Flat

 

[Reed Lukens]

If this is where you have been told that you can work then I would start at the bottom end at the lower corner and work the whole area bank to bank while griding the river and recording the gold, type of bedrock cracks and direction underwater and checking to see if it has been worked... This way you don't end up finding the paystreak and then covering it up with tailings.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Thanks for your info guys, John and Reed I always keep my eyes wide open when you guys have something to say.
John, I will wait until the 23rd before trying to find an 8-12" although I have only found 6"ers somewhat in my price range.

As far as I have been told about this area, it hasn't been worked before but we all know how that goes.


How large of a hole do you guys dredge out for 1 unit of grid info?

Swimming around I noticed that the bedrock cracks were very random, no general direction, at least not on the sides where exposed.

I am really excited about this area because it pretty much is one giant low pressure zone.

If you guys were running an 8" for 8 hours a day, how many 8 hour days do you think it would take to run through this entire area?
A greenhorn like myself doesn't have the slightest idea, I would guess I couldn't do it all in a season.

 

[Reed Lukens]

With an 8"? After you have grided it and are following the gold, and depending on how deep the overburden is, following your red line you could clean that area out completely in a month easily. And that's with breaking bedrock and everything. Once you get to bedrock I grid on a 1 square yard scale. If you are going to go bank to bank you need to clear 1 yard of bedrock all the way across. But saying this and doing it are 2 different things. Once you're not finding gold, the grid usually stops there but that that will be on one side probably. Do you want it all or do you want to hit the best part of the paystreak? That is the question

 

[NeoTokyo]

To start I would like to hit the best possible spot so that I could afford a better and bigger rig.
After that I will turn that thing over. heheh

There is a tow line set up on the side of the hill to help pack out all of the trash that we are going to find.
Just walking around I was picking up brake rotors, GIANT Cogs, broken steel piping and so much other trash that washed down.
This area just sucks up everything. I can only imagine the mercury that I will recover.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Could you guys post up the 94' regs for me please?
When I google it I just get a bunch of anti-dredge junk, one powerpoint looks to be made by some college kid spreading that false science but its had hundreds of thousands of views. Sad.
At the bottom it said "Friendsoftheriver.org" so its probably made by them, gee some friends, I don't see them out there removing all the trash and heavy metals from the river.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

looks like some promising property