M-3 GoldenIrishmans Monsoon Mining Thread

I gotcha, Ive been using mylandmatters for most all of the hard rock claim info I've been using. I haven't even been checking LR, the site is not good on my droid at all. Mylandmatters works great though!
 

GrizzlyGremlin said:
I gotcha, Ive been using mylandmatters for most all of the hard rock claim info I've been using. I haven't even been checking LR, the site is not good on my droid at all. Mylandmatters works great though!
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Excellent choice!
 

Having LandMatters available in the field is a great thing for sure! I carry a small laptop with a Verizon MiFi with me. On it I have topo maps for the entire county that I work in and being able to access LandMatters as well is just icing on the cake. While I can get it on my droid phone, the screen is too small for me to be able to really see it with my aging eyes. I need to either get new glasses or longer arms.

Kevin is right in that the LR2000 updates are slow in coming at the best of times. I know of several new claims that are all filed with the county but have yet to show up on the LR2000 database. So.... That being said, you should always go to the county recorders office as part of doing your due diligence. Do a search for new claims within the township/range/section(s) you're planning on hitting so you are positive you're not going to be stepping on someones toes. Remember that county records always trump the BLM database.
 

Happy New Year to all!

Happy New Year to all my friends here on T-Net! May your year be full of golden adventures, new knowledge and new friends!
 

The due diligence dance continues

Well I had gotten word through the grapevine that one of the prospecting clubs to the south of us had ended up having to downsize their claims. After a check on the latest update on LandMatters I found that my intel was correct. Claims that had been 160 acres in size were now cut back to 20 acres each. Everything for the club was filed correctly with the County recorders office but while pouring through the records I noticed that there were some new filings in that area. What I suspect is that some of the club members grabbed them up as soon as it was possible.

Now... These new claims were filed in November but are still not shown on the LR2000. Had I just relied on the BLM site, I could have ended up prospecting on someones claim without meaning to. I feel that this is a really good example of just why it's so important to do your proper due diligence which should always include a trip to the County Recorders office right before you go out to these areas.

Am I bummed that the areas had been snatched up so quickly? Of course I am! There's been reports of some really nice nuggets being found out there including a nice 45+ oz sample in matrix that is estimated to contain just over an ounce of gold in it! Even so, I know it's a BIG desert and with my new line of research I'm positive that I'll be able to find some good areas that others have overlooked. After all, "Fortune favors the prepared miner!"
 

Last night was our monthly meeting for Mohave Prospectors Assoc and I have to admit that it was an "interesting" one. New president is setting a bunch of new goals for the group this year all of which are very positive. One of the goals is to set up a claims location team with the objective to identify open areas, do the proper due diligence on them, and then test them to see if they're worth the groups time to claim. I've was asked to help out with this and I accepted the job.

Some of the newer members as well as some of our snow-bird members were asking about prospecting areas other than the current club claims as well as how to go about it. To help them out I am working up a tutorial sheet on how to research areas to include resources, how to do PROPER due diligence etc etc etc. I'm trying to do my best to keep it simple but since there are quite a few of them interested in branching out I also have to make it as dummy proof as possible.

So for the next couple of days I'll be locked up in my cave madly typing and reviewing pages of text. There is so much to cover and not knowing the level of experience of the majority of these folks I am finding myself second guessing what to include and what to leave out. I don't want to leave out something that a beginner would need to know, but at the same time I don't want to insult those with some experience under their belts. I was up until 12 dark 30 and managed to get a pretty good rough draft done up.

During the break and after the meeting I had members asking me a lot of questions on places to do research. I directed them to the forum here so you guys could help field some of their questions and I gave out the address to MyLandMatters to help them kick start their research as well. If I hadn't "passed the buck" I would have been there all night answering questions. I guess only time will tell if my efforts will be able to help anyone from the club in their search for that yellow metal we all love....
 

Happy new year Jeff... call me sometime
 

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We've got a large tent (more like a portable building) on our mining claim. It stays fairly cool inside during the summer. It was expensive but it should last for several years. Obviously it's not something you'd want to put up and take down very frequently.
 

rorybagleys said:
We've got a large tent (more like a portable building) on our mining claim. It stays fairly cool inside during the summer. It was expensive but it should last for several years. Obviously it's not something you'd want to put up and take down very frequently.
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I've got a 10' X 20' that I use in the field. When I go out I'm usually there for a month at a time so comfort is important. Lately though I've been kind of tied down with the new house so it's been quick day trips.
 

Yesterday we made a short recon trip to an area I've been eyeing for some time now to the east of Lake Havasu City. Although we were there mostly to have a look, check the condition of the access roads etc, we did manage to get a little detecting in with the Gold Bug. This was my first time working the "Desert Pavement" and I found it to be rather interesting. I learned real quick that knee pads are a must! I think I've still got the impressions of a couple of those rocks on my knees. Diging was easy due to the moisture left over from the last storm, but I could tell that when it's dried out it will be like digging real pavement! As we were there on a recon, we didn't detect for long. We still managed to find two .30 cal bullets, one .50 cal bullet in almost pristine condition and a couple pieces of the linking belt from a .50 cal belt. I had heard that this area was used for aerial gunnery practice back in WWII and I guess this pretty much prove that true. It would be cool to find an old practice bomb from that era to add to my collection.

The recon showed us that the access is good enough that I'll be able to gt the prospecting trailer in there without too much trouble, the area is HIGHLY mineralized, and will be good for both detecting and drywashing once it's had time to dry out. It's much closer to the house than Gold Basin is and isn't as shot up as the last area we checked out was. The research is paying off in new areas to check out but I want to get back at it full time here a.s.a.p. and Mother Nature isn't helping one bit!
 

Well another trip around the sun was completed for me yesterday and I have to admit that I sat down and did a bit of reflecting about the progress made during this last orbit. Much of the progress and learning I accomplished was only done thanks to many of the members here on T-Net. Many of you know that I've get some nutty ideas at times and you've been able to give me a reality check when I needed one. Many of you are responsible for giving me inspiration to think outside the box even more. Some of you have even allowed me to render my opinion or help you to learn to be better prospectors. Most of all I realized just how important this site has been in helping me to improve my skills and knowledge. I only hope that this next orbit around the sun is filled with the same level of learning and friendship as the last one was. So I thank the mods and members here for the last year and wish everyone here heavy pans, easy trails and an end to having to fight for our rights to mine.
 

If you are in the market for another GB, Cabelas is a great place to look,. They have the bargain cave, where they put their returns up for sale. I got mine for 275.
 

Couple of interesting finds...

Well the last two trip out may not have yielded any gold, but we did make a couple of interesting mineral finds. The first one was a vein of Sodalite. Not worth all that much but it's still really nice looking and should make some nice jewelry when polished up.

The second find was very strange. While checking out an area we happened to come across a line of turquoise strew along the wash. I wasn't sure if it actually was turquoise but we grabbed a couple pieces. It looks like they've been rough tumbled but haven't had the final polish done on them yet. We were out and about running errands on Saturday and stopped at the local rock shop to have them checked. After the gentleman at the shop had given us an ID on the Sodalite, he told us that the other stones were indeed turquoise and that it was some very high grade material. He said that to him it looked like the turquoise had come from the Globe area. So now we've got a little bit of a mystery on our hands. How in the world did they end up in a wash in my area? Judging by the other gravel in the area, it almost looked like someone had dumped an aquarium there. That raises the question of why go that far out of the way to dump a freakin fish tank? We're heading back down to that wash today to get the rest of the turquoise we saw as well as take a closer look at the other gravels in that area.
 

Back from doing the "clean-up" on that turquoise. We ended up with about a third of a sandwich bag full of it. Most of the pieces are about thumbnail size with a couple larger ones as well. This is UN-stabilized turquoise in that is hasn't had resin forced into the stones. I'll weigh it up later but there's a couple of ounces worth at least. Jan checked prices on turquoise online and found it to be going for between $10-$20 a caret depending on quality. Since this is some good looking stuff I'd think it's on the upper end of that scale.
 

Too bad it was aquarium gravel and not high grade quartz ore ....eh Jeff?
 

Do you have a pic of that turquoise? Maybe from on site? That's some really cool stuff, makes me think about how many unidentified valuable minerals pass right through all the sluices in the world without a second thought!
 

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