Mt. Rubidoux/Santa Ana Riverbed

[SoCalDesertFox]

Howdy all! I figured I would make my first post a good one.

I live right near Mt. Rubidoux, within easy walking distance.

A while back (months ago,) I had decided I would go out to the riverbed side of the mountain and go do some dry panning (actually any panning) for the first time near the base.

I should have brought a camera and recorded the whole thing, as I found almost a total of a gram of tiny pieces of gold on the southwest side of the base near the developed homes, between the bike trail and the mountain. Essentially, directly across from the new Ryan Bonaminio park.

I also know there are tons and tons of iron sands in the riverbed itself, which means it is fairly possible that there is a fair bit of gold sitting in there, however that is smack in the water conservation district (and tons of hobo camps) so that just about makes the area off-limits. Going north/upstream and out of that area should theoretically prove to hold better gold prospects; there appears to be some sort of mining operation northwest of the 60/91 along the Santa Ana River Trail, that would appear to be a good area and in fact might become my next area to go sample.

EDIT: The area is La Loma Hills. There appear to be several areas in there where one could have some successful prospecting.

 

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[SoCalDesertFox]

Today I am going to go peep around this area. I've loaded the app on my phone and I'll see about posting some pics as things come along.

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

I'm in the middle of panning. On my third pan so far, found a solitary gold flake, I hope. It bent, didn't break or flake like mica. Looked good under a loupe but I have no experience with smaller flakes like this. Going to keep panning and let you know the final haul!

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

Unfortunately, the gold flake I thought I had turned out to be one incredibly stubborn piece of mica that would not break. I did come out with a ton of magnetic sand, which is always cool and useful for one of my projects.

It also turns out that the location shown above is NOT a mining area, it is a build-up landfill. While a good search location, I don't think there is much there.

Further investigation of older mining records show that there was a mining site just south and west of the lowest left part of that image. It's all flat now, but there appears to be some possibility of gold there sitting in the riverbed and on the banks.

Mt. Rubidoux once had mining claims on the southwest face of the mountain in the late 1800s and earlier 1900s. That plus my few flakes found in the riverbed near there says to me that particular area is still yielding to some degree. Given the progress of erosion on that mountain I've been able to see from 1993 to 2014, I'm sure if there is gold, there is a fair bit of it sitting near the base of the mountain on the southwest side, right next to that housing area.

That area will become one of my more frequented locations once I've obtained a metal detector.

 

[Rawhide]

I found a nice deposit of Garnet gem Stones back in 1978. That may be the source of mining as they made sand paper out of it.

 

[stefen]

There was an active Sully-Miller sand and gravel operation on both the Santa Ana River and Santiago Creek.

Several pits still exist along Santiago Canyon Road (Katella Blvd extension) within Villa Park and Orange Park Acres.

lived there for 40 years...and never found anything worth the effort.
Had
better luck working the back side of Irvine Regional Park.

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

I found a nice deposit of Garnet gem Stones back in 1978. That may be the source of mining as they made sand paper out of it.

That's a possibility! I'd love some garnets as well, they would also be good for one of my projects!
.

There was an active Sully-Miller sand and gravel operation on both the Santa Ana River and Santiago Creek.

Several pits still exist along Santiago Canyon Road (Katella Blvd extension) within Villa Park and Orange Park Acres.

lived there for 40 years...and never found anything worth the effort.
Had
better luck working the back side of Irvine Regional Park.

I understand Perris used to have a fairly productive gold mining history. I might have to go hunting around that area.

 

[stefen]

The Mining Company Restaurant on the hill above Chapman Ave in orange was an active gold mine.

Several others near the end of Silverado Canyon...in fact one was where several teens died a few years back...poison gasses in tunnel....kids broke gate and entered...

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

The Mining Company Restaurant on the hill above Chapman Ave in orange was an active gold mine.

Several others near the end of Silverado Canyon...in fact one was where several teens died a few years back...poison gasses in tunnel....kids broke gate and entered...

Yea, I'm certainly not going into mines without oxygen equipment or unless I've dug the mine myself. Also, not doing so without some timbers to wedge into place for support as I go along!