School is back in... Time to work!!!!!

[goldenIrishman]

Well when Robi and I first got together the cat didn't even have a name other than "Kitty". How generic can ya get? As soon as I set up the processing area she started hanging out with me. I guess she was starved for affection or something. She developed the habit of sticking her nose in my pan while I was trying to work materials to get a drink from it. I've never been able to figure out why as she always had plenty of water in her own bowl. So since she was so interested in my pans I thought I'd start calling her Panner and it stuck. There are times that she's a major PITA. Climbing on the sluice while I'm running it, clawing her way up my leg to sit on my lap while panning etc.

 

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[Sample Pan Dan]

Sounds like most cats! Lol

 

[goldenIrishman]

Even though I have run out of materials to run, I haven't been sitting around. I've switched over to "Research Mode" and it's looking like it's going to be paying off in a big way as soon as I get moved up to Kingman. I know, I know.... I've been talking about this move for some time now but my hands have been tied thanks to my sister dragging her feet on buying me out of the property we inherited in San Diego. Just because she's sitting on her rear doesn't mean that I have to. I've been getting my research done in advance so I don't have to waste time doing it after the moved actually happens.

I finally got all of the maps I needed/wanted for my research downloaded from the USGS site. Great stuff and well worth the hassle of fighting my internet connection to get them. So far I've been able to download everything in the Gold Basin and Lost Basin areas as well as everything from the interseaction of I-10 and Hwy 93 south to Arrastrd Mountain along Hwy 93 then west to the Colorado river. If that doesn't give me enough area to hunt in, I'm in trouble!!!!!

Combining the topos with the info on the My Land Matters site is really giving me a good working knowledge of the North West corner of Arizona. I've identified lots of open areas that should prove to be very good for prospecting. Now I'll be ready to put boots on the ground as soon as I get moved up there and have the house set up. After just a quick glance I've already identified one area in particular that looks very promising. The great things about this area you ask? It's got all the signs ( placer claims down stream, lode claims up stream, good geology and accessibility) plus it's only about 5 miles from the house as the crow flies. No more having to drive 120 miles one way to get to a digging area! YEEE HAWWWW!!!

I figure that all of this research on the computer now is going to save me months of running around the desert like a chicken with its head cut off. By knowing where gold has been found already, where current claims are and which areas are open for prospecting, I'll be way ahead of the game when I hit Kingman. Just about the only thing I will have left to do before hitting the field to start the hunt will be to make a visit to the county recorders office in Kingman to look up the descriptions of the claims as filed with them. Once I've got them plotted on my maps, I'll know exactly where they are so there will be no chance of me accidentaly digging on a fellow miners claimed land. This is going to be great once I get up there!!!

BTW..... Much of this research would have been a LOT harder to get done if it wasn't for Clays' My Land Matters site. If for some strange reason you haven't been there to check it out yet I would strongly advise you to go take a look. Pardon the pun but it's a gold mine of good CURRENT information already and it's still growing on almost a daily basis. Be sure to check out the claim maps as well as the library section. It's really not hard to move around the site and find what you're looking for. HTTP://WWW.MYLANDMATTERS.ORG

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Sounds like you've got a good game plan Jeff.

 

[goldenIrishman]

The Sunday Report:

Well the grabbing of research materials just keeps on truckin! So far I've downloaded 63 topos for Mohave County and I've still got a bunch lined up and ready to go. I've decided that for now I'm going to stop once I've gotten everything in the block formed by the La Paz County line, the Colorado River and the Yavapai County Line. There's more of the county as it continues on the other side of the Grand Canyon al the way up to the Utah state line. I'm really not planning on prospecting that far north at this time due to the distances involved. There are very few places that you can cross the river at and you have to go around the canyon no matter what ya do.

Everything is going on to a pair of flash drives. One for the field and one for a backup. I've also cleared out some room on the dinosaur computers hard drive and am saving another backup copy of the files on it. After all the time and effort I've put into getting this information, I'll be hanged if I'm going to loose it now!

Using the maps I've downloaded along with the Arizona claims map on My Land Matters I've found several areas that are not only open to prospecting but they look really REALLY promising. One area that is only a few miles from the house I'm looking at has over 60 claims and there is still some open area available to check out. The area up stream is also open but I'm not sure about how easy it's going to be to access as it looks like the terrain gets pretty rough. Getting gear into that area may be a problem. It still looks like it would be a great place to hike into with a good detector.

My logic for liking this area is a simple one. First, no company is going to hold onto worthless claims. Since they've got way to many to be able to file a small miners waiver they're stuck paying the full maintenance fees. So unless they're looking at it as a tax write off there's got to be some deposits worth mining there. Second, it's only about 5 miles from the house I'm looking at buying. No more 2 hour drives to gt to a claim. Third, there are several Lode mines up stream in the hills, all of which have reported free milling gold being found. If it was heavy in sulphides I'd be looking in other places.

As it looks right now, Once I get moved I should be able to hit the field within a couple of weeks. A week or two to get the house setup and liveable, another week or two going through the claim records at the County Recorders Office to get the actual boundaries plotted on my maps and then I'll be ready to get started with actual field work. If all goes well I should have at least a couple claims filed within 3-4 months of getting up there, depending on the weather.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I have to say one thing here.... All this research has really opened my eyes in a big way. Yesterday I spent some time using Clays site ( Welcome to Land Matters ) to get really in depth info on the area near the place I'm wanting to buy. Here is how I did the research....

Using the AZ claims map on Clays site, I got the area I wanted to look at called up and zoomed into. Next I turned on the PLSS (Public Land Survey System) layer on so I could view the grids down to the 36 sections of each township and range. My next step was to turn on the Mining Activity (historical mining locations) Layer and go through each township and range section grid by grid to see what had been done there in the past. While some of the sections (1-36 in each T&R) had no activity recorded many had been worked in some way in the past. I also looked up the land management info to find out the land status. I opened up a spread sheet on the other computer and set it up as follows:

Column A: Township and Range.
Column B: The section (1-36)
Column C: Number of historical Lode claims
Column D: Number of current Lode claims
Column E: Number of historical Placer claims
Column F: Number of current Placer claims
Column G: Number of historical Mill Sites
Column H: Number of current Mill Sites
Column I: Managing agency (State, BLM, BIA or PVT)

I went through six different adjoining township and range grids and looked up all of the information for each of the 36 sections and entered it into the spread sheet. The T&R grids included the one that the property I'm looking at is in, the two directly below it and then the three that adjoined them to the west. Once I had entered the information into the spread sheet I compared the data to the topos for that area and started to see a definite pattern taking shape. Being able to visualize the data in this way is a big help to me. I now have several areas that I've placed high on my "Get out there and check them out list". One area I found really interesting is within WALKING distance of the property!!! The house sits in section 28 and this area is in section 32 (One south and one west). That one section showed 32 lode claims for the period between 1975 and 2010. The only thing I couldn't figure out was the type of deposits they were working. If they were free milling gold it would be great. If it's a sulphide deposit, not so great.

All in all, this area has had lots of claims, both lode and placer, several mill sites, a tunnel site as well as lots of area that has not been worked in the past. I can tell that I'm going to be one busy miner once I have gotten up there. Lots of areas that are calling for "Boots on the ground" and scream "TEST HERE!!!". If I'm correct, within 3 months of moving I should be able to have several claims filed that will be within 15 miles of the homestead.

oh... And the over all totals for claims between 1975 and 2010 within this 6 township and Range area are as follows:

Historical Lode: 1391
Current Lode: 7
Historical Placer: 597
Current Placer: 88
Historical Mill: 9
Current Mill: 0
Historical Tunnel: 1
Current Tunnel: 0

The information as listed on the USGS site linked to from My Land Matters is a little confusing. I have a very strong feeling that many of these claims are repeated. Closing and then refiling by others etc. Still it shows that there's been a lot of mining for gold in that area and that there's still plenty of areas left to be explored.

 

[goldenIrishman]

I hit on an idea the other day and have started doing some work on it already.

Since Clays site ( Welcome to Land Matters ) is so handy and has tons of good information, it would be great to be able to access it while out in the field. Since I really doubt that I'll be able to get internet on the laptop out there, I've decided to take the information I'd like to have and convert it over to a condensed hard copy version. I'm arranging it by township and range with all of the sections for each coded for what is (or isn't) there. Current and past claims, placer or lode, topo map(s) they're located on and land management agency are all included. I'm saving them as separate files for each township and range and will be able to print them out if I don't want to haul the laptop out to the field.

A side benefit of getting this all set up is that I've been looking at all the information on the site in some different ways. I've found some areas in the south part of the county that appear to have never been touched. Accessing them is not going to be easy ( hence the reason they haven't been touched) but they look so nice I'm going to have to try to get to them at some point. Even if I can only get there to do some detecting I think it will be worth it.

I do need to slow down on all this research. It's getting to the point that even a good nights sleep isn't enough to get my eyes to uncross!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I decided to take a break from the research and get a couple of things done for "The Company" to get them out of my hair and off my mind. One of the projects that I needed to do was to re-work the logo. Since Robi is no longer a part of the mining team the name of R&J became null and void. After doing some hard thinking I decided that the new logo should NOT have any initials in it like the old one did. This way WHEN and IF I decide to get a new partner and they don't work out I'm not going to have to re-do everything yet again.

With this in mind I've decided to do a play off from one of the most respected companies in America. Good old 3M (aka Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) who have brought us all many fine products over the years. The image is just about the same as the old one but a few minor tweaks have been made and of course all new lettering. So from this point on I/we will be going by Monsoon Mining and Minerals or M Cubed (M3) for short.



I've already changed my avatar here to reflect this new logo as well as to be rid of the memory of R&J. In truth that this parting of the ways happened when it did was a blessing in disguise. Once I've gotten moved and get the paperwork filed to incorporate the company I'll already have the name and logo done and ready to go. Unless there is a radical increase in claims filed in the meantime, I will be able to get boots on the ground in several promising areas within a week of moving.

Once I've moved, this chapter of my life will be closed and so will this thread. I will start a new thread to reflect a new beginning in my mining life as is only fitting.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

I like it Jeff. I've been so busy around here latent i haven't dug or done any research in weeks. .. Hiking 5 miles in on East Fork to the bridge to Nowhere the day after xmas. Mostly just for the hike itself, but I'm sure we will take a little time to dig.

 

[goldenIrishman]

I like it Jeff. I've been so busy around here latent i haven't dug or done any research in weeks. .. Hiking 5 miles in on East Fork to the bridge to Nowhere the day after xmas. Mostly just for the hike itself, but I'm sure we will take a little time to dig.

Yeah... it's always a drag when the things we HAVE to do get in the way of the things we WANT to do! When you're ready to get back to the research let me know. I've gotten real good at using Clays site and will be glad to help you out. (BTW....Which way did you come in?)

 

[goldenIrishman]

Done at last!!!

Well after a LOT of work, I now have my portable version of the "Land Matters" site ready to go. Now it won't matter if I can't get internet while out prospecting in the Kingman area as I'll still have the most important information from the site with me.

What I've done is to set up a spread sheet that gives the PLSS information by Township and Range and section within that Township. For each section (1-36) I've listed the historical claims both lode and placer, the controlling agency(ies) as well s the topo map that it falls on. As a spreadsheet I can print it out or use it on a laptop in the field and no internet needed!

I've also downloaded the older topo maps that still have the PLSS info printed on them (I still don't understand WHY they dropped it on the new maps) so I've got a "Matched Set" of maps that cover the southern 2/3s of Mohave county. While the new maps are nice and have the aerial views included, having the older versions with the PLSS data is going to be important when I go to file claims in that area. Shold I decide to branch out into other areas (La Paz and or Yavapai Counties) I'll set up the same type of system for them.

 

[goldenIrishman]

If anyone is interested, the printed file came out to 144 pages (single side printing) with 4310 lines of data and 17,240 data entries. The total size of the file is just under 300 KB so if any of the T-Net members want a copy of it I can e-mail it with no problem. I don't see any sense in others having to do all this work again when I can share. There's nothing in this data that gives away any of the locations I'm looking at and it should prove handy out in the field.

The hardest part was getting all of the PLSS data reconciled to the topo maps. It turns out that several of the old topo maps are missing some info or that info was just flat out wrong. This usually came in the form of the listing of adjacent maps. It was either missing or wrong. On example was on the Arrastra Mountain map where they listed Artillery Peak as the adjoining map when it should have read as Signal Mountain. (Artillery Peak is the map that adjoins at the lower left corner) Once I figured out where the problem was I figured out how to work around it easy enough. I guess this was the Govt map makers way of providing job security for themselves.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well it's now looking like I will be moving up to the Kingman area in about 2 months from now. When it happens, I most likely won't be on-line for awhile. Once I do get some kind of internet set up at the house, I'll be closing down this thread and starting a new one to reflect my new start. I'll be keeping detailed records on finding and filing my new claims as well as taking a lot more pictures and even some videos.

Since today is my birthday, I've decided to order me up some new classifiers and pans as a b-day present to myself. Will be getting the #30-#100 mesh classifiers and a pair of Garrett 14" gravity trap pans. I really like those pans because they fit my hands so well and I can pan for long periods of time without my hands cramping up on me. One should be comfortable while panning after all!

 

[Rob in KS]

I've been following your adventures for quite a while now. Looking forward to the new start.
My B-day is in a couple of days, hope you aren't as old as I am LOL

 

[Clay Diggins]

Happy Birthday Jeff!!

Wishing you many more to come.

Heavy Pans

Barry

 

[goldenIrishman]

Thank you Barry! For my B-day present how about a copy of that naughty list ya got from the fat man in red last month?

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thank you Barry! For my B-day present how about a copy of that naughty list ya got from the fat man in red last month?

Sorry I already used that one up. But there's always next year...

You might try to make a deal with the Easter Bunny? No naughty girls but plenty of yummy brown bunny "eggs".

I hope you are enjoying this one - they only get better.

Barry

 

[goldenIrishman]

I've been following your adventures for quite a while now. Looking forward to the new start.
My B-day is in a couple of days, hope you aren't as old as I am LOL

Well in my book age is just a number. Some days I feel like I'm 21 and ready to whip the world and others I feel like I'm 121 and looking for my rockin chair. Long as I can keep chasing women and gold I'm still alive!

 

[goldenIrishman]

The end of the thread...

Well folks, the time has come to close this thread down. I've reached the end of my time here in Douglas and am currently getting things packed up and ready to move up to Kingman. I should be pulling out and heading north by the 10th of March. Since there will be no more trips out to the Kentucky Camp / Greaterville area there is no sense in keeping this thread going. It's been a lot of fun sharing the adventure with everyone but this particular adventure has ended. Don't worry though as I will be starting a new thread to reflect the new location. I will be posting more pictures in the new thread as I will be picking up a digital camera to use in documenting everything.

I'm not sure how often I will be able to post to the new thread as I am pretty much going to be living on the claim. If I can get signal there I will be able to post on a regular basis. If not... Then posting will have to wait till I get into town (on my trusty mule named Toyota) to restock on the 3-Bs. Those being Beans, Bacon and Bullets.

SO be sure to tune in to the new thread! It is going to be more detailed and will cover the claim filing process from start to finish, developing the claim as well as any visits to the claim by fellow T-Netters, dancing girls and of course the BLM personnel. (Wait! Aren't those the same thing?) I promise you all that it will be a LOT more accurate than what you see on Gold Rush (aka The Todd Hoffman Comedy Hour)

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hope the move goes smoothly!