Swede coming to Cali/Idaho!

[HappySwede]

Hi all,

I'm a 29 year old prospector from the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Despite my urban residence, I try to get away and prospect for gold as much as I can. Due to lack of a proper own location to mine, I try to visit as many new countries to prospect in instead.

So far, I found gold in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Scotland, France, Serbia, Czech Republic and Poland. And as of right now, Im waiting for my VISA to be done for finally visiting the US.

I intend to book a flight for 9th of october or a week later, traveling alone and staying some 11 days. I will be landing in San Francisco.

For unknown reasons, Im kinda in love with Idaho since a few years back and the goal is to visit that place and do some prospecting, probably in the mountains above Boise.

I've however been recommended to try panning in Cali aswell, and Heard about some public free-panning location on the Bear River. Where excatly is this one, or are there several locations?

-What does the law say about light prospecting with a shovel and pan only? If I find a Creek in the middle of nowhere, is it free to pan in both Idaho and Cali, or am I most likely intruding on someones land?

-If so, are there claims where the public can pay to pan? Im willing to do so for decent gold rather than getting in trouble or not finding anything.

-Other input, anything else I should know, or visit or do...?

 

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[HappySwede]

Hmm, looks like endless rules to read up on, as each area has different rules in California. Idaho appears to require two separate permits for recreational panning, and even then Im still at risk of intruding on claims or private land.

Sticking to existing claims as a visitor appears to be the wisest way to go.

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

I've never had a panning permit. Wouldn't even know where to get one. Never even been asked for one. There are thousands of miles of streambanks in Idaho. Most of it nobody much cares about, outside the real "touristy" areas. I'd be willing to bet, among seasoned prospectors, that very few of them have permits.
jim

 

[HappySwede]

Hmm, well I guess there's a charm to being an outlaw in the West, and sure having the sheriff and his men tracking me down on their horses would add some authenticity to this journey of mine.

However, the next concern is that the two claim maps show very, very different results. This must mean that either one or both are highly inaccurate, so I can never be certain whether Im intruding or not. And I think I'm better off making friends than foes in the area if I intend to return later on.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Idaho, like most western states, covers a huge amount of country. What looks like a lot of claims on the map, looks like very few when you're on the ground.
Jim

 

[Mackaydon]

Boise temp today hovers around 35 degrees F.
If you travel to the mountains NW of Boise (Pilot Peak area, for example) expect (and be prepared for) snow and temps down into the teens.
Consider survival preparedness (maybe chains for your SUV, GPS, leave word with someone regarding your destination and ETA back to your starting point). Be prepared, then enjoy the trip.

Don......

 

[Clay Diggins]

Hmm, well I guess there's a charm to being an outlaw in the West, and sure having the sheriff and his men tracking me down on their horses would add some authenticity to this journey of mine.

However, the next concern is that the two claim maps show very, very different results. This must mean that either one or both are highly inaccurate, so I can never be certain whether Im intruding or not. And I think I'm better off making friends than foes in the area if I intend to return later on.

View attachment 1499564

View attachment 1499565

The map on the top shows ALL claims ever made since 1976 as of April 2016. Only the blue areas on that map had current Active mining claims as of April of last year. That map shows whole townships (36 square miles - 9400 Hectares) even if there was only one claim. It is not a current map.

The map on the bottom shows ONLY current active claimed Sections as of September 15, 2017. (A Section is about one square mile - approx 259 Hectares) That map shows whole Sections even if there was only one claim. It is the most current mining claims map available.

Current information matters with mining claims. The claimed areas in the western United States change daily. Neither of these maps show the actual claimed area. Most mining claims are about 20 acres (8 Hectares) but on the bottom map the mapped block is one square mile. There could be as many as, or more than, 32 claims in that square mile.

The top map could have as many as 1152 claims in each Township block. Either map may (and often does) have only one mining claim per block mapped. The top map is pretty but doesn't have any information about the claims. The bottom map has a query function that will give you every bit of information known about the claim as well as it's history. Interestingly the query function will also give you the names and contact information for each claim owner. The two maps show very different information and are not equivalent.

Researching mining claims is a pretty big learning curve for a recreational visitor. The remote possibility of free milling gold being found on any particular mining claim has to be considered too. The vast majority of mining claims are not located for gold. Of those that are located for gold the vast majority do not have free milling gold. Mining claims in and of themselves do not indicate the presence of gold.

There are several good personal offers on the table for you right on this forum. There are the pay to mine locations as a reasonable possibility too. There are many prospecting clubs you can join for very little money that provide access and directions to known gold producing claims open to club members. If you really want to get some gold on your trip and avoid conflict and disappointment I suggest you investigate those options.

I wish you much gold and great adventures!

Heavy Pans

 

[arizau]

The map on the top shows ALL claims ever made since 1976 as of April 2016. Only the blue areas on that map had current Active mining claims as of April of last year. That map shows whole townships (36 square miles - 9400 Hectares) even if there was only one claim. It is not a current map.

The map on the bottom shows ONLY current active claimed Sections as of September 15, 2017. (A Section is about one square mile - approx 259 Hectares) That map shows whole Sections even if there was only one claim. It is the most current mining claims map available.

Current information matters with mining claims. The claimed areas in the western United States change daily. Neither of these maps show the actual claimed area. Most mining claims are about 20 acres (8 Hectares) but on the bottom map the mapped block is one square mile. There could be as many as, or more than, 32 claims in that square mile.

The top map could have as many as 1152 claims in each Township block. Either map may (and often does) have only one mining claim per block mapped. The top map is pretty but doesn't have any information about the claims. The bottom map has a query function that will give you every bit of information known about the claim as well as it's history. Interestingly the query function will also give you the names and contact information for each claim owner. The two maps show very different information and are not equivalent.

Researching mining claims is a pretty big learning curve for a recreational visitor. The remote possibility of free milling gold being found on any particular mining claim has to be considered too. The vast majority of mining claims are not located for gold. Of those that are located for gold the vast majority do not have free milling gold. Mining claims in and of themselves do not indicate the presence of gold.

There are several good personal offers on the table for you right on this forum. There are the pay to mine locations as a reasonable possibility too. There are many prospecting clubs you can join for very little money that provide access and directions to known gold producing claims open to club members. If you really want to get some gold on your trip and avoid conflict and disappointment I suggest you investigate those options.

I wish you much gold and great adventures!

Heavy Pans

There you have a great explanation and the best advice to have a guaranteed great and productive time gold prospecting here in the "Good ol' U.S. of A.".

Good Luck and safe travels.

 

[HappySwede]

Great answers, thank you so much. As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to accept most of these offers and I Think Schedule would look something like this

October 11 - landing in SF and picking up car, and spending night on a hotel probably.
October 12 - Goldwasher - possibilities to meet up around this date? Its a thursday so I understand if you have other obligations than showing me around.
October 14 - Traveling further up California. Imaudigger - if detecting or excavator diggings are available, I would love to spend time trying both. Let me know. If not, I'll spend some time in Happy Camp as The New 49ers can help me out.
October 17 - Driving further up to Idaho, IdahoGolgettR- if Elk City adventure is still offered, sign me up. Again, this is a monday/tuesday so I understand if people dont have time with me during work days.
October 17-19? - Either heading back towards eastern Idaho, or bypassing Elk City and going straight for it after getting a bit familiar with Boise. Jim, I would be interested in that Snake River flour gold too, as this has become my speciality. We went from 30% capture rate with traditional sluices to almost 100% with our own build. 100 tiny specks in each test pan equals to about 1 gram / hour with a sluice. Is that possible in Snake River too?
-October 19-20. Maybe ending the prospecting part of the trip and heading down to Salt Lake City, then further to Las Vegas.
-October 21th - Checking out Los Angeles, auditioning to become an actor or...I dont know. Still couple of days left - I Think any of the mentioned activities above could be prolonged, except the Las Vegas part.

Decisive to whether I try any remote prospecting at all is if there is a spare tire in the truck. I rented a "Chevrolet Suburban or similar", no idea what I will end up it. But that Suburban doesnt seem to carry an extra Wheel, and no repair kit will save me from a big rock cutting through a tire.

But well, this is what the preliminary schedule looks like and the route I plan.

 

[N-Lionberger]

no spare tire? seems a little odd.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

That sounds OK. With full pans, I'd say the chances of 100 flakes/pan are pretty good. I was using my new gold recovery device (own design) a couple of weeks ago, and recovered about 4,000 flakes in a couple of hours, running 2" minus feed. That was about a 70% capture percentage. Flakes are all smaller than 100 mesh. Most are <200
Jim

 

[HappySwede]

Then Snake River must be done on this trip.

I'll try to fit in a special mat I have, on the flight. It can be run hard and still capture almost 100%, even this pure powder.

 

[N-Lionberger]

What kind of mat are you referring to?

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I'm looking forward to seeing your mat in action!
Jim

 

[HappySwede]

I dont think the mat has a name, but its the one used in in Gold Cube. It wasnt for sale anywhere until last year, as it actually is a transporting band. Some call it "vortex mat" but it then gets confused with other vortex mats, that do not work as well.

We then drill holes in a small metal or plastic brick which we put above, that causes further vortexes going up to the surface and litteraly grabbing the gold. This works on powder aswell as very flat specks that are usually blown out too. We were used to seeing as much gold in the tailings as in our test pans, no matter what we tried. And then all of suddenly, there was never gold in the tailings no matter how hard we ran it. Too bad we soon afterwards ran out of pay dirt

The gold cube works aswell, but it is slow, it depends on a battery, its hard to carry and to clean out.

I do have one uncut chunk of this mat that I'll bring with me, yours to keep. My other ones are already cut 30 cm wide and I think you have other size standards on your highbankers and sluices.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

No offense, but if the flour in the Snake looked like that, I'd be a rich man....LOL. I'm traveling, so don't have access to my pics, or I'd post a couple of real flour gold.
Jim

 

[rodoconnor]

Boy, ain't that the truth Jim ! This -200 stuff is certainly a different animal .

 

[HappySwede]

We deal with powder gold aswell, in mine tailings. The colors are so tiny, that Im having a hard time even seeing it is gold.

Yet, we are able to collect several grams each day when pushing large quantities through a big highbanker with this mat setup. And we have far less than 100 visible colors per test pan doing this.

The river placers with slightly larger microgold, are insanely good and could get you several grams per hour. But they dont last too long and its not worth carrying 150 lbs of equipment for a mile only to work two hours.

 

[utah mason]

Great answers, thank you so much. As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to accept most of these offers and I Think Schedule would look something like this

October 11 - landing in SF and picking up car, and spending night on a hotel probably.
October 12 - Goldwasher - possibilities to meet up around this date? Its a thursday so I understand if you have other obligations than showing me around.
October 14 - Traveling further up California. Imaudigger - if detecting or excavator diggings are available, I would love to spend time trying both. Let me know. If not, I'll spend some time in Happy Camp as The New 49ers can help me out.
October 17 - Driving further up to Idaho, IdahoGolgettR- if Elk City adventure is still offered, sign me up. Again, this is a monday/tuesday so I understand if people dont have time with me during work days.
October 17-19? - Either heading back towards eastern Idaho, or bypassing Elk City and going straight for it after getting a bit familiar with Boise. Jim, I would be interested in that Snake River flour gold too, as this has become my speciality. We went from 30% capture rate with traditional sluices to almost 100% with our own build. 100 tiny specks in each test pan equals to about 1 gram / hour with a sluice. Is that possible in Snake River too?
-October 19-20. Maybe ending the prospecting part of the trip and heading down to Salt Lake City, then further to Las Vegas.
-October 21th - Checking out Los Angeles, auditioning to become an actor or...I dont know. Still couple of days left - I Think any of the mentioned activities above could be prolonged, except the Las Vegas part.

Decisive to whether I try any remote prospecting at all is if there is a spare tire in the truck. I rented a "Chevrolet Suburban or similar", no idea what I will end up it. But that Suburban doesnt seem to carry an extra Wheel, and no repair kit will save me from a big rock cutting through a tire.

But well, this is what the preliminary schedule looks like and the route I plan.

If your in salt lake City there is gold here. If your interested I could make time to go out. The gold is small, but easy to find. You can check out my prospecting journal to see what I typically find.

 

[HappySwede]

Looks like good finds considering the material moved. I would consider other mats than the goldhogs though, as we found them blow out 50-70% of the gold in that size.

As of now, I still dont know what excact day I'll be passing SLC, but I'll let you know a few days Before and we'll see what you are up to then.

And oh, considering I might be prospecting all by myself in them Idaho hills...this might sound stupid, but should I worry about bears? Had a few encounters in Sweden and I'm not a huge fan of those, despite the fact that Golden Reteriver puppies are more harmful than our bears --->

 

[utah mason]

Get some bear spray, cheap and works well. Make lots of noise and you probably won't have any encounters, but better safe than sorry. Yeah let me know when you're coming thru. I'm self employed so I can get out whenever works for you

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