The Many Lost Treasures of Mariposa, CA (Photos Added)

[calisdad]

You owe me some pics of those big nuggetts

That is some fascinating reading. Who would have thought they found remains of an American Elephant below the Hornitos Tulare trail? We are so insignificant.

Regarding Angelus2k5's question: is there enough fall to set up a gravity dredge? Been awhile since I've been there but I'm getting the itch.

 

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[Rik]

So, the river is low enough to wade across. I was curious about Pete’s “gopher holes” so, GMT in hand, I crossed just down stream of his flat. He was right. It is ancient riverbed material sitting on bedrock. Just like that wall by the road further down. I could see several places where he had dug horizontally into the hillside. Unfortunately over time, mud and rocks sliding down the mountain have filled them in.


As I worked my way around an outcropping I noticed what appeared to me to be a crack in the bedrock wall, hidden behind a tree. When I got close enough to see in, it became obvious it was a man made tunnel. The outside looked very natural, or maybe like the entrance to a Mayan temple, but inside it was a classic, curved ceiling mine. I stood in the entrance for several minutes hoping my eyes would adjust enough to see how deep it went, but I could only see about 50 feet in.


Now, I’ve been known to be adventurous to the point of dangerous, but I’m not completely insane. I was alone and across the river from my truck. If I didn’t come out of that mine for any reason, no one would ever find me. So, I went home.

I got right on my computed and started researching mine records, Eagle’s older posts and all my old maps looking for any clues. The nearest mine was 2 miles away. There wasn’t a quartz vein they were following. I couldn’t make sense of it so went to bed and dreamed of skeletons with muskets guarding canvas sacks of gold…

It took me 2 days to get back up there with a buddy. He stood at the entrance while I slopped through the mud with a flash light and the metal detector. Everything looked very stable for about 80 feet, when I came upon a pile of washed river rock on the floor. As I stepped over it, I aimed my flashlight up to see a shaft going up about 10 feet that busted through bedrock into the ancient river bed. It was indescribably spooky to be looking up at giant boulders stuck in the ceiling of the chamber above. I told myself that if one fell it wouldn’t fit through the shaft. I restarted my heart and hurried under the cover of the bedrock. The tunnel ran another 20 feet before another hole punched up through the bedrock. This one was huge. The material falling from the chamber blocked the rest of the tunnel. I scooped a half a bucket of material from the top of the bedrock and turned tail out of there.

It was beautiful day to sit in the shade by the river and pan. There was a stark contrast to the cold, dark, damp and terrifying tunnel behind me. But there wasn’t a speck of gold in the bucket. I’ll show anyone where this is at, but be warned, it’s dangerous as all hell and I didn’t find any gold in there…

 

[CharlesP]

Rik your story had me captivated. Glad you weren't a captive. So what looks to be a giant mountain side is really just covering an ancient part of the Merced river? Wow I learn so much everytime I read on here.

 

[EagleDown]

Rik your story had me captivated. Glad you weren't a captive. So what looks to be a giant mountain side is really just covering an ancient part of the Merced river? Wow I learn so much everytime I read on here.

His story had me captivated also. For some reason, I haven't been getting notifications of posts, for the last couple of days. So, I apologise if anyone thought that I was ignoring them. I'm going detecting early in the morning, so I'll try to catch up on my replies when I get home.

Rik, after your email, I got to thinking about that opening. I imagine that Pete was exploring a way to access the ancient bedrock but gave up on it, since I don't recall him ever mentioning it. Could you tell if there were any adits going off of the shaft where it broke through the bedrock? I might have to wade across and check it out myself. (Some day). (lol)

 

[Rik]

Rik, after your email, I got to thinking about that opening. I imagine that Pete was exploring a way to access the ancient bedrock but gave up on it, since I don't recall him ever mentioning it. Could you tell if there were any adits going off of the shaft where it broke through the bedrock? I might have to wade across and check it out myself. (Some day). (lol)

Yeah, the stopes were only about 2-3 feet around through the bedrock and then shot off in multiple directions for 5-10 feet or so . The material is so wet and soft that as it fell it opened pretty large areas. My best guess would be that the tunnel was blasted to drain a mine somewhere in the mountain. Then someone came along later and busted up to the old river. The tunnel is well done but the stopes are crude.

 

[mariposagold]

I guess the trick here would be to "borrow" a five dollar gold piece and see. Unfortunately, I've never been fortunate enough to find a gold coin, so I can't say for sure. You might talk to Fred at his mining supply, (behind Subway), and see if he would at least let you do an "air test" on a gold coin. He's a good hearted guy, and might be willing to help. (Of course, it would probably help if you bought something while there). (lol)

Wow, that would blow my mind to dig up a motorcycle. (lol)

My house is on 7th street just up from Freds store. I've yacked with him a few times. I went down to Freds to spend money Saturday, but he was closed. Now I'm broke. Impulse spending. He's certainly all right in my book. On the MXT Pro a $5.00 gold coin comes up as Zinc in Coin Jewelry mode. Rob has a few Gold coins and an MXT. So we can certainly test it for gold coins easy enough.

Yeah, digging a motorcycle would be interesting to say the least.

 

[chupacabra]

Rik is a brave soul so if it made you nervous its probably pretty hairy in that mine but dang nothin but nuggets back in them old river channels
BTW this is vini from fresno new ID i'll just hang out where its safe and wont find trouble

 

[EagleDown]

What if we cut out the whole taking material home? Would it be possible to sift through that material while still under water? Sure you might miss out on the fine gold but wouldn’t you still be able to get some good sized "pickers" out of it? Being a tenderfoot I know little to nothing about the whole prospecting thing so I’m not too sure if this action would be allowed. My theory is just based on the fact that since dredging has been suspended, the good sized pieces of gold that would have otherwise been cleaned out should still be there. I’m assuming all you would have to do is just get some kind of strainer/classifier that you could use while under water and just sift away. Of course I have no idea if you would be able to just sift through material while underwater so I don’t know if this would even be allowed. What do you think Eagle? (Or anyone else that wants to chirp in)

There's several problems with that; The main one being that you're talking about moving a lot of sand and gravel to get to pay dirt. And that means you would have to have an air supply. And right now, no motor driven equipment is allowed on the river. And that includes gas powered air compressors. That just leaves the ancient river channels that are well above the river. The good news is, there's a lot of that, (lol)

 

[CharlesP]

How was the metal detecting this morning Eagle?

 

[EagleDown]

How was the metal detecting this morning Eagle?

Harump!! I got skunked again. mgb found a small piece. But, he'll have to tell you about it. (lol) I can tell you this much: He came across a "pot hole" in the bedrock that someone had recently cleaned out. Out of curiosity, he ran his coil across in and got a signal. He found that there was a crack in the bottom of the hole that had a decent size picker down in it, So, it seems that you should check for cracks where others have already cleaned the bedrock. (lol)

 

[EagleDown]

That is some fascinating reading. Who would have thought they found remains of an American Elephant below the Hornitos Tulare trail? We are so insignificant.

Regarding Angelus2k5's question: is there enough fall to set up a gravity dredge? Been awhile since I've been there but I'm getting the itch.

There's probably a couple of rapids that drop enough for a gravity dredge, but the place where I would want to be would take a lot of pipe to get enough velocity to operate it efficiently. Then, we get to the need for an air supply.

 

[CharlesP]

Harump!! I got skunked again. mgb found a small piece. But, he'll have to tell you about it. (lol) I can tell you this much: He came across a "pot hole" in the bedrock that someone had recently cleaned out. Out of curiosity, he ran his coil across in and got a signal. He found that there was a crack in the bottom of the hole that had a decent size picker down in
it, So, it seems that you should check for cracks where others have already cleaned the bedrock. (lol)

Nice for mgb. I never had much luck in those pot holes but I always clean them out. Lol.

 

[EagleDown]

Nice for mgb. I never had much luck in those pot holes but I always clean them out. Lol.

Yep, but who ever cleaned this one out, evidently swept it clean with their hands and didn't have a metal detector to check it afterwards. (lol)

 

[Oakview2]

Chupacabra and I know a couple of guys working potholes almost exclusively and they are having a great year. Avg 10-12 grams per weekend

Yep, but who ever cleaned this one out, evidently swept it clean with their hands and didn't have a metal detector to check it afterwards. (lol)

 

[angelus2k5]

There's several problems with that; The main one being that you're talking about moving a lot of sand and gravel to get to pay dirt. And that means you would have to have an air supply. And right now, no motor driven equipment is allowed on the river. And that includes gas powered air compressors. That just leaves the ancient river channels that are well above the river. The good news is, there's a lot of that, (lol)

im guessing that holding you breath would be out of the picture lol. forgive me if im putting words in your mouth but this idea would work if there was an air supply(no not the band lol)? well i guess ill have to either grow gills, find some diving equipment for cheap, or get a snorkle and a really long hose lol. darn that elusive gold!

 

[EagleDown]

im guessing that holding you breath would be out of the picture lol. forgive me if im putting words in your mouth but this idea would work if there was an air supply(no not the band lol)? well i guess ill have to either grow gills, find some diving equipment for cheap, or get a snorkle and a really long hose lol. darn that elusive gold!

Sorry, I don't have an answer (yet). It just happens to be a problem that I am currently wrestling with myself. A gold bearing area that really needs to have the gold collected. But, about 3 ft of overburden.

 

[sagthegreat]

I had considered the "ground penetrating radar", but after reading up on them, found the price of even renting one was beyond what most prospectors could afford. The main problem was that it required an experienced operator, due to harmful radiation. So, not only do you have to rent the "radar", you also have to pay for the operator. (lol)

Since you live in Berdoo, I would suggest you stop by Stapp & Moore Mining, (their address is in the advertising of Keene Equip. in the Int. CA Mining Journal"). If I remember correctly, they're on "E" St. Talk to Terry Stapp and tell him you heard about him using airial infra-red film to locate deposits of gold back in the mid-eighties and see if he will tell you the nominclature of the infra-red film he used. (Sorry, it's been so long, I no longer remember).

After that, it would be a lot cheaper to have a local pilot fly over the area while you take photos with the infra-red film. If you ever get to that point, I can direct you further on direction, altitude and best time of day, etc.

Hope this helps!

P.S. The location is near Bagby, not McCabe. (lol)

If you can tell me the size of the sacks of gold, if u remember when u went in the tunnel, I could figure out how much gold there is, also is it nuggets or bars? Maybe the cost of the treasure split 3 ways between us could offset the gpr? :P

 

[EagleDown]

If you can tell me the size of the sacks of gold, if u remember when u went in the tunnel, I could figure out how much gold there is, also is it nuggets or bars? Maybe the cost of the treasure split 3 ways between us could offset the gpr? :P

Sag My Friend, I can't answer your questions. If you go back to page #1 of this thread, you'll understand why.

 

[familyhunter]

Eagle so they passed a new rule now we cant even use Randymans hookah

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle so they passed a new rule now we cant even use Randymans hookah

Not really new. It's in effect during the fire season. We were informed last year that we weren't suppose to have the hookah there, but we were taking it out when they spotted it. So, it didn't really effect us at that time.

Frankly, I would still use it, if I owned it. I believe a court would rule that it wasn't a fire hazard, since it is floating on water.