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

[EagleDown]

happy thanksgiving eagle. have great day.I know I am thankfull for this thread. peace to you brother dave.

Thank you Brother, you have a great thanksgiving too!! I've been invited to thanksgiving dinner, so will leave here in a little while. Will be a welcome respite from my cooking. (lol)

 

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[EagleDown]

GarretDiggingAz..........Hey, congrats!! Looks like you might be closer to the "Pay Streak". I sure hope so. When you're rich, don't forget the ol' Eagle. Need to have my feathers manicured. (lol)

 

[EagleDown]

Halito ALL!!
I don't know if anyone is interested, but I have a serious need to go to the river tomorrow, (Saturday). I know it's short notice, but if you can make it, you'll be more than welcome.

I'll be in the area of Willow Placer. Just watch for my old dark green Ford Explorer. I'll be parked on the side of the road in plain sight. (That is, if the gate is open). I should be there between 9 and 9:30 am.

Gotta get some of that "Sassy" gold!! (lol)

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Hey Eagle,
Thx for that. I appreciate that. It took a lot to get that little guy. Well he's not that little to me. Lol.
I should've told the guys to take the metal detector out and go over the rocks they tossed. Sadly wasn't done, but next time we go out you can bet we'll go over the discards.

So hope you had your fill for thanksgiving.

How was your trip to the river? I wish I lived closer to ya. I'd gone in a heart beat.

 

[EagleDown]

The trip to the river was great, up to a point. The second signal I dug was a decent nugget. (2 grams). I wanted to stay longer, but I was starting to feel kinda strange, so after only about 15 minutes of actual metal detecting, I loaded my TDI and Flash in the car and headed home. I won't go into the nasty details, but I had a bad bout of food poisoning. Feel much better today, but just taking it easy. I might go back to the river in a day or two and dig a signal I had just before I left. Just didn't want to expend the energy at the time. (lol)

The first couple of photos are of Flash, going for the gold. (Well, gophers are gold to her). (lol)
The next two are the nugget I found. I think I finally learned the settings on the TDI. Watch out Tnet, the Eagle's up and running. (in a couple of days), (lol)

Looking at the size of the hole Flash dug, I think I'd better run the detector over her tailings pile. (lol)

 

[angelus2k5]

The trip to the river was great, up to a point. The second signal I dug was a decent nugget. (2 grams). I wanted to stay longer, but I was starting to feel kinda strange, so after only about 15 minutes of actual metal detecting, I loaded my TDI and Flash in the car and headed home. I won't go into the nasty details, but I had a bad bout of food poisoning. Feel much better today, but just taking it easy. I might go back to the river in a day or two and dig a signal I had just before I left. Just didn't want to expend the energy at the time. (lol)

The first couple of photos are of Flash, going for the gold. (Well, gophers are gold to her). (lol)
The next two are the nugget I found. I think I finally learned the settings on the TDI. Watch out Tnet, the Eagle's up and running. (in a couple of days), (lol)

Looking at the size of the hole Flash dug, I think I'd better run the detector over her tailings pile. (lol)

Great pics eagle!!! Be careful though. Pics like that might just start another gold rush lol. if only for the locals. Wishing a speedy recovery and hope your turkey day was well, food poisoning aside. I would have been honored to have you over for thanksgiving but my turkey would not have been worth that drive.(well maybe) lol

 

[Oakview2]

The Eagle soars Sweet piece.....

 

[EagleDown]

Great pics eagle!!! Be careful though. Pics like that might just start another gold rush lol. if only for the locals. Wishing a speedy recovery and hope your turkey day was well, food poisoning aside. I would have been honored to have you over for thanksgiving but my turkey would not have been worth that drive.(well maybe) lol

Actually, it might have been worth the drive, if just to keep from going through what I went through. (lol)

 

[EagleDown]

The Eagle soars Sweet piece.....

Thank you Brother!! It sure made my day. (Well, at least the first part of my day). (lol)

 

[old digger]

Nice picker, EagleDown!

 

[EagleDown]

Nice picker, EagleDown!

Thank you my Friend!! You can imagine how happy I was to find it. My first nugget with a metal detector, Now I'm going back with my partner. He'll be using the MXT. I'll let you know if we do any good.

 

[EagleDown]

I just returned from the river, but no nuggets this time. I'm not concerned about it though, as I know there's still more there just waiting for me. I did learn a little lesson this last Saturday, (well, if you count the spoiled turkey, two lessons). (lol)

While I was digging for the nugget, I was moving loose, soft dirt from near the base of some bedrock. I had a little of the loose dirt in a pile when I passed the coil back over the hole and found that my target had moved. The dirt was so loose that right then I decided it couldn't possibly be gold. I mean, gold is so heavy that it wouldn't stay up in the loose dirt, would it? Wrong!! I started sifting the dirt through my fingers to find what I had been wasting my time on. Finally, I picked up a small ball of dry clay, about an inch long and half that thick. When I passed it by the coil, it about knocked my eardrums out. I crushed the clay between my fingers and the nugget fell out into my other hand. Surprise, surprise!!!

Now I know that if a nugget gets trapped in clay, it can stay right up near the surface in really loose dirt. At least until there's enough moisture to disolve the clay. Just something to keep in mind.

Today, I found lead slugs, from the size of .22 caliber, on up to who knows? They were so mangled I couldn't identify them. I also found a complete .22 long rifle bullet. Bet they take better care of their ammo these days. (lol)

 

[Sam 8]

Glad you are getting out and about my friend, we are back from Nevada and a great family visit with the new grandson, born last September. His birth means our line will continue.
I have done some research and early evaluations of that claim on the Yuba that a friend now owns, I am thinking that next summer it might be worth your while making a trek up here. If we get a good winter and the river moves some material it will certainly be fun, and might be profitable. There are also tailings piles up the hill from a as yet discovered shaft, and we have it on good authority that those piles have not been worked in the modern era...
So put some gas money away...you are on a very, very short list of people that will get the invite.

 

[Lanny in AB]

I just returned from the river, but no nuggets this time. I'm not concerned about it though, as I know there's still more there just waiting for me. I did learn a little lesson this last Saturday, (well, if you count the spoiled turkey, two lessons). (lol)

While I was digging for the nugget, I was moving loose, soft dirt from near the base of some bedrock. I had a little of the loose dirt in a pile when I passed the coil back over the hole and found that my target had moved. The dirt was so loose that right then I decided it couldn't possibly be gold. I mean, gold is so heavy that it wouldn't stay up in the loose dirt, would it? Wrong!! I started sifting the dirt through my fingers to find what I had been wasting my time on. Finally, I picked up a small ball of dry clay, about an inch long and half that thick. When I passed it by the coil, it about knocked my eardrums out. I crushed the clay between my fingers and the nugget fell out into my other hand. Surprise, surprise!!!

Now I know that if a nugget gets trapped in clay, it can stay right up near the surface in really loose dirt. At least until there's enough moisture to disolve the clay. Just something to keep in mind.

Today, I found lead slugs, from the size of .22 caliber, on up to who knows? They were so mangled I couldn't identify them. I also found a complete .22 long rifle bullet. Bet they take better care of their ammo these days. (lol)

That's a sweet story Eagle, with a great free tip to boot!

By the way, a great big congratulations to you on passing the 100,000 view mark for your thread. You most certainly deserve it. I love reading your stories, and I love gleaning your golden tips that you liberally salt your tales with as well.

It's too bad we can't go dredging together in your neck of the woods. I'd haul either the 4 or the 5 inch down there and learn a few tricks from you while we chased a little sassy gold. It most certainly would be a ton of fun.

All the best, and congratulations again on your nugget find,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

I had a friend bring me a pint size cottage cheese container today. It had about
1 inch of a greenish sand in it. He wanted me to identify it for him. Said he picked
it up while digging a test hole for his boss about 3 years ago. I asked if he minded
if I panned it down to see what 'heavies' might be in it. He said "go ahead". So,
I proceeded to pan it. I got down to black sand and small pyrites and started
seeing gold. Ended up with about 2 grams of gold. (Estimated) I asked where
he found it. It turned out that he dug a hole for the co. he worked for, to test the
soil for percolation. (To see how well it drained water). At about 7 ft. he hit a
layer of this greenish material about 3 ft. thick and collected a handfull just out
of curiosity. He put it in the container and when he got home, he sat in on the
shelf in the garage and forgot about it, until he saw me running my drywasher.



I then asked if we could go to the place and collect some more samples. He said
"Let's go". So, I drove about 5 miles or so. When we got to the spot......There were
several homes that had been built in the last 3 years.

Well, there's another potential fortune 'down the drain'. (Excuse the pun, the test
hole was to see if a septic tank would be ok there). (lol)

Here's a photo of the panned sample. I haven't figured out what the small grey
pieces are. And, I don't want to sink any money in tests for non-accessable areas.
I have a feeling that there use to be a stamp mill above the area, possibly back in
the mid-eighteen hundreds and this was from the tailings from the crushed materials,
showing just how much the "old timers" lost in gold. From this little sample, I would
roughly estimate about 3 ounces per ton.

That's a great story Eagle!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Glad you are getting out and about my friend, we are back from Nevada and a great family visit with the new grandson, born last September. His birth means our line will continue.
I have done some research and early evaluations of that claim on the Yuba that a friend now owns, I am thinking that next summer it might be worth your while making a trek up here. If we get a good winter and the river moves some material it will certainly be fun, and might be profitable. There are also tailings piles up the hill from a as yet discovered shaft, and we have it on good authority that those piles have not been worked in the modern era...
So put some gas money away...you are on a very, very short list of people that will get the invite.

Great to hear from you My Brother!!

Believe me when I say; I am deeply honored. I have to get some work done on my front suspension, but once it's done, I've already been thinking about other areas. So, chances are very good that I'll take you up on your very generous invitation.

 

[EagleDown]

That's a sweet story Eagle, with a great free tip to boot!

By the way, a great big congratulations to you on passing the 100,000 view mark for your thread. You most certainly deserve it. I love reading your stories, and I love gleaning your golden tips that you liberally salt your tales with as well.

It's too bad we can't go dredging together in your neck of the woods. I'd haul either the 4 or the 5 inch down there and learn a few tricks from you while we chased a little sassy gold. It most certainly would be a ton of fun.

All the best, and congratulations again on your nugget find,

Lanny

Many thanks Brother,
You know, the sad part is that I remembered an area I ran across in the seventies and now, am unable to dredge it. I'm not exagerating when I say; With a 5" dredge, I could pick up a couple of pounds of gold in (possibly) less than a week. Man, our state government SUCKS!!

I would like nothing better than to have you here working along beside me!!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Many thanks Brother,
You know, the sad part is that I remembered an area I ran across in the seventies and now, am unable to dredge it. I'm not exagerating when I say; With a 5" dredge, I could pick up a couple of pounds of gold in (possibly) less than a week. Man, our state government SUCKS!!

I would like nothing better than to have you here working along beside me!!

It would be fun, and I'd be honored to work alongside you. I hope one day The Great State of California will come to a sensible understanding and allow people to enjoy their federal mining rights again.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

I don't know where the heck they are in Arizona, but I sure would love to get in with my drywasher and its built in vacuum!! (lol)

 

[Lanny in AB]

I'd have checked out that bedrock with the little Falcon MD. I'm sure your vacuum would do well too.

All the best,

Lanny