IdahoGoldGettR
Full Member
I wish to share a recent prospecting venture with you all. Several weeks ago I decided to gamble and pick a spot on the lower end of the claim. I hadn't found much color working the early morning hours and decided to venture elsewhere. This downstream area contained no large boulders, no bends in the river nor any sand bars,,, nothing but an open stretch of river gravel to contend with. Not an ideal prospect. On a positive note, the water level was shallow at this new location which prompted the "go-ahead and dig" attitude. As (good) luck would have it on this day, I quickly found bedrock after several minutes of shoveling. A few hours later, I had removed all overburden on a 12 square ft. area {Photo 1). To my surprise, I could not believe the numerous bedrock cracks that were revealed. I was very optimistic but because it was late in the day and the early work done elsewhere had taken a toll on me, I decided to pack it in. However before leaving, I did sample this new prospect and as suspected, it did show great promise. Photo 2 shows that day's sample.
The next morning (July 1st), I dawned on my wet suit and goggles and began my work on the new area. I first located a nice 1/2" crack beneath a small slab of bedrock. It was heavily packed with gravels making it nearly impossible to pry up and so I turned to the use of a thin paint scraper. As I loosened the sediments, I was soon to discovered that there was something lurking beneath this slab other than gravels. I immediately swept away the loose gravels and there nestled in the corner lay a nice sparkling nugget. I quickly grabbed the camera and as I was retrieving it, took some photos of the event so I could "re-live the moment" for a later date (see photos 3 & 4). That little slab was then removed and it proved to be very profitable. After a quick sniping and panning session, another smaller nugget and his little friends also appeared. Photos 5 and 6 show the gold compilation recovered beneath this one little slab. The better part of the day, I widened the hole continuing to work more overburden with a little more sniping between the down time. Photo 7 shows the total gold taken on this day. A closer view of the two larger gold pieces can be seen in the last photo.
All in all, it was a golden day with many smiles and a great underwater placer find. May your days be filled with sunshine and your pans be blessed with an abundance of gold. Cheers - Randy
The next morning (July 1st), I dawned on my wet suit and goggles and began my work on the new area. I first located a nice 1/2" crack beneath a small slab of bedrock. It was heavily packed with gravels making it nearly impossible to pry up and so I turned to the use of a thin paint scraper. As I loosened the sediments, I was soon to discovered that there was something lurking beneath this slab other than gravels. I immediately swept away the loose gravels and there nestled in the corner lay a nice sparkling nugget. I quickly grabbed the camera and as I was retrieving it, took some photos of the event so I could "re-live the moment" for a later date (see photos 3 & 4). That little slab was then removed and it proved to be very profitable. After a quick sniping and panning session, another smaller nugget and his little friends also appeared. Photos 5 and 6 show the gold compilation recovered beneath this one little slab. The better part of the day, I widened the hole continuing to work more overburden with a little more sniping between the down time. Photo 7 shows the total gold taken on this day. A closer view of the two larger gold pieces can be seen in the last photo.
All in all, it was a golden day with many smiles and a great underwater placer find. May your days be filled with sunshine and your pans be blessed with an abundance of gold. Cheers - Randy
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