OT: Free California Gold, all you got to do is dig.

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Many gold coins were made from California Gold that was dug from the ground. I wanted that old timer mining experience so I joined a gold club last year which has about 20 gold claims. I found decent gold but my prospecting was cut short by me killing a Toyota 4WD 4runner. One year and a half later, I bought a like new Toyota V8 Tundra 4WD Truck. So I decided to try the gold claim again that I worked the year earlier.

I want to work smart and not as hard. I pretty much stuck to just the caliche which is desert bedrock. I run a dry wash plant as there is very little water in the desert. The dry wash plant is about 50 times faster than a wet sluice box.

I wanted to do about 9 test holes to find the good gold. I drove up a valley that I had not previously been in. I saw a huge modern day hand dug trench and thought to myself that that is a lot of work that has been done recently.

I decide to run a test batch and found this in my first pan of concentrate from the dry wash machine

I was hoping to find at least 10 pieces of gold. This test had 46 pieces of gold with two nice chunks.

So I decide not to do any more test holes but instead, work this spot.

Here is the dry wash plant.

The bedrock scrappings were wet and had to be bone dry so I dried the paydirt on a tarp

This is the ancient riverbed that I was working all virgin ground.

Below are three dry wash runs and one sluice box run (at home with wet bedrock paydirt) from, a 2 1/2 solo day trip in 92 degree weather.

And the total amount of gold from this one trip which is the most gold I have found on one trip. Really chinky stuff and I did find my biggest nugget yet.

I would also like to invite any of you able-bodied members to try this out with me if you so desire. You need to be able to dig for 8 hours a day. Hardcore adventure. You also need to be able to have fun and drink beer. A 4x4 is required. 50/50 split.

Heather, I hope this OT topic is not too OT. I know the forum members here like gold. Coins were made from California Gold. I did not put this in the PM forum because I never go there and all my friends are on the US Coin forum

dadams

Wow!! That's awesome. I'll bet you can't wait to go back. Now what are you planning on doing with that there gold?

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@dadams said:
Wow!! That's awesome. I'll bet you can't wait to go back. Now what are you planning on doing with that there gold?

Ya, two days from now and the weather will be 20 degrees cooler

Most hobbyists miners just keep their gold to look at. This is NOT a money-making endeavor as I spend more on gas money than I find in gold. This is just for exercise, fun and learning about geology.

LindeDad

That is making money the true way, straight from Mother Nature.

coinhack

That is very nice. Yellow is becoming my favorite color.

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@coinhack said:
That is very nice. Yellow is becoming my favorite color.

I agree the yellow look of real raw gold in the pan is amazing. Mica or fools gold which is shiny and looks nothing like the real stuff.

LJenkins11

That is really cool! Looks like hard work but I imagine it's the last thing on your mind with all that yellow.

AUandAG

Nuggets are rough indicating the source is nearby. Best of luck, I'd be useless but it would be fun to do for sure.

If I get a chance I'll come and guard the beer.

bob

jwitten

Very very cool! I did my first panning on a weekend trip to Indian recently. I found a couple tiny specks in a creek there, and I was hooked! I would love to spend a few days doing this.

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@AUandAG said:
Nuggets are rough indicating the source is nearby. Best of luck, I'd be useless but it would be fun to do for sure.

If I get a chance I'll come and guard the beer.

bob

More than welcome to desert camp for the experience. It is a neat area with a rich history.

Metal detecting kinda works but there is are a lot of hot rocks, lead bullets, airplane chaff, etc.

1630Boston

Fantastic post, let us know when you find the mother lode
On second thought.....................@ricko always says to keep quiet

Proofmorgan

I’m east coast but the invite sounds very tempting....

Looks like a lot of fun.

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@1630Boston said:
Fantastic post, let us know when you find the mother lode
On second thought.....................@ricko always says to keep quiet

Well as the story goes, in 1781 the Indians revolted in Yuma against the Spanish missionaries who used the Indians as slaves to mine gold in the same area where the claim is. The Indians killed the missionaries and took all the gold and fled to the hills and hid the stash. The gold had never been found as far as you know.

Insider2

I'm jealous! The experience is just as good as the gold.

Thanks for the OT. Any chance of tracing the stream bed up to higher ground closer to the source? You already know that curves in the stream bed are good spots to look, right? Good luck as all it takes is one very big nugget to make up for a year of gas. Do you use USGS maps? Stores up in Dahlonega, GA do a healthy business selling books, pans, maps etc. Didn't find one flake but great fun!

bugbit

Would LOVE to try this. Would also cost quite a bit more gas money to get there from ths east coast.

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@Insider2 said:
I'm jealous! The experience is just as good as the gold.

Thanks for the OT. Any chance of tracing the stream bed up to higher ground closer to the source? You already know that curves in the stream bed are good spots to look, right? Good luck as all it takes is one very big nugget to make up for a year of gas. Do you use USGS maps? Stores up in Dahlonega, GA do a healthy business selling books, pans, maps etc. Didn't find one flake but great fun!

That's a tough one as this area has been prospected since the 1600's. The easiest digging is to continue on someone else's previous dig as you are going into virgin ground so it is all good. It is a massive claim so there are more areas to try than you can do in a lifetime. I am working the streambed where two hills come together concentrating the paydirt.

I use google earth on full close up as you can see hand dug holes which is amazing.

asheland

Looks like fun! I wish I could try it... too far away unfortunately

Insider2

Too bad there is no running water. How much do you bring with you? Stay over night? Gun?

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@Insider2 said:
Too bad there is no running water. How much do you bring with you? Stay over night? Gun?

No running water. I bring about 30 gallons of water. I did once bring 70 gallons and a wet sluice box which worked great until it didn't.

The dry wash plant is way better than the wet sluice box as so much more material can be moved.

I spend multiple nights on site. Guns are allowed there for target practice. You do not need one for safety!!!

SaorAlba

My uncle owned a gold mine in Calaveras county until the early 1970s. Of course when I was a kid I thought that was cool stuff, but never got to go in the mine for safety reasons.

I myself have dredged and panned on the Cosumnes River in El Dorado county - freaking snow melt cold water in the high Sierra.

Akbeez

Great post and pics! I've done a bit of recreational prospecting in the nearby Talkeetna Mtns -- still an active gold mining area in southcentral Alaska. Found some interesting "free gold" (visible gold) in quartz, as this was mostly hard rock mining. In the 1950s there was a limited run of gold coins struck locally (to stay on coins) but I have not been able to track down any specimens.
So -- "dry washing" -- is that done with blowing air?

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Dry washing is done by blowing air thru the material while at the same time the passing air hits an unbalanced (weighted) fan blade which vibrates the box intensely. Gravity takes over and the lights float away.

Jinx86

Ill stick to my urban mining. I would be very tempted to try digging for my gold if the opportunity arises.

ricko

Great pictures and some nice gold finds... I have panned in CA, AZ, TX, WA and New Zealand...Also did some MD'ing for gold.. found two nice nuggets in AZ....7 and 5 grams...I never tried dry washing... sounds interesting. If I was still living out West I would join you for some fun prospecting. Cheers, RickO

privatecoin

Would love to try some time.

Timbuk3

Wow, great job. I tried it a few times when I visited Colorado. Not nearly as much gold as you found, but it was fun. Congratulations !!!

SkyMan

Fun stuff!

Just for interests sakes (and I realize the nuggets could be different percentages of pure gold), what was the total weight of your haul?

I've never gone prospecting for gold, but I did pan for gems in Sri Lanka. Got an assortment of semi-precious stones, and one sapphire.

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I have not weighed it yet as it is still in water. I need to dry it out first. It is not much value wise but it is a lot to find. As I said earlier, I spent more in gas money to get there and back than I found in gold for sure.

Batman23

Looks like fun. If I was much closer I might take you up on the offer. Hope you find a monster nugget!

Insider2

Lets see the gemstones!

jtlee321

Awesome topic!! I love prospecting and regret that I did not get a chance to go out this year. I have a stream 30 minutes from me where I can always find a little yellow. It's the East Fork of the Lewis River here in Southwest Washington. It is also known for placer platinum as well.

Here is what I found in about 5 hours last year. You can see a small chunk of platinum in there as well. It's a lot of work, but it sure is fun. There is nothing like recovering gold that no other human has seen in the history of the world.

thebeav

That looks like a lot of fun.
Good luck out there.......

skier07

Without getting into specifics what part of California were you in?

Namvet69

Thanks for sharing that. Back in the 70's me and 2 friends traveled all over northern California fly fishing for salmon, trout and steelhead. We came across prospectors on occasion and they worked harder than we fished. I also know a guy who has ordered buckets and bags of dirt delivered so he could pan it at his leisure. There were gold flakes but not my idea of fun. Going to the ground is the adventure. Peace Roy

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@skier07 said:
Without getting into specifics what part of California were you in?

The claim is in Very SouthEast California.

asheland

@jtlee321 said:
Awesome topic!! I love prospecting and regret that I did not get a chance to go out this year. I have a stream 30 minutes from me where I can always find a little yellow. It's the East Fork of the Lewis River here in Southwest Washington. It is also known for placer platinum as well.

Here is what I found in about 5 hours last year. You can see a small chunk of platinum in there as well. It's a lot of work, but it sure is fun. There is nothing like recovering gold that no other human has seen in the history of the world.

Great picture!

sellitstore

Gold can be found at many locations in California, not just in the Mother Lode area. It's really pretty amazing.

However, I've looked and panned several times but have only been able to find black sands, not a single spec of "color", even in the material around the bends and just above the bedrock.

I know that the gold is there. I just can't find any of it.

ElKevvo

Neat stuff...If I lived closer and had the time I would join you. When I was a kid we went out and visited like my mom;s second cousin's uncle's brother's son who was running a small dry mining operation somewhere in So Cal up in the dry hills. He was doing it full time and living in a trailer with no a/c etc. and did have some gold he showed us. I thought it was neat but without TV it did not appeal to me as a kid...no Gilligan's Island!. Now it does for some reason...maybe I have watched enough TV over the years.

K

Oldhoopster

About 15 years ago, I had an opportunity to join a gold club in Georgia. Only managed to make it to 1 group dig on a claim somewhere near Washington/Lincolnton/Graves Mt area. Had a blast and still have my vial of fine gold. Would love to do it again.

This area is only about 100 miles SW of Dahlonega. I never got around to researching the mining history of the area but always wondered if mining was active during the time the mint was active and if gold from the region made it into Dahlonega gold coins

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Wild Burros watched me find gold the last few days .....

bugbit

@ErrorsOnCoins said:
Wild Burros watched me find gold the last few days .....

There is a jack@$$ joke in there somewhere🤔

metalmeister

The old time Mexican miners in that area used to throw dirt in the air using blankets and letting the wind blow away the lighter material. Neat finds you got there! I am in the San Diego area and would like to join you some time if my schedule ( Wife's schedule) allows. Only have a 2wd Toyota Tundra though.

metalmeister

BTW here's some of my panning the N. Fork of the American river. I spent more on gas but it was fun being out in the fresh air working hard. Just thinking of what the ol' timers did was amazing! GLTA

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@metalmeister said:
The old time Mexican miners in that area used to throw dirt in the air using blankets and letting the wind blow away the lighter material. Neat finds you got there! I am in the San Diego area and would like to join you some time if my schedule ( Wife's schedule) allows. Only have a 2wd Toyota Tundra though.

Wow, that seems like it would work, the same principle as my dry wash plant.

Anytime. We could probably get you there with a Toyota 2wd if you have off-road experience or at least very close, I could ferry you in the rest of the way if you decided to park.

I actually found my two biggest nuggets a few days ago from this area.

I now have a separate nugget vile

dpoole

Wow!

If I were 40 years younger and owned something more imposing than a Corolla, I'd be there!

metalmeister

Thanks Errors. I am swamped till January 19' but I'll keep you posted. Looks like you are an expert now! Go out there get a BIG nugget for all of use to see and envy! Here's the old way mining in the desert I mentioned above.

rte592

Are you working the dirt on a weekend?
I think I'm close enough to you in area code 85365 and would like to make a day trip out....check out your operation and put a face to the name.

DCW

What an adventure that would be. But alas, I am on the opposite end of the continent.

DoubleEagle59

Back in my youth, it was a dream of mine to head off to British Columbia and pan for gold during my summer vacation.

Never did that.

I still want to but I'm afraid my back is telling me not to.

I'll have to stick with golf but I'll keep my eyes open for any yellow flakes when my golf ball lands in the creek!

Tookybandit

I really enjoyed reading this thread, fun stuff!

divecchia

@ErrorsOnCoins Great thread with some really cool photos!!!

Thanks for sharing your gold mining experience with us.

Good luck finding the motherlode.

Donato