Best spots on a mountain?

[machineman]

My brother is part owner in a tertiary gold mine in the Sierras. We have hunted the tunnels with some success with our detectors. I am thinking that the sides of the mountain below the mine should have some gold that washed out of the old river and is on its way to the new river 1000' below. The terrain is extremely rugged and there are some small washes that run down it to the main river. I have found gold in the washes and in the river. I figure that the old timers probably worked the washes and river hard before starting their tunnels. However I am thinking that they most likely didn't work the areas between the washes. Have any of you ever worked a mountain in this situation? I plan on using my GM2 and Infinium to try it, when the snow melts. I am thinking of working the granite outcrops where the gold may have stopped on its way down. Thanks.

 

[tvanwho]

I just got back from Arizona where I was looking at quartz outcroppings and greenstone .The greenstone was in a wash and went all the way up the side of the mountain right up to the quartz outcropping I had marked with my map dowsing for gold. I didn't see any visible gold but almost sliced open my hand on razor sharp quartz.Hmm.. mother nature usually leaves rounded edges?
Judging from the amount of greenstone rubble and the huge white chunks of quartz in the wash about 500 feet below, I concluded my quartz and greenstone outcropping must have been about 50 times larger originally before some oldtime prospectors ,with the help of mule loads of dynamite, blasted the outcroppings to pieces.
There was also a 4 foot deep hole in the greenstone right where it ended at the quartz outcropping, about 30 feet below the mountain ridge.
I brought back the rustiest lookin pieces of quartz and greenstone I could find to grind them up in my Golden MFg handcrank rock crusher I bought off Ebay some years ago.
Need to pan out the dust to look for color now.
Would the old timers have gone to all that trouble blasting that outcropping to smithereeens if it were barren of color?
Anyway, a 70 year old prospector at a patented, family owned gold mine in Payson, Arizona, told me to look for saddles on mountain sides in between 2 little side peaks, where gold could catch on its way down the mountainsides.He also told me if you see the gold specks with a loupe in quartz, it was good for 3 ounces a ton.He was highgrading rusty quartz at his mine or what was left of the old quartz vein workings.He had me crush a golf ball size chunk of rusty quartz in a home made crusher.When we panned the dust, there was a tail of fine gold showing.
Hmm, how do I reduce my photo size?

-Tom V.

 

[machineman]

IF you have windows I think you can go to the edit photo button in the top tool bar and it will give you a re-size option. The area I am working is heavily wooded where there is any dirt at all so I am thinking that there may be gold under some deep soil. There is bead rock showing all over the hillside that may have caught gold as the ancient river beds above eroded away. I have been mining all my life and its weird to go into a mine tunnel and see old river rock and find tumbled nuggets. There are at least 2 ancient rivers in the mine, one on the bead rock with a lava flow over it and another above the flow. The new river system cuts through them diagonally exposing the old cobbles. This is a very rich mine and we have been working on developing it for mining use but it is a slow process and there are alot of regulations involved. For now we just bucket material out and pan it or detect the old workings. The mine closed during one of the world wars not due to playing out.

 

[tvanwho]

Sure wish I were out there diggin with you? I hate Illinois and no mountains to play on but its where the work is.
I have a hankering to go out to Northern Illinois this Sunday where I found loads of hotrocks and red bedrock in a mudhole river years ago. We are having drought conditions again and no snow yet, might be a good chance to prospect with low water . I found craters out there 5 years ago, somebody was mining something there long ago?

-Tom

 

[steve herschbach]

This is a question I personally find interesting.

We all know gold concentrates towards the bottom of a valley. And it obviously has sources higher up. So where indeed might it hang up in between, and what are the odds.

On step slopes erosion, although slow to our eye, occurs rapidly in a geologic sense. A hillside literally melts over time and flows downhill. Changes in slope and obstructions would be likely catches for gold on the way down the hill.

The reality most gold like this would be scattered enough that the old timers had no practical method for recovering the gold. Metal detectors are an obvious choice for this type of prospecting. But having said all that, I wonder how much gold has been found by anyone on a steep slope location rather than at the top or bottom?

I have found nuggets in gullies so steep I could hardly climb up them, where they were bleeding down from bench deposits above.

Steve Herschbach

 

[au79]

Up in Idaho I worked a river with dredge equipment and did ok. While there I kept looking up the nearly vertical mountain side and seeing narrow long benches. I knew the old timers had hydrolicked in that area but the thought of those benches holding gold stuck in my mind. I finally got inspired to check it out with a metal detector (an old tessoro deep scan) and was surprised and found some nice nuggage. It was life threatening however and felt if I had some climbing gear I would return but that was years ago and I have never made it back. I'm older now and common sense tells me to leave it to the younger generation - if they ever figure it out.

 

[machineman]

I started thinking about this last year when we climbed down from the opend pit mine to get to the river. There were small bedrock outcrops that would probably catch any gold that ended up on them. I dont think that I will be able to get out there again before spring. I hate waiting but its a 6 hr drive and the road tops out at 6000 feet and the mine is at about 5500 feet so lots of snow in the winter. I will tell my brother to try it and see how he does. Not a good place to work alone due to the terrain. I will post when I have tried it. Could be a really good spot. I think I will try it with my infinium and go for the big stuff. The mine in known to have had some large gold. I would be perfectly happy with a 6 oz er

 

[tvanwho]

The quartz outcropping I had to get up to is at the top center of the 1st photos, approx a 500 foot climb up a steeep grade with loose rocks, Note greenstone inside the quartz in closeup photo.
I had no detector with me as my partner had called in sick and I was depending on him bringing his Lobo.All I could do was eyeball and get a few specimens.
Last time I was up here was as a kid at 12 years old.Now I am 56. Anybody think I should haul a detector up here next time ?

-Tom V.

 

[tvanwho]

I was hoping this bridge was passable in case we were on the wrong side of the river from our gold creek?
Oops, only passable by 4 legged critters looks like.Sure was a sight to see a desert oasis and a 700 foot bridge
after a 2.5 hour 4wd ride to go a measly 34 miles.
2nd photo of an Arizona antelope in Prescott valley, shot from the side of the road with my Samsung WB150F camera, 18x optical,
zoomed in with digital zoom,approx 70:1

-Tom V.

 

[machineman]

You should always haul your detector. I always have at least 1 in the car if its not too hot. It looks nice and if some one went to the trouble of blasting it they obviously thought there was gold there.

 

[Joe Z]

The quartz outcropping I had to get up to is at the top center of the 1st photos, approx a 500 foot climb up a steeep grade with loose rocks, Note greenstone inside the quartz in closeup photo.
I had no detector with me as my partner had called in sick and I was depending on him bringing his Lobo.All I could do was eyeball and get a few specimens.
Last time I was up here was as a kid at 12 years old.Now I am 56. Anybody think I should haul a detector up here next time ?

-Tom V.

I'm new to Arizona having moved here about a year ago and that close up view of the quartz outcropping is the type of stuff a lifelong local told me to look for (quartz that breaks apart ..... he had a special name for it but i forgot)
A few others suggested working the ridges and the saddles.... now i know what the ridges are but not sure what the "Saddle" is?_______
I'm 62 now and not sure if i could get up that hill and rattlers in the rocks would be a concern for me or anyone for that matter.
Hope your on to something there.
Joe

 

[tvanwho]

Guess I better get busy and finish grinding up the rusty quartz rocks I brought back from Az from this deposit and pan the stuff out. It was either Steve H or Reno Chris told me the green stuff is called Green Schist or greenstone and is an ancient volcanic mud known to contain gold in some areas. Kinda strange to see the greenstone mixed in with rusty quartz in my photo?
When I was a kid and first found this area, I knew zilch about rocks,just picked up the odd ones .I know a bit more now but my bones are not as sturdy and all these damn aches and pains to deal with!!. O to be a kid again with the knowledge and equipment of an adult gold hunter? I think they call it Saprolite down in South Carolina/Georgia, gold bearing quartz that can be busted up with a pick and shovel. Keep in touch Joe.I hope to be out that way again next year sometime but not when it is HOT out. Do you have any mining gear and detector? Hard to bring much with me on the plane?

-Tom V.

 

[machineman]

A saddle is the low area between to higher points, or peaks.

 

[Joe Z]

Keep in touch Joe.I hope to be out that way again next year sometime but not when it is HOT out.
Going to put you down on my friends list so i don't forget
Do you have any mining gear and detector? Hard to bring much with me on the plane?
I just started a few months ago so still looking for my first bit of color.... I'm in a town called Anthem/New River about 25 miles north of Phoenix and within 15 minutes of the Bradshaw Mountains and have a GPAA Membership, GB 2 Metal detector, crevicing tools, DC Powered vac for working crevices, hand crank trommel, pan and classifiers and looking for a deal on a Keene 12V puffer drywasher right now...... that all fits into my small suzuki samurai 4x4 so getting to the claims is pretty easy. Hope to see you out here
Joe

-Tom V.

 

[Joe Z]

A saddle is the low area between to higher points, or peaks.

Thanks...... That's what i thought but wasn't sure
I try not to walk too far...... working a quartz laden wash in the Black canyon city area

 

[machineman]

That looks nice. You can see a small saddle on the ridge behind your car. If there is gold in the area you might want to try that saddle.

 

[Joe Z]

I'm going to go back to that spot and try it out thanks.......there's also a ridge off to the right (passenger side) of that vehicle that has quartz veins in it and will look for saddles there now that i know more of what to look for.... your help is appreciated. This is about thirty minutes from my house.
Joe

 

[machineman]

Your lucky, my spot is 6 hrs away.

 

[Joe Z]

I'm not so lucky in the summer when it's 118 degrees but not bad in the high country about two hours away..... I grew up on the east coast near Sandy Hook NJ

 

[au79]

Wow! Looks like everyone is heading for Arizona. I'm from Vermont and made the long drive out here to spend the winter beeping and digging. I'm a member of the Roadrunners Prospecting club. Figured it would be a good place to start but haven't worked on one of their claims yet. However, I have been looking for areas on BLM land up towards Crown King and down toward Bumble Bee and Bloody Basin and also around Black Canyon City. I'm 63 and still driven by the hunt and adventure. This warm dry weather has made my joints feel much younger and on my last outing covered almost 6 miles (according to my GPS) and saw some beautiful country. I must say, it takes me back in time and I feel akin to the old timers. We are so fortunate to still have the right to travel out across this rugged beautiful State and I'm learning to love that freedom. I've been here at Cordes Junction RV Park and have access to lots of BLM land, met lots of people at the local cafe and done lots of talking with folks. Here is what I've learned. only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. No one is going to rub your nose in gold. Your going to have to research, research, research, and hike, hike, hike! Glad I have my rugged Cherokee with 4 inch lift kit and over size tires. Some of the access is, at best, breath taking and exciting. If you go where it's easy you most probably will be disappointed. That has been my experience so far. My greatest success has been at my friend (Ken~digs) house in Black Canyon City. He just purchased a home there in a neighborhood on a half acre of land. He's been busy remodeling and has had no time to hunt or dig. When I arrived we decided to do a test hole in his back yard. Wow! were we surprised! We managed to dig out and classify two buckets of material (very tough digging) then ran it thru a Keene mini-sluice and got a nice showing of flour. I've been here 8 days and that is the only gold I've recovered so far. It did, however, increase my fever. Have covered lots of ground with my Infinium with 8 in. mono and I have to tell you, there is signs of the old timers everywhere - even the most rugged remote areas. Ken found a shoe from a mule or donkey (to small for a horse) way out in a rugged steep draw that made us both scratch our heads and wonder how the heck they got there. It told us the Old Timers were very thorough in there prospects and left very little ground uncovered. The advantage we have now is modern technology and much better transportation.
Now a word of advice about going into these remote areas: Always plan for the worse and hope for the best. Put together a good first aide kit, carry twice as much water than you think you will need, always tell someone the area you are going to, bring a pistol and a knife if you have them (drug smugglers are known to traverse these remote areas and will hold you up, maybe steal your vehicle and credit cards, Jeesh! and the mountain lions are hungry this time of year and will stalk people - a shot in the air will scare them off - also, you have to think survival if something happens - a pistol is a good signal tool if lost or injured) wear the most rugger footwear and clothing you can get your hands on - this is rugged country and will wear up anything but the most rugged clothes (I wear Rocky snake bite boots and would recommend them - not so much for snakes this time of year but more for cactus and sharp rocks - they're rugged tough boots) and, altho a pain, carry a warm jacket because of the quick cooling of the air after sunset if you plan to be out there or not. You have to think survival.
I've been seeing lots of the quartz outcroppings and greenstone mentioned here and have had no luck finding anything around them. I figure the gold must be locked up inside and maybe that would suggest a hard rock approach. I'm mostly a placer type hunter and have little knowledge of hard rock but these outcroppings do get my attention. The saddles mentioned here were also pointed out to me by an old timer I spoke with. I haven't tried them yet but it is on my list now and this coming week I'll go to some. I test and hunt at the lower points of the dry washes and canyons so need to get up to the saddles and give that a try. Always a big climb and the terrain is rugged and rocky with menacing cactus and every plant has a thorn for you if not careful.
Ok folks - good luck hunting and I hope the best for you.