Best spots on a mountain?

[nvchris]

Big gold is an animal unto itself

Work the fringes of a known area and concentrate on where the slope meets a flat.

Often times the biguns never get far from the source. Even tho the source is long gone.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhx73RCgdaw[/video]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feQhXGHiXaI[/video]

 

[Joe Z]

Ray.....
Your story sounds like i could have written it also....the humidity on the east coast even at 80 degrees was wearing me down fast. I'm pretty good out here up to about 110 degrees and dry as my bones feel much better too.We Moved out here in 07' went back east to be with family but missed this place so bad i came back last year. Beautiful state Arizona is for sure and it keeps me smiling every time i get out in the desert..... A small place up in the high country for summer would really be the icing on the cake. LOL
Joe

 

[starvin]

Being that NV Chris is a mining engineer I have to ask, I have been told that gold always forms on the western slope of the mountainside because of when the crustal plates were pushed up long ago. Is there anything to this? Marv

 

[tvanwho]

I guess that means all the gold mines/nuggets/placers/gold propectors on the eastern slopes of the Bradshaw mountains in central Arizona must be bogus then?
Sounds like an old wives tale to me or is that an old miners tale? Lets hear it from Chris tho as he is the expert? I was under the assumption that minerals came up thru volcanic fissures zillions of years ago and popped up all over the place?

-Tom V.

 

[steve herschbach]

nvchris is not the mining engineer, that would be Reno Chris (Chris Ralph). And he will tell you that gold "always forming" on any particular side of a mountain is nonsense. There are abundant examples as Tom has noted proving otherwise.

Steve Herschbach

 

[Reno Chris]

Hi Starvin -

Steve is right, I am the one who is a Mining Engineer, NV Chris (Porter) is a very expereinced prospector, but we are not the same guy. As far as western slopes, you are kind of combining different things that dont go together. The gold bearing zones of the mother lode are on the western SIDE of the Sierra Nevada Range because of the way the tetonic plates came together, but not necessarily on the west side of any particular mountain slope. In the Sierra, gold can be on any face of an individual mountain slope,and I have found gold on slopes facing N,S,E and W. Even on level ground without much of any slope at all.

Whoever told you that gold always forms on the western slope of the mountainside - there was either a mis-understanding or they were mis-informed because thats just not the case.

Chris

 

[starvin]

I thank all of you for the reply. As I was in the state of Arizona doing some prospecting in the desert, a couple of old timers at the store I stopped in told me this. I had not seen anything about this anywhere before, even after reading as much as I could. Thanks again. Marv

 

[nvchris]

Chris Ralph is also the author of "Fists Full Of Gold" a definitive guide to prospecting. A must have book for any one interested in gold!

Also he is on the staff, Associate Editor of ICMJ, Prospecting and Mining Journal, a great periodical.

And, Claims director of WSPA, Western States Prospecting Association.


I'm the good looking one

 

[Joe Z]

I am about half way thru chris's book "Fists full of gold" what a wealth of info
Joe

 

[au79]

Gold being on the western slopes is just what we have in my home state of Vermont. Don't know if that is a coincidence or not but I noticed this on an old map of Vermont gold bearing streams. I know this is not true here in Az because yesterday I was up Turkey Creek by an old hard rock mine that I had researched. The mine is on a east slope and the testing I did in the dry washes (dry panning) showed good color. In Vermont I did, however, find one exception while prospecting a stream on an eastern slope. Aside from that one stream all other placer gold is on the west slopes. The Green Mountains basically run N - S so this info is interesting to me. When I return next spring I'll do more prospecting on the east side to see if there is more to be found that has not been recorded.

JoeZ - You're right about getting a place in a remote area here in Az. I would love to wander these mountains the way the old timers did. Would be nice to have a donkey or mule to pack tools and supplies around. Quads are nice but they can't always get to the more remote areas. To find something worth working and staking a claim would be a dream come true! I am currently learning the procedure and contacts for staking a claim just in case.

 

[Joe Z]

JoeZ - You're right about getting a place in a remote area here in Az. I would love to wander these mountains the way the old timers did. Would be nice to have a donkey or mule to pack tools and supplies around. Quads are nice but they can't always get to the more remote areas. To find something worth working and staking a claim would be a dream come true! I am currently learning the procedure and contacts for staking a claim just in case.

Here's a picture of my Mule i use out here (suzuki samurai)...... got it about two months ago and amazed where this little Mini-Jeep will take me....going to raise it up about 2-1/2" and moderately bigger tires.
I will probably start a post on local Arizona forums on the best inexpensive small towns in the bradshaws.
Joe

 

[au79]

JoeZ - That does look a bit mule (ish) That short wheel base is an advantage at times. My mule for now is a Jeep Cherokee:

[attachment 251679 jeepcherokee.jpg]

I had a 4 inch lift kit installed and put bigger tires on it. I'm taking it to some real rough country where access is steep and washed. One problem that keeps coming to my mind is - since I put the lift kit on and taller tires my little balloon spare tire is a laugh. I doubt it would hold up climbing out of some of the places I have been and one corner of the jeep would be riding mighty low. Something for you to think about if you lift yours and put on taller tires. I am going to locate a full size spare this week to put on a roof rack that clamps to the rain gutters. Also, look at your jack. Will it still be affective if you lift your mule? Mine is not but being that I am in Az. I figure there are plenty of flat rocks I could make do with. Happy hunting

 

[tvanwho]

Cool Jeep Ray. Where are you at in Arizona? Hows the gas mpg on the Jeep? Maybe you guys can post your vehicle photos under my new thread on gold locating/recovery equipment? This here thread is getting a bit long and off topic as Steve H might point out soon?

-Tom V.

 

[machineman]

In two weeks I am going up to gold country to try some hill side gold. I am looking at a different canyon below the snow line. It doesnt have an ancient river channel above it but there are some old mines. My dad, brother, sister and I will hit it hard with different machines to see how good it is. I have my infinium and my brother has a GMT, dad and sis will be using GM2s. I will have my tesoro compadre or outlaw with 5.75" coil to use as a pinpointer. I found a website called http://www.freegoldmaps.com/ that gives a good idea of were to hunt. The markers are way off, but close enough to get a general idea of where might be good. I know they are off because I have a property with a mine on it and the pages shows the mine being about 1/2 mile away. I have located a few spots where there is a cluster of mines in a certain area. Then I checked ownership and weather larger nugget gold has been found there. I plan on searching these areas to see if there is good gold.

 

[machineman]

Here are some photos of the mine area. you can see how steep the terrain is. Its about 1500' to the bottom. I would love to get a dredge into this creek. We found good gold in our pans.