Recent finds, 1850's Gold Mining Chinese Immigrant Camp.

[Old California]

With permission from a property owner who owns allot of land up in the 49er Gold County, I've been detecting this 1850's Gold Mining Chinese Immigrant Camp the past 20 years almost every late winter and early spring.

The past two weeks, I've hit this site three times with several friends. Enclosed are finds I've made during the three trips in using three different detectors, T-2, X-70 and Treasure Baron using the Goldtrax module. The T-2 operated fantastic, Tough site to hunt but can be rewarding too if one puts in the time wading through the iron trash, Allot of square nails, rusted tin and rusted gold miners shovels by the wheel barrel.

Usually, All that comes out of here are Chinese coins by the handful but today an 1853 seated dime surfaced as the last coin after digging up more Chinese coins, Rarely does a seated come out of here and today was one of those rare days.

To give you an idea of the terrain, I've enclosed a couple of pics of a nearby rock structure and the actual hill top of the 1850's Chinese camp. Between 2000-3000 Chinese Immigrant's lived outside of the mining town, They were treated horribly and lived under the worse living conditions.

Thanks for looking,
Paul (Ca)

 

[Virgile in Okla.]

n/t

 

[adam in cal]

n/t

 

[Old California]

I really enjoy detecting under these type of hunting conditions, When it's tough to get targets from older areas laced with old iron makes the hunt even more exciting and gives the sense of earning each find, Even if it's a piece of old copper it doesn't matter because it's a target others would have waked over.

Most hunters will get frustrated and eventually leave these type of sites and go off to easier hunting grounds, Not all detectors can recovery finds from areas masked by iron and the T-2 is one of those few detectors capable of doing this.

I'll surely be going back here until the hunting season is over for this particular area, Won't be long the grass will be too high and the rattlesnakes will be out in the spring.

Thanks again,
Paul (Ca)

 

[bleeohio]

Just wondering if you have much luck nugget hunting that area or is it not worth the time? Wondering how the t2 would handle small gold.hh

 

[BarnacleBill]

I was gonna ask about the rattlers, looks like prime real estate for the little Beasties.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[Old California]

Thanks Blee,

I haven't used the T-2 for nugget detecting, I'm more into relic detecting and the area which this Chinese camp is located does have some tailings nearby so hopefully one of coming trips ahead I'll have time to detect the tailings.

By all means the T-2 should be a good detector for nugget hunting, The T-2 can handle the harsh mineralization with ease up here in the gold country and can detect small nugget size targets. The only area I feel it lacks in is it needs a smaller coil, A smaller coil would enhance the smallest signals and allow the coil to detect in tight quarters especially here in the gold country.

I experienced something the other day and feel more strongly the T-2 needs a smaller coil, Not just for working in-between tight quarters but to enhance the very small targets and reduce iron masking. It does an excellent job with the large DD coil but a smaller coil will be needed for those searching for smaller size gold nuggets and areas laced with iron for those who relic hunt, I strongly feel a smaller coil is necessary. Maybe a 4X6" would be nice, A smaller coil would reduce iron masking.

My (small coil) opinion has chanced because of the areas I'm searching again, A friend of mine who does search for gold nuggets has a T-2 and he too feels the same. Hopefully, We will get our smaller T-2 coil soon.

HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Old California]

Hey Bill,

Come late spring and summer we don't dare detect this area, A rattlesnakes bite is not worth the pain and suffering for a silver coin or cool relic

HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

Good post Paul, I have felt the same way when I am in an area with a lot of trash. But I always seem to come out with a lot of good stuff.

 

[coenwolf]

some good stuff there paul .looking at those pics the terrain looks similar to ours in north wales .

 

[Bill Ladd]

Loved seeing the reamins of the structure especailly.....
alot different than the granite "cellar holes" we have here.
HH,
Bill

 

[tab-nabit]

Nice pics - I did a little relic in the foothills from Folsom to the Collins lake area, and the areas full of trash and iron nails can be tough to hunt. I recently got the Tesoro Tejon and the first time out was tough due to all the square nails and trash. I then swapped the stock 9x8 coil to the 575 coil and this made working the trash areas easier. I haven't done any good so far but seeing your pics of the coins and such is encouraging. Looks like a nice area and the weather looks superb. On my next relic outing, maybe new headphones if the rattlesnake are on the move, skeeter repellent and the smaller coil is a must. Again - nice pics.

 

[OldeTymer]

Hey Paul,

Great post, and photos. That's my favorite kind of place to hunt as well. How did the X-Terra do there? I ask because as I've gotten up in years, I have to use the light weight units more, and more.

Thanks again for a great thread, and good hunting,
OldeTymer

 

[JM]

great pics well done

 

[Old California]

Thanks Rob,

The Tejon you have should do well in the older iron trashy areas, Just keep the sensitivity down a bit for California soil. The Tejon puts out allot of power for depth and an increase in gain for smaller targets, California gold country mineralized soil can be tough on the Tejon so keep the sens down for stability.

California Ron found a cache in the Folsom area about 4-5 years ago, So you have a very good area to explorer and find some of California's past. Persistence and patience....The finds will come

Thanks again,
Paul (Ca)

 

[Old California]

I'll post more pics of the old structures in the near future, Beautiful place to detect

Thanks again,
Paul (Ca)

 

[Old California]

Thanks Bill,

Allot of old structures and rock fences pepper these hills and the surrounding mining towns, Not quite as old as your area but old enough to find old coins and relics dropped by the 49er's and pioneers.

Here's an 1850's structure the owner has given me permission to dig up the dirt floor, All that's left are the four walls. Going to hit this in about 10 days and we're hoping some old bottles, coins and buttons surface from the dig.

Thanks again and I'm taking your ID Edge on the next trip in to the China town mountain, Going to put her to the iron test
HH, Paul

 

[Old California]

Thanks coenwolf,

Amazing how one area so far away from another can resemble another, The ground here in this area is rocky and hard digging.

You must live in a beautiful area,

HH, Paul

 

[Old California]

Hello OldeTymer,

I'm like you, The heavy detectors did a number on my arm and the older I get the more I use the lighter detectors.

The X-Terra 70 is a very good detector, I've been running it through the trenches and so far it's holding it's own. I have several X-70 coils and the one I prefer the most is the elliptical 18.75 kHz DD coil for relic hunting, The higher kHz helps the unit get better separation and capture smaller targets.

It's not as fast as the T-2 but still a good detector, The T-2 has an edge over the X-70 for iron ridden sites.

Thanks and good hunting,
Paul (Ca)

 

[Old California]

Thanks Lawrenzo,

A smaller coil will be a great tool for the T-2, I can see now it really does need one for sites such as these.

Thanks again,
Paul (Ca)