Looking for gold

[MountainMan22]

I know that you can still pan for gold in certain areas out west, but what about all the caves that were used to find gold? Can you still come across any in those caves or are they all owned by the person who owns the land. There has to be some still left somewhere in them. With the price of gold at what it is, I think it would be great to go searching for some.

 

[Lamebeaver]

Many mine shafts (they're not called caves) are on private property. Most are pretty much mined out. Nearly all of them are extremely dangerous to enter, due to decayed timbers, risk of cave ins, poison gas, underground water, etc.

 

[oldsarge]

Many mine shafts (they're not called caves) are on private property. Most are pretty much mined out. Nearly all of them are extremely dangerous to enter, due to decayed timbers, risk of cave ins, poison gas, underground water, etc.

I agree with Lamebeaver. When I was out in the Mojave desert we used to explore the old gold mines there. There's a reason they are abandoned, as he stated before, mined out. They really are dangerous. I wouldn't consider trying to work those again after all these years. We took a chance just passing through them, what a maze of tunnels and passages to get stuck in.

On the other hand, I have met folks who pan for gold right out in the desert in old washes and wadi's. It 's called dry panning and they do find gold! I have done some basic mining up in Alaska (4 years) and it's very hard and time consuming work. Watch "Gold Rush Alaska", Those guys are spending hundreds of thousands to mine for the big find, you can see how much they really get. There is so much more that goes into prospecting than meats the eye. In Alaska there was a mine that was pulling 1300 ounces a day out of the ground. This is a major operation, I can only speculate how much money is being spent to do that. I also know of an individual who took a chance and spent 5 days working an area with a small dredger and pan. When he was finished, he cashed in $80,000 worth of gold. As far as I'm concerned it's all hit and miss when it come to prospecting. Nobody is going to help you get the big stuff, if that information is out there, it's staying with those who can afford to get it. After 4 years, I consider prospecting a hobby with the slight chance of maybe making some good cash from it.

By all means, research it and give it a try. The chance may pay out for you, who knows?

 

[ppine]

As a retired environmental consultant that has worked on a 100 mines, I can tell you that there is a lot of gold out there still. Most mining operations are abandoned because it is not profitable to continue to mine, not because the desired ore has been exhausted. There are 100s of mines that have had multiple occupations over the years, and are having renewed interest due to the current high prices of metals.

There is a whole nomenclature of mining operations- words like stopes, drifts, addits, etc. Nevada is fourth in the world in gold production by itself after Russia, South Africa, and I think Australia.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


I couldn't find gold in a jewelry store.

 

[Little Kitty]

I love watching the show "Gold Rush Alaska". The show really gets me in the adventuring mood! However, I do not have the funds to mine gold like that. Do they have pan mining adventures you can go on, out west?

 

[Grandpa]

At the Yankee Fork of the Salmon river visitor center near Challis Idaho, they keep a bin of dirt from the old dredgings near Bonanza. You can dry pan there. A friend found a couple of flakes right there.

During the mid 1900's, they had a dredge on the Yankee fork. They build it right next to the river. Then when it was operational, it would dig out the dirt, gravel, rocks in front and process to remove the gold and spit the rest out the back. By making a dam in the river behind the dredge, they could then float steadily upstream digging everything as they went. They hauled a lot of gold out of there but they left a very big mess. Later it was determined they only got about 20 % of the available gold, so with newer methods they are remining the whole area and leaving it in a more pristine condition.

The old dredge is still there and tours are available. If you are in the Stanley/Challis area, it's worth the stop. Several old mining Ghost towns there as well. You can pan in any of the mountain streams there and may find a flake or two.

 

[Grandpa]

There was an earlier thread here called "Treasure Hunting". some good stories there as well.

 

[Pathfinder1]

I love watching the show "Gold Rush Alaska". The show really gets me in the adventuring mood! However, I do not have the funds to mine gold like that. Do they have pan mining adventures you can go on, out west?

Hi...


They have many places with pay-for mining...from the east to west coasts...from gold to precious jems. Some TV programs featured them a few years ago. I have no exact details on them, but Google could probably supply you with the such information.

 

[MountainMan22]

As a retired environmental consultant that has worked on a 100 mines, I can tell you that there is a lot of gold out there still. Most mining operations are abandoned because it is not profitable to continue to mine, not because the desired ore has been exhausted. There are 100s of mines that have had multiple occupations over the years, and are having renewed interest due to the current high prices of metals.

There is a whole nomenclature of mining operations- words like stopes, drifts, addits, etc. Nevada is fourth in the world in gold production by itself after Russia, South Africa, and I think Australia.

I know there is gold out there still to, because I know of a few people that have gone panning for it in creeks. They were telling me about the caves, or mines, but they hadn't looked for it there. I was just wondering about them. I guess they would be dangerous.

 

[ppine]

Gold Rush Alaska is a collection of losers and misfits. They have no idea what they are doing and there would be no second season if it weren't for the income from the TV show.

The first rule of mining is to process your concentrate every night so you can see if today's run did any good. Each day's success or failure needs to be recorded by location. The goofball's left their concentrate until the end of the season to process it. Then they let their lease lapse and it was sold out from under them to Dakota Fred. They left concentrates on the site when they left. Then they secured a lease in the Klondike that was under deep snow. A bunch of real amateurs who like to talk about glory holes and a million dollars. They haven't paid for the groceries and fuel yet.

Learn to differentiate between placer deposits (water ladden) and ore bodies (compexes of hard-rock minerals). Placer deposits are the easiest to mine because they are near the surface and gold has eroded away from the host rock. Gold Rush Alaska is about large scale placer deposits that are worked by gravimetric means. Hard rock mining of ore bodies requires much more equipment, blasting and ore processing to separate the gold from the host rock.

Stay out of old mines unless you have trained to be in them. The openings are normally addits (horizontal) or shafts with a windlass (vertical). Mine timbers rot over time, there is water in some of the workings, there is mine gas which can knock you out, and it is obviously dark with lots of potential for falls. Plenty of reptiles too. We lose some people every year in NV because not all of the old mines are marked, there are so many of them.

 

[sailorman]

We lose people here too, only to old coal mines not gold. I have panned for gold before, but it was more of a fun thing to do with the kids. The only thing we ever found was fools gold, but it was still fun.

 

[Zelda]

That is an interesting idea; I could take the kids panning for fool's gold. What parts of the country can you find fools gold in? I bet the kids would love that.

 

[oldsarge]

That is an interesting idea; I could take the kids panning for fool's gold. What parts of the country can you find fools gold in? I bet the kids would love that.

If you're going to prospect...why for fools gold? Just curious.

Pyrite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MountainMan22]

You sure know your stuff ppine! I guess I just liked the idea of being a treasure hunter and finding something really valuable. It seems more like a childhood dream than a reality. I wouldn't put myself in that danger knowing the risks.

 

[ppine]

There is nothing wrong with treasure hunting, recreational mining and the like. Just be aware that it is hard work, and sometimes there can be dangers. There are some important laws regarding mining on public lands that people need to be aware of also. Rock hounding for things like jasper, chert, flint, turquiose, garnet, etc is a lot of fun and can be practiced all over the country. Metal detectors are great for getting out and finding historical artifacts and lost valuables. Just be aware of the laws and respect private property.

Looking at old mines and ghost towns is a way of life in places like Nevada. It is fun to explore the old towns and camps. Goldfield, NV is my favorite example. It has about 100 residents now but in 1904 the president came by train for the big prize fight to a town of about 35,00 people.

 

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