Gold Hunting Good Times

I’m telling you a true story, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

“Those guys are nuts!” CatFish said to me as we watched them disappear into the distance. In the same breath as she struggle to regain her sight and composure the tears like diamonds streamed down Susan’s face from laughter, she managed to hammer out “Damn that hurts! ….They were fun tho Cats!” She went on to take the name “Black-eyed Sue”. Of course that’s what happens when you shoulder a 30-06 wrong by putting the butt stock on top of your shoulder and scope right up to your eye. It was hardly imaginable and at the last second when we noticed it was too late. Sue mentioned she knew how to fire a rifle so no one thought to babysit her. After all she was quite the maiden and pure as the driven snow so some said but we’d known Sue for quite sometime and choose to take a different view. ”Yeah” I replied to CatFish “That was some night”. It was 1990 and Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin still filled the air waves and gold was not even $400.00 per ounce.

Wednesday a group of us had decided to head into the mountains and do some road tripping. The first few days we dry washed up in Black Canyon City. Always more windy there than most places but the area we camped in kept us out of the worst of the night winds. By Friday night we had almost an ounce and a half of gold and decided it was time to head over to the Rio Verde. Our largest nugget was almost 10 grams and we found it at the bottom of a deep schist crevice. We also found some very nice schorl tourmaline specimens as well. Where there is schorl its a good bet gold is not too far away.

Our crew consisted of CatFish (yep his real nickname), Sue, Kit, Bill, Bobbin’ Robin, Sandy and Jim. This was one of those real fun trips, good friends, beautiful girls, cold beer,  lust for gold and adventure. All the girls except Sue girls showed little interest in chasing the elusive yellow metal but she was the Devil’s Punch bowl. I never quite figured out how she and Jim ended up together that year but it seemed to work, they were happy and that’s what counted. It was now Saturday morning and after our final clean up we split up the gold, packed up the dry washer, pans, picks and shovels and fired up our rigs and hit the road.

Arriving at the Rio Verde two hours later we all headed straight for the water. There was a cave there we could camp in as no one was there and the rope hung from the large “ice cream cone” rocks in the river, just like last trip. We played like there was no tomorrow in the river all day and when night fell we all mustered into the cave. The cave was really not a cave, just a rock formation with a hole in it, a very large hole near the river. Sue and Sandy cooked up some canned chili with fresh veggies and we all drank beers and laughed into the night. Being young was fun and we never mistaked that for a minute. Having no way to keep time I would guess around 8PM a small group of kyakers came by and asked if they could share the cave for a night. They were pretty tired but had provisions and one of them was a pretty cute little gal and that did not hurt. We shared stories, beers and laughs with our new friends. At some point in the night the two kyaker guys thought it would be great fun to hoist up a kyak on the ice cream cone and drop the 20 feet into the river. Not being one to give advice but one more inclined to watch the show I settled in on the river bank. Sure to their word they did it, over and over. It actually seemed pretty damned tempting to try so a few of us gave it a shot too.

Come morning we all slowly awoke at our own paces and finally wished our new friends good luck. As they kyaked away old CatFish was right, they were nuts, but in the good way just the kind of people we liked. We got Sue a cold beer for her eye and proceeded to chart a course up 11 mile wash.

Greenhorn Flats

I’m telling you a true story, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty, just don’t be this guy. For the sake of the story, we’ll call him Dave.

It was early January, a fine brisk day with the daytime temperatures around 65 in the day and 40 at night. After traveling  the 40 mile off road trip Scottish Lass Foothills to The Mountain of Gold with some people who actually knew the roads Dave thought it would be a great idea to try it himself the next weekend. Being from out of state made it even better, he was a true desert greenhorn. To make the pot sweeter Dave also brought along his girlfriend and dog.

As far as preparation goes he was like a rancher, who after shoveling shit for hours decided to make dinner for his family without washing his hands. He brought along a grand total of one sports drink, had no spare tire, no extra gas, no map, GPS, no gun, no food, no easy way to make a fire or stay warm and was wearing sandals. His girlfriend we’ll call Sally was smart enough to at least wear tennis shoes. His sole saving grace was that he actually had a decent off road rig, a nice Jeep with good tires. The both wore light jackets.

Dave’s intentions were pure I’m sure, take the pooch and girlfriend out for a nice drive, have a few laughs, maybe a little fun and come home again. Keep in mind this area almost 20 miles from any paved road, no cell service and if you did not know the area you could spend days wandering lost and end up dead from hypothermia as the night temperatures dip below freezing with any kind of rain.

Lucky for Dave and Sally a few friends and I were on a day trip heading his direction that same morning, up Slim Shady Creek towards D’yer Wash trying to make our way over near Lost Keg Camp. After about an hour on the quads we stopped in D’yer Wash proper to stretch our legs, have a snack and some water. As we dismounted the quads up they pulled up. Now we had found some mighty fine gold nuggets on our first trip to Lost Keg Camp. The bedrock was abundant, a very nice blend of schists and granite and, the area had a lot of good potential. Our detectors had easily made short work of the area last trip, we snatched up all the easy nuggets and knew more were there.

The first question out of his mouth was “How do you get out of these mountains?” One of my friends could not resist a little fun and said, “You don’t.” He began to explain his predicament, driving in circles for hours, low on gas and he was sure the right road was here. The road had to be here, it was last weekend. “It moved.” One of my friends said. I went on to explain how he was miles from where he wanted to be and that if he was not familiar with the area it might all look the same.

It was easy to see and understandable that Dave was feeling like a bit of a jackass in front of his girlfriend. Sally had clearly lost respect for him. As we chatted and joked we gave them water and snacks. Dave even made a comment about how much water we had. Indeed. We were prepared for a week easy and just about anything that came our way human or natural.

We assured Dave that we would get him back to safety after we had sometime to chat. We knew it was a trip that was scratched. After an hour or two, we reluctantly began riding back out guiding him home; we sure would have liked to have stuck to our plans.

As we rode along, we also were convinced to make the best of the trip and stop here and there to look at anything cool. At one point on out trip out at an interesting stop and I’ll never know why, Dave actually became angry and confrontational with us. Perhaps it was fear or embarrassment. I remember we all looked him in the eye and someone said “If you don’t like it you are welcomed to leave.” Sally would not have it and told him to behave and be nice. He walked away mumbling under his breath returning to his Jeep to sit. We asked Sally if she wanted to go for a little walk. She did and seemed to truly enjoy herself as we showed he some cool rocks and minerals in a nearby wash.

Once back we found Dave sullen as ever. We all mounted up and began riding out. Once we got him back near Seven O’ Nine Flats and near people again we pointed the way home, just keep driving a few miles and there would be the road. Sally thanked us with a genuine smile. Dave took one last look at us and said “I’m gonna roll.” And that he did.

Low on time and far away from where we wanted to be my friends and I smiled and made the best of the rest of the day. That must have been our real purpose that day, rescuing a greenhorn, his dog and gal, I’ll never know.

If we did not come across Dave and Sally, they surely would have had a cold, uncomfortable night and possibly with rain, hypothermia by midnight. Again, I want to stress being prepared. Even a simple kit consisting of a knife, matches, lighter, magnesium fire starter, space blankets, candy bars and some bright bandanas would have helped them make it out if we did not happen along. The best part? A small kit like that could easily fit into a backpack. The moral of the story, go prepared or die. Don’t be a greenhorn lost in the mountains.

HORSESHOE BEND

No matter what we are trying to accomplish sometimes we just need to hang in there and believe. It also helps when someone believes in us.

Finding that first gold nugget, growing that first tomato, climbing that first steep hill, lots of firsts in life for sure and some are much harder to accomplish than others. One of the main things to keep in mind that even if you’re told its impossible…maybe its not eh?

The video below is very cool. If you know me, you know that I have to comment on the music…cringe Music aside, its a great example of how trying equals doing and the icing on the cake for me is the fact that it happened for one of our vets.

So if you have a seemly impossible goal remember Arthur and the words of Calvin Coolidge “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

One classic form of Pyrite

Gold and pyrite are two very misunderstood and often misidentified aspects to rock hounding and gold mining.

Not only is pyrite (FeS2) one of the most common minerals on earth its easily recognized by its bright yellow color and brilliance. Pyrite often occurs in quartz and can be crystalline in nature, cubical or in a mass. Pyrite is common in many rock types, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary and weathers to limonite. You will find it oxidized in ore bodies, especially near the surface. When weathering occurs part of pyrite becomes FeSO4 (look that up) and some if it remains in the form of limonite. Realistically it can be a good clue that gold is nearby.

Gold is hard yet malleable, pyrite can be shattered with a blow of a hammer. In some hard rock deposits the pyrite follows the gold while yet in others more pyrite means less gold, ya gotta love nature. Pyrite has many varieties including Arsenian Pyrite, Cobaltoan Pyrite, Thallian Arsenian Pyrite just to name a few. Pyrite can be made into very beautiful jewelry by knowledgeable professionals and many mineral collectors will pay thousands of dollars for rare forms and specimens. I have a very nice pyrite collection that I’m proud of, it can be very visually appealing.

Some years ago I made the video below to help people understand the visual difference between the gold and pyrite. Hope you enjoy it.

It truly pains me to put the copyright info on them so bold but in this day and age that is how intellectual property must be treated on the internet.

Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collection Gold

Its truly amazing to see and I highly recommend it if you can make it. The Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collection resides inside the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. The gold on display, both the gold nuggets and specimens are phenomenal. And the minerals are, well lets say just amazing. It really inspired me to get my rear in gear on my florescent mineral collection.

The collection also has some amazing jewelry in it, such as royal gems from Napoleon. The minerals are the best of the best and many are one of a kind rarities. My photo collection does not cover all the gold or all the minerals and really does not do it all justice.

109 pictures follow below, some are great, some are pure gold and some eh. I hope you enjoy them, click to emlarge the photos. The official website is for the Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collection is http://mineralsciences.si.edu/

Miners Get Squeezed SEC. 430. Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation

Just when you thought it could not get any worse for us miners eh? Have a gander at House Report 112-331 and it does. Sec. 430. Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended–

1) in subsection (a)–
(A) by striking so much as precedes the second sentence and inserting the following:
`(a) Claim Maintenance Fee-
`(1) LODE MINING CLAIMS, MILL SITES, AND TUNNEL SITES- The holder of each unpatented lode mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site, located pursuant to the mining laws of the United States on or after August 10, 1993, shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, on or before September 1 of each year, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, a claim maintenance fee of $100 per claim or site, respectively.’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
`(2) PLACER MINING CLAIMS- The holder of each unpatented placer mining claim located pursuant to the mining laws of the United States located before, on, or after August 10, 1993, shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, on or before September 1 of each year, the claim maintenance fee described in subsection (a), for each 20 acres of the placer claim or portion thereof.’; and

(2) in subsection (b), by striking the first sentence and inserting the following: `The claim main tenance fee under subsection (a) shall be paid for the year in which the location is made, at the time the location notice is recorded with the Bureau of Land Management.’.

So if I read that correctly the new fee schedule will be effective upon publication of the Federal Register notice announcing the fee rate for placer claims. In a nutshell your 40 acre placer claim will now cost $280.00. How can a 40 acre claim be treated as one claim by mining laws at the time when its filed, but then be treated as two separate claims for fee payments? Maybe that’s the new math. Perhaps the courts will have a different take on this if it ever goes there, don’t hold your breath. And just where is all the money going? Now that’s a good question to ask your elected officials.

Now I’m going to flip it, if your claims don’t produce enough to pay the fees, why keep them? Could not help being a devil’s advocate. Here is an Ayn Rand quote: “Government “help” to business is just as disastrous as government persecution… the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.” As always, good luck, happy hunting!

http://www.arizonagoldprospectors.com/Arizona_Place_Names_From_Elements/index1.html

Fisher Gold Bug Repair 2

Now don’t take this post to say the Fisher Gold Bug 2 Gold Nugget Metal Detector is in constant need of repair, hardly. Its just I really use my equipment, it does not sit in a closet. So as the pics show, its gets beat up hard. But gold digging is no fun unless your tangled in catclaw and crawling under bushes to get to the next section of wash anyway, right? I once made a post about a Gold Bug 2 field repair that I did here > http://www.arizonagoldprospectors.com/2011/01/quick-and-easy-fix-fisher-gold-bug-2/ thus the #2. Both 1 and 2 are my fault, not Fisher’s. The Gold Bug 2 is rock solid tough and works awesome.

So last week I noticed my on/off volume knob came loose. The cap was real close to the main plate on the face of the detector and I had no idea if the nut to tighten it was inside the box or out. So I popped the external speaker and took a peek inside. With my eyes a googling at all the circuitry, who knows what it all does I was able to ascertain that the nut was not on the inside. Yup, I’m no electronics whiz, you got that right (just know how to find gold ) so I grabbed a butter knife and pried the knob up from the face plate, whala! There was me little nut! It did help to have the speaker popped up as I could hold the part in place while I tightened the exterior nut, 30 seconds later all is fixed. As you can see I even had my drill and rivet gun at the ready. So now I can say I learnt sumthin

Now I’m ready to get back to finding some more gold nuggets. Makes me remember too that my discrimination knob on my Minelab GP Extreme has been loose since 2003 LOL and I use that machine all the time, I just dig everything that beeps with the Extreme so I just don’t care. You can click the pics a few times below to enlarge. As always good luck and happy hunting!

Big Gold By Prospecting Smarter

People are always looking to do better, find more gold. Often they miss the opportunities right in front of their nose or worse yet the gold under their feet. Cryptic, yes?

Well not really. What I’m talking about is all the opportunities you may be passing up to sample for gold values. The majority of the time that I’m out in the field I sample here and there. Now I don’t have to get crazy to improve my take, just clean out a few cracks in a wash to see if I can spot any fine gold or even if I see an old dig and can’t find anything with the detector, take a few moments to eye speck for small lode gold. Or better yet, toss a few samples from the dig in my pocket and crush them up later to see if any gold is present. Sometimes I just scoop out a crack and put the hopefully gold bearing material in an empty Gatorade bottle in my pocket, I can pan it out later. Sometimes I chip out some stringer and put it in my backpack, hoping the crusher will show some nice gold.

The whole point is to walk away from a wash or area knowing as much as you can about it, does it even contain fine gold? Finding more gold is often just a change in mindset, where is yours at? E=MC2 and sampling for gold = more gold in your poke, simple science

As always, good luck and happy hunting!

Gold Miners in the Grand Canyon

There are plenty of stories about lost gold nugget placer deposits and lode gold in the Grand Canyon. How many of these old legends are true we’ll just never know but there sure do make a guy wonder.

You hear names like Tom Watson who is reported to have found some gold nuggets behind a waterfall around 1980 then F.D. Watson whose discovery was near Lee’s Ferry around 1912, was there a connection? I’ll leave the for you to figure out and Watson’s aside many other names like John D. Lee and Fred Faatz have reportedly found great deposits of gold, silver and copper in the canyon.

And speaking of Faatz, his granddaughter Jeanne post on our forum about it a few years ago, its simply a fascinating read and great history of the Colorado River area. You can read more by clicking here > Faatz

Without a doubt there are valuable mineral deposits in the grand canyon of gold, silver and copper but finding them is a whole new ball game and in this day in age mix with with some legal concerns and you get the full picture.

Most of the country rock in the Grand Canyon is sedimentary rock normally formed at the bottom of the ocean or in shallow coastal plains. But let’s give some thought to a few things known to be in the canyon, Quartz, Calcite, Clay, Gypsum, Dolomite, Hematite, Feldspar, Augite and Biotite. Now I’m note sure how much you know about gold indicators but a few things jump out at me and if a person were to go Gold Prospecting in the Grand Canyon it may be wise to narrow the search down a bit to where a few key indicators have been found before or where deposits of them are and expand from there. Of course it would be very wise to be sure what you are doing is legal.

As always, Good Luck and Happy Hunting!