REFERENCE
January, 1996
This file contains the Questions & Answers found in the
ALT.MINING.RECREATIONAL FAQ.
This file also contains information about getting started,
contains some common definitions, and also lists additional
areas on the Internet and World Wide Web where you can get
more information.
Thanks to all of you who have emailed me with information and URLs to include.
Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Garret
ALT.REC.MINING
Frequently Asked Questions
Table of Contents
1. General Questions
1.1 Is there still much gold out there?
1.2 What equipment do I need?
1.3 How do I keep from "claim jumping?"
1.4 Are there organizations I can join?
2. What are all these definitions
2.1 Equipment
2.2 Land claims
2.3 Geology
2.4 Mining
3. How do I get started?
3.1 Equipment
3.2 Places to go
3.3 Buddy up
3.4 Terms and Definitions
3.5 Label your specimens
3.6 How Hard is it to pan for gold?
3.7
4. What states are best for recreational gold mining?
4.1 California
4.1.1 Mother Lode
4.2.2 Northern Sierras
4.2 Alaska
4.3 Montana
4.4 Arizona
4.5 Oregon
4.6 Idaho
4.7 Canada
4.7.1 Yukon
4.7.2 British Columbia
5. What are the different placer mining methods?
5.1 Panning
5.2 Rocker box
5.3 Sluice box
5.4 High banker
5.5 Suction Dredge
5.6 Trommel
5.7 Other/notes
6. Are there any magazines I can read about this hobby?
6.1 GPAA
6.2 Treasure News
6.3 others?
7. What is Dowsing?
8. Are metal detectors useful?
9. What are black sands? What do I do with them?
9.1 Definition
9.2 Henry Henry
9.3 Can't I Just Pan Them?
9.4 Shaker Table
9.5 Using Acids
9.6 Spiral Pans
9.7 Centrifuge
9.8 Using Mercury
9.9 Other methods
9.9.1 Funnel
9.9.2 Micro Sluice
9.9.3 Micro Concentrator
9.9.4 Laundry Tub
10. Is it easy to stake a claim?
10.1 Costs/rules/responsibilities
10.2 Patenting
10.3 Current status
11. Is joining a 'club' a good idea?
11.1 GPAA
11.2 New 49ers
11.3 Gold Prospectors of Colorado
11.4 Desert Diggers of Arizona
12. Internet Sites
12.1
12.2 Web Sites
12.2.1 Canadian
12.3 Other Getting Started Stuff
12.3.1 Books
12.3.2 CompuServe
12.3.3 Gold Pictures
12.3.4 Catalogs
13. What Else Does This FAQ Need?
1. General Questions
1.1 Is there still much gold out there?
The answer is 'yes!' Although early miners did an amazing job of
getting most of the easiest gold, they were using inefficient methods
that ensured their take was mostly nugget gold. Even at that, large
nuggets continue to be found around the world, even where miners worked
long and hard. The most plentiful gold, fine and flour gold, is
plentiful in many areas where miners were numerous. Some experts
estimate that the old timers only got 5% of the world's gold -- and the
easy 5% at that.
1.2 What equipment do I need?
The amount of equipment you need is directly proportional to how hard
you're willing to work. You may only need a gold pan, a snuffer bottle,
and a shovel if you're just going to peck away at the top of the dirt.
The more dirt you plan to move, the more tools you're going to need, up
to using a front-end loader and a dump truck.
A good miner can do quite well with a pan and shovel if he is quick,
thorough, and able to get down to the bedrock where the best pay streaks
usually sit. But other tools -- sluice boxes, suction dredges, etc. --
enable you to move more dirt. Before you begin investing in equipment,
you should learn to use the simplest tools, and then move up the
"ladder" to the equipment you're comfortable with.
1.3 How do I keep from "claim jumping?"
Research! The truth is that anyone with a claim has a responsibility to
make sure it is well-marked. That's not just a nicety -- it's a legal
responsibility. However, you have a duty to know something about the
area you plan to work in. The local offices of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and equivalent state agencies will help you research.
You can sometimes purchase a microfiche with land ownership records from
the BLM, or contact a county land office as well. Another method is to
buy some drinks at the closest "watering hole" to the area and
ask
around.
1.4 Are there organizations I can join?
Yes. Many prospecting organizations exist that help solve the claim
jumping problem by purchasing claimed land or managing it for owners. By
paying your membership dues, you get the right to limited prospecting on
that land. The largest such organization, the Gold Prospecter's
Association of America (GPAA) has hundreds of claims available to their
members. The down side is that claims tend to "wear out" when
experienced miners work them, and being accessible means that many
people will visit. But the advantage is that you can usually camp on the
claim, and you have access to a piece of land that was good enough,
once, to justify a claim. And chances are that if you meet a fellow
member, you'll have a lot to talk about.
2. What are all these definitions?
2.1 Equipment
GOLD PAN
Oldest known mining device; used to wash small gravels and reduce to
concentrates. Some pans are quite simple, with no ridges, riffles, rope
holes, etc. Other pans are quite fancy, even square, with sharp riffles.
Large pans are used when sampling; small pans are used to finish
concentrates. Safety pans are used when finishing; place a second pan
in the water and pan into it.
Berden pan: still looking for information on this one!
SLUICE BOX
Used to take advantage of water flow to wash light material out of
gravels. Can be small or large; old miners used wooden boxes. You
can get plans from most any miner's handbook if you're interesting
in building one. Newer sluice boxes are metal, with a wide apron to
shovel or dump screened sample onto. Newer sluices also contain "miner's
moss", a woven plastic fabric about a half inch thick, trapped under
the
removable riffles. A sluice can be very efficient if used patiently.
ROCKER BOX
Variation on a sluice, but uses less water. Rocker boxes were common in
the early days, but are not as efficient as newer products.
DREDGE
Suction dredges are a great innovation for modern-day miners. Powered by
a small gas engine, the motor drives a pump that lets a prospector
"vaccum" the bedrock of a stream or river. Gravels are dumped
onto a
sluice that traps the heavy minerals and black sands. Dredge "spoils"
can be ponded or dumped into the course of the water, depending on the
load. Efficient dredges are equiped with carpeting or miner's moss to
trap more black sands. Sizes range from 2 inch back pack dredges that
let you get into the high country, up to 8 inch monsters that process
gravels at commercial rates.
Most states require a permit before dredging. Many creeks and rivers are
restricted due to concerns over spawning, especially salmon spawning in
Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and northern California. Contact the relevant
state authorities to make sure you are legal.
Also, be sure to fill in your holes!
VAC-PAC
Think of the vac-pac as a desert dredge. Or, think of a gas-powered
shop-vac. How many times have you been in dry, dusty country, with no
water to speak of, looking over a nice chunk of exposed bedrock in an
old streambed, in a mining district. For some prospectors, it happens a
lot. The answer is to clean the bedrock with a backpack mounted
vaccuum cleaner, then pan the concentrates later.
2.2 Land claims
BLM
The Bureau of Land Management is the main place to start when
determining land status of an area. The BLM puts out colored maps that
show land ownership -- especially private land that is intermingled with
public land.
MINING CLAIM
Any public land that has mineral potential can be claimed. Claims are 20
acres in size. Costs are $100 per year, paying a year in advance as
well. The rules are in a bit of a state of flux right now, so you should
contact the BLM for details.
PATENTED CLAIM
Land that has been claimed and shown to be suitable for development into
a major mineral extraction effort has the potential to be patented. A
patent on the land makes it your personal property, whereas a common
mining claim only gives you the mineral rights.
Patenting is not as easy as it used to be. Several Canadian mining
companies were able to lock up millions of tons of reserves of valuable
land here in the U.S. while patenting their land at about $2.50 per
acre, and the entire practice came under review.
2.3 Geology
CONCENTRATES
Concentrates are the residue after you have washed out as much light
material as possible. Common minerals are magnetite, ilmenite, zircon,
garnet...uncommon minerals may include oxides of platinum, You may also
find lead weights, sinkers, pieces of gold-enriched mercury, nails,
bullets, shot, screws and other pieces of metal. And, of course, gold.
STRATIGRAPHY
If you've ever looked at a road cut, you've noticed that rocks are
usually layered. The common wisdom is that in almost all cases, the
older rocks are the ones at the bottom. In some areas, you may have a
stratigraphic colum that contains everything from old, metamorphic rocks
at the bottom to layers of volcanic basalt in the middle and layers of
sedimentary rocks at the top. Other stratigraphic columns may consist of
a single rock.
STRATA
The individual layers in a stratigraphic column are called strata.
Rhymes with "great-ah."
BASALT
The most common volcanic lava, basalt covers vast areas of some states.
The Columbia River Basalt of central Washington and Oregon is also found
in Idaho and Nevada, and is second in coverage to only the Deccan
plateau in India.
Basalt is rarely associated with gold. Other forms of basalt, such as
andesite, can sometimes be altered and weathered and result in oxidized
gold zones.
GRANITE
Granite is a common rock in many older mountain ranges. It is usually
black and white, with very large individual crystals, often containing
mica (a kind of flaky fool's gold).
PYRITE
Pyrite is iron sulfide, and is a second form of fool's gold. It is often
associated with gold, in the form of metallic zones in quartz veins.
GREENSTONE
Old miners used to narrow their searches in the mountains to look for
greenish, heavy metamorphic rocks. Greenstone is usually a metamorphosed
sedimentary rock, but can also be volcanic in origin before the
metamorphism baked it.
QUARTZ VEINS
Quartz is a white to clear crystal of silicate SiO4. When large masses
of molten rock far below the earth's surface begin to cool and form
rocks, they react out all the magnesiums, the aluminum atoms, etc. to
form granites or basalts. What is left is often liquid quartz, at
a high temperature. The liquid quartz gathers up other materials, if
present, such as gold, silver, and sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, etc.)
Pressure tends to force the liquid quartz into cracks and crevices at
the margins of granite intrusions, along faults, near the walls of
dikes, etc. The quartz can get pulsed in, pushing further along, or find
new releases into fresh cracks. The result is a quartz vein when it
cools, and if the liquid quartz was carrying sulfides or metals, those
deposits might be recognized eons later by rusty staining in the
quartz vein as it erodes.
2.4 Mining
BEDROCK
Bedrock is cliffs, outcrops, and mountains. There is no dirt or plant
life below bedrock. Bedrock is, by definition, the bottom. While the
surface material may be leaves, water, mud, dirt, gravel, or boulders,
they all sit on bedrock.
It is the bedrock that is mapped by geologists -- not the 'alluvium'
(mud) that covers it.
CREVICING
If bedrock is defined as the rock at the bottom, then the cracks in the
bedrock deserve special attention, because that is where the gold will
settle. Crevicing is the art of looking for rich crevices in the bedrock
where gold has accumulated. Another term is "sniping."
You may spend a lot of time with a whisk broom, or a hand trowel, or
even a vac-pac, but be sure to carry a pry bar that you can hammer on.
And use safety goggles if possible. You can lose an eye out there very
quickly.
3. How do I get started?
3.1 Equipment
If you're lucky, there is a mining supply store near you, or near the
area that you plan to visit. Contact them by phone to determine what
they have in stock, what their hours are, etc. Or try to get an
experienced gold panner to go with you. Keep in mind that you probably
have enough camping equipment and tools to make your first trip
enjoyable. A gold pan and a shovel, plus a small jar to put your
concentrates in, is all you need at first. You don't have to spend
$1,000 on a new dredge before you even learn how to pan.
3.2 Places to go
There is an old adage: gold is where you find it. But because the first
big strikes were almost 150 years ago, you can amend that adage
somewhat: gold is where someone else has already found it. Simply put,
there are very vew unworked gold-bearing areas in the world today.
Siberia, perhaps, or parts of South America, but consider how gold was
found in the old days for a minute:
The old time prospectors worked the rivers backwards, sampling as they
moved upstream. They might only get flour gold from gravel bars in the
valley, but as they worked, the gravels became coarser, and so did the
gold. Since the rocks had been eroding for millions of years, it isn't
hard to figure out where the gold came from in the rivers if you're
patient, and the old miners knew what they were doing. If a river is
consistently barren of gold at the bottom, and continually barren as you
work up to the source, then the entire area drained by the river must
not be worth working. Especially at the $16-$20 per ounce prices of the
19th century.
So when choosing an area to visit, check out your local library or book
store and get a copy of one of the handbooks that list gold mining areas
near you. Chances are good that you are closer than you thought to an
area worth investigating.
Think of your first few expeditions as learning experiences or training
sessions. See if you like what you're doing, and figure out how to use
your pans. Learn how to scout a river or creek, learning how water moves
faster and slower depending on the topography. When you are consistently
getting small pieces or colors, you can justify a bigger trip, farther
away and requiring more planning, to more famous areas such as
California's Mother Lode or Alaska.
3.3 Buddy up for safety
Always make sure that you have a friend or relative along, if at all
possible. There are many stories about solitary prospectors criss-
crossing the mountains or the desert, maybe in the company of a single,
devoted mule, but don't fall for the fable. You have to let people know
where you are, when you'll be back, and so forth. You have to bring a
first aid kit, adequate food and water, and some maps. It is a lot
easier than you think to break a leg out in the wilderness, and since
gold tends to be found in the mountains, you have to be somewhat
prepared for when things go wrong. Weather can change quickly in early
spring and late summer, so don't get tagged as a tenderfoot -- plan
ahead.
3.4 Terms and Definitions
Charlie Hattendorf's new list:
alluvial - relating to sedimentary material, deposited by flowing water
as in a riverbed or delta.
amalgamate - action of combining mercury and gold together, then using
acid or heat to burn the mercury off. Used to recover gold dust from
black sands. Warning! handling mercury/breathing vapor is dangerous.
assay - statement of mineral composition in a sample of ore. Fire or
chemical assays are common.
bankrun - term applied to material that is straight from your workings,
not pre-classified.
bar - an accumulation of gravel in streams and rivers where currents are
less swift, thus depositing material that has been picked up by the
current.
bed - stratification or layering of rocks in parallel layers.
bedrock - any material that is solid enough to stop the downward
movement of gold. Some clays will act as a barrier to keep gold from
falling further, thus the term "false bedrock".
blacklight - long or short wave ultraviolet lamps are used depending on
mineral being prospected for. Sheelite (tungtsen) flouresces.
black sands - magnetite, or other heavy dark materials like ilemenite,
which are found in your concentrates.
breccia - a jumbled mass of broken rock cemented together.
centrifuge - device which spins and separates fine gold from
concentrates.
cinnabar - bright red material containing mercury, found near geothermal
areas.
claim - method to register a mineral deposit. Land or mineral location
is defined by location and discovery markers. Location is registered
with the county recorder and the local BLM office. Dues, paperwork, etc.
are necessary to keep the claim valid on a yearly basis.
color - ANY indication of gold (better than none!).
concentrates - the heavvy material that is left in your machine or pan
after processing. Consisting of gold (hopefully), magnetite, possible
lead, and other heavy materials.
contact - the joinor line where two rocks of different types come
together. This may be a fault.
conveyor - used to transport material at a processing mill.
dike - wall like intrusion of igneous rock into surrounding rock.
dredge - device for sucking material through a hose from underwater.
Material is deposited onto a sluice above water.
drywasher - riffle tray with a pourous bottom allowing air to circulate
up through material being run. Air is supplied from a bellows or air
pump. Does not use water in the recovery process. Comes with a screen
above the riffle tray for classifying the larger stones out.
flatlander - anyone who doesn't know this stuff.
float - a general term applied to pieces of rock some distance from
their outcrop source.
fool's gold - pyrite or mica, distinguishable by not being as heavy as
gold, and brittle, not maleable.
goldpan - low sided pan used to separate gold from material or
concentrates. Comes usually with riffles built in, made of hard plastic.
Some are copper or steel.
gram - unit of weight 31.5 grams to a troy ounce.
grizzly - screen for separating large rocks from processing material.
hardrock - references material in its native, natural state.
highbanker - using a sluice away from the water source. A pump is used
to convert the water to your worksite.
igneous - rock type solidified from a molten state; subdivided into
plutonic, extrusive, and intrusive.
leach - using a weak cyanide solution for extracting gold.
leaverite - references surrounding rock of no value ("leave 'er right
there!").
lode - the gold bearing vein or ore containing gold.
lodestone - form of magnetite that is magnetic.
mill - (ball,side,hammer,jaw) device for crushing hardrock to a fine
grade, say 400-500 mesh. Uses swinging internal hammers or heavy steel
balls.
nugget - any piece of gold over a certain size, usually a gram or more
in weight.
outcrop - a deposit of similar rock which is readily visible on the
surface.
overburden - worthless surface material covering a mineral deposit.
patent - a patented mining claim has proven mineral deposits and is
deeded land granting the holder possesion of the land as well.
placer - gold having been worn by eroision takes the form of nuggets,
flakes and dust. Water can concentrate gold in its' course.
riffle - a ladder-like obstruction to the flow of material being run
over it, whose purpose is to keep heavier material from continuing
through the machine. Used in both wet and dry recovery systems (sluices,
dredges, drywashers,etc). Various styles using differences in height,
slant, and width are used, but the purpose is all the same.
shaker - screen set rocker device to classify rocks from smaller
material.
sluice - box-shaped apparatus with a riffle tray for extracting gold.
Usually made of sheet metal and used with water.
smelting - using a furnace or kiln to melt material for mineral
extraction.
spiral pan - rotating gold pan with spiral riffle leading inward to
collect fine gold.
trommel - tube which slowly spins, allowing material to be broken up and
lossened. Tube is at a slight downward pitch, material flows out across
a screen and onto a riffleboard or sluice. Can be used either wet or
dry.
winnow - old method of recovery, throwing dry earth into air over screen
or cloth, and catching what isn't blown away.
yard - cubic yard of material, used to gauge the speed of processing
material when judging a gold recovery machine. About 40 5-gallon buckets
equal a cubic yard.
Thanks to: Charlie (coyote@owens.ridgecrest.ca.us)
3.5 Label your specimens
One good way to put numbers on specimens is to print a sequence of
numbers (maybe repeated in several columns) using a laser printer
(different font sizes can also be useful). Cut them out, glue them on
with Duco cement, and coat with clear nail polish. Use archival paper
if you think you really have stuff of long term value. This seems to
work well for me - I've had no trouble with labels fading, coming off,
etc.
Pete Richards
prichard@nike.heidelberg.edu
3.6 How hard is it to pan gold?
>My daughter, age 13 thinks that panning for gold would be "neat."
I
>have read that there were gold mines here in Montgomery County (north
>of DC). In fact, about 10 miles from our home is Gold Mine Road.
>Can anyone suggest a good book for beginners? Thanks.
<snip>
There are gold prospector magazines available in most magazine stores.
These are put out by clubs, but still have basic info in them. You can
buy (hopefully!) a gold pan for inexpensive cost; plastic is popular,
with riffles (they keep the heavy material from flowing out). After
gathering a few handfulls of dirt/stones (no greater than 1/2" in
diameter, use a "classifier" or screen) gently immerse the pan
while
keeping it flat.
While under water, make sure the material is completely wet, and slowly
make side movements with the pan allowing just the very top of the
material to flow out. Shake gently to keep heavy matter on the bottom of
the pan. Keep washing things out until there is just a small amount left
in the bottom. Keeping a small amount of water in the pan, roll the
water around in the pan and expose the heaviest material in the very
bottom of the pan (GOLD!) Use a small piece of lead to make sure you're
not washing too forcefully, an easy mistake.
You should have "black sand" apparent in the pan, if you have
dug from a
mineralized area. Black sand is iron, and clings to a magnet. Clay can
make panning difficult as well, causing the material to stay above
rather than below it in the pan. Have fun, get dirty, get wet, find the
yellow stuff!
3.7 Is there anything such as advanced panning?
Try the World Panning Championship! Last year it was held at the
following site. Anyone with information on the 1996 schedule should send
a note.
October 7 & 8, 1995 at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park,
Coloma, CA - 1848 site that started the California Gold Rush - For more
information, call (916) 622-3470 or (916) 622-6198
4. What states are best for recreational gold mining?
4.1 California
The top by far. The Mother Lode country is in a class by itself. Gold is
found in the southern California desert and in northern California
(Siskyous and Klamaths) as well.
4.1.2 Northern Sierras
> Hi, This newsgroup seams like it needs some more traffic. So I have
> a few questions about rec mining in the Northern Sierras. What are
> the thoughts about the "4000' elevation" idea. Some tell
me they
> don't bother with ground above that elevation because of the
> enrichment factor in ground below 4000'. Another question. Is good
> gold prospecting like good fishing these days? Do you have to hike
in
> to get good amounts of gold? The last question for now, how heavy is
> the nugget shooter type metal detectors pressure on gold country?
>
> Thank you
>
> Jesse Wellman
> "The best investment on Earth... is Earth"
Jesse --
The Mother Lode gold belt in the Sierras starts in the south near
Mariposa and is a mile wide mineralized area roughly following Highway
49. The north end of this belt is a little north of Placerville. North
of this, the gold area gets wider and eventually extends almost to the
summit. There are many hydraulic mines over 5000'.
Most of the nugget shooter type metal detectors pressure on gold country
is in the hydraulic mines and many of them have been hit hard.
-- Bill Westcott
4.1.2 Red-Legged Frog
>And now the Jan/Feb. issue of Gold Prospector has a question on page
9
>from Mr. Massie that indicates there may be a problem with something
>called a Red-legged Frog. Seems it,s up for the Endangered Species Act
>and if accepted will stop all dredging activity below 4,000ft. in 7
>California counties.
>Anyone know anything about this, or where I can find information
>regarding the current status and when the vote is ?
>
>thanks in advance,
Bob,
I suggest you contact Ron Stockman at the Mother Lode Research Center.
He might be able to answer your questions. His email address is:
stockman@psyber.com
He also maintains a web page at: http://www2.psyber.com/~stockman/
If you wish to be kept appraised of the latest news affecting the small
scale mining community and other related issues, make sure you sign up
for his mailing list.
Good luck,
--Ethan
4.2 Alaska
Close second, but hard to get to.
In response to several requests, I'll start working on a
Prospecting in Alaska FAQ. If anyone has any specific
questions they want addressed, email me and I'll find answers
for you and include them in the FAQ. If anyone has any
pertinent Web sites, let me know, so I can include them.
I just got back from the 40mile Mining District (home), where
there are some major political battles raging, over access to
State mining claims. The BLM is denying miners access across
federally held land. Access was guarenteed in ANILCA (the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, signed into
law on December 2, 1980 by Jimmy Carter, and commonly called
the D-2 Lands Bill). When I left there, the miners were
cleaning their camps and thawing out steaks in anticipation of
a visit from Bill Sherrill (sp?), an aide to Don Young; Steve
Borell, Executive Director of the Alaska Miners Association,
and Mike McDougherty, head of the State of Alaska Dept.of
Natural Resources, Division of Mines. Miners up here are being
forced to become political activists...<sigh>.
Jan
member: 40mile Miners Assoc.
member: Alaska Miners Assoc.
occasional placer miner
4.3 Montana
Still wide open.
4.4 Arizona
Reported to have the highest quality gold -- runs over .900 fine.
4.5 Oregon
Good in two areas: southwest and northeast.
4.6 Idaho
Boise Basin is popular; maybe too popular.
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April 18, 2003