Digging in the dirt, or all that's shiny sometimes is gold
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Researching old mines is a standard winter activity for me, and spring is when you go out and explore them. Had some new friends help me open up one of the drifts last weekend, and found some pretty decent gold bearing ore as a result. Wasn't the typical ore i'm use to (vein structure), but an iron enhanced area in the wall rock. So far every sample has gold. Next step, move a larger volume and see if it pays consistently.
First, opening up the past;
The daunting task at hand, opening up the mine buried in there
Digging out the sluff in front of the portal
finding new and exciting things
The hole grows
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Going underground
Going underground
Always a nice view
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Tim
Very interesting.
Very interesting.
What state is this in??
All I ever dig for is sand fleas
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Next, taking samples, and
Next, taking samples, and documenting what's underground
First few feet;
taking samples
Iron rich wall rock that contains gold (this mines "ore" so far)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fly
way cool. Looks fun. Good
way cool. Looks fun. Good luck con el oro!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Ore, rock crushing and
Ore, rock crushing and panning out the goodies
Limonite (oxidized pyrites) and manganese carry ("gold rides an iron horse", an old Spanish saying)
small rock once crushed gets classified and panned
The precious
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
An excellent view from the
An excellent view from the campsite, in Jackson county Oregon, looking south... from my first trip to this spot 2 weeks ago ("before")
and the after shot from last weekend, somethings changed!
Fortunately, not near our campsite
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Clowns to the left of me,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Tim
Do you drive into this
Do you drive into this campsite or do you have to hump all your stuff in???
Do you spend the night??
Looks very peaceful minus the forest fire.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Vann Kliburn
can't be all bad -if you have
can't be all bad -if you have a german shorthair on site.
I'd like to join you and cash in -ha ha- but - I'm claustrophobic
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Driver friendly for sure,
Driver friendly for sure, which is why it was one of the first 4 mines explored this year... definitely the best view of the bunch. Drive enough ridge lines and eventually they start adding up...
Always love having dogs on these trips, and have had some pretty well trained ones at that. The hounds treed a bear a while back, was after a kill a puma had done real close to the cabin. Wild grapes have taken over the trees near the creek, so there's a wildlife superhighway down the ravine the cabins on that leads to the creek, but that's a county over. (So far no huskies, lol)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
Bring it Noodler, Bring it!
Bring it Noodler, Bring it!
love what you bring to the zone, stay gold pony boy, I mean bring home that gold
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
Man, my son would absolutely
Man, my son would absolutely LOVE to join you.
(I wouldn't mind just sittin' in the sun, giving y'all some periodic encouragement)
Happy Huntin'!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Tim
Looks like a damn good time.
Looks like a damn good time.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Bluelight
Thanks Druba. It's very
Thanks Druba. It's very pastoral and relaxing for me to see these.
Got me in the mood for some Peter Gabriel too.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _________
Noodler Brings It !
Noodler Brings It !
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
Thanks Noodler! Great shots,
Thanks Noodler! Great shots, cool adventure.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
Love your threads Noods
Love your threads Noods
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: |-|/-\|_|_
way cool, but I'm not down
way cool, but I'm not down with the upside down.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ...
Thanks for bringing us along
Thanks for bringing us along
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 2 Room Shack
So can anyone open an old
So can anyone open an old mine? Trippy and good luck
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Thanks Zoners, get into some
Thanks Zoners, get into some pretty beautiful areas, and I love all the history that goes with it... really is amazing what the old timers were able to pull off!
Turtle, as to opening an old mine, really depends on where you are, but on BLM land you can use hand tools to do a little digging, the restrictions are on volume, tool type (non-motorized), etc. And you need to make sure the land isn't already claimed, or undergone mineral withdrawal, etc.
Here's a cool read on NW history, written in 1917, and well sourced. It's more generalized, but has some interesting tidbits for those that enjoy such things (like Oregonians finding out they'd become a state 3 weeks after it happened, or the Boise Pony Express vs the Susanville Pony express)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20610075?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Sounds like an adventure.
Sounds like an adventure. So you don't need to smelt the ore to get the gold? And at least you aren't digging up the creeks like a lot of modern small scale miners do.
I was in New Mexico last week and we found this old abandoned mine in the foothills of the Magdalena Mountains. The shaft looked very deep.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
Large gold I sell as
Large gold I sell as specimens (most of the time), the small stuff gets smelted unless I can find a buyer for it.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _________
Druba -Is There a way I Can
Druba -Is There a way I Can Email You ? Rob me at RSgland77 at yahoo dot com
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Druba
sent an email earlier via the
sent an email earlier via the carrier bat, hope you got it!