Golden Legends Tales of Buried Treasure

Here is a link to a video address from the organization, Public Lands for the People.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A5Nd8NbNxrQ I am featuring this entry as a way of informing the public about the legal disagreements being litigated in this day and age as far as mining in the United States. Much of what this gentleman has to say is probably unknown to most of you, even grey-haired prospectors such as myself. Even if half of what this man says is true, we should all be extremely concerned. There is definitely a wave of action that hopes to quash any ability of folks like us to recreationally prospect, especially for gold. Since proof that recreational miners do any harm to the environment is not available, and studies have shown no impact on the environment in many cases, this should be the warning sign of a wave that soon will be unstoppable. Take the time to listen to the whole video. Thanks.

I am hoping that the article I have found about a gold centrifugal concentrator (3") will perhaps spur some curiosity and inventiveness among duly interested readers. A dozen samples were taken with it and determined significant gold losses in 2 of 4 samples. To be specific, pages 8, 9, and 10 of this pdf have diagrams of the working parts of this gold concentrating device. Page 2 shows an actual photograph of the equipment..  http://www.mine.mn/WPJ2_1_Knelson_winter_test.htm The article is about a geologist who went to Mongolia under contract to test the tailings of a gold recovery operation that used Russian-style sluices. With a 20" concentrator, average losses were found to be 37% over the period 1993-1997 to the Mongolian government. http://www.mine.mn/WPJ2_1_1-13_Knelson_Winter_Test.pdf

I stumbled on this link that has a lot of information that may be useful in the work of gold discovery. BLM Products and Services for Mining Claims | BLM MLRS https://mlrs.blm.gov/s/research-map#3,46.58036870539957,-98.99771017666741 Use the BLM search at the top of the page.

Here is a 2 page pdf from the state of Washington regarding 52 sites that have produced placer gold. Whether it is Shi Shi beach, Ozette beach, Ruby Beach, Moclips River, or Oyhut beach, the map and info provided are indispensable to the gold prospector heading to the great state of Washington. 125 locations are spelled out for you. Included is a 7 step description of panning which readers of this blog probably will not need, but there it is. Since cities and states in Washington can own the watershed providing water to the metropolitan area, and since prospecting is strictly prohibited there, it is important to look at the map. http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_gold_panning.pdf  http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_gold_panning.pdf http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_b37_part2_metallic_v2_maps.pdf

In Northern Laos, a conical device called a dulang is used to pan for water. It is not a pan like the ones we see in the United States. There is a shallow and a deeper dulang. It may be superior in terms of speed of rotation and perhaps lessen any wobbling. It is interesting how the shape of devices can evolve so differently from varied places. You can download the article from here:  http://www.mine.mn/WPJ6_3_Laos_dulang.pdf Mekong River photos included. If you go here,  http://www.mine.mn/WPJ6_3_Laos_dulang.htm  , you can click on more articles - just look for NEXT ARTICLE at the bottom of the page. I can tell you that World Placer Journal is fascinating!

Here is an article discussing the way to make a classifier with a cake pan. The basic idea is to cut along the bottom of the pan along the circle where the sides begin to move up. Using mesh and rivets, a classifier (store bought are pretty expensive) is made. Get the details at  http://www.ehow.com/how_8050911_make-gold-separator-cake-pan.html No riffles require even more attention. 

Reprinted in 1983 and revised in 1967, this is a free history of gold mining and gold mines in Arizona. In 1967, some 7% of gold recovered had come from placers. You will find geological descriptions of all the areas where gold has been found. There are discussions of climate, access routes, vegetation, nature of the gold deposits, a history of each county's gold to the date, all followed by the names of the mines.Compass locations for all of the sites are given/ common descriptions of locations. Arizona had a somewhat limited number of "official gold mines" up until the Great Depression. At that time many men came to Arizona to prospect. There then became a list of gold mines that exceeded 100. Placers were also worked extensively, particularly in the Canada del Oro region near the Santa Catalina Mountains not far from Oracle, Arizona. This is a beautiful PDF. http://www.azgs.az.gov/Mineral%20Scans/gold_bull137_ocr.pdf

The Angeles National Forest has seen some prospectors over the last few years. It is interesting the places that placers have been found, yet not a lot of talk about them can be uncovered. I found this article interesting (it's from 2009 USA TODAY) because of the popularity of panning during hard economic times. The price of gold has held up there, so I suppose there is still a lot of activity. At least one knows there is gold placer in the national forest there. In 2009, the price of gold was around $900 an ounce. Read about the guys panning on the San Gabriel River. The fishing is supposed to be pretty good too! YouTube