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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.