My husband and I lived on a Gold Placer Mine up in the Arizona desert mountains between Ehrenberg and Quartzsite. Our place was on a rocky shelf that overlooked a wash that wandered around to the old Goodman/Scotts Mine a few miles back. A Placer claim consisted of 20 acres that was yours to do with and as long as you filled the required yearly mining assessment work. Back then it about $400 worth....this being about 1972.

Gold was not the only metal you could find and other minerals could be found too. When we did do any mining, basically it was digging a hole or sand and running it through a dry cradle.

There was another claim in front of us that did have a an actual mine dug in the side of the wash. At some point it was abandoned decades ago. By the time I came, someone else had it and would occasionally go through the taillings to find some small pieces.

The whole area had mining done dating from before the American Civil War and beyond. Up the wash from us, you could still find traces where people had setup canvas tents, back in the 20s and 30s, to live in while looking for gold. Found one place where a miner made a small rock cistern to catch any rainwater. There was a rock cabin built further back in the wash where someone was also mining for turquoise and chrysocolla as well as gold.

The boundary markers were piles of rocks where copies of claim papers were put. Occasionally, you would still find Prince Albert cans stashed in these with their papers. The rocky shelf I lived on had a small hill behind us that rose up to a higher one. One day, while walking up it, I found a stashed Prince Albert can with a tattered claim paper dating from before Arizona was a state in 1912.

You always had to watch yourself while looking any old mine, though...the wood holding up the ceilings could be rotten. Or while walking around any claim in general, never know when you might fall into an uncovered hole.

 

IMO, all you need is the gold pan. When we were kids.... we used to go up the Back side of the Santa Catalinas around Pepper Sause canyon There is still alot of gold in that region, Actually all over southern AZ wwhen we could we would bring back 5 gal buckets of dirt from the wash areas and pan at the house, Loads of fun! and when you find a little Gold it's worth all the time you spend. My friend Built a sluse box Very easy to do and we could go through 5 buckets of dirt in about 2 hours, well this reminds me.... I'm gonna go see if I can reach My old friend Richard, Thanks Alot!

 

That's the way to do it, lots of work to make a living at it. Gold deposits are continuously replenished by erosion. The chances of striking it big are small, because the lodes found by original prospectors had built up over a long time, but if you find some this year chances are there'll be some more there next year. All of the commercial mines around here (NV) are hard rock where the gold is leached out of the rock chemically, it's so fine you can't even see it most of the time. Don't know if you have kids but they really enjoy it and it's a great way to get them outside!

 

Get them to do the digging!

 

I've always been fascinated with the Gold Rush and gold prospecting, and that seems like it would be neat, but I don't know of anyone ever finding any gold in West Virginny...

 

It's there! (If you find it, can you please tell me where?)

 

Maps are available, for a modest fee.

They're also worth their weight in.................................gold.

 

Here it is but I'm not tellin' where!

 

I'm guessing near Fallon, Nevada, maybe just under Sand Mountain?

 

Maybe yes, maybe no.............

 

I guess I'll have to use a dowsing stick.

 

I think that only works for water Ben.

 

"Dowsing, sometimes called divining or water witching, refers to the practice of detecting hidden or buried water, metals, gemstones, or other such objects without the use of scientific apparatus." As per Wikipedia.

May I should get a dowsing stick made for finding gold.

 

I'm gona go find one of them things!!!!!! I thought they were for water.

 

I guess their main use was for finding water.

I also thought it was for water only.

I'm going to look funny walking around Fort Knox with a crooked stick.