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Detecting Dredge Piles Question?


oneguy

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I'm new to nugget shooting and have recently got a Gold Monster a couple weeks ago.  I wanted to get a little time on the machine and there's snow on the claim I have access to so I took the machine out to some nearby dredge piles to play around.  I got about 8 hrs on the machine so far. These dredge piles are about 15' high and I quickly found out how dangerous climbing around steep, frozen big boulders was....lol  I did get a few "hits" on the GM on top the piles but after carefully removing rocks one at a time I realized whatever set the machine off kept falling down in between the rocks deeper into the pile the more I chased it?  Very little small gravel/soil type material....just big cleaned rock.  So I learned that hunting the tops of these piles will most likely end in defeat or injury.  I hunted just a few hrs on the wooded flats near the base of some piles.  So far I've dug lead bullets, casings, some iron, and new aluminum so the machine is working, etc.  My question may sound stupid but I'll throw it out there.....   Is there a semi productive way to search these piles?  Should a guy just search around the bottoms and flatter ground where maybe some of the finer material has finally settled?  I'd taken a rake along with me when I went but never really used it as the rocks in the piles were much bigger once I got up close....lol

PS.....Having only driven by these piles for years I must say that once I actually crawled around on the piles I was VERY impressed how much material those old dredges dug outta that creek.....amazing to say the least..........

 

Thanks

 

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Dredge piles by design tend to be seperated into size according to the design of the machine. Usually the first to be discarded from the tromell are the largest rocks and boulders that are moved by conveyor some distance as to not impede the operation of the plant ( usually already worked ground ) these tailings are washed by high pressure water jets leaving what are just very clean rocks , you are not likely to find much at all in these piles and as you have already found there's a lot of air between this material , much better to find where the separation tables where located to see if anything was missed , sometimes Gold is lost when tables are opened and cleaned .although it would be a poor operator that doesn't double treat these areas themselves. If the dredges are small portable units look for signs of where the machine stood and the look for run off areas with fines nearby , If the dredges are the large floating pontoon types your up against it because these dredges are usually floated and moved in artificial ponds and tailings end up on the floor of these ponds. Your certainly setting yourself a big challenge.You may have more luck if you can find bedrock scraped by the buckets on   Higher bank terraces . In some areas near me large dredges where floated up to a mile away from the present day river bed to work the ancient river course.The trouble with dredged areas is usually the enormous amount of overburden that washes back every time there's a flood . if you read most of the articles here you will find that high frequency vlf detectors are being used to pinpoint finds from PI detectors or for small nugget shooting on exposed shale bedrock where the limited range can be used to advantage , there's just no getting away from the fact that gold drops to bedrock and then forces its way down into any microscopic cracks available, the old timers cleaned these areas well but couldn't clean it all and it's these deposits that can be targeted with super sensitive detectors like the Gold Monster . Good luck with it. 

P M.

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It seems I have spent half my life detecting tailing piles - there are many stories at my Steve's Mining Journal on the subject. Ganes Creek and Moore Creek in particular.

I have chased targets in cobbles like you describe for too many hours - but they can be gold. As a rough generality over the year I have found two hot spots in unhunted tailing piles (good luck finding those now). The very top of the pile came off the bottom of the workings and I have found some nice nugget mini-patches on the top of some tailing piles. The other spot is the lowest areas around tailing piles. Once nuggets start rolling they usually keep rolling all the way to the bottom. And then yes, you can find a nugget also just about anywhere else so nothing is off limits. Dragline operations in particular can be a real mess.

Do keep an eye out for clay lumps, often covered with moss. If the gold is on a clay bottom a lot of gold gets caught up with clay chucks and discarded. Detect any areas with clay in the tailings very carefully. Another clue is ripped shards of bedrock on tops of tailing piles letting you know they really were at the bottom.

Do check the records also. In Alaska many bucket line dredges worked areas where there was nothing but fine gold. I do not hunt tailing piles unless I have some sort of evidence nuggets were recovered in the area. Even then the patience and effort required can be daunting, but at least you know the chance of big gold really does exist, making it worth the effort.

Aerial view of tiny portion of Ganes Creek tailings in 2002. The old machine shop shown in the photo was unfortunately destroyed in floods a few years ago.

tailing-piles-aerial-photo-ganes-creek-2002.jpg

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here's the piles I was playing around in.....  The hillside also caught my attention but I'm not 17 and no longer a mountain goat....lol

Thanks again all for the tips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Pretty cool stuff!!!!!!!  This old crap just fascinates me..........   And to think nowdays about a month ago I was on a FEDERAL mining claim and the Forest Service stopped by and told me I couldn't have my AM sluice box in the river, can't harm any tree roots, and to not "alter" the river course with the hole in the bank I was working.  I was in total disgust and also trying not to laugh....  Told FS this river has altered it's course for eons......also mentioned that a retired old 63 yr old cancer survivor with bad back, etc. etc. isn't going to hurt much with a # 2 shovel.......

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Hoping next year to get up there more often and take the Gold Monster up and down it's stacks that aren't claimed or claimed by Parks Canada, or where I can get permission. The dredges up here kicked out to the stacker everything above 3/4".

 

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Was out again today at the piles learning more about my new GM 1000.  Think I have approx. 12 hrs with it so far?  Today I think I dug up at least half of one old dredge...lol.  I dug several old rivets 3" x 3/4 -1", some big nuts 2-3", a lot of bullet lead, casings, a small amount of modern aluminum, and wasn't expecting to pop this V-nickel in same area.  Funny tho...V's are my favorite coin to dig when I'm coin shooting so I was glad to find it.  No gold yet but almost everything in the artifact range I dug today is old with lots of tailings and holes around so I think I'll definitely return next season at some time to search more?  I'm starting to understand the GM a little better but have a ways to go. Looking forward to seeing how it reacts up on the claim next season.......

PB260004.JPG

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