Cascade Steven

GM: I do not have any current price information. Sorry. The seismic survey work of which I was involved was with the US Bureau of Mines, and we had our own equipment and did all of the work in-house. For Ground Penetrating Radar, I do not have any current price information. However this link provides a few parameters to consider and some possible ball-park cost estimates: https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-a-survey-with-Ground-Penetrating-Radar-generally-cost An interesting seismic survey applications article can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10451-6. For those interested in a do-it-yourself approach for seismic work, here are two articles that may be of interest: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323452070_How_to_build_your_own_simple_low-cost_seismic_system. and https://www.scirp.org/html/8-9401345_8137.htm. Hope this helps without being an overload of detail.

Off Grid: you have a very good point. Ground Penetrating Radar may be of value in detecting depth to bedrock and possibly the unevenness of the bedrock surface. This then could theoretically predict the presence of "kettles" and potential gold collection sites. This link (https://www.guidelinegeo.com/ground-penetrating-radar-gpr/) provides a general overview of the process and its capabilities. Another potential tool is a shallow seismic survey. Such surveys can be conducted with field portable equipment and the energy source for the wave is either a "shot shell" or a sledge-hammer on a steel plate. I have been involved with such surveys on abandoned mine tailings and seismic surveys worked well in that environment. GM: From my experience it appears that it may be worthwhile to at least contact a vendor for a discussion of capabilities to learn if either method is a worthwhile tool for your specific application. Just more food for thought and best wishes on your endeavor.

GM: best wishes with the eye surgery.

Yes, I too would have thoroughly enjoyed working with them. There is nothing like practical experience to gain an understanding of placer prospecting and mining.

Nice collection of large cents. Just a question about cleaning: would a mild solution of citric acid and a 9-volt battery assembly work? I know that at one time several decades ago Whites electronics produced a coin cleaning product that used a battery (I believe 9-volt). The coin was placed in the solution (citric acid in a glass container) and connected to one side of the battery, and the other side of the battery was connected to a piece of stainless steel. I don't know if it worked, so I just asking the question out of curiosity.

GM: I anxiously await your daily entry and have now become truly addicted to this wonderful story. Again, thank you for your continued effort.👍👍👍

congratulations on a nice find.🙂

GM: Thanks for sharing such a very interesting real-life adventure, and for the effort of transcribing it into the forum for all of us to enjoy. Greatly appreciated.🙂👍

Very nice! Congratulations to all involved.

GotAU: good advice and good example of why it is necessary to both reclaim a site and also be cautious as a public lands user.

GotAU: thank you for your kind words and also for pointing out something that I forgot to address: the cost of reclamation. Thank you. I will edit my post to include that thought. 🙂

My apology in advance for a long read. Addressing the question of whether one should stake a claim, I would like to humbly and respectfully offer a little “food-for-thought” from a retired exploration geologist’s perspective. My background includes exploration for porphyry copper deposits and also “world class” size base metal sulfide deposits, including work on the “Red Dog” deposit in Alaska. Thus, I approach the subject from that perspective. The following comments are only one person’s view based on that person’s perspective and life experiences. Other people may and will have different experiences and thus different perspectives. I wish to reiterate what others have stated, specifically, claim ownership (should I stake a mining claim) depends on your goals. From my perspective there are at least five primary questions to be answered: 1) is the ownership for fun or for profit; 2) am I interested in placer gold or lode (hard rock) gold; 3) how much time do I have to invest in the hobby; 4) how much money do I want to invest in the hobby; or 5) do I want a mining claim for prestige (i.e. I own a “piece of history”)? The answer to these questions will help focus and define the ultimate answer as to whether a person should own a mining claim. Education is also an important foundation building factor. This education should include a knowledge of: either hard rock or placer geology (depending upon ones mining interest); sampling techniques; appropriate and allowable mining methods based upon the area and anticipated size of operations; mining laws, both federal, state, and county; other mining regulations from other government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service, Federal Environmental Protection Agency, and appropriate state and county agencies; mining claim filing procedures; allowable assessment work; expenses that will be incurred during the research phase, location phase, exploration phase, permitting phase, mining phase and processing phase; safety issues and reclamation procedures and costs. Communication is also an important issue. I have learned that federal and state agencies like to be informed in advance of any significant activities. Cutting a trail is often considered a significant activity. They do not like surprises. With advance warning they will generally help the miner navigate the regulations so that the miner can accomplish his/her goal while satisfying all existing regulations. I have found it wise to talk to the local agency’s minerals specialist before starting any significant work. Working with them can save a lot of headaches, heartache, and unnecessary expenses and legal problems. Regarding communicating with the public, several vendors offer orange and black metal mining claim signs that can be posted on either placer or lode claims. I have found these do help reduce the inadvertent or accidental claim entry. Addressing placer claims first: if a person is only interested in casual weekend gold panning or metal detecting they should ask two questions: 1) are there local areas that have gold bearing streams where the steams have been set aside from mineral entry and are open to the general public for recreational gold panning? As an example, there are several such areas in the Western Cascades of Oregon. If so, there may be no need for a mining claim. If no such areas exist ask the second question: are there local clubs that one could join and access club claims? Many gold-bearing regions have local prospector clubs that a person can join. Annual memberships usually range from $25 to $35. There are also regional and national clubs available but be aware that the memberships are substantially greater, sometimes in excess of $100 per year. However national clubs provide access to claims nationwide. As others have stated previously, if one is interested in placer mining as a profession or money-making venture then mining claims are necessary. If one chooses this route, I would encourage the person to research the area of interest examining past literature on placer gold mining in the area as well as a due diligence research of both county courthouse records and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) records. Please be advised that I have found the BLM records recording status to be as much as 6-months behind the county records. It is also advisable to determine which land managing agency has jurisdiction over the land of interest, and contact them for information on both claim location and regulations regarding placer mining and significant ground disturbance. Each agency has specific regulations and the BLM is tasked with overall authority. There are also state and county agency regulations to consider as well as Federal Environmental regulations. Lode mining claims are a completely separate issue. They require the same due diligence, knowledge base and communication as for placer mines. However, they require greater amounts of labor and money if they are to be operated on for-profit basis. I know of many prospectors that have staked lode mining claims purely for recreational purposes. They work them on the weekends and do not expect to make a profit. However some do dream of “striking it rich”. Some people re-stake an old unpatented abandoned lode claim with existing underground working. In these instances safety is of paramount importance. If this is one's intent, I strongly encourage that person to take a course in underground safety with a focus on abandon underground mines. There are many hazards present in both abandon mines and operating mines. There are also courses available in small scale underground mining that should be considered. I hope that my experience will help someone either now or in the future. Regarding “claim jumpers”: Professionally I have found that patience, tolerance, kindness and a thorough knowledge of the law work wonders. If it is the weekend prospector or “would-be” miner, I don’t worry about it. If I meet them on the claims I try to be friendly and spend a lot of time listening. Usually if the people learn that the area is claimed, they search elsewhere. As others have mentioned, if a person collects a few grains of gold, it is no big deal to me. I simply smile and wish them the best, and if possible try to direct them to an area that is open to public panning or potential location. During my tenure as an exploration geologist I was blessed with never having to deal with a true claim jumper that had set up a full scale mining operation on one of the company claims. However I did hear of others with such issues. In those cases the situation was addressed through legal means and not confrontation. Hope this helps.

Oops, posted in wrong thread. Sorry

I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, insight and input on this subject. Practical experience is a wonderful teacher and we each have a different set of experiences to share and from which to learn. GM thank you for your detailed description. It will be useful to many readers now and future readers who come to this site.

Best wishes on the sale of your book. Due to other commitments I will not be able to make the show.

PimentoUK and Geotech: Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

Geotech: I've been away from the forum for a while and just dropped in on this very interesting conversation. I have a question about conductivity and apologize in advanced if I missed the answer elsewhere. When you talk about conductivity of metals, do you refer to electrical conductivity or magnetic conductivity as in magnetic susceptibility? Thanks

congratulations on your success.👍

El Nino77: congratulations on the anticipated arrival of the Garrett Goldmaster 24k. I look forward to your review.

Congratulations on a very nice find! 👍

Chiil - Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the idea and info. It is always nice to have a few extra "tricks in the bag" for this hobby. 👍

Steve H. Just wanted to say thanks for fixing the ad issue. I like the way you have run the site.👍

Welcome to the forum; glad you chose to join us. 🙂

Welcome aboard. Glad you chose to join us.