GhostMiner

Thanks for the info. Yes, we always use excavators after signs of gold are worth exploring. We do bulk samples through a trommel. Usually 100 yds or more. Drilling is very expensive and I haven't found any that will come to our site because of the amount of rock. We are a tiny company & drilling is a non starter. The issues here are that we are in a remote area that requires road building on a faultline which means permits which means a lot of time. I was just hoping for a faster, cheaper solution. Guess i'll cross of the detectors. We used an excavator Gold Claimer Pioneer 30 trommel at the eastern drift mine Jed talked about early in the journal. We opened up the drift although the gravels all along that area are about the same. We processes 250 cubic yards. We averaged about a gram per cubic yard. We even found the 2 man tuttle tooth hand saw he talked about. It was broke in half. Maybe he broke it LOL. Anyway, that mine is now leased. I am looking for treasure at this stage of my life. The amount of gold Jed ended up finding. I think it's there in that faultline.

What if you had a 1000 ounce gold deposit about 15 - 20 ft below the surface. The gold is free gold and is coarse mixed in with black sand and gravels & river rock. All in about a 20 ft X 20 ft area of raised bedrock. This is the area near Jed's dig site where we chased out the highgraders who found a good deposit. I have a couple partners working this and they are down close to 10 ft. It started out at over 2 grams per cubic yard about 6 ft down. Now at the 10 ft level it is testing out at around 4 grams per cubic yard. We are thinking it may continue to get better the deeper we go but it would be nice to see further down with modern equipment.

Yes, it's really cool. I wish I had found it!

Looks medieval.

A question for the pros here. I was watching a treasure hunting show and they were looking for a lost mine using a Whites TM 808 Treasuremaster which they claimed could detect gold or silver deposits down to 20 feet. I will preface this by saying I know about mining with excavators, trommels, & sluices but no nothing about detectors. What I am interested in is something that could detect large, concentrated gold deposits of 50 ounces or more that I think are buried in a rich faultline. The depths could be several feet or much deeper. Some of these deposits I suspect could be in the hundreds of ounces or more. Are there detectors capable of this & if you own one I would be interested in talking with you. Thanks.

You are welcome & thanks for reading.

June 7 1936 After breakfast we weighed up yesterdays gold count. Got an ounce. That's damn good gold and i'm happy to see it but the guys are anxious for more. Jacob and me went back up to the faultline and brought Will with us for extra power today. We crashed the pick against the rock walls of the fault with grunts and sweat a flying. Rock bars were used to move the bigger rock that was cemented in place. We are in the wall of the fault now and i'm looking for openings or crevaces that might have trapped gold. It's a treasure hunt more than a mining operation at this point.We all know that when we decide to quit the wall we can start working the good trench gravels again. Will let out a few curse words and I saw that his pick handle had broke. Jacob and I just dropped onto the rock and sat there laughing. I sent Will down to the tom with a load of full buckets and told him to put a handle on it and come back up. He eventually came back up with the truck and joined the fight once again. I hit a little seem and pried it open. I set a bucket down and scooped some garavel out of there and into the bucket. Maybe about half full. I took it over to the tub and panned some of it. I gave a holler to Will and Jacob. They came over and had a look see. The pan was full of coarse gold and pickers. They all got real excited and we went back to that seem. It wasn't too wide but went back in a ways. I hammered at it and pried like hell on it with the bar. More of it broke off and I scooped more material out into a bucket. Down to the tub I went and panned some of it. Loaded with heavy gold. Now we were all getting real excited and started taking turns swinging on that seem with a pick and sledge and then a bar to pry on her. We got a big two foot chunk out and it ended. We took out the material. We had a total of three buckets and change out of that seem. I told the boys to keep them seperate and marked so we could process this by itself. We ended up only gettin 50 buckets total but the three from the seem might be something special. When we told John and showed him some gold in the pan he got real happy. He said to me that I must for sure know what I was doing. I just laughed and said it's just a big treasure hunt. We'll see what we end up getting tomorrow. TO BE CONTINUED ......................

JUNE 6 1936 Well, I have proof that I cannot always trust my eyes or the pan as we did the weigh and produced two ounces from the eastern wall dig. Amongst a bit of consternation from the crew I have decided to keep working it to see if it gets better. I told everyone that we need to determine the pay area perimiters. We know the trench is rich. We are not too worried about water as we have the pump when needed. There should be enough water in the creek for the pump clear into fall. So back to it Jacob and me went. Swinging and digging. Prying and digging. It is a battle against rock. We continue to widen the work area a bit and are also getting a bit deeper in the process. My shoulders and elbows are sore from the pick work. Jacob is relentless and relishes every challenge. I am happy to have my brother beside me. The digging is slow now. Every bucket requires three times the effort. I am almost hoping to run out of pay so we can move. There was some noise up higher above our dig site today. I couldn't determine the origin but it seemed to be distant and maybe a few hundred yards higher than us. The sounds were like a holler back and forth but didn't sound human. I can't explain it and Jacob just shook his head and shrugged it off. We ended up taking 130 buckets out of the east wall. I did a few test pans when we were digging but again saw little to no color. We will see. Jacob and I knocked back a good amount of whiskey and talked about home and what we would do with the gold. Then we turned in and waited for our turn on watch. TO BE CONTINUED ..........................

JUNE 5 1936 Our 180 buckets from the eastern wall dig was somewhat disappointing but did give us one ounce. Jacob and me continued our attack in the wall amongst very heavy ground filled with old channel rock. I did several test pans of these gravels at various levels but the color is not there. We were able to take 160 buckets down to the tom and tomorrows weigh will tell us if we should move away from the eastern wall or keep going. Everyone is for continuing at the main trench which we know is rich. I am trying to determine the area of the strike and where it fades away. I should have a good idea tomorrow. There is nothing easy here and everything is a battle against rock and heavy gravel but the rewards have been unbeliebable to this point. We are all still dreaming of continued glory. Our creek continues to flow well enough for the tom and we have not used the pump yet. I think we may have another week or two of good water before the pump is needed. This evening we had a bobcat enter camp. He prowled the perimiter as we watched. John got up with his pistol and fired a round sending him running down along the creek heading up the mountain. We have seen black bear but have not had any come into camp. There are lion in the area as well but we have not seen any. Will shot a rattler near the creek yesterday and that is the first one we saw. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

JUNE 4 1936 Yesterdays dig brought us another 9 ounces of gold. The rate of gold per ton is staggering. The gold has been poured into a very concentrated area. Jacob in his working of the northern trench has already encountered country rock which is disappointing. However, the area where I have been digging shows no sign of a bottom. We may very well end up with a shaft following a deep opening down into the fault. Before I pursue that possibility I have decided to work the eastern trench wall even further to see if we encounter the same rich gravels. So today that is what we did, worked the eastern wall with the pick and shovel. This was heavy and slow work as we encountered large rock that had to be moved with the bars. Some test pans showed color and the work was not in vain. I would like to continue this plan for a few days or more to see what is there. Our bucket total was a meager 180 today even though we worked till nearly dark. I am turning in early tonight and will stand my watch when it's time. There has been no trouble and all has been quiet here except for the sound of the pick and shovel striking gravel. TO BE CONTINUED .......................

JUNE 3 1936 Lord make me a rainbow and may the mother of all the saints shine down upon me and my crew. The weigh of gold from yesterdays 210 buckets was done. We had 18 ounces in the pan. I am too tired to write much more tonight and am more than half drunk. All my feeble mind is capable of tonight is thinking of gold. Jacob and me dug 235 buckets today. We are tired and more than happy and our bellies are full. TO BE CONTINUED .......................

JUNE 2 1936 Last night we built the campfire and ended up deep in the cups swapping stories and lies until nearly midnight. Jacob and Will had asked to go into town and make a visit to the tavern but I told them it is far too risky. We don't know if the hooligans have left the area and that place is a gathering area for rif raf and misfits. They are young and full of oats but I don't need them getting into trouble or being followed. So we all blew steam at camp. We had it building for days. After a late start Will and John finished the weigh and Will walked up to the dig. He was carrying a jar and had a grin on his face from ear to ear. Jacob and me stopped shoveling and climbed out of the trench to see what was up. He said to have a look at the jar and handed it over to me. It was heavy. I kidded him and asked what did he do, fill it with rocks? I asked him how much was in there. The answer was 6 ounces. Jacob started doing some kind of Irish jig I couldn't identify. I told Will we are on to something good here. He was never told about the kettle gold. I decided he had earned the right to know. He was stunned. I showed him the pit where we dug it out. He said he couldn't believe we got 220 ounces out of that hole. I just told him we are in an area of concentration unlike what I have ever experienced. I said we may well be on the road to almighty glory. I also told him that my hunch was as we got deeper it was going to get even richer. How rich I didn't know but we are getting deeper with no end in sight. Will went back to work at the creek with dreams of glory in his eyes as we all did. Even with our headaches Jacob and me were able to dig 210 buckets of rich gravel. Tonight we eat and rest and drink little bit of my Irish whiskey for good luck. TO BE CONTINUED .......................

Something else I have referred to previously was that Jed was working with a very prominent geologist. Perhaps the most prominent geologist in the state. He was reporting back to him on a regular basis on the progress and gold count. He never mentions any of this in his journal. It was only stated once in the government report. There is no mention of any partnership between them but in my opinion the geologist was a silent partner and that's why he was kept in the loop. There is a lot more info coming in this journal.

Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine. Hmmmmm. There is much more to unwrap here.

For sure. Thanks.

Hoover Stew. A term used during the Great Depression and President Hoover. A stew where you threw whatever food you had available into the pot.

JUNE 1 1936 We continue to stay in very rich gravels, the richest I have ever dug. The weigh gave us another ounce. Based on the amount of gravels the ground seems to be holding up and we may be glory bound. My worry of our creek slowing may be cured as well. I sent Will in with the truck to pick up a Meyers pump to supply the tom if needed. So far the creek is still running a sufficient current of water but it has started to slow some. The pump should keep the gravel processing at a good level when the time comes. Jacob and me are still hauling out the buckets from the trench or pit on a steep incline. Our depths are deepening each day. We are now into the loose gravel with the occaional rounded rock and there is no sign of a bottom. The gold is chunk with some fine and is found in promiscuous amounts per ton. We are digging just north of the kettle and now at a greater depth than the bottom of that glory hole. I continue to pan samples as we dig and the gold is always there. We have started to timber the sides of the wall where needed in order to keep them stable. I have Jacob working at the northern end of the trench picking and digging away at the base while I continue to work the top. We are in an area about 15 to 20 feet in length and 6 feet in width. I am working the eastern side into the fault and widening the dig at the same time. I have been able to drive into the eastern wall by using the pick and bar and those gravels are good and show gold. Today we worked very hard and it felt good to be back to digging the gravels and finding gold. We hauled out 250 buckets today and are quite proud of ourselves. It will be Hoover stew and whiskey for me tonight. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

MAY 31 1936 PART THREE John put his boot up against the box and started to push against it a little. John said he had ten seconds to talk or he would hang. Then the robber gave in. He was shaking and hollering not to hang him, he would talk. John said to start talking before he changed his mind. He left him up on the box. The robber said he was from Nevada. He had fell on hard times and came to California for the gold. He wasn't very good at mining and met up with the other three holligans in town one night. He joined up with them. He said they had robbed a lot of people but he personally hadn't killed anyone. It was the ring leader who was the murderer. He didn't even know their last names. He said they had a camp hidden in a remote ravine about a mile up to the north just off the creek a few hundred yards. They would go up and down the creek laying for prospectors and rob them. They also stole a truck in town and had robbed and beaten a few people as well. He described the area of the camp pretty well but John told him he was going to guide us to it in the morning when we could see better. He agreed. We lashed him back to the tree and took our turn on guard duty until daybreak. After a quick breakfast John and me hiked higher up the mountain while Will and Jacob guarded camp. This is the last thing I wanted to spend my time on as it took us away from our mining but we had no choice it seemed. When we got up there we found the campsite but it was deserted and most everything was removed. They must have cleared out in the middle of the night. I asked the robber where they might have gone. He just shrugged his shoulders and said maybe they're getting out of the area. There wasn't much we could do and now had to decide what to do with the robber. John asked him what he should do with him. The guy pleaded that if we let him go he would high tail it back to Nevada and we'd never have any more trouble from him. He's had enough of this kind of life and was going home. We walked him back down to our camp and had a quick meeting. Then we untied his hands and told him to git or we would kill him for sure. He thanked us and ran out of there with his tail between his legs, I am hoping we did the right thing. We all went back to our jobs although it was a late start. John and will got 2 ounces from yesterdays 235 buckets. Jacob and me gug 120 buckets of good gravels and quit at dusk. We'll see tomorrow how we did. We are still standing watch at night. TO BE CONTINUED .....................

MR. Outlaw, Jed & his crew have caught up with you. It may be time to pay for your sins.

Dedicated to Jed & crew.

MAY 31 1936 PART TWO We poured some alcohol in the wound and tied a piece of cloth around his leg. The bullet had gone through the flesh of his calf and he was able to hobble around some. We asked him who he was but he wasn't talking. I told the greenhorns we had business to settle with him and were taking him down to our camp and we would let them know what we got out of him in the way of information. They agreed with us as to not contacting the law. Will and Jacob were surprised to see we had caught one of the gang. Will said he was one of the crew that had robbed him. We filled them in on what happened. We tried to get information out of him but he just said they were prospectors. We tied up his hands and lashed him up to a tree. Then we walked away and had a quick meeting. When we came back to the robber I told him John was for hanging him and he talked the rest of us into it. He just sneered and said we wouldn't do it. Then John brought over a wooden crate about two feet high. We set it under the branch of the tree and made a noose out of some rope. John threw the rope over the branch and we unlashed the robber and told him to stand on the box. He said he wouldn't and started shaking a little. John and me lifted him onto the box and I told Jacob to put the noose around his neck and pull the rope tight then get up on the branch and wrap the rope around it a few times and tie it off. John told him he wanted to know where his gang was camped and who he was. He said if he didn't talk he was going to kick the box out from under his feet. His hands were still tied behind his back. John said we'll hang you and nobody will ever find you and he would do it for sure. The rif raf was shaking. John said he would ask him one last time and if he didn't talk he was a dead man. TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE ......................

Another journal entry coming soon.

I also plan to get another dig started on this ground and shoot video of the project. I think it would be quite interesting.

I am reading the journal and typing. I also am planning to do a book on this journal later this year. There is quite a lot that went on out there.

So now they've caught one of the gang. What will they do with him?