Night Detecting

[Gold Ryder]

It can be real sporty here in Montana. Especially near our claims. Where in a 50 mile radius there are over 40 known grizzly bears. Really gets the blood pumping. 

[DanK]

On 1/18/2024 at 4:27 PM, Clay Diggins said:

Night detecting on that Placer Pete "claim" might be the best bet.

12N 2W Section 33 is not open to entry (NOE). There are no valid claims possible there.

 

[DanK]

Greetings.  Placer Pete is a shared claim with GPAA and several other SoCal clubs and can be found in the "properties" of GPAA, California, in San Bernardino county and have been featured in the GPAA magazine.  I have talked with Phil and Steve, the owners numerous times and there are pretty good size GPAA and other club functions on the property.  I know they are in a section that doesn't allow expanding mining operations beyond hobby mining.  This is considered the Coolgardie area northwest of Barstow on BLM land.

This area has a lot of military activity out of Edwards Air Force base, Fort Irwin Army base, and even jets from China Lake Naval base.  I've been surprised numerous times with low flying jets and occasionally the B1 and B2 fly overs.  My detector of choice is the Minelab Gold Monster and it has gone a little screwy from the jets once in a while.  At night no jets. 

As for night detecting, I never saw another person detecting at night but I did drive by Phil and Steve's tent and shared my night finds after they were up and about after sun up.  Winter was different because I rarely saw anyone because of the damp soil and cold.  I also worked three 12 hour shifts so I was always there on week days only.

To further clarify, I also only went when my wife was working and I was always home before she got home and had dinner and all chores completed.  Priorities!  Placer Pete has decent phone access and I would text here pictures of each piece and its number when she was at work, after 7 AM.  It was funny because the other girls she worked with would hear her phone beep and ask to see the gold.  So it wasn't only addictive for me but my wife and her coworkers.  There was a bit of excitement when I sent the picture of an 8.3 gram piece (found in the daylight).  I never realized that you could find that size of gold in that area.

Placer Pete has numerous old dry washer digs and that is where I found three quarters of all the gold I found there.  If I found a piece of gold I would rake down the tailing pile a little at a time, moving the dirt back to where it was before the old prospectors got there.  A little dust and flying bugs makes for another challenge at night.  Then make pass after pass from two different directions.  With night detecting you really need a good magnet on your pick because it's loaded with old screening material and pick shards which are really hard to see in the scoop in a headlamp.

Thankfully no bears in the desert.  Have a wonderful day.  

 

[Clay Diggins]

On 2/6/2024 at 4:50 PM, DanK said:

Greetings.  Placer Pete is a shared claim with GPAA and several other SoCal clubs and can be found in the "properties" of GPAA, California, in San Bernardino county and have been featured in the GPAA magazine.  I have talked with Phil and Steve, the owners numerous times and there are pretty good size GPAA and other club functions on the property.  I know they are in a section that doesn't allow expanding mining operations beyond hobby mining.  This is considered the Coolgardie area northwest of Barstow on BLM land.

 

I think you may misunderstand the situation Dan. I like what Phil and Steve have been doing. They are probably the most engaged and sharing of the hobby miners in California. Their outings have been fun and instructional for many visitors.

The Coolgardie area is not mining restricted. It is in fact part of one of the largest and most productive mining complexes on earth. There is still a lot of active commercial mining interest there.

The Section the Placer Pete mining claim is located in is not limited to hobby mining. As I stated before it may be possible to arrange a mining lease with the BLM. The restriction on that section is not a prohibition on mining but it is closed to mining claims. There can be no valid mining claims located in that section because it is "not open to entry" (NOE). That is clearly marked on the Master Title Plat as well as the case file for the Placer Pete claim.

I hope Phil and Steve can keep doing what they have been doing. I doubt the California BLM will change their internal policy to never check on mining claim validity. As long as BLM does not do what claim owners pay them to do the Placer Pete "mining claim" is probably going to keep paying annual fees for a void mining claim.

I don't have a beef with Steve or Phil. Having a beef with California BLM would be futile and one sided. The California BLM has not administered mining claims for many years.

My interest in this is to educate small miners why many (most?) of their mining claims are eventually declared void by the BLM. Locating mining claims on land not open to location is the small miners most common mistake. Not checking the federal government's official record of mineral title on the Master Title Plat is the main reason these void claims are located. The Placer Pete claim is a perfect example of this problem.

Learn to use the Master Title Plats and the problem disappears. It's a simple matter of education.

Land Matters has videos and books for download in their Tutorials section that delve into using Master Title Plats. It's not simple stuff, you will have to study for a few hours. Master Title Plats are the first, and often the most important, step in locating a mining claim. Millions of dollars are wasted each year by miners paying for and developing deposits on "claims" that are void when they are located.

Educate yourself and prosper.

Barry

[Jim McCulloch]

Dan and Barry, nice posts. There is still plenty of detectable gold in the greater Coolgardie area. "Back in the day " (1900) hundreds of two-man drywasher teams supported themselves, usually working at night. For those persons wishing to try night detecting,  let me emphasize GPS, snake gaiters, LOTS of lamp batteries, and be prepared to dig a lot of rusty screen wire. HH Jim