Quartzville Mining District - GMT And TDI

[tboykin]

*** NOTE ***

DO NOT ENTER MINES. This trip was with an experienced geologist and miner. Leave the mine exploring to the professionals. Never enter a mine. STAY OUT, STAY ALIVE.

 

The discovery of gold in Quartzville started a small-scale gold rush in the 1800's. Not as big as Althouse Creek or Sutter's Mill, but big enough to cause farmers to lay down the plow and head to the hills above Sweet Home to seek their fortune. Much of the gold is small, including wire gold, but a seasoned prospector can do well and come across some gorgeous nuggets if they know where to look.

Nowadays most people work the creek using dredges... but like all placer gold it came from somewhere. A lot of people who tell you "don't waste your time there" are just trying to protect stuff like this:

Saturday about 8am I went out with two guys who had a lot of history with the Quartzville District above the White's Factory. The idea was to check out claims and use the metal detectors to do some true prospecting in and around old workings that date back to the 1880's.

The GMT seemed like a good fit for the size of gold and what our goal was since we would need to read the mineralization in the mines to locate pay streaks. I brought a TDI as well to use in one section with some pocket gold. But they were just tools to help us locate mineral samples for the most part.

I will never be a geologist, but I did try and pick up a few things from these guys. The climber is a geologist (and the claim holder), and the hammer-er is a seasoned dredger who has pulled ounces of gold out of Quartzville Creek (legally). This was the first mine that was completely flooded to the roof, so we took some samples and moved on. And yes, the only way up the mountain was to billy goat where the guy with the backpack is climbing. This was not a trip for the meek. I am a pretty regular hiker and this had me huffing. 45+ degree slopes, thousands of feet up and down. But it was worth it.

Just above where I took this shot was a massive quartz outcropping. The view was incredible.

With the claim holder's permission I took a few quartz samples for the wife. She is a rock-hound and likes it when I bring her something back. Some of the quartz was so hard even a rock pick and sledgehammer didn't do much to loosen it. But it was a good sign!

The next shaft had water in it too. But the claim holder said it was only 4 ft deep. Still too deep to see what was under water.

Luckily I could feel some of the timber underfoot and used that to keep from sinking to my neck. The other guys did the same. Still had a couple OOPSes that led to dunking. It is an eerie feeling in the dark when your feet can't feel the bottom. Plus the water was COLD...

After we got through the water it shallowed up and we made our way to the back of the mine. The air was good but a little stale. Timbers were in amazing shape for their age!

There aren't too many mines with the ore cart tracks still in them. So this was a neat thing to see.

We used the GMT to scan for pockets of mineralization in the vein, which let us know where to sample from. Previously the material was assayed at .17 oz/ton. So we were curious to see if having the detectors along would be any help in locating streaks of mineralization. We listened for threshold raises to target "hot spots" on the walls.. and hoped for that screamer signal that might be a nice-sized nugget.

Time to check and see if it was worth it...

Hard to make out, but definitely gold!

 

We checked a few other spots around a known pocket mine and didn't find much besides square nails and other mining junk. With a heavy bucket full of samples, backpacks, detectors, and a gallon less water, we headed back to the trucks about 6pm. It had been a pretty full day, and it was burger time.

Even though we didn't get rich, it was a successful trip! We got to help a guy work his claims a bit, I got to know more about the mining district, and we even found some gold. I will say that compared to Rye Patch, this was a lot more interesting and gave me a serious workout. Plus, I came away with some new friends.

 

[mn90403]

How did you keep the GMT dry?

[tboykin]

7 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

How did you keep the GMT dry?

Both of the machines got wet from the drips, but they can take that. Just don't want to submerge them.

[Jim in Idaho]

Nice writeup and pics, Tom. I enjoyed that.

jim

[Geotech]

I've been up to the Aho mines and the ruins of their cabin, very similar mine tunnels. Forestry has been installing bat grates on most of the tunnels to keep people out, but someone has come behind them and cut holes in the grates to crawl in. They're quite dangerous, the last time I was in Aho #1 a big slab of ceiling was cleaving off. When it falls, it'll crush anyone under it.

 

[beatup]

great photos and story

 

[Randy Lunn]

Thank you Tom. What a fun adventure!

[Steve Herschbach]

Great adventure and photos Tom - thanks for posting!

The White's metal box machines are more water resistant than most people realize. Box is gasket sealed. Speaker is plastic cone and sealed to box - you can pour water in the speaker holes and the water will not get into the machine nor hurt the speaker. There are orings under the knobs and rubber caps on the switches. There is nothing in the pods that is sensitive to water. I have run an MXT in rain for days on end with no protection and no harm done.