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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums _ Prospectors and Rockhounding Field Work _ Arkansas River Clean Up

Posted by: Bryan K Nov 14 2016, 04:55 PM

Hey guys I wanted to share my last cleanup from the Arkansas River. The river is different to prospect than most I've encountered. I did some test pans in a few gravel bars that were right smack dab in the middle of the river behind some massive boulders. And not one color. I then headed to shore and test dug behind a few big boulders and boom color. So I started to search for a natural slow spot during the flood season. Found a nice little spot where you can see where the water would Netty during the flood season and there was a major dip in the terrain. Ran a test pan and right away about 15 colors. So I classified the material down to half inch and ran the sluice. We did this in about three hours.

Posted by: swizz Nov 14 2016, 04:58 PM

Nice work and great colors!

Posted by: Bryan K Nov 14 2016, 05:02 PM

Definitely was a blast. Love seeing that gold. Looks like cc has been treating you well swizz. One of these days we'll meet up and qctually prospect lol

Posted by: johnnybravo300 Nov 14 2016, 07:11 PM

The ark is a fun river to dig in. Ive found a decent "sub-picker"size pieces there for sure. It's also nice in the winter in that river valley.

Posted by: Crusty Nov 15 2016, 07:19 AM

Good stuff!!

Posted by: EMac Nov 15 2016, 09:06 AM

Well done!

Posted by: Goldlane Jan 11 2017, 11:59 AM

Man I have only found 4 colors since I started prospecting, and I have gold fever. I could only imagine what a pan like this would do to me!! I would never leave leave the river!!

Posted by: Bryan K Feb 17 2017, 01:55 PM

Just have to keep at it. There's more to it than just grabbing a pan. I put a ton of research into my prospecting trips. To start out get into an area that is known to produce gold. Then learn how to read the stream. Just remember gold is heavier than water and finds natural spots to settle into. The back side. Furthest side from the current is a good place to start looking. Look for layers in the stream bed that are silky and contain a lot of black sand. Those are hot spots for gold. Finding the pay channel in a gravel bar can yield a ton. Though gravel bars are not my favorite places to dig. I like to find dump zones. Where the stream dumps massive amounts of heavy sands and gold during the flood season. The digging is not only easier it seems to yield a lot more than a pay channel. Clear creek is a good place to gain some experience. The Arkansas River can be hit or miss because there is so much more water to deal with. The river forms flats and the good gold seems to get dumped fairly deep. I once found an outcropping of solid black sands and thought oh this is it the mother load. And would you know not a single speck of color in that sand. That river will confuse you. Still stumps me. But part of the fun is finding those hot spots.

Posted by: relicsncoins Feb 17 2017, 03:59 PM

Nice!

Posted by: johnnybravo300 Feb 17 2017, 04:30 PM

We are going to point Barr tomorrow for fun in the sun on the river. Just an excuse to leave the gunnison valley for the day! I'm still half lame so I'll try to be smart with my digging. I cant get my wife to move yards yet but if anyone has theirs trained? I asked her if she could "just remove the overburden" and I'll do the rest. She said sure but just the overburden. She doesn't want to work the whole time hehehe. She doesn't know what overburden is but she will. There are good cracks on the bedrock and it needs cleaned off, and the more she does the smarter I am! I haven't been able to try the new angus yet but maybe tomorrow.
If I see some color and get a sun burn I'll be a happy man. Top it off with an el mexicano feast in salida afterwards, yeah!

Posted by: johnnybravo300 Feb 17 2017, 04:48 PM

Dave, I went up 250 towards your claim a week or so ago when we went to salida. It was deep enough to stop my Subaru at 3 miles. I imagine it's a mud bath now.

Posted by: johnnybravo300 Feb 17 2017, 10:27 PM

Looks like 23 049N 009E 013 is open near wellsville. I'm going there tomorrow instead.

Posted by: Bryan K Feb 19 2017, 04:33 PM

Wellsville has some good color for sure. It's a drive out there to The Arkansas from the springs so next time were gonna make a weekend go at it. My last trip we worked an area for only three hours. Got into some solid black pudding and ran about ten buckets. My riffles were flooded with color. I'm still running my Keene 52 and does pretty good with collecting that finer gold. One of these weekends we should meet up. I'm a work horse for sure and move a ton of material. I have my roomy dialed into how to run that sluice so we team it up pretty well. We might head out next weekend to get some digging in. I'm not huge on winter digging so weve been out fishing.

Posted by: Dave S. Feb 20 2017, 02:52 PM

Thank you Johnny B. for the info.

I figured it would still be under snow.

When the road is "clear" , I still suspect there will be snow on the banks of that little creek.

(P.S. - - Try not to reveal my claim location, when on the public forums. If ya tell people that it is near Salida, that is ok. But try to keep roads and further information for the protected forums.)

Posted by: johnnybravo300 Feb 20 2017, 04:54 PM

Sorry man I got ya there. My lips are sealed on anything of that nature.