Prospecting around Lucerne Valley

[Four2score]

Anyone have a picture of a rock with a gold vein running through it?

[Gary]

Gary,

Gold melts at 1064.43 degrees. Need some help?

East Fork of the San Gabriel River in Azusa Canyon still provides decent color for gold panners.

No, Thanks though. I got it.

[Jeeperator]

Anybody look for gold nuggets with a metal detector? Seems like a pefect activity that would go good with jeepin. Good detectors are a little pricey though.

[Gary]

Anybody look for gold nuggets with a metal detector? Seems like a pefect activity that would go good with jeepin. Good detectors are a little pricey though.

I've done it and I plan on doing it again. They are pricey but you need a good one.

[Deepwater]

Anyone have a picture of a rock with a gold vein running through it?

I pulled these from a vein near where Roger was prospecting.



Mike

[Mitch]

Nice samples Mike!

[Desert Patty]

I have an old Fisher Gold Bug, it's better than the newer Gold Bug 2, just check ebay, you don't have to spend $300 to get a good one.

[Mikegyver1]

I've done some prospecting in the past and enjoyed looking, but not so hot on the finding.. Anyone ever do the Prospecting camping trip where you work for a mining co. for a Saturday (they keep whats found) and Sunday you keep what you find?

[chris142]

Gold melts at 1064.43 degrees. Need some help?

And if you get it too hot it sticks to your metal pan. Now you have a Gold plated metal pan and no easy way to get the Gold unstuck from it. Yes I've done this.LOL

Anyone have a picture of a rock with a gold vein running through it?

Most of the Gold in our area is very small. Thats why they used Cyanide and Mercury to process it. It took a lot of smashed up rocks to get enough Gold to make a profit. Take a bunch of tiny Gold flakes and a drop of Mercury, swirl it all around in a pan then boil the Mercury off to get the tiny flakes to stick to each other so that now you have a very small nugget.

Often The Gold in Johnson Valley is in a different type of rock other than quartz. This came from JV.

[JeepGal]

Does anyone know if its legal to prospect in either the national forest or the BLM?

[Roger]

Does anyone know if its legal to prospect in either the national forest or the BLM?

Hi Tam - The short answer is yes you can. I looked on the BLM website for specifices for you, but I'm not readily finding the information. You might check out the BLM & FS websites.

[chris142]

Here ya go from the BLM site. As long as you don't show up with a bulldozer, 10 gallons of Mercury and a case of Dynomite your ok.


"Rockhounding and recreational mining are permitted activities on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The usual rockhound materials, including agates and stones, may be collected in reasonable quantities for hobby use. Petrified wood collection on BLM lands is limited to 25 pounds plus one piece per day to a maximum of 250 pounds per year. Panning, sluicing, and suction dredging for gold may be arranged through permit at certain areas."

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/recreation/rocks.html


"Metal detecting is a recreational activity that people do to find coins, jewelry, and precious metals. Metal detecting is allowed on BLM lands as long as no artifacts are removed. Artifacts should be left alone and reported to the appropriate Field Office. Avoid all cultural and archeological sites. The Metal Detecting enthusiast may remove some rocks (handful) from areas such as picnic areas, campground areas, and recreational sites. The enthusiasts may remove some rocks as long as there not being removed from another mining claim. Mining claims can be researched on the LR2000 (http://www.blm.gov/lr2000). Enthusiasts are only allowed to make minimal surface disturbance (i.e. removing a couple of stones for memories)."
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/iac...detecting.html

[brokenujoint]

im considering getting this dry washer set up http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...l1217l9.4l13l0 and heading out to the desert on my days off and seeing how it goes.http://www.keeneeng.com/Merchant2/me...tegory_Code=DW Ive found another site that has it for a few hundred less or may even just build my own... its the engine that runs ya the most..

[Navy-Jeepster]

As a gold prospector, it is fun to find it, and the hunt is the best part.
Be aware of prospecting on someones claim though, as there are laws against prospecting on someone elses claim.
If I had one in those area, and all you wanted to use was a gold pan, I would let you try your luck.
Other miners may not be as nice though. Just a for-warning though.
On public lands, the BLM has a list of claims that are active, and ones that are not.
If the property is private, I would consider it off limits unless you talk to the owner first.

North of Barstow headed out to the army site there are a lot of claims, and we find a fair amount of gold up there also.

Todd

[Britain]

Fun stuff lots of these baths out there

I run a Whites Gold Master with custom duel coils.


What have I found....chuckie cheese token! Sewing Needle! Buck shot,
.5 gm gold nugget.......old watch, 1905 indian head....leg irons...lots of fun!



Have fun!