By Charles Watson
It’s the winter mining season. Ol’ man winter has buried the claims in a thick blanket of snow and prospectors are pacing back and forth, chompin’ at the bit to get back to mining. One can’t blame them – the price of gold is over $1,900-per-ounce and there is so much gold left in them thar hills! The Northern Sierra was one of the richest gold-bearing areas, and responsible for putting towns on the map, like Seneca, Quincy, Johnsville, La Porte, Downieville and many, many more.
The winter season is time to plan your future prospecting activities. Foremost is preparing your equipment, making repairs or adjustments. Many miners buy new equipment because they found a new spot or paystreak that warrants different equipment.
The winter season allows one to assess their previous season’s activity, look at their mining techniques from a new perspective. A good Mother Load gold prospector would use the winter season to do research, look at maps and try to imagine their next move.
One of the most extreme things prospectors do during the winter is to venture out and observe how the creek, stream or river behaves during a flood stage or during the massive spring runoff. High water moves the most gold. It scours the channel to bedrock, carves into banks and deposits material in the slower water stretches, such as the inside bends, and that is where the term “paystreak” earns its name!
Some miners will also look for new spots to mine, either by doing their own research or relying on other people selling a mining claim. With gold prices at all time highs, scams telling of quick fortunes are equally as abundant so be careful! There are a few good vendors of quality mining claims. I suggest you look for these qualities:
1) Are the sellers professionals or just people you found on the internet?
2) Do they have a physical business address and a clean reputation?
3) Is the claim valid with the county and or BLM and are there any competitive
claimants. Is the paperwork in order?
4) Did the sellers find gold on the claim? How much? Pictures?
5) Always ask why the sellers why they are selling the claim.
6) Is it a recreational or commercial mining claim? Why?
7) Will you need a permit to mine the claim?
8) Always ask to visit and test the claim. Not all claims are suited for everyone, and your needs may be different than anothers.
There are so many tricky nuances about mining claims, sometimes it is a good idea to ask a professional geologist or experienced miner to confirm your dreams or skepticisms.
Gold mining is not a new thing, it is something within our blood, something that we feel is right. Today’s miners are smarter than ever before. They have better tools to recover the metal and the wisdom to work with Mother Nature. Today’s miners are responsible citizens and reclamation is part of the mining process.
It is a thrill to find your first gold speck, flake or nugget. Once you do, you will be hooked forever. It is fun for the whole family and who knows, maybe, just maybe, if you are a wee bit lucky… you too will jump for joy, click your heels and shout “Eureka! I found it!”