Tag Archives: gold

bedrock, outcropping, gold, quartz

One day we decided to take a break from digging and do some more exploring of the claim. We decide to walk up the mountain from where we were digging and found a large outcropping of bedrock. At first glance it did not look very significant, other than it was a large shelf with 75 feet exposed, it looked like a giant step. We walked around this outcropping inspecting is closer and as we started to pull the moss off of the face of the rock we uncovered a very large quartz vein with tons of stringers running all through the formation. We kept pulling off moss and kept uncovering more and more quartz. My mother-in-law found a loose piece of quartz and pulled it loose, it was a beautiful crystalline quartz specimen. We are very suspect that this quartz is the source for the gold we are currently finding, The plan is to send out a few grab samples for assay, wish us luck. Who love’s rocks…….I do! I do!

Is there gold there, I think there is.

gold, nugget, picker, found

This nugget my wife picked up just walking by the pile of dirt we stage for processing.  There is gold up in them there hills!  Maybe we could get on a TV show, just a small family operation, having to fight nature and breakdowns, no big wallet to fund the operation just two grandparents(Elaine and Antonio),Two Parents(Robert and Teresa), and a three year old(Lyra).  Add in a bit of creative and inventive personalities, some wishful thinking and the fever for gold.  I think it would make a great reality TV show.

BRING ME A SPOON!!!

dredging, resurrection, resurection, creek, hope, AK, gold, mining

Everyone once and a while our friends will accompany us on our outings.  Well this is my buddy, Dom.  He is playing in the waters of the Resurrection creek in Hope.   This is a little blurb about him and the spot he is in.  We were here for the 4th of July weekend, and as those of you know running a dredge is cold hard work so it is nice to be able to take turns with people.  Well it was Doms turn to run the dredge and the rest of the group is up above him at camp relaxing around the fire when we hear Dom scream, “BRING ME A SPOON, I NEED A SPOON!”  So of course we all go to see what is going on.  Dom was very insistent on needing a spoon and at this point we still did not know why he needed a spoon.  Well the reason Dom was so frantic was, as he was dredging he uncovered a piece of gold about the size of a rice grain,  He could see it from above the water and he wanted a spoon to pick it up with.  He wanted a spoon quick because he thought it would wash away in the current,  well the current in the spot where he was working was not really that swift.  I gave him simple instructions, “Just reach down and pick it up.”  He looked at me kind of skeptically, but did it, I believe that was the first large piece of Gold Dom found.

I Dont Think So!

480D, Backhoe, Tractor, Yellow Toys

My daughter loves the tractors and every chance she gets when they are not running she climbs up on them and pretends she is driving.  We will make a gold miner out of her yet.  I must confess I too love the tractors and climb up on them whenever I get a chance, of course if she see’s me getting on the tractor she will want to go for a tractor ride too.  Big repairs had to be made on this tractor this winter, so I will be getting a logbook for the tractors to track maintenance schedules,  man there is a lot more to gold mining than just mining for gold.   I love it ALL!

You Look Like Your Getting Weak!

gold, pan, mining, prospecting

This picture is a typical day of running pay dirt that is about a quarter ounce of gold if we run all day.  Lots of people ask me the question, “Does your Mine Pay for Itself?”  I always answer with,”Heck no no it does not pay for itself, but my family and me sure do enjoy being out there mining either rain or shine.”  I cant put my finger right on the exact reason we like it out there, maybe its working together, or running equipment, or playing save the puppy with my daughter(there always seems to be a puppy stuck in a tree).  I guess all of this can be summed up into to two words, Gold Fever, and we all have it.  People always use the term gold fever in a bad way, but that is not really what it is to us.  Everyone gets gold fever a different way, some cant get it at all.  My family and me are running a fever of 104.0 Degrees, and we don’t need any doctor to look at us.  A few more sunny days would be nice though.