a matter of fairness

[whats4supper]

I sent this to another member. just to be fair about my leads, I am passing it along to everybody else.

AS FAR AS JURISDICTIONS OF NATIONAL PARKS, OR OTHER CONTROLLED AREAS, I am NOT CONDONING trespass. Some good areas are directly adjacent to closed areas, and discerning which is which can be tricky nowadays.

The areas noted below are good for metal detecting, drywashing, recircs, or rockhounding. they are picked over for sure, and not all who look will have success, but they also have potential, and will teach the prospector a thing or two. pay attention to rocks and layouts, washes, sand streaks, bedrocks and vein variants. Don't overlook the possibility of relics and coins, glass, bottles, ashtrays, stirsticks, metal signs and plaques, and special goods relative to the particular place. keep it all and sort it out at home. a preventative way of not discarding the treasure and bringing home the worthless Junk

Finding sizeable gold around these parts can be real tricky. However some leads that are fairly close:

Wander mine- halloran springs / i-15. go north on the road up towards the microwave, then go west for 6-9 miles. the mine was stoped on a vertical vein and the ore and rock blend in well with the country, making it hard to see. best results are with a drywasher. fine gold

Telegraph Mine- best results are with a drywasher, unless you find enough water (well shut off) then use a recirc fine gold. The telegraph mine sits on a 200-claim patent inside of the Mohave Reserve, so it's not like you are trespassing in a national park. A Salt Lake concern owns the property and doesn't care about non-commercial miners working what has become a destroyed access to the underground gold. surface material can have fairly rich pockets of small or fine gold.

Coming in from Nipton, old site of crescent was to the north of the highway, near somebody's mill on the south side of the road. possible chips and nuggets, though all I ever got was BB-sized. the site has been torn up for landscaping rock, so easy access is out. There are some sites both north of the highway at the first landscape pit, but access is tricky with a trailer. Mining shafts about 4 miles north on a semi graded road. small gold, but big find was some silver dollars and coins in a pot hole bank on one of the dumps.

At same site, directly south of this turnoff, about 4-5 miles distant, near the crest of a mountain, is an old mine (red dumps). never found the access road but did find some gold mixed in with the red rock with a metal detector. fairly rich strike, not particularly accessible.

Also south of i-15, near baker, ca, look for brannigan mine road that leads to the site of the old Paymaster Mine, SE of baker, also patent land not part of national park. rich specimen gold and matrix can be found here. sandy, and if wet, can be like quicksand mud.

Some of the mine dumps around Bullfrog/Rhyolite area also have specimen ore that can be found with a metal detector, along with variable relics of value. BLM in this area are both realists and hard nose, depending on who is presently on watch. Be nice, polite, P's & Q's, to the point, don't tell all. some may give tips that will help your search but wait for them to volunteer the info. On the other hand, Death Valley NP cuts right through the area, and those rangers are NO BS sorts. Know where you are, and who else is around if delving into/onto fringe areas.

A remote area on the fringe is Leeland. take farm road through amargosa valley farms, sort of north to the end, and go another jarring 10 miles or so to the old workings up in the canyons. Old town, relics, some specimen ore, no services. I had a breakdown here once with my FORD (Found On Road Dead), and a 'nice little 24-mile walk to US 95. if depending on your cellphone here, keep a mastercard (not Visa) handy as the roaming service will not accept VISA for payment. One of the reasons I had to walk out. Dial 911 and get Massachussetts (no Sh-t) and try to explain your situation before the cell battery runs out (not likely enough charge, believe you me).

Other spots include Meadview area, Nellis wash south of searchlight, camp thurman south of searchlight, gracey wash wwn of Nelson. eldorado canyon wash from townsite to behind the Duncan Mine, Areas around Hart Peak no closed off by the mining company (easiest access is south from Nipton/seachlight highway) though other route starts off the nipton road, ivanpah road, cross UPRR, follow to barnwell, go east a bit, then south. Hart is a working gold mine on site of an old ghost town, specimen and placer gold in area. Sterling Mine area in Spring Mtns. drive past arrastra towards the south and into the basin. gold bits in shale/slate. work club claims at Johnny, n of pahrump. 29 prospector could get you word on viable gold areas east of 29 palms, for a cut of the take maybe.

Mountains around Havasu; Black Mtns, Mohave Mtns, AZ, and some south flowing washes coming off Boundary Cone at Oatman. Though the oatman mines were typically 1400' below ground in rich gold ore, many of those valuable horizons were exposed and eroded off downslope and washed away. Some people in Golden Shores (topock area) have found some decent nuggets in the washes after floods. Speaking of the whole Oatman mountain areas, from Golden Shores, north to Cottonwood Road, there have been some decent paying and very rich gold mines and veins worked and exploited from one end to the other.

Last but not least department. I have sluiced gold with a recirc off Lake Mead Blvd, across from RipCove boat rentals (3 kids mine). I have drywashed for gold off the flanks of frenchman mtn near the end of Owens Blvd. I know and saw a roughly 4 inch chunk of rock that a grader operator pulled out of the side of a cut above City Lights in the same area, that showed maybe a half a pound of yellow gold webbing. One just never knows where gold will show up. Nor where god will deal the winning hand to any one searcher.

[Sheri]

Hi Whats4supper,

I am pretty new to detecting and have been working the El Paso mountian area with no luck. Do you know of a good place (with good directions) in this area to find my first nugget at? I would also be interested in the Coolagrdie area if you know of anything. Its really nice that you would help other people out.

Thanks - Sheri

[DigDeep]

Hey whats4supper, Great stuff

DigDeep

[hendo]

Charlie, Thanks for all that you have done. Give me a call if you want(you have my number) . Thanks again. Hendo