Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

I went out prospecting with my metal detector and got a nice 1.8 dwt nugget last weeknd, and a 2 grain dink to go with it.

It is a beautiful area. Within a few miles there is a chain of a couple dozen natural alpine lakes. Some have very good fishing. Many of the streams in the area carry gold. Some carry a lot of gold! Just a location thats hard to top.

Also here's some area photos and a shot of the gold I got.


Chris

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Nice. I drove through the Sierra Nevada late spring. Still snow and closed roads but one of the most beautifull places I've been.

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Man, Reno those pictures are just beautiful - all three of them. Just add some rain to it and it would look just like it does around here.

bf

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Yeah, Seattle area is pretty. I've gone there twice to set up domicile and it didn't work. Last time I slept in my car at a campground and night after night it rained and I got progressively more depressed and turned tail for Michigan. Lots of work there though. Maybe third time is a charm?

A side note and I don't mean to derail the thread but it is about beer, (liquid gold). I used to love the Ranier Beer; could only get it out west. Well farging Anheiser Bush bought em out and I can't get Ranier Beer anymore. What a piss-off.

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Nice Gold, enough to keep the family fed! Seriously, when I was in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, I panned and detected for some gold in sand, found a few flakes. An old timer up there told me about the depression when people would pan for dinner to get about 2-3 dollars worth a day to keep on going. A good gold claim could be a heck of a retreat in hard times!

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Great looking colors, congrats!

Just right of center of your first picture looks like old tailings from mining. If it was a gold mine, you might want to work the pile with your nugget detector. The 'ole timers didn't know a nugget was there unless they saw it. Good nuggets are frequently found by detecting old tailings.

Best of luck. If you find nuggets call me; I need to know where you're diggin! :wink

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Beautiful! I live here in Colorado, so I should be doing more prospecting.

I have a stupid question... what is "dwt"? I know it must be a measurement of weight, but I'm unfamiliar with it.

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

slv: dwt means penneyweight. A penneyweight is 1/20th of a troy ounce. So my nugget is just shy of 1/10th of an ounce.

goldminer: I see the rock you are looking at, and its a slide. There are gold mines on that mountain, mostly on the other side.

Chris

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

Re: Prospecting in the Sierra Nevada
 

I got the larger nugget with a metal detector - I was probably looking around for about 2 hours before I found it. The smaller nugget I got panning - I probably panned for an hour.

Chris