Hooked on Gold Prospecting Blog template change, Mobile Ap and Google+

In case you think you are on the wrong blog, I DID change the template to my favorite color ORANGE! Yes, I know, you thought it would be GOLD, but, alas, ORANGE was my favorite color LONG before GOLD ever entered my life.

Why, you ask? Mainly because the links were hard to see and I have been thinking I should change templates so they are easier to see and follow.  I have also added Google+ to this page and have optimized it for mobile.  I am dealing with putting a mobile ap on the main website, too.  Hopefully, I will get through that today for you.

Hope you like the changes.  Please leave a comment for me on the change and any issues you might have with the ap. If this template is too 60's for you, I can always change to something else, but the mobile looked nice.  If you find it too hard to read or the color is too bold, let me know.  I will change it to whatever is easiest to read.  I would much rather you be pleased with reading the blog than that it be a color I like.

In the meantime, as always....

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com

Cache Creek Updates and Links to BLM Information Pages

                                                         Pouring a Gold Bar

WOW! Are we getting excited about the swings in gold? LOL! $1422 at the close today.

I saw, after my last post, that I still have some links for  you concerning Cache Creek and a link to the new BLM forms for the Arkansas.
http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/minerals/locatable_minerals/placer_mining/cache_creek.html
and

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/royal_gorge_field/Minerals/locatable_minerals/documents.Par.36939.File.dat/2013%20Notification%20for%20Placer%20Ops.pdf 

Regs for Cache Creek are the same as for 2012.  

This next link is to the BLM's General Usage guide to locatable minerals and placer mining.


 http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/minerals/locatable_minerals/placer_mining/standard_guidance.html

They have also launched a new interactive page on minerals that you may find helpful.

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/newsroom/2013/blm_launches_interactive1.html

Both of the new series about prospecting for gold and gemstones have had good reviews and comments, btw.

It is snowing here again, but it looks like we will be turning the corner towards spring by this weekend.  That means gold prospecting season in Colorado is just around the corner and lower elevations will be more accessible.  Hope you are ready.  I know we are.  

Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com

 

                              April 16th.

I am beginning to wonder if winter is ever going to turn into spring.  I fear, this year, we may go from winter directly to summer.  It is snowing, again, as I write, and we are looking at another 5 to 6 inches of accumulation before this finally heads east and leaves Colorado.  Another round is looking to hit us on Saturday. I DO hope the weather is clear for Sunday!

Gold took a BIG turn downward earlier this week, hitting a low around $1352.  I has managed to rally the last two days, even touching $1395 today before retreating to $1375, now, and sliding. I could go into a long dissertation on the why's, but I will restrain myself to simply say there are many pressures to keep it down for now.  Like I said earlier, I would be content to see it end where it was a few days ago.  I DO hope it makes it back into the stratosphere. 

I have several announcements to make that are way over due.  The first is to announce the premiere of Animal's Planet's new series 'Ice Cold Gold' which has its' first airing on Sunday April 21st at 8 pm MST.  We are attending the pre party here in Denver, as we have two Colorado boys we know who are part of this team.  Chad Watkins, of 'Tin Pan Prospecting', and John Self, of 'Self Aware Minerals'. This series follows a team of prospectors who go looking for gold in Greenland.....and FIND it.  I have a couple of links to short videos about the series you can watch. 

http://animal.discovery.com/search.htm?terms=Ice+Cold+Gold

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/ice-cold-gold/video/sneak-peek.htm

The second is that you need to be watching the Weather Channel's  "Prospectors" series on Tuesday nights a 7 pm MST.  They filmed several local gem prospectors who mine on Mt. Antero and in the Lake George area and the adverse weather conditions in our mountains.  This has, also, been an interesting series.  They run the back episodes before and after the new episode, so check in at 6:30 if you have missed them.

Last, the Denver Spring Gem Mineral and Fossil show is this weekend, April 19th through the 21st.  This is always a very nice show with lots of vendors and excellent items to purchase. I have already started to compile a list of shows for this summer and will post them another time.  Here is a link to information on what is going on this weekend. 
http://www.mzexpos.com/colorado_spring.html  The Dorris family from the Weather Channel's 'Prospectors' series will also be there.  I am sure Steve Brancato and the Busse family will be around, as well.  Amanda is in New Jersey at a gem show there.  The Dorris' are well know for their Amazonite crystals and will have their usual room set up.  Drop by and say 'Hi'.

Well, I don't know about you, but I am ready to get out and do some prospecting for gold here in Colorado!  We have many projects taking shape for the summer and are in high hopes of uncovering some nice finds, both gold and gemstones.  If you are in Nathrup visiting Cindy, stop in at the old ice cream parlor.  The Busses' will be setting up a new shop with all kinds of mountain gems, artifacts, specialty jewelry, and items from local artisans.  They will, also be setting up an area south of Salida that will offer bags and buckets of gemstone dirt, similar to what the Topaz miner did before the fire.  I will get info to you as soon as I know when.  I already know where.  Looks to be a great year for us.  Hope yours is looking as good.  As Always....

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
www.hookedongold@mail.com

How has your winter been? Ours has been crazy busy....AND stressful. We sold our home after a 6 month wait, and the things we had to do to get that done were insane, to say the least. As with buying the present house, we were not sure the sale would go through until the papers were all signed.  I know.  I have heard the stories about 10 or so offers on the first day, but our home was a townhouse, and everything is different with them.

Fortunately, not much that was really important happened since my last post. Just gun laws being passed in Colorado, the premiere of the 'Prospectors' series on the Weather Channel, and few odds and ends.  Nothing I can't catch you up on.

First, for those of you who have not heard, The Weather Channel premiered their 'Prospectors' series last Tuesday at 7 MST. They showed the first two episodes and there were rave reviews about it. Larry and I were invited by Brian and Yolanda Busse to a showing at the Steamplant in Salida, and the place was packed!  We didn't see the first showing as we volunteered to sit with the crystals and specimens they had out for show while they hosted the event.  A real privilege.

This series is not about gold, but about the crystal diggers of Mt. Antero and the Lake George region.  For those of you who are not familiar with Colorado minerals and crystal areas, these people mine Aquamarine, Smoky Quartz, Florite, Phenakite, Amazonite, Topaz, and others. The areas can be very high and very dangerous with extreme weather and other adverse conditions.  Take a look at it tonight.  You can watch a short video about it on their website HERE. Those of you on Facebook can find it on the Prospectors page.

Another series on prospecting that is coming up will be on Animal Planet.  A team of prospectors look for gold in Greenland...and find it!  We have two Coloradans who are on that team, Chad Watkins and John Self.  The premiere of Ice Cold Gold will be April 21st at 8 MST.  That's 10/9 for those of you east of Colorado.  You can see a short video of it on their website HERE.  You can also read an article about the series.

The Spring, Denver Mineral and Fossil show will be April 19-21st, this year, so you might want to put that on your calendar if you will be in the area.  The Fall, Denver Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show will be September 13-15th.  That's the BIG one for this area, so plan on attending that one, too.

Gold keeps bouncing around in the $1570 to $1600 range. I am not looking for it to change much right now. I will wait to see how it looks in June...or maybe October.  If it stays where it is for now, I'm OK with that.

Spring is here!  Make sure your gold prospecting equipment is in running order.  You're gonna want to use it soon and it isn't any fun to get out there and find out you forgot your hoses needed replacing, or you used the hand spade for gardening.  Get a spare to put in your pack.  They're cheap!

I have no new word on Cache Creek for this year. As far as I know, regs are the same as last year.  We did notice a new Forest Service building being built in Salida.  BIG building.  Cost a BUNCH of money.  And, yes, I said Forest Service, not BLM.

That's all for now.  I hope your Spring is a good one.  If you have questions, mail me.  As always....

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com 

Mining the Colorado Mountains with the Weather Channel

 Naw, we aren't in the Weather Channel show, but this is a picture of Larry and friends Jan and Tim hunting for gemstones on Mt Antero in 2011. I'm behind the camera, of course.

Gold closed Friday at $1667.20, silver at $31.43, and the DOW was over 14000 this past week, although it didn’t hang around there for long.  Lots of speculation out there about what gold will do in the short term as it is having trouble holding its’ 200 day average.  Not a particularly good thing for right now, but it certainly doesn’t mean we are looking at a crash, but possibly a good pull back.  Platinum has been closing above gold for some time, now.  Has something to do with it being needed in catalytic converters for cars.

A nomination that caught my attention this past week was the appointment of the next Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, president and CEO of REI.  I have not heard why our own Ken Salazar decided not to continue in that role for the next four years. 

Mark your calendars for March 26^th and the premiere of the Weather Channels’ series “Prospectors”, featuring many Colorado gem miners.  While they aren’t after gold, these people are definitely successful at what they do.  I know several, am acquainted with others, and they mine the mountains of Colorado.  You can see the trailer at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=422192217855655

We are almost at the end of our kitchen remake, and it is turning out to be really nice.  So far, the project has not had too many set backs or problems that were a disaster.  I’m sure most of you can relate.  Glad to have it finished this winter and not hanging over our heads as the weather turns to spring. 

There is so much to report on that has to do with legislative and court issues that are of concern to prospectors large and small, I am going to link you out to International California Mining Journal to read about all of it.  If you don’t have a subscription to this magazine, whether online or snail mail, you should consider getting one.  www.icmj.com Besides keeping you up on many of the issues you need to know about, they write excellent articles on metal detecting and prospecting in general. 

That’s it for now.  Do your research for that place you are wanting to find while the weather has you inside.  And, as always……

Good Prospecting to You,

Shirley Weilnau

www.hookedongold.com

hookedongold@gmail.com

Denver Mining Club talk on Fine Gold Recovery

                                           Now, THAT'S a Big Sluice Box, Boys!

Did you know that Denver has a mining club that was founded in 1891? I knew the Denver Mining Club (AKA Colorado Chapter of the International Order of Ragged Assed Miners) had been around a while, but I had no idea they had been here so long.  Their website, www.denverminingclub.org , is a wealth of information about its’ meetings, (they meet every Monday) founding fathers and their activities. Everyone was very friendly and did their best to make all of us feel at home.

At the beginning of their meeting, they had all new comers stand, introduce themselves, and tell their interest in or connection to mining.  There are no right or wrong answers, so all newcomers are voted into the Denver Mining Club or CCIORAM, and presented with a certificate that they are sworn to place in a prominent place in their home or place of business.

Larry and I were there attending a discussion about find gold recovery given by Phil Martinez, www.vistaminingadventures.com .  Phil had asked us to go with him, his wife Elsie and their oldest son Phillip Jr., to help with the computer stuff that his paper and crayons won’t handle.

Phil talked a great deal about the large placer operation he worked for that is located at the base of Mt. Elbert.  I won’t plug them here, so you will have to look up their name if you want to know about them.  According to Martinez, they were running up to 1,000 yards a day and their biggest problem was the sticky clay that ran with all of this material.

Their solution to the problem was to use a series of jigs to break up the clay, and to then, run all of that material into a bowl system.  As in all fine gold recovery, the name of the game is breaking down your material into a useable state where all material is of similar size, and then to run water and sluice boxes at a water speed and sluice box angle that is best suited to your circumstances.

Clay is particularly bothersome to everyone, and recovering the gold trapped in it is never easy.  Emulsification of the material is of great importance, but only if the values that can be found in the clay would make breaking it up worth the time and effort needed to do so. Testing is the only way to decide if your time is better spent running material that you can separate the gold from more easily, or to go after what is in the clay.

To maximize recovery in this large placer, the sluices needed to be adjusted from what Martinez called ‘ski slopes’ to a proper angle to keep from running the gold into the tailings ponds.  After this adjustment was made, the sluices were able to handle the volume of water running down them and capture the finer gold much better.  Recovery of the fine gold went way up.

As with all operations, testing should be constant, whether you are a large operation or a weekend placer warrior.  Then, watch your water speed and the angle of your sluice box for maximum fine gold recovery.  Flatter box, more water; steeper box, less water.  Those are the basics.  Depth of water and size of material also play important parts.  Keep tweeking until your sluice box is recovering 90% of what is in your material.  How do you know when that is?  Do what we did when this large placer first asked all of us for help.  Test your tailing pile with your pan.  

So, how do you break up clay in a small operation? Mix it in a bucket with a small shovel or use a dry wall mixer and a drill in a bucket.  I've done both.  The drill is definitely easier, but if you don't have one or you are not allowed to use anything motorized, a shovel will work.  It can work you to death, too.  LOL!

Gold finished out this week at $1667.60, and we saw DOW 14,009.79, the first time it closed over 14,000 since October 2007.  Hope you are busy getting your equipment ready for this summer.  We will be staying home this year and not attending the Tucson Show in Arizona.  We have this house we bought that needs its’ kitchen fixed.  As Always,

Good Prospecting to You,

Shirley Weilnau

www.hookedongold.com

hookedongold@gmail.com

What to Look For When Filing a Claim, or I Never Saw It, So How Would I Know I Had To Walk A Mile

For those of you who do not follow me on FB, I share a sunrise picture on all days there is one worth photographing. This one was from January15th.  We have had a nice high pressure ridge dominating our weather for the past few days, so there have been few clouds at dawn to catch color.

January.  My month for resting and catching up.  This past year has been one that has left me with little time to react to the next thing to come along, much less keep up with gold news.  I have 6 months of ICMJ's to read, as well as countless articles from numerous sources.  We even bought a different house in September!  

Those of you who ask questions get first priority, even though I get behind sometimes.  It is often your questions that give me an idea for information that can be added to the website for everyone to read. A recent question made me think of a part of filing a claim that rarely gets covered and so, gives me a nice blog posting for you and food for another website entry.

I often get questions about BLM regs on the Arkansas, which can be very confusing.  However, I recently got a question about the worth of having a claim on the Arkansas, which lead me to an explanation of the other aspects of a claim that I would look for, after you have done all the rest of your normal research.

First, as in all real estate, is location, location, location.  For a placer gold mining claim, I would look at how close it is to the gold source(s) in its' area.  How far it is will determine the size of the gold you will be looking for, abundance of gold, as well as the type of equipment you can successfully use to recover the gold.  You might want to be able to find enough gold to make your expenses on the costs of the claim, too, but that isn't always a priority, especially if you are buying a claim that is patented.  (Patented claims are private property, would cost a lot more, and can be a building site.)

Next, I would look at accessibility. How far do you have to drag your equipment to use it, how steep are the banks, and how often do you have to do that.  There can also be issues with crossing private property to access your claim, and the owners of the private property may give you trouble with that.  

Another consideration is stream flow.  Now, you may not think this is important, but if you are planning on prospecting your claim during high water, you might have some trouble with currents and the swiftness of the water, especially if your claim is on a narrow part of a river with a steeper slope.  You are going to want to be able to prospect effectively when you can be there.  Just like a sluice box, the angle and speed of a river will make it easier or harder to capture your gold.  Oh, hey! Isn't that sluice box patterned after a running stream?  Funny THAT!  LOL! Same rules apply.

As many of you are aware, there are a lot of placer gold mining claims out there for sale. If you are considering buying a claim, be aware that there are still people out there that are not above salting a gold mining claim to get you to buy it.  ALWAYS, ALWAYS test the area yourself when the claim owner is not around, with their permission, of course.  Also be aware that some gold mining claims are sold to you with an 'interest' in the claim and can be held by as many others with 'interests' as the claim owner wants to include.  They simply wait until you are tired of sharing or putting up with other problems, quit your 'interest' and resell it to some one else.  If you are OK with this, there is nothing wrong with this type of arrangement, just be aware of what you are getting into. (PLEASE do not talk to people, visit a site covered with 2 feet of snow, declare it a wonderful claim and put half a million dollars into it to recover 14 ounces of gold.  PLEASE tell me you are smarter than that.)

Last is the amount of gold you can expect to recover.  If you are a recreationalist, this means finding enough gold to keep you interested, pay for your gas and maybe lunch, but don't expect to make a fortune even if you are out there every day.  If your area is really, really good, it is probably NOT for sale, already claimed up or private property that you will not get access to. People always ask if you can 'make a living', and to be sure, there are people who do.  However, the other question they do not ask is how GOOD a living you can make.  The answer for most people would be 'don't quit your day job' or 'Do you fish? How good a living can you make doing that?'  

OK. I think that is it.  If I think of anything to add, I will do it later. The sun is coming up and I have to go make breakfast.  No pretty sunrise today, either.  No clouds, but it is 32 degrees outside.  Remember, it is January 19, and I live in the Denver area of Colorado.  Typical January thaw week......February is coming and we could soon be well below zero.  Keep those questions coming so I can continue to add to my website with information people want to know.  As always,

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com