Dredging on the Arkansas River/Prospecting for Gold in Colorado

Dredging season is in full swing here, and we are spending long days in the river finding gold in Colorado. Monsoon rains continue, which is good, and gives us a day here and there for rest and even time for a blog post. We should see some sunnier weather this next week, which will be good as we have been rained on a lot lately.

You can see how much it was making the water hop around. We even had some small hail! Of course, we are still dredging at Phil Martinez's claims at Vista Mining Adventures. Really great to be back in the water with old friends! Give him a call and join us for a day or a week.  Look them up on Facebook for more pictures and information about what we are doing.

I have a piece to write, soon, about the Neffco Centrifuge we are using on the river.  Vista Mining Adventures is the local dealer for this amazing separator for concentrates.

Since we had a day off from the river, we mozied into Fairplay in the afternoon (between rain showers) to catch the end of Burro Days, AKA 'Get Yur Ass Up the Pass'. Stopped to pick out something from my favorite jewelry designer, Shelly Birch, Stone, and saw that GPOC was conspicuously absent from the center of the park.....apparently someone forgot to inform Burro Days organizers that they were NOT coming this  year. Also had to buy the giant bag of kettle corn, and stopped and talked with folks we know. Also had to get a box of chocolates from the Chocolate Bordello.  They make chocolates named and fashioned after some of the famous ladies of the evening from Colorado's past. Always fun to attend this event.

I have a link to an interesting article that also follows the same thoughts I have about finding or buying a claim.
http://www.goldrushnuggets.com/bugomicl.html

I see today that gold had a bit of an uptick last week, and that mining stocks are up a bit as well. Good news for all those companies and good news for gold in general. 

That about does it for now. We will try to grill dinner before it rains again.  LOL!  As Always

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

Water is Finally Down and Now We Must Dredge

                       Dredging on the Arkansas River with Vista Mining Adventures

Mid July and run off is slowing down, so we can put our 2 1/2 inch highbanker/dredge combo in the water to find some gold in Colorado.  Above, you see the firsts for one day....not bad.  It is good to be back in the water!  If you are looking for a place to dredge, sluice, pan or use your highbanker in the water, check out Vista Mining Adventures website and give Phil Sr. a call.  He is in the water almost daily, so leave a message and he will get back to you.

I came across an article on the largest gold specimen ever found.  It was interesting to read about it again, so I am giving you the link to read it for yourself.

Gold has been staying down this summer, so far.  China is still a big buyer, but India has slowed way down due to the new tax that was imposed on imported gold in May.  However, the monsoon is going nicely, and farmers may have more money to spend on gold this Fall, so, between these factors and others, gold may get a bump at the end of the year...or not....as these predictions can only be guessed at with what is known.  

We have been running the wheels off the truck this year, between Salida and our gem hunting friends, and BV and our gold hunting friends.  The summer is racing by, but we will finally begin pulling out this year's gold finds.  We have dredging planned as well as some time at Cache Creek and some exploration east of camp.  Spending the summers in the Colorado High Country has been a blast the last few years!

                              Here is Larry putting a small hole in the river.

Here I am taking a turn at the nozzle in the shallow water.  I fell in the river when I sat on an undercut rock that rolled. (It is directly behind my left leg in this picture) Naturally, I stuck the nozzle into that hole and sucked out all the gold that was under that rock! LOL! I guess I will have to start wearing my neoprenes.

Hope all of you are having fun finding gold this summer.  As Always.... 

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
hookedongold@gmail.com (copy and paste this into your email server. It isn't linked as I am getting tons of spam from this link)