Getting Gold off The bedrock ,Clay or caliache Golds Heavy and it will always settle and sink to a solid bed this can be hard clay rock or caliache a hard mineralized cement like material here we are working the side of a wash digging down to rock behind boulders is another good area to work try to get down to something solid where the gold will settle here a paint brush comes in handy to sweep any gold out of the crevices of the rock screen into a bucket and run it through your dry washer make sure its good and dry if your using water in a sluice being dry not important you can  run it right away the reason you want the material dry with a dry washer is most of gold will be lost right out the end and be missed running damp material through a dry washer.

Gold In Washes this is a typical gold bearing wash in the desert west . Gold is not distributed in desert areas like it is in steams rivers its a much
slower process in the desert its alluvial deposits and the lack of rain in these areas or water its the rare flooding of these washes that move new gold in.
A wash might see water here running in it  once or twice in a year here if that then again may not see water for several years at a time so its a much different
than a river and you can dig in one spot and find gold and move just a couple feet away and find none its just harder than river and stream mining there is more to it than following the inside beds of steams out here and many a stream miner has had his problems using the regular methods for river mining in the desert all you need to do is forget about river mining methods and start learning some tricks and the whole new game Desert Mining learn what to look for to spot a good area and get as much information on desert gold prospecting as you can it took me several trips out there before I started having success I get gold every trip out now and I learned a lot just by doing it and getting out there.
Next post Tips on desert mining

 The First View of Stanton and the gold camps at the base of the mountains as you travel in from Stanton rd the lost Ductchman Mining assoc claims are on the lower flanks up behind the distant buildings. The road then continues to the right at the base of the mountains just out of the picture to the right just a short distance there
would be the old ghost town of octave and the octave mine and the weaver claims along weaver creek.

The LDMA property the lost Ductchman Mining Camp was the Ghost Town Stanton Arizona the gold prospectors of america bought a few years back it they have preserved a few of the original Ghost town buildings and use them for the club
Stanton was a Dangerous place back in the days
shootings murders gangs of thugs and drove many town people out of stanton to nearby octave only a mile away home of the famous octave mine The Queen of the arizona gold mines. Next posts  we will look at the claim pictures and some mining .

Hello Got up this morning got back home around 4 pm yesterday  took the 40 minute ride up to Stanton Ritch hill area yesterday morning and octave with my sister. Never checked or got to the clean out from yesterday at all was tired  last night .But got up this morning pulled the small white bucket of cons off the back porch from yesterdays trip first pan found these nice pickers already have more to check .Ended being a nice day and  a good trip the weather was nice sunny saw a bald eagle on the way in . I prefer to use and went with a small recirculating High banker sluice I like using water they can keep those noisy dusty dry washers.Really just plain simple nothing is better than water for getting gold out of material its the best.But you have to haul all the water out there 10 gallons will run mine in a big plastic tote . I have a small re charge able battery it will run it all day long no problem and remember camping out there make sure I might not have mentioned this bring all your water there is none out there nowhere so you have to bring Whatever you need to cook camp its pretty nice belonging to the clubs you can camp right on the claims many guys where doing just that yesterday more pictures of Stanton octave the washes coming up in next posts.

HEADED UP today packed up the Gear this morning put 10 gallons of water for my recirculating sluice in the jeep headed up to the gold fields in stanton for a day out got a lot of good pictures today I will share in the next on coming posts in next few days .Lets start just north of congress the highway here above is just north of the four way stop in  congress Arizona .Follow it north toward the mountains maybe two miles past the bar to the transfer station there  take a right onto the dirt road witch is Stanton Road its pretty much what you see the whole six miles to Stanton just rolling desert wilderness with great views as far as you can see with rugged mountains on your left all the way to Stanton the dirt roads are in pretty good shape.Make sure your vehicles running good not a good place for break down  there is nothing out there at all or any phones so be prepared once your reach stanton there are people there phones for emergencies but along the way its all desert. Its traveled pretty good in late fall winter early spring In summer your taking your chances not many folks out there .Winter they Expect peak campers  and the road is really taken care of in the peak season and many tow RVs in it to LDMA s camp it can have wash out problems in heavy rain but most times its good quite .Its an unforgettable ride in with just great wide open views lots of wildlife and free range cattle along the way next post will be on the other end of he road the mining ghost towns Stanton Octave and some pictures of the mining in the washes .

Finally have some Arizona weather again .Hopefully We can get up to congress then to Stanton later today . I can get some pictures and show you the sluice on action  the problem has been the Rain and really cold temps the last few days Delayed me getting up and its sunny and nice today and we have had no snow here in the desert but its been cold through the weekend I was up  yesterday out having my coffee in the back yard I noticed The Four Peaks wilderness Area Superstition Mountains had snow on them but its warmed and this morning however its back to sunny again and the snows already gone off the the four peaks and its much warmer today .A lot of folks up there at the camp Lost Dutchmans Mining asoc in Stanton its a branch of GPA Gold prospectors of America have trailers of course bet that heat was on last few nights and a lot of retired couples come out and spend the winter here in there trailers at LDMA kinda nice to see these folks still have the adventure in them at that age they have there atvs to get around and prospect during the day at night they have social activities at the camp.     Good site for tips on buying silver for Investment
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The Desert and the wildlife here grows on you if your here for a while. This is across the street from my house I hike through the desert every day its become a good friend I find beauty in it . Its full of life too the pole in front of the cactus is the dirt road I live in I am right in the desert the mountains you see extend north these here are the foothills across the street right behind these the mountains get big and rugged here it starts and extends a major part of the gold belt right through San Domingo wash Wickenburg up through the weavers all the way across black Caynon cave creek and north of there all the way up to Colorado. I always been an outdoor person hiker and a back packer .My father was a nature documentary lover so I grew up watching 10,000 of them lol with a lets say drilled in knowledge of the desert its animals. I have seen some really cool wildlife since moving here even was thrilled with the mountain loin tracks close to the house that is all right by me I am the intruder here he was living around here first I love knowing there out there this is his home .See coyotes lots of road runners I saw a big Gila monster up by octave mine of course there slow moving and pretty docile guys checked him out took some pictures as long as you do not try to pick him up or mess with him there mellow if you leave then alone if he was to bite you will never get him off your finger .They have no interest in biting most of the time just wander off slowly . Roads Runners are always running across Stanton road on the way in to Stanton we always burst out laughing when one runs there pretty funny to watch. Eagles everywhere thats open range up there too so watch out for cattle all the way through you will notice the cattle guards you will have to drive over .As far as the rattle snakes go yes sir we have more types  of rattlesnakes here 18 different species more than any other state . BUT YOU AND THE SNAKE ARE GOING TO BOTH  HAVE A GOOD DAY here is how to insure that those things your most important tool your  eyes USE THEM ! always look at the ground out front you always want to be able to see where your hands go and where your feet are going stay out away from bushes and rocks to you know for sure nothing is behind them. Respect them if you see one leave him alone and he will leave you alone most guys get bit trying to mess with them there important to the environment and really your chances of getting bit are very small if you just be alert and relax your pretty safe I hike and prospect all the time in the summer I stay out of dangerous areas I cant see in like prickly pear clumps in the shade is where they will be most of you guys will be coming out in the winter to prospect and the snakes will be in hibernation  nov through march april
the two snakes most common up around stanton and the claims the green mohave rattlesnake and western diamond back pretty much dont see many but you know just be alert nothing to worry about if you watch where your going.