kcoulson

Dutch, What the judge's order said is that DFG can't use general funds to issue permits. DFG responded that the permits are paid for by the fees from the permitees. So they formally asked the judge for clarification. Until this is received DFG is still issuing permits. You can read the text of the DFG letter by following the link above. Ken

Zippo, Something else you might consider is "Booming" Running a dredge outside the active water way. I just got back from the New 49er claims in on the Klamath in Norcal. It took a while to make it work right but I was able to run my 4 inch dredge up out of the river. I used a 3 inch semi-trash pump to fill a big hole with water. That 3 inch pump can put out a lot of water. I put the dredge in the hole. It is important that only relatively clean water go into the dredge pump so I put the output of the 3 inch pump into a large bucket, the foot valve for the dredge pump goes into the bucket so that it only sucks up clean water. The overflow of the bucket goes into the hole to keep it full for the nozzle. After some trial and error I make it work pretty well. In order to do this you need a pretty big pump to keep ahead of the nozzle. Also, it is very important to not let any runnoff from the sluice back into the river. You must have a settling pond of some kind. Ken

Dredger, Dredging is not dead yet. DFG is still issuing permits. You can read the reason why on the New 49er site. http://bb.bbboy.net/thenew49ers-viewthread...&thread=201

I carry a .44 Mag revolver. If you can't hit him with 5-6 rounds then having 30-100 rounds won't matter. Ken

Tony, I second the vote for triamcinolone Acetonide Cream. You need a prescription for it though. I got poison oak real bad last summer up near Happy Camp Ca. The clinic there has lots of experience dealing with poison oak because the fire fighters are always getting it in the summer. Lots of fires in the area almost every summer. The usual treatment is a cortizone shot followed up with the cream - works great. Another thing you can do on the prevention side is if you know or suspect that you have been in poison oak you can use Tecnu skin cleanser. You have to use it within a few hours of contact. It removes the poison oak oils from the skin. That is what causes the rash. I hate that poison oak stuff. Imagine being in a wetsuit with a nasty case of poison oak. It is not fun. good luck Ken

Hi Blue's Dad I am glad you got this experience. It just shows that even with all the planning you never really know what you are getting into until you actually get there. I am sure that I know who you are talking about- I am a New 49er Member and we have lots of claims on the Klamath and tributaries also. As far as dredging by yourself for 10-12 hours per day- that is a hard thing to do if you are working hard. I was dredging with my 4 inch keene last summer up there on one of the tributary creeks to Klamath and it was all I could do to go 6 hours per day. I was moving/winching large boulders when I was not on the nozzle. After 4-5 hours of that you get really tired and when you get really tired you make mistakes. One bad mistake when alone and you are dead. So I quit after about 6 hours so I could come back the next day. I did find some nice nuggets but found very little fine gold. I will be back at it next summer although in a different spot. Good luck to you - keep at it. Ken

$55000 The amazing thing is that some fool will probably buy it. Ken

I just hope that the Republicans that are left in the Senate make good use of the filibuster when some of these onerous new bills come to the senate floor. Ken

A "pregunta" is the Spanish word for question. When he typed it into the Spanish to English translator it was not translated because it was mis-spelled. (Typo) As far as GPS and detectors- no problem lots of people use them. Even if you did suspect that there might be a problem you could turn it off while detecting. Ken

Easy guys, If there had been a political part of this site I would have posted there. I viewed the information and it appeared to offer some details that perhaps have not been made widely available and I thought that others might have some interest. You notice that I did not comment or editorialize after the link. I figured that I would let others make their own conclusions. Also, If you think that gold mining/prospecting is not effected by politics then you are most assuredly misinformed. We should all keep track of where we are and how we got here. Best wished to all. ken

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f67_1222761495 You can copy and past this link to other forums too.

Glen, That is a beauty. Did it come out of the ground looking like that or did you have to clean it up? Ken

That is going to be a monumental task sifting through all of the "trash' to find the treasure. Just think of how many nails and staples were used to build the house. pipes , wire and who knows what else. I wish you all the luck. those people that were burned out do need some luck right about now. Ken

Hi Wilderness, I have a Keene 4 inch dredge. I have not ever moved more than about 5 feet of overburden with it. The size of hole that you have to have to keep the sides from collapsing is much dependent on the material you are moving. If you have lots of big rocks the hole does not need to be quite as wide to keep from sliding in. However, with lots of big rocks you have the other problem of getting then out of the hole. this is no small task with large boulders and a deep hole. Last month I dredged up near the Klamath river and I was using a 9000 lb winch to pull some boulders out of the dredge hole. I was only about 4-5 feet deep and it became a lot of work - moving boulders. Of course I was working by myself. It would of been a lot easier if I had a partner. If you are going to go very deep at all you should have someone (or two) to work with. I think that you are very optimistic if you think you can get down to the depth that you are thinking about - even with a 4 inch dredge. It might work but it would take a long time and be a lot of work. Consider this-if you want to dredge 15 feet deep your suction hose much reach down to the bottom ( more than 15 feet) the hose then goes to your dredge which must be positioned outside the dredge hole to put the tailings out so they don't go back in the hole. This means that the suction hose needs to be at least 30 feet. Most 4 inch dredges run about 20 feet of suction. Your engine and pump probably would also have to be upgraded to be able to work ok at that depth. Also, the deeper you go the more pressure you need on your air line. I don't think a T-80 compressor will be adequate for that depth. Before you think about going 15 feet deep try 5 feet and see how it goes. Above all be safe. I hope it all works out for you- let us know Ken

15 feet of overburden is a hell of a lot of dirt to move with a 3 inch dredge. Keep in mind that if you go 15 feet deep you have to have a very wide hole to keep the sides from sliding in on you. this means much much dirt to move. It does sound like you have a good spot though. what part of the country are you mining? good luck Ken