Gold Deposition in Dry Placers (Part 1)

 (Yours truly checking out a potential dry placer location in New Mexico.)

Main Difference Between Wet and Dry Gold Placers

Like myself, many of you living and working in the Western and Southwestern U.S. cut your mining teeth in the numerous dry placer gold areas of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, or southeastern California. Although many aspects of sampling and working dry gold placers are similar to those found in wet placer districts, there are distinct differences between the two.

Gold, Treasure, and the Meaning of Sacrifice

(Wounded Marines during the battle for Hue, Vietnam 1968...a terrible place to be as those of us who were there know only too well.)

What You Shouldn't Ever Forget

This Memorial Day weekend many of you are heading for your claims or your favorite gold mining or treasure hunting spots. With a bit of hard work and a little luck you'll probably come home with a tidy little poke of placer gold or a long-forgotten cache of silver coins.

What you shouldn't ever forget, however, is the pain and sacrifice that brought you this long holiday weekend. Over the years and even now, men and women of all ages and from all branches of the military services have and continue to place themselves in harm's way for you and yours...and, truth be told, for a nation that has treated them with utter disdain on more than one occasion.

Basic Tips for "Reading" a Stream (Part 1)

 (Good gold country...section of the North Yuba River a few miles from Downieville, California.)

Most Important Gold-Mining Skill

As a placer miner, the ability to "read" a stream is the single most important gold-mining skill you'll employ out in the field. Without this knowledge and a practiced eye, you are essentially blind when it comes to knowing where to search for gold in a river, stream, or dry wash.

More on Patented/Unpatented Gold Mining Claims (Conclusion)

(Tote all the guns you want but your unpatented claim is still NOT your private property.)

No Legal Basis

Before I move on to Northern California patented claim owner Stan M.'s situation, I'd like to pass along one more tidbit of info regarding unpatented gold mining claims. Remember, with an unpatented claim you DON'T own the the land itself...just the mineral rights. One thing I've found very disturbing over the years is the fact that many unpatented claim owners treat their claims like their own personal or private property.

More on Patented/Unpatented Gold Mining Claims (Part 3)

There's something VERY important you need to know about unpatented gold claims, so bear with me here:

1) You Will Pay Taxes

There are individuals online (mostly claim sellers/claim scammers, by the way) who are deliberately lying to you when they say that you don't have to pay taxes on unpatented gold mining claims that you purchase from them. The truth is, you WILL HAVE TO  PAY TAXES ON YOUR UNPATENTED GOLD MINING CLAIM.

More on Patented/Unpatented Gold Mining Claims (Part 2)

(Signs like this denoting unpatented mining claims can be found all over the western and southwestern U.S. these days.)

Most Common Gold Mining Claim

In my previous post I provided you with a basic definition of patented gold mining claims and now I'll do the same for the most common variety of mining claim these days...the unpatented claim. Additionally, as we progress in this series, I'll be filling you in on Northern California gold miner Stan M.'s current situation regarding his patented claim and the once "Golden State's" moratorium on suction dredging.