Rochford to Castleton... a prospector's view

A Saturday outing… we don’t get many of those but I’m recovering from tooth extraction and need to take it easy today. Bob is feeling pretty good after his surgery three weeks ago, so a drive in the Hills is just what the doctor ordered!  (Thanks to the higher powers for great weather... today we have a winter storm!)

Our first stop is for King’s pasties at Central City between Deadwood and Lead. These are traditional miner’s fare and the handiest take-along lunch we’ve found, not to mention good!


Rapid Creek is icing over

 We then travel toward Rochford, noticing that the recent snow tapers off a bit as we travel. That’s what we had hoped for -- depths drop from shin high to scattered snow cover as we proceed toward the central Hills. Rochford is quiet and very little traffic on the road this Thanksgiving weekend.

The advantage of winter prospecting is that leaves have fallen and sometimes the snow helps outline things you don’t notice otherwise. Today we see a gulch above our Rapid Creek claim has considerable placer workings, so we trek up the gulch a little and discuss next summer’s plans for the area. A nice piece of “float” appears to be conglomerate with fragments of quartz, schist and creek debris. That certainly justifies further prospecting next spring!

We proceed toward Mystic and just down the road see a man shoveling a pickup load of dirt into a sluice box. Some of these miners are hardy, but the price of gold gives new meaning to “pay dirt.” A day’s work right now can produce a lot more than pocket change!

The ghost town of Castleton looms, and we venture up the Castle Creek road. A large portion of this area is either private property or part of a protected withdrawn area. We observe how many old diggings, both lode and placer, that are not available for claim because of an abandoned campground! Such is the nature of government….

A few people are cutting Christmas trees… probably not a legitimate venture in this area!

We arrive at the old Lookout Mill on private property because I recalled some timbers still there, even though it appears to have burned several years ago. The mill site and several lots behind it are for sale and we speculate on buying land that remote from all our other claims. Hmmmm….

We venture back to the Rochford area. A quick stop for sampling at the Montezuma shows us that our paperwork and some posts have been removed, so that goes on our list of “things to do.” It’s a little icy in the area, so we don’t spend much time trying to walk on the snow-crusted rocks.

There’s one more area to check. Bob remembers some workings to the north he wants to investigate. We find them with no wrong turns, a pretty good feat on these forest trails! He samples those dumps, finding a piece of ore with a minute piece of crystalline gold! We try another trail we haven’t checked out yet. To our surprise, there are considerable workings about ¼ mile up that trail still on Forest Service property. A couple of hunters have the area staked out, so we’ll return another day to explore!

Prospecting our Iron Creek claim

It’s snowing and cold…. Brrrrrr! We can’t trek the Hills, but we have several placer claims of our own and will take you on a verbal prospecting tour of each through the next few weeks.
We acquired a claim on Iron Creek in the northern Black Hills in 2001 and named it after our first grandson born that spring. New placer claims in this area are not available due to a mining company having blanketed several sections with lode claims.

We have recovered ¼ ounce per yard with small pickers and peanut-sized nuggets. It appears that some of the nuggets are still attached to quartz, which gives us rough specimen as well as rounded, well-traveled placer gold from the ancient placers.

We’ve found gravels to be 8-10 feet deep, with 1 foot of material on clay false bedrock which appears to be an old river channel. We’ve observed 2, possibly 3 of these old channels, which appear to be quite rich. The lower portion of the claim was trommeled, documented as producing an ounce an hour with a small steam shovel and trommel operation using 1-½ inch hose for hydraulicing. It appears that some boulders were too large for this old machinery to handle and the equipment bounced right over them!

Black sands are plentiful! Black sands of this area are known to bear Hematite, Magnetite, Cassiterite and Tantalum plus an array of heavy pegmatite minerals. The claim has an intermittent stream which usually runs into July and August.

The claim is 60 acres and also has a lode deposit and old shafts. The lode deposit appears to be a fractured zone in limestone. Old reports tell us the gold ran up to $10/ton at $20 ounce. Even though this vein is narrow, it runs at least ½ ounce per ton. The other shaft, which appears to be 70 feet deep and open, was in
a porphyry/igneous deposit with unknown values.

Multiple trails on this claim provide good camping, and less than ¼ mile away is the Iron Creek Campground, with a seasonal store and restaurant, rustic cabins and camping, fishing, swimming and family fun!

We are in the process of acquiring a small-scale placer mining permit for this claim.  We'll keep you posted as the project progresses!

Prospecting Bear Gulch area of the Black Hills



It doesn't really matter where you look for gold... the true test is "in the pan."  Amanda doesn't get back home very often, but panning is always on her list of "things to do..."   

 Every one of our claims is unique -- we often chuckle at having to re-learn panning techniques at different locations. We look for different indicators, have knowledge of the history of the area, and Bob’s geology sure comes in handy!

The closer you are to the source of the gold, the more likely you are to find nuggets. Gold is heavy and even in our spring run-off it drops out when the water slows, maybe the ravine widens or it hits an obstacle.
One area known for nuggets is Bear Gulch, mostly private property. The surrounding area, however, should have some of the same characteristics to look for when prospecting. Look at this as a guide to that region and what to look for in nearby gulches.

Black Hills Times Aug. 19, 1880 – “But few men know anything about the Bear Gulch region, although it is one of the first gold camps that was opened up in the Hills. There are certain laws that govern all formations in every mining camp we have ever been in, but in this one the old established theories are all at fault. "It is agreed upon by all old miners that in all placer claims wash gravel is an important factor, and without it there is no use in looking for placer gold.

Placer mines in California and all other countries we know any thing about, have been found in gulches, river beds, the beds of extinct rivers and ravines, but in all of them there have been evidences of the action of water, in the form of boulders and wash gravel, that give evidence of having run over it and deposited the precious metal with the debris carried with it.


“In the Bear gulch district it is entirely different. On the surface of the gulches, and in fact the whole country even to the top of the highest hills, you will find as deep a soil composed of black loam as you will find in any part of the Mississippi valley, and under this you will find a clay subsoil in all respects like the subsoil underlying the country we have mentioned, and this clay goes down to within a few inches of the bedrock, and in the upper stratas there is not a color of gold to be found, but on the bedrock, and in the few inches of intervening material, the pay is to be found. There seems to be but little difference between the gulches and the hills. The formation and extent is about the same, and the pay streak about alike.
“There are thousands of acres of ground that is now covered with a dense growth of pine timber, that with water would give a handsome return to the miner, but the water is what at present is lacking.”

　

Prospecingt gold claims in Black Hills of South Dakota

November 7, 2010

            We have a crazy week ahead!  Bob had minor surgery on Monday and is on the road to recovery.
            We’re encouraging family and friends to grab a placer or lode claim before they get claimed up! 

            First, we want to discuss gold claims in the Black Hills.  Most of the major gold producing drainages (placer) have been claimed by both local and out-of-state prospectors.  One internet site selling claims cites Spring Creek, Palmer Creek, Castle Creek and Rapid Creek as documented sources of gold-bearing gravel in Pennington County, S.D.  That is true, but is such a gross general statement that leaves so much unsaid!  We personally have several exceptional placer claims, one on Rapid Creek, all of which can show gold in every pan.  We chose them for a combination of reasons… historically documented discovery, NOT situated on private property, physically surveying the property for access, geological indications,  claim history and research for active claims and always, ALWAYS looking for new location certificates that haven’t been filed with the Bureau of Land Management.  Now we can find a promising spot and start looking for gold!

            So why so much “digging” for information before even dipping a pan in the creek?  It is the procedure outlined by law for discovery.  If this procedure is not followed, you’re probably claim jumping!  Every spring we get phone calls from friends and fellow claim holders, “You’ve got a claim jumper(s)!”  Or maybe we’re headed for one of our placer claims for an enjoyable day in the Black Hills when we encounter recent diggings or maybe even the guilty party – though they’ve usually heard us approaching and are scurrying for the brush to avoid us.  Now… let me think… guilt or ignorance?  Scurrying would indicate what? 

            Oh and by the way, not every area of Spring Creek, Rapid Creek, Palmer Creek and Castle Creek are good prospects, and a lot of private property not open to claim exists on these drainages.  It is also frivolous to claim seeing gold visible in a creek! We've been at this for a combination of  45 years and only in ideal circumstances at the ideal location will you see gold visible in a creek. But we digress... there are still numerous placer claims to be had which are relatively large producers, and they are not limited to a few choice drainages. There is a lot of historical information on other placer discoveries that is not highly publicized or readily available to the prospector.  Contact us at http://www.blackhillsgoldmines.com/ if you are interested in placer or lode claims.

Our second discussion is on lode mining.  There are a good percentage of people in the Black Hills who think Homestake Mining Company got all the gold!  Lode (minerals in place, often referred to as hard rock mining) claims are being overlooked as a great claim opportunity.  A large mining company coming into the area will “blanket” a section (640-acres) in anticipation of exploration for minerals.  We already see evidence of this occurring in several areas of the Black Hills.

Gold went up $45 in two days and continues its upward march.  If this trend continues as we expect, claim opportunities will diminish rapidly.  We much prefer to see individual claim holders reap the benefits of gold prices.  If a company is interested in an area, they have to negotiate with active claimholders.

Why do people rely on us and not just get their own claim?  All of the reasons we listed above for finding a claim – we do it the right way, in the right sequence of events, with bona fide discovery on each claim we present.

We currently have 14 placer and lode claims.  We will, within the next month, obtain another 6 claims to maximize our holdings allowed by BLM to maintain our small miner status.  All of this research shouldn’t go to waste!  One friend has two claims we secured for him plus being a partner on a large placer claim, and is looking at up to 6 potential claims… others local and out-of-state have recently procured a 120-acre placer claim that we found for them and are looking for any lode prospects we might provide them.  Don’t miss out; don’t kick yourself when a mining company claims it before you do!

Tinton gold

Weekend outing Oct. 17, 2010
Autumn in South Dakota… what an amazing experience after two successive years of early snow.
This weekend’s destination is the Tinton mining region, famous for nuggets and larger “rough” gold. We have a destination in mind south of Tinton, but are well aware that access may not be possible unless a private property owner is in residence and willing to give us permission to pass.
Fall colors are waning, but there are still bright spots here and there. The Iron Creek road out of Spearfish (which in our youth was a two-wheel rut) is showing some washboard from a summer’s traffic.
We detour slightly at our turn-off and check for claim jumpers and status of paperwork on our Iron Creek claim. Claim posts have been removed by claim jumpers or vandals, a common occurrence.



Nugget City

 The road to Tinton takes us past Nugget City and the site of Potato Creek Johnnie’s cabin, or at least what remains of the tool shed. It’s getting difficult for even us native Black Hillers to find the spot.

Only remnants of Potato Creek Johnnie's
cabin site are a few boards from the tool shed.

 Another detour near the head of Beaver Creek, where we spot a indistinct trail toward old workings. A hike down the trail to the north and east exposes placer workings. We encounter a fence line, and knowing that it designates private property, hike up the hill to find several trenches, deep enough to know they must have found something!

Prospect tench is taller than Alex!

Back to our trusty “Old Rusty” Ranger pickup and on down the road. The first promising access is gated with what is becoming a most familiar sign...

So, no go for Old Rusty there. As much as we dispute this infringement on public access, we do our best to play by the rules!

The next road is into private property, but runs along the fringe of the boundary. There is a rutted road through private property and Forest Service, then a residence beyond which the road is padlocked.

So where to go now? We decide to go back to the spot where we detoured and scouted out workings. Just past where we pulled over there is another gated entrance. Bob asks if we want to see an old shaft, and of course we said, “Yes.” We got the usual warning about open workings and unstable ground, but a reminder never hurts!

The trail was pretty well established and, rock picks in hand, we proceeded to break quartz and examine formations.

Around the bend we spotted a tailings pile and proceeded to walk single file (six-year-old Alex in between the two adults). A wide, probably 12-foot deep shaft had caved, but did not appear to have been too deep. Possible ore on the dump site was iron stained quartzite and a dirty brown quartz. A road cut exposed 20 to 30 feet of the vein system, what looked to be on a northwest trend. The trail continued toward a draw with what appeared to be extensive placer workings.

Score another one for Fox mining… claim posted.

Digging for gold

Weather permitting, we're out there!  The snow has arrived, but there are still days when the temperature reaches the 40s and 50s, which drives us out of the house to explore!  Each week we blog about something new, whether it's our current expedition or information we think is worth sharing.

Blogs are chronological, so look for all our blogs listed in the right column------>

Every chance we get we're in the Black Hills.  Maybe we're at one of our placer or lode claims; maybe Bob has discovered a new prospect (oh if we only had the time for all his new prospects); maybe we just needed to get out and enjoy the weather!

We'll be exploring gold and ghost mines of the Black Hills, South Dakota.  If we can't get on the trails, we'll recap some of the Black Hills almost forgotten history on miners and mining.

Tell us what your think... suggest a topic you might want discussed!  We value your comments!