November is a great time to prospect the Fraser. The water is low and there is nobody around, except of course, the wildlife. No bear tracks this time, but we did see fresh wolf tracks. Rain was in the forecast, but that didn’t deter everyone from going.
We set up two high-bankers in tandem where we were going to dig. We tested this area on a previous trip so we knew it was a good location.
Our settling pond was a mere 20 feet away which was real nice. The last trip we made here the pond was dried up so we had no water to run.
Our first clean up yielded these pieces of mercury covered gold. A common sight on the Fraser. Just goes to show the old timers didn’t get it all. Makes you wonder how much mercury was left behind contaminating our rivers. Nasty stuff.
This nice little picker was sitting on top of the gravels as we were digging.
Obviously Graham couldn’t hold back his excitement being here. That’s okay pal, wait till you see the rest of the gold!
This was the start of the hole. It was at the bottom of a bedrock face.
This shows the bottom of the hole on bedrock. Notice how the bedrock is smooth and rounded. The bedrock on the rest of the claim is typically sharp and jagged. This is the result of all the hydraulicking done during the gold rush. The walls of the canyon were hydraulicked throughout this entire area. They obviously missed this spot with their cannons.
Here’s a better view depicting the bedrock. In two days, we moved an impressive three to four yards of material. That is a lot of dirt! We never waste precious time in the field to process our cons, but take them home.
Here’s a couple of shots of the gold clean-up so far. A couple grams of some chunkier gold, and a few nice pickers.
All in all, a great trip. Although rain was in the forecast all weekend, it only drizzled for a brief time. We still have about 20 yards of material left in this cut and can’t wait to get back and finish it on a future trip.
Special thanks to the gang, Mike, Graham, Chris, and Dan who unfortunately couldn’t be there.
