Wednesday, December 29, 2010

More Weather

   Ok so I didnt get any video this last weekend though I did get a little color. We did get some good rain just not as much as I was hoping for and now we have the second round heading this way. We're  supposed to get heavy snow in Prescott, which means heavy rain in the lower elevations so this is a good thing.

   The temps here for the weekend are only going to be in the low 30's so I'm heading for the desert to try out a few washes I noticed while using google earth, should be some gold there but you never know so I have a backup plan to do some sluicing just incase.

   I will try to get some video this weekend so until then,

   Good luck out there.

   JKLyon

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Nice Weather

   Well we did'nt get as much rain as california, but we have had a really good amount since tuesday. I was watching the radar on and off  last night and from the look of it there was alot of gold moving around in arizona.

   It looks like I'll be getting out saturday and sunday so I plan to have some fresh video by sunday night, might even have two if saturday goes well. It's times like these I just wanna skip out on work and hit the creek, but if I could make a REAL living panning for gold I would.

   So thats about it for now, Merry Christmas all and good luck out there.

   JKLyon

Monday, December 20, 2010

Reading the streambed

   With all the videos and books out there, you would think finding gold would be easy for the new prospector. Alot of how to info is really nothing more than a smoke screen to get you to buy that new wonder tool, note the word TOOL. You can spend alot of money on prospecting equipment, but if you don't find much gold now, that $500.00 tool isn't gonna help you. The pan I use in my videos I bought used for $7.00 5 1/2 years ago, so with roughly a $25-$30 dollar investment I have found 19 ounces of gold. So whats my point, well my point is, tools are for recovering gold you have already found, tools don't find the gold for you.

   One of the most important things I learned early on was something almost everyone overlooks, once I figured this out it really increased the amount of gold I was finding. Almost all prospectors will tell you to look for black sand, the problem is that it's sand and it's found all over a wash and it does'nt really tell you anything. Now we all know gold comes in different sizes, nuggets, pickers, and fines, well black sand (magnetite) does to.


   In the picture above you can see "nuggets" of magnetite scattered all over the bedrock, there are even some pieces wedged in the crevices. Now if you were standing on this wash and had a full view you would notice that these black sand "nuggets" seem to be forming lines or "streaks" and although magnetite is'nt as heavy as gold, gold does the same thing in a wash. Next time your out prospecting try looking for these black sand "nuggets" and be sure to sample where they pile up. If you get good at spotting these streaks you never now what you'll find.




   Good luck out there,

   JKLyon

Friday, December 17, 2010

Gold Rush Alaska

   So I've been watching this show since day 1, and tonights episode had me thinkin this was more about drama than any actual prospecting. Well by the last 15 minutes of the show it got better, and then I saw the trailer for the January 7th show and it looks pretty sweet. I'm thinking this show is gonna be a big hit.

   Tomarrow I may have time in the afternoon for some panning, but sunday is my big day 'cause I'm heading for new ground and water should'nt be a problem as we had a good amount of rain yesterday.

   Well thats about it for tonight and if you have'nt started watching the gold rush show you might want to start.

Good luck out there,

JKLyon

Thursday, December 16, 2010

It's Raining

   Well it finally started raining here, rained a little yesterday, but started raining really good late last night and is supposed to rain all day today. I don't think it's gonna cause any flooding, but it will leave pocket's of water for panning.

   So I'm thinking I might head south of Prescott on sunday to do some exploring, This is my favorite thing to do in the winter, and it can really pay off. Patience is the key here, and you really have to like hiking. The more ground you cover, the more likely you are to find a sweet spot.

   Sample any wash you find no matter how small it is. The first thing to look for is exposed bedrock, if you dont find any try working a few boulder piles. This should give you an idea of what kind of gold is hiding in that wash.



Well I guess I should get to work, though I really want to go panning this morning.

Good luck out there,

JKLyon

  

Monday, December 13, 2010

Another week begins

  Well saturday was fun, but the gold was playin' hard to get which is usually the case on upper Lynx creek. This is the main reason I like hunting smaller washes, dont get me wrong, there is still ALOT of gold on upper lynx, but there is also alot of overburden that has to be moved in order to get it.

  I'm a big fan of letting the creek do the work for me, this is almost impossible on upper lynx as many parts of the creek are 50  feet wide or more, and I cant imagine how much rain it would take to move the overburden in those areas. Locating a streak in this area is also a near impossible task, as streaks tend to be less than a foot wide. I'll talk more about streaks later.

  So tomarrow I'm off to a little hot spot that has given up 6 pickers, and my gut tells me theres a nugget near by, never shrug off a gut feeling, it does'nt always pay off, but it has worked enough times to convince me to act on it. I have some video of the spot already but I'm not going to upload it till I'm sure I have worked this spot completely.

  It's a busy week for me as I'm sure it is for everybody being so close to Christmas. Saturday is a no prospecting day, but I may be able to get out on Sunday. There is a small chance for rain almost everyday this week and I'm getting impatient waiting for those winter rains. Well Merry Christmas all, and I should have a video to upload this week.

Good luck out there,

JKLyon

Friday, December 10, 2010

It's Friday

   Well it's finally friday and my saturday plans have been made. Myself and a few others are heading for Lynx creek in the morning, we're meeting at bannie mine road at 8AM and hiking upstream to do some panning.

   Last years winter rains really moved things around up there, and we had a pretty good monsoon this year, so our panning trip could produce some good results. Though I'm not a big fan of upper Lynx creek, the reason being that most of the bedrock is not user friendly, meaning its hard as steel and smooth as glass and only certain spots hold any good color.   The incentive is the amount of water in the last year, I'm hoping that there will be some new bedrock exposures. Even if the bedrock is not user friendly, fresh exposures can really hold some nice gold.

   So that's the plan, and I am looking forward to it, and even if we dont find anything it'll be nice gettin out on the creek. Hey if you see this post and show up your welcome to join us, but be there by 8AM, by 8:10 we'll be gone.

Good luck out there,

JKLyon

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Saturdays coming

   Well I havent been out panning since saturday and I'm already feeling the fever. I had yesterday off but cataclysm (yes I play World of Warcraft) came out yesterday and I spent the entire day lvling up a worgan, shame on me.

   So far we have had no winter rains to speak of and the temps are hitting 60 again so the waters not gonna last much longer. There are a few places I'd like to go this weekend, well saturday, sunday is the Prescott Valley GPAA chapter's outting at Fain park in PV, starts at 9AM and we're gonna be taking the group down to the creek for panning lessons, and you dont have to be a GPAA member to come along, so if your not bust sunday stop by.

   Well I guess I have 3 days to decide where to go panning on saturday, it's just not an easy choice for me as so many of the washes have good color on them if you know what to look for. Oh well it'll come to me eventually.

   Good Luck out there,

   JKLyon

Saturday, December 4, 2010

GoldTubes are back online


After 2 months of downtime, GoldTubes are once again available for purchase online at:


Thanks to all for your patience,

JKLyon

Friday, December 3, 2010

Welcome to Propanners board...

     My name is JKLyon and Ive been prospecting for gold in arizona since 2002. I will be posting how to information, pictures and video of gold prospecting techniques and if you e-mail your questions I'll do my best to answer them for you.

      I also have a you-tube channel with a number of videos taken while out gold panning in various locations around Arizona. Here's a sample video.


Welcome aboard.

JKLyon