Sierra City Gold Prospecting Trip in California s Mother Lode

Sierra City Gold Prospecting Trip in California s Mother Lode Every year for the past several years I have taken a vacation and prospecting trip to the little town of Sierra City, high in the Sierra Nevada range of California to prospect for gold on a friend s mining claim. Sierra City is a historic gold rush town of a little more than 200 persons. Known mostly for its rich lode mines, it also had some rich placers as well. Its now a center for various recreational activities including prospecting, fishing, etc. The North Fork of the Yuba River flows through the town and is a well known gold bearing river and has been heavily dredged, especially in the area both above and below the town of Downieville. It runs for miles through the Sierra Nevada range. Where I am working it has been little worked in the last 10 years as the claim is pretty much surrounded by private property, and permission to trespass is required. The spot where I prospect is actually a well known local swimming hole for the kids - but there are nice nuggets in the bedrock and among the boulders in the background. The whole of Sierra County is an area known for large, coarse gold nuggets. The geology in much of the county is very favorable for the formation of large gold. Historically, more large nuggets have been found in Sierra County that any other county in California, and the region in and around the North Fork has produced most of those finds. During the gold rush, miners found a 25 pound nugget in the North fork of the Yuba river between Sierra City and Downieville. An 11 pounder was also found at the Jersey diggings on the hill just above Downieville. Many of the side streams that dump into North fork of the Yuba have yielded dozens of large nuggets and quartz/gold specimens containing between 50 and 150 ounces of gold. There is even an unsubstantiated tale of a heart shaped nugget from one of these side streams that contained over 1800 ounces of gold. Most of the really large nuggets were found in the early days when thousands of miners scoured the hills, but even in today’s era of smaller scale operations and weekend prospectors, rich pockets of crystalline gold and multi-ounce nuggets continue to be found from time to time. As an example, some friends of mine found a 7.5 ounce nugget while dredging in September 2004. Sierra county is also famous for the 16 to 1 mine hard rock mine whose deep workings continue to yield rich pockets of gold in quartz. During the summer of 2004, the mine yielded a single pocket containing almost a million dollars worth of gold. As at the 16 to 1, important and large finds continue to be made periodically in Sierra County. Sierra City, California is located around 1:45 minutes from my home in Reno. This year I moved my trailer into the local campground for an entire month, from mid-July to Mid-August. I wasn t there the entire time, but I would come up for long weekends, and then go home to work. While the deserts are roasting, Sierra City is at 4200 feet and the weather this time of year is usually great with highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 50s. The water temps runs around 65, which is cool but still pleasant - it feels very nice to be prospecting in the water that time of year. I spend most of my prospecting time dredging. In many ways, small scale suction dredging was born on the North fork of the Yuba, as many of the early dredging pioneers like Ernie Keene tested their home made machines out here, sometimes with amazing success. Over the years, I ve made a number of friends at the campground there and many show up year after year, just like I do. There are detecting opportunities, high banking, sniping, lode gold prospecting and plenty of other things for the prospector to do. I always wish I had more time when my season ends and I have to come home. Its a great place to visit and those who discover this hidden gem of the Sierra range are usually very happy they did. For more information about dredging for gold, take a look at the author’s website: nevada-outback-gems.com/basic_prospecting/Dredging.htm Basic information on Prospecting for gold, including how to get started, can be found at: nevada-outback-gems.com/basic_prospecting/Basic_placer.htm Chris Ralph writes on small scale mining and prospecting for the ICMJ Mining Journal. He has a degree in Mining Engineering from the Mackay School of Mines in Reno, and has worked for precious metal mining companies conducting both surface and underground operations. After working in the mining industry, he has continued his interest in mining as an individual prospector. He can be reached at P.O. Box 3104 Reno, Nevada 89505. His information page on prospecting for gold can be viewed at: nevada-outback-gems.com/prospect/chris_prospect.htm