Yesterday I took my son to the Just for Fun claim near Twaine Harte.  When we got there, I walked up the creek from where we parked to get an idea of where to start.  The creek was different than what I was used to.  As I looked around, I could see layers on the banks as well as in the creek itself where others had worked.  So I picked a spot and dug a sample pan from the material on the bank.  I panned it out, skunk.   So I dug a little deeper for another pan, skunk again.  I had set my son up with my hand dredge working under a boulder.  We took turns switching off  until we had 3/4 of a bucket of material.  After panning the material out, I had one speck.  I was totally disappointed.  I packed up and decided to drive to the other claims to see how they looked.  They looked the same so I decided to go where I know the gold is, the Stanislaus river downstream of Italian Bar.  

The Water was higher than the last time I was there but I was still able to cross the river.  I worked the same hole I worked a couple of weeks ago trying to widen it out for better access.  I ran seven buckets of material with my last bucket being better than the previous six.  I had already promised my son that would be the last bucket.  We packed up our gear and began the drive out.  As we were making the climb out of the canyon, I though I would stop by 49er Mining Supply and check them out.   As I pulled up, I was surprised at the location of the shop.  I was met by Rob, the owner.  I introduced myself and my son.  It wasn't long before Rob figured out I was relatively new to mining.  Rob took the time to demonstrate proper panning techniques to me and my son.  He put a couple of scoops of cons in a pan he new had some gold and told my son to practice panning.  Rob and went back into the shop and Rob began giving me a crash course in prospecting.  Within minutes I realized that if had his knowledge at the first claim we visited that day, I probably would have stayed at that claim the whole day.   After my son worked for what seemed an hour on that pan, he brought if back and showed us a few flakes of gold.  Rob told him he did a good job, told him to take the material in the pan home and practice with it.  I grabbed my snuffer bottle and Rob showed my son how to suck up the material.

I have been making a lot of mistakes when it comes to prospecting, possibly costing me the valuable yellow stuff.  From here on out, I will be implementing the knowledge Rob gave me and sharing with my mining friends.  My thanks to Rob at 49er Mining Supply.  If anyone finds themselves in Columbia, CA, drop in a check his operation out.   I am grateful for the time he took out of his day.