When I was a kid, I used to make fun of the fat old guys using metal detectors to dig up junk along the beach...
Now that I'm a fat old guy, I got myself a metal detector & sometimes go out bottle cap, I mean; gold hunting.
Anybody know of some spots to go a hunting in Northern Baja? I'm not asking for the exact location of the secret mother load, just some general areas
where people have been lucky in the past... But it would be nice if there were softball size nuggets laying around
Thanks in advance for any help and ideas!
& hopefully, these guys won't show up...
Metal detector
tehag - 4-9-2008 at 07:19 PM
Better check into the legality of having a metal detector in Mexico. Then check on mineral laws. Then artifacts.CG - 4-9-2008 at 07:33 PM
Quote:
grab that annoying metal detector by the neck in one hand and the trigger in the other and thrust it through your legs in a back, upward motion
burying the pie-plate head way up into the most hidden chamber of your butt.
oh come on now,
I'm not fallin' for that again.
Just gimme the real infoDENNIS - 4-9-2008 at 07:45 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by CG
Just gimme the real info
I will when I get some. I'm more reluctant to travel into the back country alone these days. Too many growers and low-lifes. Not like it used to
be.
Where in Baja will you be poking around?vgabndo - 4-9-2008 at 10:33 PM
I have a 1940's US Govt. report showing that small quantities of gold had been located in the area generally just north of Laguna Hansen. I can not
imagine that if there were any measurable quantity there that the people living in the area would not have found a method to retrieve it.David K - 4-10-2008 at 07:23 AM
That's funny Don Jorge... Herman is taking his secrets to the grave, I fear!
CG, the area north of or 'near' Ojos Negros has gold nuggets laying all around, it was reported by a friend... The next time he went back, a mining
claim had been secured...
There has been a lot of gold extracted between the 1880's and 1920's in Baja... The mines are listed in the 'Lower California Guidebook' (c1956-1970)
by Gerhard and Gulick and the newer 'Baja California Guidebook' (c1975-1980) by Wheelock and Gulick and the more modern 'The Baja Adventure Book'
(c1987-1998) by Walt Peterson.
Besides the area north of El Alamo (Real de Castillo), gold also has been mined (and still is) at El Alamo (near Mex. 3, SE of Ensenada).
Other old gold mine areas: Socorro (on the Observatory road) above the Meling Ranch,
Miramar (between Puertecitos and Gonzaga Bay),
several mines near Coco's Corner and Calamajue,
Desengaño (on the old L.A. Bay road),
Mines just south of L.A. Bay ('Santa Marta'), the San Juan mines high above Las Flores (south of L.A. Bay) and Pozo Aleman and El Arco near the state
border... all these are in Baja Norte!TMW - 4-10-2008 at 07:26 AM
You could start with some of the old gold mining areas. You would need to ask permission and most likely need to speak and understand spanish. With
that said try El Alamo off hwy 3 north of Trinidad. The Socorro digs east of Meling ranch, ask for permission at Meling ranch or El Coyote ranch if
necessary. This one is owned by the meling people. We got permission a few years ago and spent most of a day there. South of Puertecitos and just
south of Arroyo Miramar is a side road to an old placer gold diggings. I have not been there yet but know of it from maps and books. The diggings
across from mission Calamajue past Cocos. El Desengano east of hwy 1 and north of the LA Bay hwy. El Triumfo southeast of Rosarito. Pozo Aleman near
El Arco.
This should get you started and if you find anything I want 10%. Keep my name out of any legal problems.David K - 4-10-2008 at 07:36 AM
Gold is also mined right now at the La Fortuna mine just north of the Hwy. 3 and Hwy. 5 jcn. between Mexicali and San Felipe... note power lines going
north to it and the lights on at night.Taco de Baja - 4-10-2008 at 08:00 AM
Lots-o-gold in the Sierra Juarez of Baja......
But most of it is buried under 20 feet of sediment. The remains of mining are all over in the area including many dangerous open shafts, some new,
some old, in the loose placer, as well as old camps with tin cans, foundations, and the like.
My dad found three nuggets all around 0.6"x0.25"x.25" back in the late 1950's right after a rain in a stream that had cut down to the hard bedrock.
All were literally sparkling in the low morning sun. He wasn’t even looking for gold; he was simply on a hike.
The gold in this area apparently came from Sonora, back when Baja was still attached to mainland Mexico. The old miners, of course did not know this,
and looked in vein for the "mother vein" in the local mountains.
Also, as they did not have access to lots of water like the Northern California gold fields all the overburden to bedrock had to be dug by hand or a
donkey engine. As this was a lot of work, the area was not too exploited, and there is probably a fair amount of gold still there. And like then, it
will take far more work than it is worth to get it.
Just don’t declare anything you are lucky enough to find; it’s illegal for gringos to remove most minerals from Mexico…mcbockalds - 4-10-2008 at 08:09 AM
Wow David what a great list of the gold sites in Baja.
Now I know how you can afford all your trips.
On your future Baja adventures if you see me in your rear-view mirror, don't worry, I promise I'll be digging a respectful distance away from you.
Cheers and Nuggets...Johnbajalou - 4-10-2008 at 08:41 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Gold is also mined right now at the La Fortuna mine just north of the Hwy. 3 and Hwy. 5 jcn. between Mexicali and San Felipe... note power lines going
north to it and the lights on at night.
This one has been closed for a few years now, David, but with the rise in gold prices I kind of expect it to reopen.
On the west side of the mountain where La Fortuna is located there are a couple more mines - abandoned for quite a few years.David K - 4-10-2008 at 01:28 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajalou
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Gold is also mined right now at the La Fortuna mine just north of the Hwy. 3 and Hwy. 5 jcn. between Mexicali and San Felipe... note power lines going
north to it and the lights on at night.
This one has been closed for a few years now, David, but with the rise in gold prices I kind of expect it to reopen.
On the west side of the mountain where La Fortuna is located there are a couple more mines - abandoned for quite a few years.
It was (is?) sure all lit up at night... at least last time we drove by it in the dark (maybe 2-3 years ago)... I guess that it is closed would be
good news for CG as he wants to prospect... and the owners of an open mine wouldn't want to loose their nuggets!
Thanks Lou!
Are you joining the squarecircle gang at La Turquesa Canyon in 3 weeks?Paulina - 4-10-2008 at 02:06 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Don Jorge
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
That's funny Don Jorge... Herman is taking his secrets to the grave, I fear!
Herman can be enticed to spill his nuggets so to speak. Bring along a good looking woman, dressed to distract, ask away.
You might have a point there Don Jorge, as long as she can do windows and knows how to dance to his favorite song, "I like to go swimmin' with bow
legged wimmen' and dive between their legs..."
P<*)))><bajalou - 4-10-2008 at 02:39 PM
Thinking about it - would like to if all works out here---CG - 4-10-2008 at 06:41 PM
Thanks all!
I've got some good ideas now
I'm going to start off looking around El Testerazo Canyon & look over towards El Topo & the Laguna Hanson area.
We'll see how it goes, It will probably turn into another reason to sit around & drink beer (just like fishing) but maybe I'll find El Dorado ( or
fall down a mine shaft)David K - 4-10-2008 at 09:37 PM
CG, if you go to my GPS waypoints web page, look at the details for the 'quartz mine' between Hwy. 2 and Laguna Hanson... no doubt it was a gold
mine... white quartz all over the place... enjoy!
Here is from the web page (datum NAD27 Mexico):
Sierra Juarez Rd. Jcn.@ (free) Mex.#2 (south turn, next 2 waypoints): 32°31.20'/ 116°04.04'
