Quad Dusters helping the Forest Service put up new signs at Rainbow Trail - May 30, 1998

Quad Dusters at Red Cone Peak and surrounding area, July 26, 1998

1998 Pikes Peak Hill Climb

Where to place jack stands under a C4 Corvette

How much Snow can an ATV push? Look here!

MOAB PHOTOS!
5 Members of the Quad Dusters ATV club went to Moab,Utah ..
I could only load the 63 pictures from the first day here!

Moab - Day 1

1-9 10-18 19-27 28-36 37-45 46-54 55-63

I got another website; Visit Tim's Place for Moab Day 2 photos.

Link to Quad Dusters ATV club web page

Several years ago there was a popular love song which featured the words "Little things mean a lot." Certainly in most personal relationships it's often the little things that make an important difference. Likewise, in gold prospecting, there are often little things which one picks up from time to time that makes our hobby easier or more comfortable in our quest for the yellow metal. Following are a few "little" ideas that may be useful as you plan for the new 1997 prospecting season.

When I pan, I use thin rubber gloves. They help keep my hands warmer and they keep the sand and gravel from wearing down my fingernails. Water always gets inside the gloves, so to keep them dry I break off some small twigs from a nearby bush just long enough to hold open the gloves when not in use. Two of these in each glove, crossed at right angles to each other keep the gloves open so that air can circulate through them when not being used. They dry overnight and are ready for use the next day.

Want to show off your gold a little more? Place a strip of electricians tape (black) along one side of a one-ounce vial. Holding the vial so that the gold it contains will lie against the side of the vial with the black tape really enhances the brightness of the gold. The black background provides an ideal contrast.

Medium or fine steel wool (or a soaped Brillo pad) will roughen up a new plastic gold pan and remove all the oil and greasy shine which will cause water to bead up in the pan. A new pan just will not work properly unless the surface is prepared in this manner.

Most gold prospectors wear a baseball type cap when they are at work. These work quite well except they do not protect the tops of your ears! Many of our members have discovered that a soft cloth hat with a narrow cloth rim works even better and protects the ears from sunburn.

If you have an older aluminum sluice it probably has a plain, flared intake area which you shovel gravel into before it is washed down over the riffles. A piece of black, ribbed stair tread (available in hardware stores) may be cut to fit this intake area and it becomes an excellent gold trapping addition. Be sure the ribbing runs parallel to the riffles, and if your sluice is set up correctly the tread will catch most of the gold. Furthermore, you can watch to see if your gravel is carrying gold as it readily appears against the black matting.

Did you ever blow a piece of gold back out of your sucker bottle while attempting to squirt out excess water? A better way to vent the water is merely to unscrew the cap and pour out the excess into your pan. The gold will remain in the bottle and the water can be vented much faster without danger of losing gold from the nozzle.

You can show off your nuggets (if you are lucky enough to find some) by purchasing small, round, clear plastic containers that are about one inch in diameter and contain a black, sponge-like material inside. The nugget rests on the black material and the cap holds the gold firmly in place. You can also buy the type container that will magnify whatever is placed inside. Ackley's Rock Shop in Colorado Springs is one source for these display containers.

As cumbersome as it may sound, a pointed wooden toothpick is still one of the effective ways to separate small pieces of gold from black sand. After removing any larger pieces with plastic tweezers, pour the remaining concentrates onto a small blue plastic plate or a small finishing pan, and then pour off most of the water. (If you have large amounts of concentrates, use only a portion at one time.) Swirl the plate to spread out the material as evenly as you can, use a magnifier headband and a bright desk type lamp to provide good illumination… Use the toothpick to work the pieces of gold off to one side of the dish. This is slow, but very effective.

You will encounter many additional "little" ideas as you associate with other gold prospectors. Nearly everyone has some good ideas which work. Watch others work. Listen to their stories! Observe their equipment! Remember - "little things mean a lot!"

Email me at tbundrick@earthlink.net in the meantime.
Please come back soon and visit me.

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minor update - June 29, 2000

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