News from Vault Creek

[Flintgreasewood]

I'll start with a brief rundown on the past season and some prospects for the coming months.
Not sure exactly where I left off back in the early weeks of 2019 so some of this may be old news. Two days before Christmas I met with some folks who were interested in leasing my ground. We made a deal and by Feb. Walter and Bruce had purchased a used Cat 345 hoe and work began putting in a road down to the valley. Six months later we had an all weather road, fully rocked and graded .8 of a mile ending at an acre sized operations pad. Work is nearly complete on a catch pond and stripping of frozen muck overburden is under way.
During those months I had my own operation processing 100 year old tailings. I acquired a small wash plant, a steel track skid steer loader, a 2'x4' vibrating screen and a 4" pump. It was my first time working equipment bigger than a shovel, a mini trommel and 2" pump. Long story short, i washed around 600 yards and recovered 24 oz. of gold. Freezeup put an end to my efforts so there remains about 300 yds to work next summer.
Now that everything's good and frozen I'm setting up to reopen the old shaft from which all those tailings came. Just this evening i got a roof put on my 8'x12' hoist shack. I already have my new gin pole set up with trolley cable in place. Hopefully I'll be hoisting rubble, old cribbing and ice from the 6'x6' shaft in a week. The shaft is likely to be 100' to bed rock but how much of it is iced up is an unknown. I'll keep y'all posted on my progress.

[Jim_Alaska]

It sounds like your plan is firming up Flint. The unknown iced up part could put a real crimp in the operation. Long ago I worked some of those old tailings, there was not much the old timers left. But, in all fairness I was not actually working Vault Creek. I was messing with the old tailing piles and shafts out in the flats , right off of the Elliot. That, plus this was when I was really new at mining, didn't know much so didn't get much. Probably back in the seventies.

I didn't do much there and didn't do it very long, but any old shafts I found were usually iced up pretty good.
Thanks for the report, good to know something is going on in the old diggins.

[chickenminer]

Hey Kurt...
Great to hear your project is progressing.
Sounds like them old tailings are well worth reworking!

[Flintgreasewood]

Howdy Dick. How have your shaft digging efforts progressed? One of these days I’ll put together a list of parts and instructions for making the heat rods. The biggest problem is they are not fully perfected yet
I may make some more this winter and make improvements. Stay safe out there

[easy goer]

Glad to hear from you! Kinda left us hanging in the spring, glad you made it out. Can't wait to hear the next installment. Very entertaining!!

I wouldn't mind finding some tailings piles like those!

Easygoer

[Flintgreasewood]

Thanks, Easygoer. I hope to be posting a lot of fun and exciting stuff as I work my way down the new shaft.

[ProspectingAK]

Flint, I posted on here last fall we moved up to North Pole, Ak last Sept 2018 and I only made it out prospecting once last year. My wife had a complicated pregnancy and we ended up down in Anchorage from Aug 13 til Oct 18. Baby girl and momma are healthy but didn't get much of a chance to go out and find gold. This year should be better. I'd like to see your' operation and meet some miners around Fairbanks. Haven't had a chance to meet anyone mining up here. I bought a nice highbanker and set it up to do some dredging with it. I'd like to find someone to partner up with who might let me work their claim with them or solo for a percentage. It'd be nice to find something not to far from Fairbanks. Love to here your thoughts and anyone else that would like to chime in. Spring will be here soon and I'd like to have a place to tinker around and find some gold. I went up the Steese about 60 miles N of Fox and my first time out had some issues with my 4 wheeler and it made for a short day of mining and a long hike back to the truck and 80 miles back home that evening and back the next afternoon to rescue the 4 wheeler and all my equipment. Hoping 2020 goes smoother and have some time to move some material. Gold prices are up nicely this year.
Cory

[Jim_Alaska]

ProspectingAK,

When I lived outside of Fairbanks there was a place out the Steese called The Chatanika Recreational Mining Area. It may still be open, you should check. It is not very far from Fox.

[Geowizard]

It's a solitary experience;

I believe GOLD prospecting is a solitary experience. Here's why;

Understanding the concept of prospecting for GOLD and how the human mind works in sorting out "where" to look will inevitably cause two prospectors to take TWO different paths,

When a GOLD nugget is discovered, TWO prospectors will never agree on the proportion of ownership. Well, I found the nugget... Well, I carried the back pack and shovel, so I own it... I bought the gas, so I own it... Well, you so and so, you can walk home with your nugget!

- Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

That is a very real experience Wz. It is amazing how gold affects different people. Probably the most amazing thing about it is it's ability to change peoples character and mindset even before it is actually recovered. Just team up with what I will call the wrong person and see how long it takes for friction to begin.

Once any amount of gold is actually found, then the fun really begins.