Strike it rich in Quartzsite!

Probably not, though they are finding gold on our neighboring claim.

We invited RV friends out to visit our claim. About 30 people caravaned out to our gold claim east of town up in the foothills. We are fortunate that our claim is easily accessible by any vehicle including an RV if you come in the right way. Our co-owner, Bob Amdor, talked about the interesting history of mining in the area. Several hundred people used to live and prospect not far from our claim. Colorful characters have worked this area for more than a century.

Right behind our claim is patented land. At one time the government allowed claim holders to obtain the title to the land if they met certain requirements. That practice has stopped but land patented before that time is owned by individuals or corporations. Our neighbor has a sizeable operation to our north and his land extends behind ours. Last year at this time, he used equipment to dig a large hole in the wash, the likely place for gold. He stopped with one hole so we figured he hadn't found enough to make it worth his while. Turns out his equipment broke and he is waiting for parts. There is gold there.

After the talk, Bob explained the boundaries of our claim, which is a placer claim. We have the surface mineral rights. Then he talked about safety- mainly from cactus, mine shafts and insects or reptiles, and people were free to use their metal detectors or wander around. A few began searching for treasure with metal detectors. All this land has been well used by various people, which translates to "junk." With metal detectors, you find a lot of nails, pull tabs and other small metal pieces. The metal detector goes off like crazy so you are in hopes it is gold- but more often than not, after you dig way down, it is a bullet or piece of wire. When we have used dry washers, we do find at least small flakes of gold and sometimes nuggets. 

We all had fun walking around and finding metallic treasure. Then Bob, George and I visited Frank next door to learn more about what he was doing. He showed us galena that is prevalent in the area and also samples of the gold he is finding. It's enough to make his operation worth while. Our partners and George and I will likely not get rich, but there's enough gold in them thar hills to keep the prospectors still hunting. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak