The Prospectors
March 2013 issue
“Nuggets of information for the prospector in all of us”
Places other than GPOC claims
San Luis
Northeast of San Luis by 7 miles to Plomo (Rito Seco),
on Rito Seco Creek there are many area mines that
produced lode gold in pyrite and quartz.
Custer County Colorado
Custer County ranks seventh among Colorado's gold
producing counties. It produced 107,300 ounces
between 1872 and 1959, mostly as a by product of
silver mining.
Silver Cliff
(Cont from last issue)
Conejos County Colorado
Platoro
West on route 15 from La Jara, is the Axel, Gilmore,
Lake Fork, Ute and Stunner districts. There were many
old mines that produced lode gold as a by product.
Costilla County Colorado
Russell
North of Russell you can find placer gold on Spanish,
Giant and Grayback Gulches. Also in Placer Creek there
is gold.
Northeast of Silver Cliff to the old camps of Ilse and
Spaulding, on Route 143 about 16 miles southwest of
Florence in Fremont County, there were several old
mines that produced lode gold as a by product of silver
mining.
Westcliffe
Southeast of Westcliffe 7 miles is the Rosita Hills district
in the low west foothills of the Wet Mountains. It had a
total production of 84,660 ounces of gold between
1870 and 1959. Most of the area mines and dumps still
have gold showings. The Bassick Mine was the Major
producer in this district.
Dolores County Colorado
Practically all of the 104,500 ounces of gold produced in
Delores County came as a by product from lead, silver
and zinc mines, so it is not an important county for the
recreational prospector. Although one may be able to
find some placer in the headwaters of the Dolores River,
south of Rico.
Parker
Northwest of Parker 1.5 miles on Route 83, in Newlin
Gulch and Northwest of Newlin Gulch, in Happy Canyon,
all sand and gravel deposits contain placer gold. Most of
it is microscopic grains to pinhead sized nuggets.
Ophir
Eagle County Colorado
The Ophir District is in the San Juan Mountains, which
encompasses a triangle between Ouray (in Ouray
County) to Silverton (in San Juan County) to Ophir.
There are very many mines in this district, but it is in
steep, rugged access and roads are bad. Make local
inquiries before travel.
Rico
The Rico (or Pioneer as it sometimes called) district, is
near the southwest end of the Colorado Mineral Belt
near the headwaters of the Dolores River. There are
many mines along route 145, 36 miles northeast of
Dolores and 27 miles south of Telluride. All of these
mine produced a by product of gold. Northwest of
Delores, by 16 miles, at Lone Cone (Dunton), on the
West Dolores River, on Route 331, there were many
area mines that produced a by product of gold.
Douglas County Colorado
Probably the best places to start looking for gold in
Douglas County are: Russellville Gulch and Upper Cherry
Creek southeast of Franktown, Cherry Creek and its
tributaries, Newlin Gulch, Happy Canyon and Lemon
Creek, west of Parker.
Franktown
Along Cherry Creek for several miles north of town you
can find placer gold. Northwest 4-5 miles along Lemon
Creek you can also find placer gold. South 1 mile in
Russellville Gulch, a tributary to Cherry Creek, extending
for many miles were some productive placers.
Louviers
Along Dry Creek, a tributary to the South Platte River, in
gravel deposits extending northeast into Arapahoe
County you can find placer gold.
There is many small gold and silver mines scattered
throughout Eagle County. This county produced a total
of 359,900 gold ounces.
EAGLE
West of Eagle 1-mile U.S. 24, and 6 to 8 miles up Brush
Creek on road toward Fulford you will find copper
mines that had a by-product of gold. South by
Southeast of Eagle by 20 miles to Fulford at the head of
Brush Creek, the area lead-silver mines produced a byproduct of gold.
GILMAN
Gilman is in the Battle Mountain or Red Cliff district, in
southeast part of the county. On northeast flank of the
Sawatch Range between Gilman and Redcliff, about 20
miles north of Leadville, is the location of Eagle Mine,
which was fourth largest zinc mine in America with
copper, lead, silver and a by-product of gold. The Battle
Mountain area mines operated 1877-78 and most
produced a by-product of gold.
MCCOY
West of McCoy along the Colorado River the bar and
bench gravel's contain placer gold.
MINTURN
Southwest of Minturn by 10 miles at head of Cross
Creek at Holy Cross or Eagle River you can find some
spotty, high-grade ores of lode gold.
REDCLIFF
CANON CITY
Along Homestake Creek several mines produced a byproduct of gold. Battle Mountain, Belden, and other
area mines are located from Redcliff all way to Gilman.
Most produced a by-product gold.
Elbert County Colorado
The best areas to prospect in Elbert County are: Platte
River, Gold Run Creek and Ronk Gulch.
Platte River
All Platte River bars and terrace gravels contain placer
gold.
Elizabeth
West and Northwest of Elizabeth 1.5 miles, along Gold
Run Creek and Ronk Gulch on Route 86, about 40 miles
southeast of Denver there are some good gold deposits
in the gravels in this area.
El Paso County Colorado
Colorado Springs
Gold is found gold northwest of Colorado Springs by 6
miles at Blair Athol in the foothills. Most of the area
gulches contain some placer gold in the gravel deposits.
Also if you go southwest of Colorado Springs, via Gold
Camp Road (beautiful drive in autumn) to the St. Peter's
Dome district there were many old mines that produced
lode gold and you can usually find placer below them.
Freemont County Colorado
The main area of interest is the gravel bars and terrace
gravel's along the Arkansas River from the Chaffee
County line downstream to Florence. There were many
placer operations in olden days.
BADGER CREEK
Badger Creek is 8 miles southeast of Salida, in Chaffee
County. If you go 4 miles up Badger Creek, in the gravel
bars and benches you can find placer gold, with copper
minerals.
West of Canon City 13 miles on U.S. 50, Currant Creek
the mineralized area extending 8 miles north along a
creek you can find placer gold. Many area mines
produced lode and by-product gold. Don't forget to visit
Royal Gorge.
COTOPAXI
North of Cotopax 9 miles on U.S. 40 to Red Gulch, 24
miles southeast of Salida, the area copper-silver mines
produced a by-product gold.
WHITEHORN
The Whitehorn district, east of and continuous with the
Calumet district of Chaffee County, you will find many
area mines that produced lode gold.
Garfield County Colorado
Glenwood Springs and Newcastle Areas
North of Glenwood Springs you can find gold on the
dumps of old mines with a metal detector. Along Riffle
Creek and Elk Creek you can find placer gold. On the
south end of the White River Plateau (hard to get to)
you can find several old lode mines that produced lead,
silver and zinc with a byproduct of gold.
Gilpin County Colorado
Gilpin County is about 30 miles west of Denver, on the
east slope of the Front Range. Gilpin County ranks
second among the gold-producing Counties of
Colorado. From 1859 through 1959 a total of 4,207,000
ounces of lode gold and 47,900 ounces of placer gold
were produced. The main areas of interest are the
northern districts of Perigo, Independence, and
PineKingston-Apex, covering half a township 20 to 35
miles southwest of Boulder in Boulder County and 5060 mi. Northwest of Denver. There are good access
roads and very many mines that produced lode and byproduct gold. Also the southern districts of Central,
Nevada, Gregory, Russel, and Quartz Mountain, 40 to
50 miles west of Denver and southwest of Boulder.
BLACKHAWK
In Blackhawk there are many rich area mines, mostly
base metal and silver, with by-product of gold. The
Gregory diggings were rich placers discovered in 1859.
At Russell Gulch, area gravel deposits are productive
placer deposits. There are many area lode mines, in
early day production, $400 per day per man at $35 an
ounce -wow -.
CENTRAL CITY
Central City district, along South boundary of county,
the North segment of the rich chain of ore deposits
between Central City and Idaho Springs in Clear Creek
County. This district had a total production of 4,170,000
ounces of lode gold and 30,000 ounces of placer gold.
Southwest of Central City by 2.1 miles on Route 279,
past ghost town of Russel Gulch, the area old mine
dumps have gold showings. If you turn right onto Route
279 (unmarked) go 3.8 miles to the Gloryhole,
enormous open pit with dangerous rim, you will find
gold showings in a variety of minerals. If you take Road
to ghost town of Apex, just North of North Clear Creek
in central part of county, you will find the northern
Gilpin district, extending North to the Boulder County
line, most important mines lie just South of Apex. This
district had a total production of 35,000 ounces lode
gold. The Gilpin area, second most important mines you
can look on dumps and find gold showings. In Gamble
Gulch there are rich placers. The Dirt and Perigo mines,
active to 1959 for lode gold.
Independence Mountain. All five of these creeks
contain gold, but I've only prospected on Kaufman
Creek. The heavy gravels in the bottom of the pan is just
like those found on Independence Mountain. Leads one
to think that these gravels are the result of glacial
activity. On my last trip to the area, I found a false bed
rock of conglomerate. With good gold at the contact
zone. Have not found any nuggets, over 1/8", yet. But
the area is worth prospecting.
Parshall
South of Parshall, to the head of Williams Fork, is the La
Plata district. It extends a few miles southeast across
Jones Pass on the Continental Divide in the headwaters
of the West Fork of Clear Creek. The lode gold there is
often associated with pyrite.
Gunnison County Colorado
Gunnison County is on the west of the Continental
Divide. Gunnison County produced 130,000 gold
ounces, mostly from lode mines, but with unrecorded
placer gold production between 1861 and 1880. The
main area of interest is in North part of county, all area
gulches, have placers. I dredge in Washington Gulch
many years ago and it was productive. This was also the
site of first gold discovery. Many placer workings were
not recorded.
ALMONT
ROLLINSVILLE
In Rollinsville all area gulches the placers worked since
1897. Along South Boulder Creek dredging from 193739 produced 7,724 ounces of placer gold.
GRAND COUNTY, COLORADO
Grand Lake
East of Grand Lake 7 miles on route 278, the area lead
silver mines had a by product of gold.
Kauffman Creek
Kaufman Creek is one of the five creeks that drains from
the top of Gravel Mountain. Gravel Mountain, as its
name implies is covered with gravel. Similar to that of
Almont is on Route 306 and this is where the Taylor
River and Gunnison River meet. There used to be a nice
restaurant that had a huge polar bar from Siberia
stuffed in the restaurant. I always stopped there to eat.
Great place that Three Rivers resort. If you go northeast
from Almont 7 miles, in Spring Canyon, several lead silver mines that had a by-product of gold. Don't forget
to bring your fishing pole, this is the best fishing I have
ever had in this area.
(more in next issue)
Board of directors
President
Ben "Big Ben" Higley
[email protected]
Vice President
George Enterman
[email protected]
Secretary
Tricia Enterman
[email protected]
1-719-217-0923
Join GPOC discussions on the GPOC forum. You need
your own account.
Access the GPOC forum through a link on the GPOC
website.
New GPOC.COM website
If some of you might have noticed we’ve updated the
design of our website. We’ve added pictures and we
invite all of our members to submit pictures to be added.
Events and meetings will be posted along with
“Nuggets” of information.
WWW.GPOC.COM
Treasurer
Louise Martinez
[email protected]
One Year Trustee
Paul Harloff
[email protected]
Two Year Trustee
Dick Margeson
[email protected]
Thee year Trustee
Howard Divelbiss
[email protected]
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Memberships
Elise Pearce
[email protected]
Raffle
Wayne Wittkopp
[email protected]
Claims Committee
Richard Logue
[email protected]
Championship Committee
Gary Beaderstradt
[email protected]
March 16th
225 North Gate Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80921
Main: 719.488.0880 Toll Free: 800.752.6558
Explore the marvels of electricity through hands on
hands-on activities, interactive presentations and the
actual operation of power plants. Learn about early
inventors who experimented with electricity and then do
your own experiments with batteries and circuits.
This event will include:
Operating Tesla Coils From Tim Henry! Shocking!
Thompson Machine Works Lego Steam Engines and
Electric Generators!
Cool Science! (You know what fun they are!)
Colorado Springs Utilities Electric Safety
Demonstrations!
Interesting exhibits from the Colorado Springs Tesla
Museum!
Educational presentations from K12 Inc and the
Colorado Virtual Academy!
Hands-on experiments with batteries and circuits!
Yep! You’ll get a charge out of it!
(Someone or something is always watching)
We have GOLD FEVER... But I love the beautiful wild life
setting in the Tree's watching us go for the Gold. Yes I
know it is just Feb. 3rd and the weather is in the upper
30s but the Gold doesn't know that right.. Along the
river we met Trish and George Enterman and Ty, they
said Wayne and Elise Wittkop also were out playing in
the dirt. Howard , Marilyn and Gerald Divelbiss were
added to that number.
I wasn't going to say anything but my heart tells me I
need to.
The Eagle can't tell us who the persons were that left
their hole uncovered, you know the hole under the tree ,
the one we all know were supposed to stay 10 ft away
from . We filled it this time. IT's getting that time of
year again, so please think about the wild life and if you
dig it fill it.. Thank you
Photo's and article by Marilyn Divelbiss
Vice President GPOC George Enterman
With Fred Dodge from the TV Show Gold Rush
Big Nugget Prospecting Supplies
A store in Canon City, CO. with a full line of
new and good used gold prospecting
equipment. I also have the Big Nugget
Catalog with many gold prospecting items
from Keene and Jobe to choose from.
I've been building the "Big Nugget Brand"
custom built gold prospecting equipment
that has been designed to get you greater
amounts of Colorado gold. I've taken the
years of gold panning experience that I
have, and combined that with what I have
learned from many other prospectors. With
that knowledge I have designed my very
own “Big Nugget Brand" of sluices using
Gold Hog Matting.
Call me for an appointment.
Owner, Douglas Lee (The Big Nugget)
Canon City, Colorado Call 719-371-1418
(Howard and Gerald Divelbiss)
(Photo by Marilyn Divelbiss)
Claims Committee gathering
March 23rd
“Arkansas watch dog”
The GPOC claims committee will be meeting at the
Starbucks parking lot(Southgate by Sears) at 7am on
March 23rd to carpool to our Arkansas claims for a
clean up/reclamation day. March 30th will be the
backup date if weather dictates a date change. Per the
BLM this needs to be done by April 1st. People that
carpool will be reimbursed for gas expense. Contact
[email protected] to express your interest.
Remember, if you can dig it, you can fill it.
Pictured above is our “Claims Supervisor” along our
Arkansas claims Howard Divelbiss. Howard is also the
Three year trustee for GPOC. The club joke is “Howard
from Howard”. Howard dedicates a lot of time going up
and down U.S. 50 to see any problems that might arise
on our claims. And if he see’s activity on the claim
Howard also has no problem going up and asking
someone for their “Yellow Card”. So don’t be offended if
asked, there are too many members for him to know
everyone. I know I sleep better at night knowing that
someone is there stopping someone for digging up MY
GOLD that don’t need to be there. If there was anyone
that could answer your questions along the Arkansas
claims, Howard is your man.
719-217-0923
GPOC MEETINGS FOR MARCH
Board Meeting March 7th
Gold Hill Police Station
955 Moreno Avenue,
CS, CO
7:00 PM
General Meeting March 13th
Starting at 7pm
Elks Lodge
3400 N. Nevada
CS,CO
Guest Speaker from WMMI Brad Poulson
March 23rd
Cleanup and Reclamation along the Arkansas claims
Planning on being “on site” by 9am at Woody’s
Volunteers are needed
Meeting in Colorado Springs at 7am
At Starbucks at Southgate Shopping Center