Jeff and Ziggy
prospect
Cache Creek, Colorado
One highlight of my Colorado trip was when I met Jeff and Ziggy working the
ground at Cache Creek.
These two hard working miners are from Missouri and came out west to try their luck
gold prospecting. Jeff on left and Ziggy on right.
Here's Ziggy on the right working one of their claims at Cache Creek.
They each had one claim as allowed by the rules.
Here's Jeff feeding the highbanker, he's above and to the back of the claim
that Ziggy is working.
They pump water from the small diversion ditch off the main creek. The diversion
is getting small at only about 3 ft wide and a few inches deep, this was in
mid August 2011.
They take turns digging and running material, Jeff is waiting for a couple
more buckets.
Like I always say it's hard work being a gold miner. That dirt doesn't hop out of the
ground and into the highbanker by itself. Here's Ziggy working the pay
streak they found.
Then you have to haul it to the equipment to process it. You need to know how fast
to feed it, keep the sluice cleaned out of large rocks and get rid of the fine
and coarse tailings that build up. The more material you move
the more gold you will get in the end.
Then at the end of the day you bring all the black sand concentrates back to
camp and work the gold out of them.
Some of that Cache Creek gold everyone's after.
Jeff with some of their take for the week.
Not to bad, about an ounce of gold. It's there in the dirt but like all goldfields
you have to work for it.
I think these two friends will remember this adventure for years to come, but
then I did hear them talking about Alaska for next summer.
Thanks Jeff and Ziggy for all the photos.