Stock photo
This pan shows a nice gold find from panning. The “riffles” are at the bottom of the photo where gold catches during the panning process. The black sand has not been fully cleaned from this pan, showing the dark concentrate.
Gold in ‘them there’ Selkirk Mountains
Pend Oreille County is rich in precious metals BY DESIREÉ HOOD
G
old mining in the 1800s was not a glamorous job, often
held by men and not as prosperous as the thousands of prospectors had hoped for. The torrent of men that flooded the Pacific Northwest streams during that time had no idea what they were in for.
While building a sawmill near Sacramento, Calif. in 1848, John Marshall found flakes of gold and 4 Horizon|2013 Fall
the westward settlement to Califormining after the war efforts in Pend nia hastened. The gold mining rush Oreille County. brought thousands of prospectors Sullivan Creek and the Pend Oreille to the Pacific Northwest, settling in River are both prime gold-hunting Metaline Falls in the late 1850s, belocations. Other Pend Oreille County fore the town was even on a map. mining locations include Brown’s Metaline Falls is rich in placer gold, Lake Placers, on Brown’s Lake; Harthe gold that vey Bar Placer and Schierdsits in the loose “I do it because I enjoy ing Placer, both on the Pend accumulations doing it, not to get rich.” Oreille River; Schultz Placer; of dense mineral and Sullivan Creek Placer, deposits found on Sullivan Creek, where it’s James Newton, it “trap zones,” been reported prospectors Prospector such as creek have found gold nuggets beds and inside weighing up to 2 ounces. bends in a river. This gold was what Studies have suggested that there brought prospectors to the area that is as much as 519 metric tons of gold failed to strike it rich during the Cali- resources in the Evergreen state and fornia Gold Rush. more than 2,100 tons in the Pacific According to The Explainer, a U.S. Northwest in the late 1990s. Geological Survey estimates that The state of Washington is ranked more than 20 percent of the U.S. gold among the top 10 states in existdeposits are in placer gold. Placer ing gold deposits, according to the gold, however, was not enough to U.S. Geological Survey. A California satisfy some prospectors and the real Geological Survey says that one in pay dirt came from lead and zinc 1,000 miners will strike it rich in
their lifetime. Prospector James Newton from Ione has been mining in Pend Oreille County and Washington state since the 1950s. He said he enjoys panning and prospecting and has no expectations of striking it rich. “It is fun to dredge, fun to pan,” Newton said. “I do it because I enjoy doing it, not to get rich.” The state of Washington requires prospectors have the Gold and Fish Rules for Mineral Prospecting and Placer Mining Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) guide at all times while prospecting. This guide can be found at any WDFW office or online at www.wdfw. wa.gov/licensing/mining. Each area of the state offers different prospecting seasons and permits and this guide will explain the seasons for each river in Pend Oreille County and throughout the state. Check CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
thing you have to just go out and attempt. “The basics are a gold pan individual state environmental rules and a shovel,� Newton said. if prospecting outside of Washington Check that the stream is open for state. recreational panning, which most “Most of us try to do the right thing U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the environment we are in,� New- and U.S. Forest Service streams are ton said. in Washington. State lands are not, however. How to pan for gold Gold panning is not normally used Gold panning is the process of sepa- as a production tool in commercial rating gold flakes from use because it can the sand in the creek bed, “The old adage ‘Gold process a very leaving shiny yellow rocks amount of is where you find it,’ is limited in the bottom of a pan that material. Panning is really true.� add up to cash. commonly used in The rivers and streams streams to test the James Newton, in Pend Oreille County area for the amount are popular destinations Prospector of gold in case larger for gold prospectors and equipment needs to panners. The WDFW does be brought in. Recnot require permits for recreational reational use panning is very popular panning and non-motorized sluice among prospecting enthusiasts. box equipment. If the equipment will There are several ways to pan for divert or obstruct a river or stream, gold and every prospector attempts then a permit is needed. panning in different ways. The New Prospector Ray Pickles, from Ione, 49ers state on their website www. has been mining “since Nixon took goldgold.com, that there is an excitethe gold standards off and opened ment that comes from finding the up dredging.� He spends much of his radiant, sparkling gold color in a gold time prospecting, but also sells equip- pan or sluice box, and they offer tips ment to other prospectors in Pend on how to properly pan for gold. Oreille County. To buy a gold pan, Choosing the correct spot to pan screen and a snifter, Pickles said he can cause problems for prospectors would charge about $30 for the kit. if they do not know how to read the Contact Pickles at 509-442-3196 for river. Choose a location where the more information. Newton said that panning is someCONTINUED ON PAGE 6 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Stock photo
During the panning process, settling the darker, heavier concentrates to the bottom of the pan will help prospectors not lose any gold.
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
water is more than six inches deep and flowing enough to sweep away any silt that panning creates in the water. Pickles said that gold drops on the inside bends of a creek and this is the best place to start prospecting. “You have got to read the creek,” Pickles said. “But, years ago, we don’t know how that water was.” The process of panning starts by placing material into the pan and shaking it underwater in a circular motion to cause the heavy gold material to work its way to the bottom of the pan. The lighter worthless materials will work to the surface where they can be carefully swept back into the water. Continue to lightly shake the materials in a circular motion underwater until the heaviest material, the gold and black sand, are comfortably on the bottom of the pan. Once to this point, fill the pan about three quarters full with water. Pick out any large rocks that may have stayed in the pan during the circular shaking process. Be cautious of the rocks that get thrown back to make sure they are clean of clay and other particles. Gold has a tendency to stick to clay and may be thrown back by accident. Gold pans have “cheater riffles”
Stock photo
Tilting the pan slightly in the water will help remove the lighter material at the surface, leaving the gold and black sand in the bottom of the pan. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
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on one side, giving the gold a place to stop during the panning process. Hold the riffles away from the prospector and tilt the forward edge of the pan with the riffles into the water. Shift the pan from left to right, or some prospectors use a front back motion during this step in panning, carefully causing the lighter material to start working its way to the pan’s forward bottom edge. The lighter materials will surface making them easy to sweep off. Allow the water to sweep out a little at a time watching for the heavier materials to be uncovered as the lighter materials are swept out. When first starting, re-shake the pan often to prevent the loss of any gold. Do not shake the pan so vigorously that materials slosh over the edge. It may be necessary to pull the pan out of the water and shake it circularly again to sink the heavier gold materials to the bottom of the pan. If gold is not visible, empty any excess water leaving enough water to cover the concentrate or black sand. Do not pour out the concentrated material. Continue to swirl the contents underwater in the front and back motion, shifting out the lighter pieces and leaving behind a darker concentrate. Keep in mind that lighter materials sweep out of the pan easily compared
to the darker materials. As more heavy material is uncovered, they are more resistant to being swept out of the pan indicating that a re-shake may be needed. Getting further through the materials in the pan can result in gold showing its shiny yellow smile, again indicating it is time to re-shake the pan. Continue with the tilted pan in the water, shaking the pan from front to back until only the heaviest materials are left, mainly the gold. Other heavy pieces could include old pieces of lead or metal, coins, BBs or bullets, nails, garnets or small iron rocks. Once down to the finest black sands in the pan, prospectors can see how much gold is present by adding a half a cup of water to the pan. Level the concentrates in the pan and swirl the material in slow circles to continue to uncover the shiny yellow rocks. Remove as much black sand as possible or as much as the prospectors’ comfort level allows. It is possible to clear the pan of all sand and leave only the gold, but this comes from practice and experience. Use a magnet to separate the black sand from the gold, putting the sand into another pan to check later for more gold flakes. Remove any gold pieces with a pair of tweezers, which can be a slow process. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Stock photo
The suction dredge acts like an underwater vacuum and clears the bedrock of gold and other materials. Gold gets separated from the other materials and trapped in the recovery system because it is such a heavy rock.
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Miner photo|Charisse Neufeldt
This map shows the gold mines in Pend Oreille County. They are spread throughout gold rich areas and some are still in operation today.
26 Horizon|2013 Fall
um cleaner. The dredge sucks up the rocks, Using a gold snifter bottle is comsand, gravel, silt, gold and other mon for prospectors during panmaterials that lay in the streambed, ning. This bottle allows for gold to passes it through a suction hose and be sucked off the bottom of the pan into a recovery system floating on before the concentrates are fully the surface. Gold gets separated from panned. The small hand-sized flexthe other materials and trapped in ible bottle has a sucking tube atthe recovery system because it is tached to it and squeezing it creates a such a heavy rock. vacuum inside. Submerged gold can Some dredges have a built in be sucked into the tube and collected hookah-air system. These are atin the bottle filled with water. tached to the engine that powers the Pour any remaining black sand water pump and is used for breathconcentrates into a can or bucket, ing underwater by an air compressor allowing for accumulation of sand passing air through the line into a to build up before further processing regulator, similar to scuba diving. of the material. Repeat these steps Most gold mining is done in smaller to the hearts content and see if the operations and a two-man crew 49ers are correct working a suction dredge about the exciteA California Geological is becoming more comment that comes Survey says that one in mon. from finding gold. Metal detecting is an1,000 miners will strike other popular way of minit rich in their lifetime. ing the yellow rock. Metal Other gold mining equipment detectors vary in price, Having the right starting at under $100 equipment, the knowledge to use and going up from there. Choose the it properly, a location where gold detector that works best for the envideposits are present and a good apronment you plan on prospecting. proach to mining are the four things Once in the gold environment, turn the 49ers said would lead to a sucon the detector and slowly move the cessful season. detector over the ground, keeping Using a suction dredge is one way track of the areas already searched. of removing gold from the bedrock of The detector needs time to search the the river. The bedrock is where the area so slow movement is necessary. heavy gold traps and often this gold If the detector alerts you of a find, dig needs to be sucked up through the it up and see what happens. powerful underwater-type of vacuThere are many ways to prospect
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
for gold, outside of panning. Be sure to check the WDFW guide for regulations on using motorized mining equipment.
History of gold in Pend Oreille County
Research done by Eugene Kiver, Dale Stradling, and Ted Doughty of Eastern Washington University for “Geology of Northern Pend Oreille County” in 2002, states that more than 800 million years ago the North American continent rifted and glacial sediments, volcanic eruptions and coarse sandstones were preserved in Pend Oreille County. The sea level rose around 550 million years ago, leaving the first abundant fossils of marine invertebrates and trapped brine fluids left a rich metal deposit in the Metaline area. The fault-bound basins of today’s Priest River, Pend Oreille, and Colville valleys were formed, accompanied by eruptions of local volcanoes, leaving a large gold deposit near Republic. The Purcell Trench, Pend Oreille, Colville and other valleys were inundated with ice sheets in the northern Washington mountains more than 20,000 years ago. Near this time, the last glacial advance terminated near current day Newport. The ice sheets retreated near the glacial Lake Missoula ice dam and nearby Pend Oreille Lake, causing CONTINUED ON PAGE 29
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it to fail. Hundreds of feet of water raced toward Coeur d’Alene and westward toward Newport. Floodwaters covered the Pend Oreille Valley through the Davis Lake spillway and the Little Spokane River Valley. The climate warmed 9,000 years ago sending the melting ice sheets north in to Canada. The northwardflowing river is possible from the depression of the earth’s crust under the thick sheets of ice. The river flow builds the Z Canyon site north of Metaline. Trader and geographer David Thompson floated down the Pend Oreille River, ending near present day Tiger in 1809. He was looking to establish claims for Great Britain and his fur-trading company. The gold rush began for Pend Oreille County in 1855, according to Kiver, Stradling and Doughty. Placer gold was discovered at the mouth of Sullivan Creek in 1859 and the town of Metaline Falls saw people moving in. Prospector Michael R. O. Sullivan’s name was given to the creek and the nearby lake, and prospectors worked other tributaries to the Pend Oreille River. The discovery of lead in 1869 near Metaline Falls led to future planning for hard rock mining. At the current time, lead was not economical to mine.
In 1892, the Transcontinental Great Northern Railway arrived in Newport. By the early 1900s, homesteaders along the Colville and Pend Oreille valleys sold out to timber companies or to the government, putting gold on a back burner to the profitable timber business. Railway tracks were laid from Newport to Ione by 1910, opening up the option for hard-rock mining. In 1911, the Inland Portland Cement plant was built in Metaline Falls, finding a use for the abundant limestone in the area. By 1926, Lewis Larsen and Jens Jensen bought mining claims and the first production from hard-rock mines in the Pend Oreille district began. Over the next few years, production increased and capital requirements changed and individual mines were consolidated into the Pend Oreille Metals and Mines Company. Ten years later, the U.S. Bureau of Mines anticipated the impending World War and discovered mineralization on the east side of the Pend Oreille River. According to History Link, the “soldier miners” produced lead and zinc for the smelters in Spokane, contributing the vital metals to the war effort. Miners also tunneled under the water from an old mine to tap new reserves of lead and zinc supporting the war effort. The Metaline Mining District was the major producer of hard rock
mining in 1928 and continued to be the leading producer of lead and zinc until the early 1950s. During World War II, “soldier miners” were deployed to the Metaline mines to produce lead and zinc for the war effort. According to Kiver, Stradling and Doughty, continuous metal production since 1910 was not enough for the mining company and the Pend Oreille Mine and all hard rock mining was shut down in the area in 1977. Ten years later, the mine was being cleared out and further reserves were discovered. The Teck Cominco American Incorporated Company out of Canada purchased the Pend Oreille Mine. The
mine suspended operations in 2009, and was put on care and maintenance status. Teck Cominco said core employees still work at the site, anticipating a restart in the future. Newton has heard stories of Sullivan Creek being very prosperous for prospectors and Pickles heard stories of three ounces of gold being pulled from Sullivan Creek from an eightfoot dredging hole. In today’s market, that is $3,971.76. Neither prospector has been the lucky one out of 1,000 to strike it rich, but that will not deter the men. “The old adage ‘Gold is where you find it,’ is really true,” Newton said. “Most of my stuff has always been hit or miss.”
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