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