Important note concerning Mining & Dredging Seasons on this Property

Google Earth Coordinates: 41°37’2.59″N 123°28’59.66″W

To view the content from the link above you will need to have Google Earth installed on your home computer. Download Google Earth


K25AA


K-25AA – UKONOM GOLD CLAIM – Located about 16 miles downstream of Happy Camp, this property takes up 1.4 miles of a mostly remote portion of the Klamath River. It is upstream into the lower portion of the Independence canyon that begins up on our K-25 property. It butts up to our K-25A property downstream at the mouth of Ukonom Creek.

There is a sizable roadside pull-off towards the lower end of the property where you will find an unimproved road that leads to a hidden parking area with some limited camping (mile marker 25.2). You will find a narrow trail there that leads down to the river just upstream from Ukonom Creek.  The trail is a very well defined, but rather steep most of the way down to the river. We have attached a rope to assist with safer passage. If you look around, you will find other trails near the lower end of the property, all of them rather steep and challenging, especially for packing gear. It is an elevation drop of around 100 feet to the river from Highway 96, so we recommend taking it light and easy on your first visit, and bring along some water and a snack.  Don’t forget to bring along a camera, because the dramatic and remote landscape once you get down on the river might shock you into feelings like you have been transported into a lost world.  Not been many people have visited this place!

The upper end of the property is landlocked by private property (see the kmz file on Google Earth just below).  Please respect the private property signs on the access roads towards the upper end of the property.  The lower end of this property butts up to our K-25A, then to K-25AB, and then to K-25B, allowing us a continuous length of 4.7 miles.

Here is K-25AA on Google Earth.
Here is K-25AA through K-25B on Google Earth.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Between June 15 and October 15, there will be no dredging within 500 feet upstream and 2000 feet downstream of the mouth of Ukonom Creek.

PROSPECTS: There are signs of historical mining activity up the hillside, and even across on the north side of Highway 96. The panning, crevicing and vack mining opportunities in the exposed bedrock on the bottom end of the property (where the trail leads) provide some of the best small-scale gold recovery you will find anywhere along our properties.  We are assuming there is more of the same along the 1.4 mile stretch of river further upstream.  We will need to find the old prospecting trails that will certainly lead into those areas.  There will unquestionably be extraordinary opportunities for high-grade gold deposits within the active waterway.

 

Click on thumbnail for larger image.
Good gold Lots of bedrock! Parking 2 Roadside pull off Taking surface sample Top view  K-25AA gold Pull out Parking K-25AA

Map Thumbnail

Topo

 


Upper Klamath :: Upper-mid Klamath :: Mid Klamath :: Lower Klamath
Elk Creek :: Indian Creek :: Scott River :: Thompson Creek
Salmon River Main Stem :: Salmon River North Fork
Master List of Mining Properties

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

New 49'er Newsletter

FOURTH  QUARTER, OCTOBER 2012                                VOLUME 26, NUMBER  10

Dave Mack

By Dave McCracken

Once again, longtime supportive member, Alan Mash, broke another personal gold record this past season while suction dredging on the Rogue River in southern Oregon.  Alan was out there working hard nearly every day. He knows as well as anyone how to find the gold deposits along the upper portion of the Rogue.

Here is a video segment I captured out on the river with Alan explaining how he did it:

Alan Mash  Rogue River Gold Nuggets

Alan:  “I decided to dredge a bit different this year. Rather than popping all around looking for smaller higher-grade pockets of gold like I have done the past two seasons, I sampled for larger stretches of medium-grade material so I could just work larger areas for an extended period of time. More time dredging, less time looking. 

During the course of the season, I found two medium-grade deposits on the river, each that were about 150-feet long by 30-feet wide. There was gold between those two stretches, but I found it was more productive to keep my focus on the areas that were paying better. 

Dredging underwater

I recovered my first four ounces of gold from my first excavation. In places, there was a really hard layer of compacted streambed down on the bottom of the river. The trick was to suck up everything that my suction nozzle would pull apart.  When the material was too hard to pull apart with my suction nozzle, I used my blaster nozzle to break more of the material free.  I found that the really hard conglomerate layer on bottom was so slow to get through; it did not produce the same results.  So to be more productive, I left that behind, and I just mined the top two layers of hard-pack. 

It always paid better when I was able to expose bedrock at the bottom of my excavation. It was exhilarating every time I found gold there pounded into the cracks and crevices. I blasted those out and sucked them up. What a rush!” 

Here are some of Alan’s self-made video sequences of the underwater action:

Besides being a really good prospector, Alan always goes out of his way to help other prospectors on the river.  He helped set foundations in place for James McCarville to find that incredible 4-ounce nugget that we featured in the September newsletter.  Others out on the Rogue talk about all the friendly support and encouragement that they get from Alan and other New 49’er members.

Alan Mash Gold Nugget Display

I captured the following video segment showing off some of Alan’s gold just before the end of his season. Listen to him talk about others out on the Rogue who have been recovering more gold than him, with one prospector now having two 20-ounce seasons under his belt:

I don’t know about you guys; but I am already preparing my own dredge for next season!

More Support for us at the U.S. Supreme Court!

Supreme CourtMany of you will be aware that we have been engaged in litigation with anti-mining activists that have been attacking us through the Karuk Tribe of Californiasince 2003. It all started with their lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), challenging that District Rangers do not have the authority to allow small-scale mining activities under a Notice of Intent (NOI) when the Ranger concludes that the mining activity is not likely to create a substantial surface disturbance.

Several months ago, after years and years of litigation, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Karuk Tribe.  USFS declined to appeal that Decision.  As the last remaining party in the case, The New 49’ers were the only organization that had standing to file a Petition to the Supreme Court. I talked more about the important ramifications of this case to America’s mining industry in our September newsletter, so I won’t repeat most of that here.

Our Petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the misguided Ninth Circuit Decision was filed on August 29, 2012.

The good news this month is that a supporting brief was just filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by the Northwest Mining Association (NWMA). This organization is a 117-year-old, 2,000 member trade association based in Spokane, Washington.  Representing many larger mining interests along with small-scale miners throughout America and Canada, NWMA is recognized as an innovative and proactive leader in addressing the needs of an increasingly global mining industry. Their influence is quite substantial.  NWMA’s supporting brief was largely written by Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), a nonprofit, public interest legal foundation dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government and free enterprise system. MSLF is one of the most influential property rights legal foundations in America.

NWMA’s brief presents supporting arguments (to our brief) why the Supreme Court must overturn the misguided Decision of the Ninth Circuit, or there will be dire consequences to America’s mining industry, and also nothing to prevent extremist environmental organizations from challenging private enterprise in any area where the federal government has an oversight interest – which is just about everywhere these days.

As far as I know, we are the only organization solely representing small-scale miners that has taken a case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, at least during the past 35 years that I have been involved with mining..  The final result of this case will have very important consequences upon America for the foreseeable future.  All of you who support the effort should feel some pride that we are standing up to do the right thing for the future of our country.  We should also be gratified that the bigger players, Northwest Mining Association and Mountain States Legal Foundation, have joined in our cause.

Winning this case is so important that I have consented to allow three ounces of my own beautiful gold nuggets to be given away in a prize drawing.  I am hoping you guys will join in and help.

Giving Away Dave Mack’s Gold Nuggets!

This is the last newsletter you will receive from us before we give my beautiful gold nuggets away.  Therefore, you find me here biting my nails hoping I haven’t made a mistake!  Honestly, we need more response than we have been getting on this so far.

Dave mack's Gold
Twenty-five prizes in all:

Grand Prize: 1-Ounce of Dave’s Gold Nuggets
Four ¼-Ounce Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets
Twenty 1-Pennyweight Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets

The drawing will take place at our offices in Happy Camp on Friday afternoon, 9 November 2012. You do not need to be a member of our organization to participate.  You do not need to be present to win.  Our office will automatically generate a ticket in your name for every $10 legal contribution we receive ($100 would generate 10 tickets). There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Legal contributions can be arranged by calling (530) 493-2012, by mailing to The New 49′ers, P.O. Box47, Happy Camp, CA 96039, or you can do it online by clicking here:

“Extreme Prospector” is now Available!

At long last, my new 512-page book “Extreme Prospector” has been printed!Extreme prospector by Dave Mack

I have devoted a full year of my creative energy into this project. The book includes my very best adventures, all written to include my best-kept secrets, including several adventures during my time in the U.S. Navy SEAL Team. As far as I know, this is the first and only adventure book ever written which brings to light the incredible excitement of discovering high-grade gold deposits – for real.

I started working hard on this book as soon as Discovery Network confirmed that several of my prospecting buddies and I were going to cast in a reality show (coming soon). I view the expanded exposure as an opportunity to raise interest in small-scale prospecting, and to raise awareness that it is big government in concert with widespread financial shenanigans that are suffocating all the life out of the American Dream.

I have been telling you guys for years that I would let you know when I was ready to start making big noise about what is happening in America.  “Extreme Prospector” is my shot across the bow of the voracious machine that is eating away the last of America’s freedom and prosperity. This shot is the absolute best I can do from my position in the world. I hope the message will resonate with you guys, and I especially hope you will spread the word on all of the social media networks. More on this below.

I have just signed 500 hard cover Special Editions of the book. As a special promotion, we will be making these Special Editions available at the very same price of the soft cover version ($19.95). We will not be delivering the book until mid-November. But the girls in our office will now begin taking phone orders for the Special Editions until they run out: (530) 493-2062.  First come, first served!

“Extreme Prospector,” is also available as an ebook from Amazon for half the conventional book price ($9.95). As an Internet download, most of the images come through in color (about 250 of them) and the hyperlinks work. You can find the ebook right here.

Please Join Me on Facebook and Twitter!

Since this is a New 49’er newsletter, with a very rare exception, I try and keep the news on track with the things that are happening with our organization, and with the larger issues which directly affect us.  We also try and keep our Internet Forum on mostly mining-related subjects, though we do allow a little more leeway there.

But with the launch of Extreme Prospector, I have started a blog which broadens the context to ongoing adventures and other important news and issues that we are all facing today.  These include discussion and links to informative information about economic realities which none of the Candidates are really talking about.

Just as an example, I just posted a blog you might find interesting about the two (ex) Navy SEALs who were killed defending our consulate in Libya a few weeks ago. Contrary to what is being reported in the news, it turns out these two heroes were not assigned to the consulate security detail at all. They were not even in the consulate when the assault began.  They were in Libya on other business. When the attack on the consulate started, they heard all the noise from someplace else. The noise prompted them to sprint over to help defend in what became a two-hour pitched battle against overwhelming odds. Taking weapons from the retreating security detail that was actually assigned to defend the consulate, these two extremely courageous men held the line against the attackers while twenty embassy staffers managed to get out alive!

If you are interested in these types of affairs, along with news about extreme prospecting adventures (not just mine), I invite you to visit my Facebook page at facebook/DaveMackExtreme and follow me on Twitter @DaveMackExtreme.  There is a “Free eBook” tab on my Facebook page where you can download Chapter 10 of Extreme Prospector. 

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter.  The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

 

The New 49’ers Prospecting Association, 27 Davis Road, Happy Camp, California 96039 (530) 493-2012
www.goldgold.com

 

New 49'er Newsletter

THIRD  QUARTER, SEPTEMBER 2012                                VOLUME 26, NUMBER  9

Dave Mack

By Dave McCracken

 

Longtime supportive New 49’er members, James and Denise McCarville, discovered a beautiful gold nugget weighing just short of four ounces just a few weeks before the end of this year’s dredging season on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon.  By all accounts, this is the largest gold nugget ever recovered out of the upper Rogue River.

 

New 49’er members, James and Denise McCarville

James says he came close to missing the beautiful piece of gold altogether because it was initially covered by a thin film of mud. The nugget was so large, it didn’t even occur to him that it was gold until he picked it up off the bottom of the river and felt the weight of it.  He says he is still coming to terms with the reality that he recovered such a large nugget of pure wealth.  We captured James’ personal account of finding the nugget in the following video sequence:

This incredible gold nugget is so precious, just holding it in your hands is enough to make your hands start sweating!  Together, with the rest of the gold James found, he and Denise have had a great season.  They are already making plans for next year.

Rogue River - 4oz. Gold Nugget

You might find it interesting that one of my own dredging buddies and longtime New 49’er supporter, Jim Yerby, had intended to dredge in the very same location this season where the nugget was discovered.  But when other life-situations delayed Jim’s dredging program, he decided to turn his idea over to James, and helped him move his dredge to the location.  Mark Chestnut and Alan Mash also helped James get his dredge tied off and into position.  One thing that stands out very clearly along the Rogue River is how strongly New 49’er members go out of their way to help each other!  Here follows Jim Yerby’s account of how he turned his own “secret place” over to James:

James McCarville

The rest, according to James, was mostly a matter of spending the hours out on the river and getting the work done. While the streambed material was mostly less than a foot in depth over bedrock, James says his main struggle was with the water movement in the river. The water was mostly about waste deep, perhaps neck-deep in some places. Here follows an explanation given by James right out where he found the nugget:

I want to acknowledge that James and Denise have believed in the Rogue River from the very beginning.  They were part of our original sampling team to the Rogue several years ago when The New 49’ers decided we needed to find a place to dredge in Southern Oregon due to California’s temporary moratorium on suction dredging.  Here is a link to that video-enhanced story. Note that James and Denise were finding nuggets back in those days, also.

In addition to performing my routine New 49’er business, I personally devoted a big part of this season to completing my best work ever, an adventure book, in time for Animal Planet’s release of  “Lost Treasure Hunters,” a new reality show which will feature several prospecting buddies and me looking for riches in exotic and dangerous places around the world. I will announce the play schedule for the first five episodes of the reality show as soon as I have them.  I’ll talk a little more about my adventure book below.

However, I did make time to visit the Rogue River with my boat several times this season and spend some time with members who were dredging out there.  There was a lot of activity.  We counted 36 dredges within direct view of  just one location during mid-summer!  Most New 49’er members we spoke with were doing pretty well.  I captured enough video from those conversations to keep our newsletters interesting through the winter months.  Please stay tuned in!

Hello to the U.S. Supreme Court!

Supreme Court PapersMany of you will be aware that we have been engaged in litigation with anti-mining activists that have been attacking us through the Karuk Tribe of California since 2003. It all started with their lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), challenging that District Rangers do not have the authority to allow small-scale mining activities under a Notice of Intent (NOI) when the Ranger concludes that the mining activity is not likely to create a substantial surface disturbance.

This entire case was upside down from the beginning, because it presumed the USFS is providing some kind of “approval” for small-scale mining activity to proceed in the first place – which is not true.  All of the laws which congress has passed concerning mining on the public lands provide free access for all Americans to pursue mining activity.  The USFS is only granted authority to become involved once the mining activity creates a substantial impact upon surface resources.  And even then, USFS does not have authority to disapprove the mining activity.  They are only allowed to work with the mining program in an attempt to minimize unnecessary disturbance.  If they don’t have the authority to disapprove mining activity, then it only seems logical that there is no authority to “approve” it, either!

Our anti-mining adversaries have based their objections on a misperception that when USFS reviews the kind of small-scale mining activities that we do, and they make an internal assessment that no substantial surface impact is being created, the internal process amounts to an “approval” process – which would require them to first consult with multiple other government agencies. In other words, anti-mining activists are insisting upon a multi-agency approval process upon insignificant private activities when no approval process is allowed within the law in the first place. The final result of this case will affect small-scale mining on every national forest in America.  It also has much further consequences that reach out to every part of America where federal agencies review private activity.

Believing that it was a bad idea to allow USFS and anti-mining activists to fight between themselves over the rights of small-scale miners, The New 49’ers intervened in the litigation from the very beginning. The history of this case can be found here:  We defeated the Karuks in Circuit Court, and then we defeated them again in the first round of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, several months ago, the Karuks succeeded in having the full Ninth Circuit overturn our wins. Here is the full Decision. Here is also a short summary from our attorneys about the Decision.

All I can say is that it was a good thing that we intervened in this litigation; because after all this way, the USFS has decided to not Petition the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Ninth Circuit’s misguided Decision.  So much for depending upon government to protect the rights of Americans!  If anyone is wondering why less than 90% of Americans trust our government, you would not have to look any further than the way they have managed this case!

In any event, our Petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the misguided Ninth Circuit Decision was filed several days ago.  You can read our Petition by going here:  I’ll keep you informed as things move along.

We pay for all this through contributions from our supporters.  Our supporters mostly are people who read these newsletters.  Winning this case is so important that I have consented to allow three ounces of my own beautiful gold nuggets to be given away in a prize drawing.  I am hoping you guys will join in and help us pay the lawyers.

Giving Away Dave Mack’s Gold Nuggets!
Dave Mack's Gold
Twenty-five prizes in all:

Grand Prize: 1-Ounce of Dave’s Gold Nuggets
Four ¼-Ounce Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets
Twenty 1-Pennyweight Bags of Dave’s Gold Nuggets

The drawing will take place at our offices in Happy Camp on Friday afternoon, 9 November 2012. You need not be present to win.  Our office will automatically generate a ticket in your name for every $10 legal contribution we receive ($100 would generate 10 tickets). There is no limit to the size or frequency of your contributions, or to the number of prizes you can win.

Legal contributions can be arranged by calling (530) 493-2012, by mailing to The New 49′ers, P.O. Box47, Happy Camp, CA 96039, or you can do it online by clicking here:

“Extreme Prospector” is now Available!

Extreme-Prospector by Dave Mack

At long last, my new 512-page book “Extreme Prospector” is at the printer. It is still a while before we will be delivering in conventional book format. I’ll make that announcement when we are ready to start taking orders.

Meanwhile, a lot of people these days are downloading new books from the Internet and reading them on special electronic readers or their personal computers. My new book, “Extreme Prospector,” reads really well as an ebook from Amazon, because all the color images come through in color (about 250 of them), the hyperlinks work, and it sells for half price as an ebook ($9.95). “Extreme Prospector” as an ebook can be found right here.

You do not need to buy anything new to read an ebook. Amazon has a free download that will allow you to read the book on your personal computer. You can find that right here.

There is also a download right here for Apple devices and computers.

I have devoted a full year of my creative energy into “Extreme Prospector.” The book includes my very best adventures, all rewritten to include plenty of detail and some of my best-kept secrets, including several adventures during my time in the SEAL Team. I have weaved in lessons about the importance of hard work, risk taking and personal integrity — and how success is built upon the foundations of honorable behavior. I have included some thoughts about whom and what institutions we owe our loyalty to during these troubled times.

I have tied these important concepts together with a compelling explanation of why America and the West are failing, and I have outlined the only solution that will get us back on track. There is only one solution. It is not all that complicated, though the impending consequences hanging over America are deadly serious. This is all from a perspective that I am not hearing from people in the news or on the campaign trail.  It is time we looked beyond the sound bites of the day and take an honest and realistic look at where things are going if we do not step hard on the brakes!

While I don’t have all the answers, I am not running for political office, and I am not trying to win any popularity contests.  Political parties are more interested in winning elections than fixing the country. I have no agenda other than hoping America will start winning again.  It is only the truth that is going to get us back on the right track; something politicians have to dance around (at best) if they expect to win an election.  I do my best to tell the truth in this book.  I’ll warn you in advance that facing the truth is not very comfortable.  Most of the adventures in my book are not comfortable.  But I’ll bet you find them interesting!

I started working hard on this book as soon as Discovery Network confirmed that several of my adventure buddies and I are going to cast in a reality show (coming soon). I view the expanded exposure as an opportunity to raise interest in small-scale prospecting, and to raise awareness that it is big government in concert with widespread financial shenanigans that are suffocating all the life out of the American Dream.

While we continue to fight, my bet is that the only lasting solution to resolving the legal and political problems our industry is facing is to fix the bigger problems which are destroying our whole country. “Extreme Prospector” is my shot across the bow of the voracious machine that is eating away the last of America’s freedom and prosperity. This shot is the absolute best I can do from my position in the world. I hope the message will resonate with you guys, and I especially hope you will spread the word on all of the social networks – and especially place reviews on Amazon.

I have been telling you guys for years that I would let you know when I was ready to start making big noise. Now is the time! “Extreme Prospector” is the beginning of that! Now we will see what the bigger world does with my message. The bigger world begins with you guys, my friends.

Sign up for the Free Internet Version of this Newsletter

We strongly encourage you to sign up for the free on line version of this newsletter.  The Internet version is better, because you can immediately click directly to many of the subjects which we discuss; because the on line version is in full color; because we link you directly to locations through GPS and Google Earth technology; and because you can watch the free video segments which we incorporate into our stories.

 

The New 49’ers Prospecting Association, 27 Davis Road, Happy Camp, California 96039 (530) 493-2012
www.goldgold.com

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