drtrumbull
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2009
Posts: 1
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Post by drtrumbull on Aug 17, 2009 20:37:55 GMT -5
hornitos poppy jasper ..I went out and re-opened the mine, closed for the past 50 years. It is located on jasper point, lake mcClure, Merced river..near Hornitos,Mariposa county, California. It has various other names, including hornitas, sierra jasper, Mariposa poppy jasper. In a previous post to this forum, someone asked about this special jasper, so I can now answer most of the questions. There are many different types of the poppy jasper, even in the same vein.There are of course poppies, with pink centers, white petals, then a black outer ring. there is another type that has reddish brown spheres floating in a white matrix of white poppy crystals. there is another type type of vivid red, with white spherules,and another type of brown with white spherules, at the center of each spherule is usually a gold containing pyrite, that is dissolving and causing the pink or red centers, and when fully dissolved, forms a reddish globule. one special type recently discovered two months ago has pink poppies and red fortification agate in the middle... Some of the white background and red fortifications is very thin and looks like the chinese flower jasper from owyhee, oregon. I have also found a green jasper containing white spheres, and a very special type with concentric red and white,red and white interlaced patterns. i will make this available to anyone who wants it for tumbling.I have made many cabs, it polishes very well, is not cracked, very rewarding, and since each pattern is unique, free form cabs and wirewrapping are the prettiest way to show this off..I mine this on weekends, as it is only 40miles from my house in Merced, california.contact me at 2644 m street, suite a, merced,california 95340...209-722-5308 best of luck, robin trumbull
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 17, 2009 21:36:42 GMT -5
Howdy, Very cool that someone has gone in and opened up those old pits. Was your dad one of the original miners? I used to have a ranch in Hunters Valley and had a ball hunting for poppy jasper on the hills of our ranch and several others. Also used to love exploring the BLM lands in the back country. Truly amazing how many poppy jasper locations are in that region. Was amazed to see the gigantic brecciated jasper monolithic rockpile way down canyon by the lake too. We always called that area Jasper Point. Anyway, good luck on your venture and watch out for them mountain lions. We saw sign all over when we'd go rockhunting back in there. Oh, make sure and show us some pictures of your finds and some of the stuff in situ too. I'd love to see what's uncovered by power equipment. I know one of my neighbors found a four thousand pound lens of jasper back in the 1960's. I was always forgetting to take my camera back in there with me. Folks built on some of my favorite hunting sites so I'm glad to hear someone will salvage some of the jasper before it all gets built on or covered up by brush....Mel
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
Posts: 605
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Post by rockdewd on Aug 18, 2009 14:33:33 GMT -5
Robin,
Sent you a PM...
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Post by MyNewHobby on Aug 18, 2009 15:23:05 GMT -5
Out of curiosity ... what is/are the fees for access to these areas?
Thanks Bunches Julie
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 18, 2009 15:55:57 GMT -5
Julie; The deposits up that way fall into three categories, private ranches where access is mainly given to folks they know and trust, BLM land which is open to hobby collectors with no fees required, and mining claims some of which are patented which means the land is owned and some of which are unpatented which means it's BLM land under claim which is being mined, had reclamation bonds posted, and is being proved up by a certain amount of work each year. The real difficulty in the area is, once you get through the BLM cattleguard there are no signs, fences visible markers etc to tell you what's privately owned, what's old abandoned gold mines and whats being worked. When I had a ranch there until last year, only a couple of goldmines were being worked and there was no evidence of fresh poppy digging anywhere we collected. One of the old original miners took me around and showed me a few digs and my buddy and I found a bunch more. Talked to my rockhouding buddy last night after seeing the new poppy post and he said, as of a couple of months ago, there was no indication anyone was working any of our old hounding sites so maybe this new gentleman has reopend some patented claims owned by himself, or filed new unpatented claims down canyon by the actual spot us locals called Jasper Point ( though we never actually found anything but brecciated jasper down by the point.) If you go up there and stick to BLM land though, you can hike and hunt all over without fee but it's rough country and poppy deposits tend to be fairly small so they're hard to locate. Maybe this gentlemen will give you permission to go in on a fee basis. That would be cool.....Mel
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Post by philosophersstone on Sept 25, 2010 11:47:16 GMT -5
I have already made a couple of trip to this area; did find some jasper but none with the poppies. This is truly ruff country with evidense of mountain lions everywhere. Any suggestions on where to search. Tried to make my way done to jasper point but could not find any paths leading down. There are a numerous trails, some roads many dead ends leading down to the lake even got lost once; thank God to GPS and maps
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rockcandymt
off to a rocking start
Member since August 2016
Posts: 1
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Post by rockcandymt on Aug 8, 2016 12:25:59 GMT -5
-Hi, do you ever allow fee digging. we will be in Ca. this next couple weeks. today is Aug. 8th. /16. I wanted to see about getting rough rock to cut if we could. but we would love to go dig it if possible. I bought some other rock from a guy I met online who said he was going to acquire the claim for Hornitas, but I don't know if that was for sure or you maybe? it peaked my interest after seeing so many beautiful pictures online of it. thank you, my email is rockcandymt@Hotmail.com, facebook if Leanne(kemp)zuccone thanks hope to hear from you.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 17:52:15 GMT -5
Julie; The deposits up that way fall into three categories, private ranches where access is mainly given to folks they know and trust, BLM land which is open to hobby collectors with no fees required, and mining claims some of which are patented which means the land is owned and some of which are unpatented which means it's BLM land under claim which is being mined, had reclamation bonds posted, and is being proved up by a certain amount of work each year. The real difficulty in the area is, once you get through the BLM cattleguard there are no signs, fences visible markers etc to tell you what's privately owned, what's old abandoned gold mines and whats being worked. When I had a ranch there until last year, only a couple of goldmines were being worked and there was no evidence of fresh poppy digging anywhere we collected. One of the old original miners took me around and showed me a few digs and my buddy and I found a bunch more. Talked to my rockhouding buddy last night after seeing the new poppy post and he said, as of a couple of months ago, there was no indication anyone was working any of our old hounding sites so maybe this new gentleman has reopend some patented claims owned by himself, or filed new unpatented claims down canyon by the actual spot us locals called Jasper Point ( though we never actually found anything but brecciated jasper down by the point.) If you go up there and stick to BLM land though, you can hike and hunt all over without fee but it's rough country and poppy deposits tend to be fairly small so they're hard to locate. Maybe this gentlemen will give you permission to go in on a fee basis. That would be cool.....Mel Mel he is offering fee dig on other sites. Perhaps she is referring to this?
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 8, 2016 22:44:34 GMT -5
Interesting. Dr Trumbell, I'll give you a call later in the week. I'd like to see some pics of the materials. No offense intended, this is just your only post on the forum so we're just getting introduced, so to speak. Thank you! Paul
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 9, 2016 8:22:56 GMT -5
Scott, I think Trumbell has filed claim on the complex of pits my buddy and I used to dig. I'm basing this on the pics he's posted which seem to show the same stuff we were digging. The pits themselves seem too be exhausted but there is still jasper in the tailings. That's what we were working. That being said, there are lots of poppy outcrops in the area if you know where to look and one pic he posted years ago looked more like some other location more similar to the old Flora Claim location. I've not been back since he filed his claims and my buddy no longer collects up there so I'm not sure. My old prospecting buddy seems to think Trumbell is in a different location because last time he went up he saw no indication of digging other than ours. One thing that is certain is, based on float and tiny test pits we found in the manzanita thickets, there are a least three sizable hills that are almost totally full of poppy deposits that are underground. One cool rainy day I tried digging beneath the float on one of those hills and within a foot of the surface I was hitting loose hunks of poppy types unlike others I'd found. And, on the hillside where we found the Firefly Jasper outcrop which was barely touched, there were andesite boulders with all kinds of thin stringers of jasper which I sure thicken out below the surface. I dug a pit in that stuff and found another deposit similar to the nodular Primrose Poppy on my own ranch. Basically jasper indications were all over. The negative is access. A big name basketball player bought the ranch that had a fine shortcut to the deposits and gated the BLM access road. That left a tough slippery four wheel drive route in. Then on top of that, the area is steep, hard to dig and very hot or cold most the year. I'd love to see someone get a dozer in there and strip the hilltop to really see the jasper but then you are dealing with claims and BLM restoration permits etc That's why we just did a little hand digging. One thing for sure, that region is probably one of the most unexplored and untouched poppy areas in the US. I was there almost 17 years and barely scratched the surface. Even had nodular outcrops on my own ranch but breaking down huge boulders to get the nodules is young folks' work. This is a pic of some of the only stuff I hard rock mined from the hillside across from our farmhouse. Some of the nodules in situ were 6-8" across if one could get them out. They have tiny amounts of gold in them too....Mel This is what the surface collected nodules eroded from our hill look like:
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Aug 9, 2016 8:23:17 GMT -5
Seven year old thread,he still around?
snuffy
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Post by paulshiroma on Aug 9, 2016 12:22:52 GMT -5
Seven year old thread,he still around? snuffy Oh, goodness, I'm going blind. Good catch, Snuffy ( snuffy). Duh, moment. I may still reach out to him...
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 9, 2016 12:53:25 GMT -5
Attack of the zombie thread!!! Aaaahhhhhhhh! Yeah, I caught that too, snuffy, lol It would be nice if when someone pulls up an oldie, they say something like, "I know this post is seven years old, but..." That original poster only made that one post in their time here at RTH.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 9, 2016 12:58:44 GMT -5
Last post I've seen from Robin was at another site. Dates from 2011. Don't know if the sites are still under claim or not. Whatever, tons of sites that were not in his claim anyway. One of you folks in Commiefornia should go up there and prospect when it cools this fall. probably the best chance to make an outrageous find you will ever have...Mel
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Post by captbob on Aug 9, 2016 13:06:08 GMT -5
One of you folks in Commiefornia should go up there You and I should take a road trip to your old stomping grounds and prospect when it cools this fall. probably the best chance to make an outrageous find you I will ever have... Mel Bob fixed it for ya!
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Aug 9, 2016 14:15:58 GMT -5
I'm surprised to hear that there are still hills full of this stuff. One would think that rock worth ten or twenty bucks a pound would be mined.
It's bizarre that it's cheaper to mine, clean, sort, and ship rough from Madagascar, Brazil, China, etc., than it is to actually mine it in the US, apparently.
I'm equipped to drill and blast, but a few thousand miles away, lol. Zombie thread to be sure, but an interesting one!
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luvtogrow
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2012
Posts: 194
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Post by luvtogrow on Aug 9, 2016 15:08:51 GMT -5
Believe he just had a local club up there around the middle of July. Search rockhounds.com i think.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 15:23:08 GMT -5
well done bob.
long dead threads rarely get me.
i got got this time!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,484
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 9, 2016 19:23:58 GMT -5
Bob, Last time I went up there crawling through the brush and hauling a boulder up the hill, I almost got a coronary, a heat stroke, ant bitten, and knee burns all at the same time. Great material but the hunting is not easy at all. Got to say though, I'd love to get the thistles cleared from the Firefly pit and dig in there again. Had the impression a little dirt removal might really yield a bonanza in that hole and I only dug it to a foot or so deep. And that one, when the ground is moderately wet and there is no fire hazard, you can drive to within fifty yards of it...Mel
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Aug 10, 2016 11:32:04 GMT -5
Heh, heh, heh. Most of us work that hard for nothing so exciting. If I lived anywhere near, I'd be working that place hard!
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