phil J Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Hello : I was shown this yesterday and was curious if this is an Arasta. It is only about 8 feet across and sets on the side of a fairly steep hillside. It is close to the bottom of a large wash and has several mines far above. I thought there had to be level ground to be able to make a circular path around the Arasta. Tried a search on google but did not come up with much. Thanks Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredmason Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 certainly appears to be one...the backside is covered with tailings or hillside debris... fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Might be interesting to pan some of the material between the rocks in the bottom...nice find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleface Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Hello : I was shown this yesterday and was curious if this is an Arasta. It is only about 8 feet across and sets on the side of a fairly steep hillside. It is close to the bottom of a large wash and has several mines far above. I thought there had to be level ground to be able to make a circular path around the Arasta. Tried a search on google but did not come up with much. Thanks Phil Phil, Sure does look like some of the Arrastra's that I have seen. If the bottom and sides show a great deal of wear, it might pay to run a couple sample pans of the material between the bottom stones. A Vac-Pac works real nice on these if you should find some color with a crevice tool. Here is a good link to Arrastra information...... http://www.piute.org/History/arrastra.htm Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuger Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 sure looks like the ones I have found but I have never seen one on a hillside!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regmaglitch Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Hi Phil, It is basically like an arrasta but, I've never seen one on a slope, and I've never seen one cemented together. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge Runner Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Arrasta on the side of a hill and cemented is two odd things about it.Then another thing isn't it a very small one at that. I'd go for a flag pole holder with flowers planted around it.Some of the old prospectors had their wife's with them and one of them had a happy wife for one day maybe. Chuck Anders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyldkatt7 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 sorry everyone... looks like the pics did make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleface Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Arrastra's were usually built as close to the ore source as possible. They were built as small as about 3' and on up. Many of them incorporated cement as well as wood in the construction. Some of them were made entirely of concrete. They were built on the side of a hill, on top of the hill and just about anywhere where an area large enough could be cleared. Just outside Chloride is the remnants of several large arrastra's, one has incorporated large rock pavers in the bottom and cemented rocks on the sides. There are several real neat arrastra's in the Music mountains, outside Kingman that are no more than 6' in diameter and one of them is on the side of a hill, all the pavers are still in place and the drag stone still sits in the bottom. I have sampled all of them already. Some color, but no mother load...... :shrug: Does anyone ever click on a link and read the information? If so, this link will provide all the information anyone would ever want to know about arrastras. Read the Primer on Arrastra Design and Operation, it mentions materials used in building arrastras and their sizes. http://www.historycooperative.org/journals.../vanbueren.html Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sawmill Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Jim The guy had an Indian problem,and that is a launch pad for a steam powered missle defense system. :laught16: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave wiseman Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 In the California motherlode many of the arrastre's were right next to a creek,and then I've seen them hundreds of feet above on the side of a steep canyon,such as around the Fricot City area in Calaveras county........If you can find an old copper amalgamation plate,and scrape it clean.......you'll have a sparkle in your eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil J Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 In the California motherlode many of the arrastre's were right next to a creek,and then I've seen them hundreds of feet above on the side of a steep canyon,such as around the Fricot City area in Calaveras county........If you can find an old copper amalgamation plate,and scrape it clean.......you'll have a sparkle in your eye. Thanks everyone. The links are great and I did read them. Now that I think back with my new info I remember that the hill is all loose heavy gravel that was probably deposited long after the use of the Arastra . Over time this hill overtook the Arastra. Above is still a large flat area where lots of material was brought in and processed. Above this flat area are located many mines. Thanks again. I will go back and try to take some samples and look for more remains. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleface Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Jim The guy had an Indian problem,and that is a launch pad for a steam powered missle defense system. :laught16: Greg, :hmmmmmm: Heck, the guy didn't need a launch pad, all he needed was one of those exploding steam engines at Franconia. The resulting spray of shrapnel would have taken care of all them indians and created iron meteorites at the same time........ All joking aside, that is one heck of a nice looking arrastra that Phil showed us, some real good handy work went into making that thing, almost looks like petrified wood in the walls. You can make out the pavers still in the bottom. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-costa rica Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 here is a picture of a more recent one that is still in use. a co-op mill site has 6 of these working Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-costa rica Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 these are some used up drag stones from the arrastras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilaoro Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Here is some more astra pics, one is powered by a Jaguar engine, one is a testing unit and still used, one is a 5 ton Ford truck rear end drive turned end ways, there is an infinate variety of designsl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-costa rica Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 gilaoro nice photos, what country? looks kinds like Mexico? bill-cr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilaoro Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks bill-cr, You got it on one! Baja Norte, thre are lots of them, some silver some gold. Hows the situation in CR ? I might be moving there afer the elections if my wife recovers her health enough to move one more time!! Can you drive or ship a Motor Mome there to live in? Max gilaoro nice photos, what country? looks kinds like Mexico? bill-cr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-costa rica Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 things here are getting expense compared to what they used to be. the more people that move here from different countries the higher prices go. diesel is still over $5.00 per gallon. but it is still a lot cheaper than in the states over all. the rainy season is just winding up , temps are mid 80's moving to the mid 90's soon. it will start raining again next may. oh boy. bill-cr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil J Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 I found another Arrastra . Thought you all might like the pics. Shows the drag stones, the exit for finished product and overall pic. I did take some samples and panned out the material but found nothing. I did try to go into the cracks but I did not want to break up the Arrastra. I did read through the links given above but only saw reference to gold and silver in this process. Was this setup used for processing any other type of mining? Thanks Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wright Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Whoa!!! Where did you find that one? :Huh_anim]: Notice how the tree has grown in the center? That thing is old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil J Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 I did read through the links given above but only saw reference to gold and silver in this process. Was this setup used for processing any other type of mining? I was unable to find any gold in the left over material in the cracks. I did not do the entire Arrastra but thought there should be a little gold showing up. Thanks Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotsa luck Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Judging the condition and approx age of it I would be pretty interested in locating the source of the feed ore for it unless in a heavily mined area as its likely gone by now. The tree could have grown within the last 7 years, the iron work on the drag looks 75 year'ish but the masonry work is less than 40 years IMHO. Probable that someone found a glory hole and built it but could be other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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