New to the forum and area as well. I have done very little detecting in the past when younger but now find it more interesting. I purchased the white's xlt less than a week ago, and it is driving me up the wall with the how responsive it is. (will take some geting use to of course) I am living in the Rancho Cucamonga area and wondering if anyone knows of some interesting places to prowl around out here? Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. On the othere hand, with my old detctor I come across a gold vein in an old mine in quartzsite arizona and do not know how to process the ore. If anyone is familiar with this any help will greatly be appreciated.

Is the vein still in the ground(rock)or have you already broke it out??If it is still in the ground break it out trying to get as big of chunks as you can,when you get them out I dont recommend breaking the rock up as it is more valuable as specimen( in the native rock)I would crush the surrounding rock(quartz) that doesnt have visible gold and examine it for gold either visually or crush it to a fine powder and pan it alot of gold is not readily visible.I would also sample the surrounding soil to the lead ( if present) by panning it also.Keep chasing the vein(breaking it out)as long as you keep seeing gold, it can pinch out and start up again.It might not have anything more than what you initially see or may turn into the BONANZA and go for hundreds of feet!!!$$$$$$$$$(make sure someone doesnt have a claim already on the spot!!!!)Good luck and be careful,their maybe a grisly reason that vein was left

Thanks for the info but you cannot see the gold. I had a piece tested to see how much iron it contained. The test results were that it was 10% iron. The gentleman told me it is really good stuff. To the naked eye it does not look like gold at all. It is more of a dark gray black color. Although he did verify it is gold he stated that there is an acid process to bring it out but did not enlighten me on how to go about it.

Well that is the most common of gold occurance,its refererred to as not free it has to be milled or ground as I stated you can use a motorized crusher or a mortar and pestle initially grind it to about pea sized peices and check with a magnifieng glass,if you see free gold(visible) save those peices out and grind the rest into a powder.The gold can be locked up in sulfides (iron and such)Once it is in the powder form pan it very carefully as the gold will be rough and will "walk",out of your pan,after you get it panned down you will have fine gold that you can get out with mecury or smelt it (melt it)it is advisable to find a trained person to do any of that especially anything with mercury.The acids he was talking about were probably hydrochloric acid and cyanide you have to find a pro to use or even get that stuff!!!I used to watch my grandfather use that stuff but he was a hardrock miner his whole life.

Thank for all your feedback and advice, highly appreciate it.

Well I have a kid who lives out in Fontana. Fontana & its surrounding cities are just loaded with abandon old homes. Many were bought recently (within the past 2 yrs) by major home developers. No fences, wide open. When I visit I bring out my new X70 and spend a couple of hours searching! Early mornings seems to be the best time to hunt! The local PD don't bother unless you leave some tell-tale craters. I tend to target sites off the beaten path. Usually go where occupied homes are at least 100 yards away. Believe me there's plenty of places to hunt!

Good Luck-Max

I had also heard that the areas around Upland would be fertile grounds. But I'm not from that area so ..... take it with a grain of salt.

upland, pomona and surrounding cities are all old, just prowl around old downtown areas looking for a construction site or a vacant lot. maybe try all the parks in the area. the treasure is just waiting for you to come along and dig it up. good luck.

Be careful, prowling law are on the books.... don't want to see you get busted.