Bedrock gold thats left behind

[russau]

As I watch these gold shows and them going to bedrock to capture it , I wonder how much gold is left behind in the cracks of the bedrock and why nobody goes after it after all the over burden has been removed? It seems to me that when they leave that area should be up for a reasonable cost to lease. Using one of Chuck Lassiters suction nozzles to suck up the gold that left behind from the heavy equipment seems that a person OR a group of people could come away with a nice pouch of gold.

 

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[brianc053]

I have had the exact same thought, russau. And I HAVE one of Chuck's Hydroforce nozzles... but I also have a family and obligations down here in the Lower 48. Otherwise, I might be knocking on Parker's door asking to flood his cut...

I do know that those guys have to perform reclamation on the land after they're done, but they don't show that part on TV. I wonder if, before they fill in the area and plant new trees, someone comes through and does a final cleanup... I wish it could be me... I can dream!

- Brian

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you pay attention to the what they are running through the wash plants, you will see that they do run the bedrock. Got to remember that the top layers of bedrock are often fractured and degraded from time, but still bedrock and it's being ripped up and run. Don't you remember Parker complaining about Tony forcing him to dig even deeper into bedrock after he had just cleared the top several feet of bedrock? Parker was saying there wasn't enough gold and it cost more money to run than was recovered, but Tony said he wasn't going to let any gold be left behind.

Now with those floating trommels, yeah! dump those tailings to the side and let me run a suction dredge directly behind them. I'm sure they are leaving a lot behind.

 

[Goldwasher]

yea they get much more out of the dry cuts than the dredges. The dredges can rip bedrock but, none of those guys has ran one enough to be all that good at it.

 

[Kenmitch]

If you pay attention to the what they are running through the wash plants, you will see that they do run the bedrock. Got to remember that the top layers of bedrock are often fractured and degraded from time, but still bedrock and it's being ripped up and run. Don't you remember Parker complaining about Tony forcing him to dig even deeper into bedrock after he had just cleared the top several feet of bedrock? Parker was saying there wasn't enough gold and it cost more money to run than was recovered, but Tony said he wasn't going to let any gold be left behind.

Now with those floating trommels, yeah! dump those tailings to the side and let me run a suction dredge directly behind them. I'm sure they are leaving a lot behind.

Using Tony Beats operation as an example the ever moving pond is kind of small. I guess with a small barge and conveyer belt system they could dump the tailings farther away. Would be interesting to dredge the pond then drain it to see what's left behind. I find it an impossible scenario that the dredge is getting 100% of the gold. Thinking more like 70% or so in reality.

 

[russau]

Yep they are NOT getting it all ! Those buckets on the front of those loaders CANT get it all. Probly enough of the EZ gold but not all of it. where as a small time guy could probly get a nice poke by himself by cleaning up what the bigger OPs miss!

 

[arizau]

There is an old saying in the mining industry...."It ain't ore if it cannot be mined at a profit". The mine that I worked for and retired from has literally thousands of tons of copper in it's mine dumps and, in fact, some of those dumps cover copper ore that is/was too low grade to mine...at a profit. Beets is business to maximize his profit compared to operating costs. Same principle as above. That's mining 101 compared to me and you as small timers who are often satisfied to operate at a loss in hopes of doing much better. That said, I would like to have access to his ops AFTER they did all the hard work of stripping it for me.

 

[kcm]

In strict reply to the OP, it's common for many people to only go for the easy money. And, that's their choice, And even though I'm not an active miner, I'd be hard pressed to leave an area without knowing I had gotten everything that I could reasonably recover.

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Thats exactly it. I work at a copper mine in Utah, Im sure you know which one. And if its low grade ore, they pile it off to the side!! Not enough profit for them!

There is an old saying in the mining industry...."It ain't ore if it cannot be mined at a profit". The mine that I worked for and retired from has literally thousands of tons of copper in it's mine dumps and, in fact, some of those dumps cover copper ore that is/was too low grade to mine...at a profit. Beets is business to maximize his profit compared to operating costs. Same principle as above. That's mining 101 compared to me and you as small timers who are often satisfied to operate at a loss in hopes of doing much better. That said, I would like to have access to his ops AFTER they did all the hard work of stripping it for me.

 

[Hoser John]

Old Toad and the boyz in Oregon thought the same and ZERO ZIP NYET NATHA..there were some great miners in days of old who took a few feet of bedrock also and got it all. Same here as many drag/bucketline ops were extremely efficient and ripped the bedrock up good. BUT ran across a dozen or so spots VIRGIN and poundage is the order of the day easily. Research is your answer as many State Geo publications will tell you who,what,how much,how deep was bedrock,sizing of classifiers on and on and on. Great to know when a 2" classifier was used as ALL over that size was chucked in the tailings pile. Sample sample sample as one op ended another started and what was no pay is now a OMG moment. aaaaaaaaammmmmmmeeeeeeennnnnnnn-John

 

[Reed Lukens]

I'm one of those that mines for profit and that's just how it is. I've been criticized so many times by small timers that don't understand that it still makes me laugh. When I go out mining with groups to use a sluice box and play around, most of the time I will just sit in the hole and fill as many buckets as I can for everybody else because I just don't sweat the small stuff. If I can't get at least ¼oz an hour then it's time to just have fun and that's been my story here since 2009. Still I make more in a month off of my mining then many make in their lifetime but that's not saying much really... Maybe towards the end of the day I'll run a few buckets for myself but I really enjoy just sitting there and filling buckets for everyone else. When dredging was legal I mined for a profit and averaged ½oz per hour usually and that's wages. There's always more to the story but remember that you never see the truth on TV.
Reed

 

[Hoser John]

Amen as when you eat and provide a roof over your families heads all the bs goes right out the window. Best job(addiction really) any man could have dependent upon his experience, drive , quality of equipment and being out far enough to escape prying eyes. Lean, mean, clean and quiet and prosper- and the environutz/bureauratz.....John

 

[brianc053]

Reed, Hoser John - you guys have my utmost respect. I think a bunch of us recreational prospectors ("small timers") appreciate the hard work you put into your job, though only because we get a taste of the work on those few weekends during the warmer months when we can get out and enjoy our hobby.

I hope there's an appreciation for our recreational participation as a way we can get a taste of what we wish we could be doing (I said earlier in the thread...I can dream!); speaking for myself I can say that I didn't discover the "addiction" (to steal your word, John) until about 5 years ago, and given my life and family obligations I suspect that prospecting will always be a recreation for me. I'm ok with that.

Jumping back to the origin of the thread, and picking up on what Jason said about those guys running bedrock, it sounds like they (the backhoe-driven miners on the shows) are getting the profitable gold out of those holes, and the idea of flooding the cut and dredging the rest out might not be profitable. That's all speculation (unless someone knows of anyone actually doing it), but it sounds like a safe assumption based on what the group knows.
What about the crazy/silly idea of opening up a cut to us "recreation" folks? I'd consider a summer vacation in the Yukon to dredge someone's cut, even if it's not profitable (I don't think of "vacation" as a way to make a profit...and yes, I would consider dredging for a week a "vacation" from my real life - and I bet I'm not alone!). If anyone reading this has a mine where someone like me could do something like this as a 2017 vacation week, please PM me (I'm not joking).

- Brian

 

[Vance in AK]

Canada & the Yukon frown on dredging I believe.
Now Alaska...

 

[Capt Nemo]

My 8th grade science teacher watched a AK youth pull a fist sized nugget out of an old dredge pile with a MD. They can really leave some big stuff behind! Also think about how much gold may be washing off that bedrock before the buckets fully catch the material. I'd think a suction dredge behind the bucket line would easily pay for itself and more.

 

[Vance in AK]

The oversize nuggets were primarily what was missed. They were picked up but then many were rejected as oversize. they made it in the tailings piles as you mentioned but most are buried deep enough that they will never be seen again.
The direction the buckets moved they were pushing stuff ahead of them not into already worked ground so they were surprisingly efficient. Just about like a big shovel in dry ground. That said i do know medium size operators up here that let guys with dredges work behind them for a percentage where practical. That's not a lot of places though.