Is this the Blue Lead? Need help.

[jmkesler]

I have access to some family owned land in the county of Rowan in North Carolina and need some help with prospecting. Apparently there were at least 3-4 open pit and/or vertical shaft mines on the land in the 1800's but were never registered... and as such, no written history appears to be available. My Great grandparents found them when they bought the land and my great aunts and uncles remember the pits were about 30 feet wide and the shaft farther than you could see. They of course then filled them up trash back in the 1920's. Anyways, we are in gold country so I thought I'd see what was left. I haven't checked the remnants of the pit or the shaft but I have found some small gold in the small spring fed creek that goes through the property. My question is how to best get to it and what dirt/clay is best to process. The creek is old and doesn't have much water flow per say as it only begins about 300-400 yards away from our land. The origin is literally across the street. So there is not much in the way of gravel or sand bars and or typical places to look. This video is a view of the dark blue clay that lines the creek in most places and is full of quartz and other rocks. Is this the Blue Lead? I'll post a video of the creek soon.

Here's a link to the video on youtube:

 

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[Davidail]

Ok just finished up 10 hours of testing with the electrical. The positive tube has a blueish gray and greenish substance on it. maybe a 1/4 of a teaspoons worth.. I want to make sure what it is before going back and removing tons of this clay. After more studying online I believe it may be the mineral called Cerargyrite which from what I read is Silver chloride consists of 24.7 per cent chlorine and 75.3 per cent silver, but cerargyrite often contains, in addition to its essential constituents, some mercury, bromine and occasionally some iodine. I am going t to have to find a good Assayer and send off a sample. Anyone know a good Assayer who's reasonably?

 

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[jmkesler]

earlier in this thread the Virginia City Silver mine was mentioned and I did a little research on silver sulfurate and something hit me. This blue clay that I have turns very dark once its removed from water. I have one bucket from an earlier sample that I never finished panning and it eventually dried out... And has turned very dark... Whick is what the wiki page said silver sulfurate does when exposed to oxygen. Luckily we're leaving the beach and heading home tomorrow so I can get some more work done on this stuff. Leaving vacation to go home and play in the dirt? Man, this gold/silver fever is crazy!

 

[TerryC]

No its not mica, I have panned tons of it before this is much finer and heaver. Did pan another small batch this morning and did have some gold flower gold in it. Running the Electrical test on it now,, The water in cup has turned a green tint and the positive tube has some gray and green material on it. So don't know much yet. Anyone have any ideas? I may need to use Distilled water for this test.

Tnx for the reply, my friend. Wallace goes on to say that the ancient rivers of the west came up from South America, moving along the Baha peninnsula, and up to the Sierras. Several "islands" of land broke from the Baha peninnsula and wandered up to the area of the Saltan Sea of Southern CA. May be a good area for the So Cal guys to research. Tnx. EDIT: Sorry, this reply was directed at KUGER... but may be relative to the thread. TTC

 

[Davidail]

Google Horn Silver, This may be what we have

 

[jmkesler]

I'm back home now and will be going out to the Blue Clay deposit tomorrow. Questions:
1. What is the correct process for getting samples for an assay? How many places do i need to sample, how much material? (some places are blue with the the gravel rocks, and some are more smooth with very little rocks... as in just thick blue gray clay)
2. How far apart should the samples be taken?
3. Who do I send them to?

I am really new to this, but the more I read and reflect upon all those scoops I panned the ore the clues stack up to be a silver deposit.
Clues:
Thick Blue clay
Gold flakes and dust found frequently
Oxidation of dried Clay (as in any blue clay along the creek is brown until you scrape off the crust... and the dried clay I have in a bucket at home).
All the tiny silver flecks i remember seeing in my pans. It looked like tiny glitter in the sun, but I disregarded it as something else like mica, even though there isn't any mica in the area. Chalk it up to ignorance and Gold FEVER!
I remember finding some funny looking grayish-pewter rocks every so often that I couldn't identify and let them go... which now as I look up silver nuggets I find out those rocks might have been just that.

Anyways, I need help and you guys have been great so far. I'm new to all of this and am grateful to any assistance you can afford.

 

[Oakview2]

Just curious, are there known siver deposits in this part of the country?? Best of luck.

 

[jmkesler]

I just found this article. Davidson County borders my county of Rowan. This article discusses the old silver mines and the exploration company that is re-evaluating them to determine if they are still viable. The picture of the man holding a large gray rock just floored me. I have been finding those rocks in my blue gray clay and putting them to the side. Company prospects for gold in Silver Hill, Silver Valley | The-Dispatch.com

Would i need to contact these people or should I try to do this alone?

 

[Davidail]

I can help you out with some of your questions. I talked with a Assayer on the phone some months back. He stated for me to send him a sample in a small clean medicine bottle such as a pill bottle. I asked the same question as you about several samples and he stated I had to pay the testing fee for each one which was $70.00 ea. Which can get expensive very quickly. I will find his name and number and post it. I would bet it's silver or some type of silver sulfate. Biggest question is how much per ton. In one of your earlier post you stated it changes colors, gets darker in light. Here's another simple test you can do take a small sample and put it in bright light it should get real dark, and then place it inside out of light for 24 hours, it should change back to its previous color.

In my research of the Blue Clay
Identification and Diagnostics
Cerargyrite is easily distinguished from all other minerals, except the comparatively rare bromide and iodide, by its physical properties and by the metallic globule which it yields on charcoal. On exposure to light it quickly turns violet-brown. It is usually associated with other silver compounds, the mixture being mined and smelted without separation of the components. It is usually recognizable by its waxy, massive character.

 

[Davidail]

Here's the Assayer info: I will be sending them a sample of my Clay on monday

Reed Laboratories - Mineral Analysis, Ore Grade, Prices

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Reed Laboratories
E-mail us at: [email protected]

Telephone hours: (760) 720-0427 (9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Mon-Fri. Pacific Time Zone).

Our mineral assay reports are preliminary data for prospecting, geologist and similar use. We do not test hazardous materials, products, chemicals or liquids.

 

[jmkesler]

Thank you David. This is excellent information. I actually contacted a lab here in North Carolina several days ago and haven't heard back from them. No one answered their phone either, just a bunch of voice mail boxes that were full. Anyways, I will utilize your recommended assayer as you appear to be very knowledgable and have certainly done your homework. I shot a video today of the creek and am uploading the clip to YouTube now. I hope by showing the clay in its "natural habitat" I can get a better opinion on where I should be digging for gold (above, below, within) in the meantime while I wait on my assay. The video is processing now, but I can post an image I took today. Its a vertical cross section of the creek side showing dirt, dirt clay mix and then blue clay.

 

[jmkesler]

Two more screen grabs from the video while YouTube processes it... the gold is from panning one shovel full of blue clay at the bottom of the creek.

 

[jmkesler]

YouTube finally finished processing my video. Sorry its so long.

 

[johnnysau]

This talks about mud miners of southern oregon, maybe some tidbits to help.

Mud Men: Pocket Miners of Southwest Oregon?Part I - ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal

johnnysau

 

[jmkesler]

Thank you so much! That was an excellent article. Now I need to do some more research on the property to see which kind of deposit I actually have. I tried to find the next part of the article that was "to be continued" but couldn't find it. Thanks for the first part regardless.

 

[TerryC]

Just a side bar: Those of you that wish to try another lab.... used by me, Terry Soloman, TimC, and others, try www.prescottlab.com a reliable bunch of guys. TTC

 

[TerryC]

Two more screen grabs from the video while YouTube processes it... the gold is from panning one shovel full of blue clay at the bottom of the creek. View attachment 697589 View attachment 697590

AMAZING pics Kesler! Under what lighting conditions were they taken? The color in the clay is very striking! Tnx. TTC

 

[Fullpan]

jm, you asked way too many intelligent questions in your video, I'm out! The only thing I can say is when prospectors were originally exploring the west,
there were many assayers around to test the hundreds of thousands of samples brought in from the "outback", and everyone knew the assayers had answers.

 

[jmkesler]

AMAZING pics Kesler! Under what lighting conditions were they taken? The color in the clay is very striking! Tnx. TTC

These pictures were taken in full sunlight around 1:15pm. Thank you for looking! Oh, and I did not edit or enhance the photo in any way.

 

[caprock]

In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the Blue Lead refers specifically to a certain ancient river channel, or in some cases the darker and deeper portions of the channel closest to bedrock and often the richest. It is an old term mostly used during the 19th century, and its meaning has become somewhat clouded. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Davidail]

Here's a picture of the Clay I found. I still haven't gotten it Assayed