Gold and Crystals

[NuggetN8]

Yesterday I was out prospecting/exploring a new place and found a spot with some good color. I was digging in a huge mass of roots and moss. I'll attach a pic of what i found in 4 pans out of it. Didn't pan for too long because I was mostly there to detect. I walked downstream a ways swinging my detector as I went when something caught my eye. There was a big fat quartz vein coming down the side of the hill with visible pockets in it. I normally don't dig for crystals but it just looked too good to pass up. The first pocket I dug out had some smaller crystals in it like all the other ones I've found before. After cleaning the first pocket I moved up the vein to a bigger pocket. I could see quite a few crystals in this one so I dug as many as I could but when I was done I saw some much larger flat shapes near the sides of the pocket. After a lot of smashing and bashing with my pick I got it out! Biggest crystal I've ever found. I haven't found very many though.. Lol. Anyone know what works best for cleaning up crystals? The clay that's stuck to them is like glue! I've tried a wire brush and several other stiff brushes and they don't work all that great. Here's some pics.. The gold is 0.2 gram

 

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[Lotus Geologist]

Ultrasound bath is good for the clays. Oxalic acid helps with the iron staining.

L.G.

 

[golden sluice]

I would try lime juice and a toohbrush for the iron oxide. The rise in water.

 

[Oakview2]

Best crystals I have ever seen, found by Kuger, gold hunter:-)

 

[bug]

Muriatic acid is cheap at the hardware store and works good to dissolve some of these iron deposits and clays. I let the stuff soak for a day or longer.

 

[chriseneim]

Best crstals I have ever seen, found by Kuger, gold hunter:-) http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=174173&d=1332398220 http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=174174&d=1332398220 http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=174175&d=1332398220

my best so far not as big but def cool.

 

[NuggetN8]

Thanks for the replies! I'll try some acid on them. I found quite a few crystals but they're so dirty I don't want to show them yet lol. If I can clean them up soon I'll post. Didn't get to dig all the crystals out of the ground either.. Had to leave the spot because it was time to start hiking out.. I'll keep posting then to this thread as I find them.

 

[G1sammons]

Had no idea thanks for sharing that's pretty cool..
Never seen crystals with gold in them...

 

[Fullpan]

Ultrasound bath is good for the clays. Oxalic acid helps with the iron staining.

L.G.

ditto on the oxalic acid. used it for years, warm or slightly hot works best. I use a box-cutter type razor blade for the really tough deposits. acid is relatively cheap. leave your crystals in for a couple days, then rinse thoroughly.

 

[NuggetN8]

ditto on the oxalic acid. used it for years, warm or slightly hot works best. I use a box-cutter type razor blade for the really tough deposits. acid is relatively cheap. leave your crystals in for a couple days, then rinse thoroughly.

Where can you get oxalic acid?

 

[Hefty1]

Bar Keepers Friend is in the cleaning products aisle at both Home Depot and Lowes (Lowes has cleaning products near their paints; HD's is many aisles away near garden products).

 

[Fullpan]

I bought my oxalic at chemical supply, but its pretty common - should be at HD and Lowes. It comes in plastic container in form
like sugar crystals - I mix about half with water (never read the directions, lol) should wear rubber type gloves. I don't expect pure, transparent rock crystal from your pic, but it will look a lot better.

P.S. - You owe it to yourself (and us !) to go back with heavy tools, tear that quartz vein apart and find the rest of them ! lol.

 

[mellowyellow]

Loving those crystals! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jeff95531]

I was impressed with that crystal, but I was more impressed with the area as you described it. Talk about a kid in a candy store. Gold, quartz veins and crystals oh my! What Fullpan said x2. Go back and get it all

 

[goldenIrishman]

You can also use "Super Iron Out" (SIO) to clean up any rust stains. I use it on the crystal formations I find in our yard and it does a really good job. Quartz shouldn't be any problem but acids can cause softer crystals to loose some of their natural shine. Softer crystals can be etched by the acid so test a small sample before you commit a really nice one to the acid bath.

 

[calisdad]

You find some neat stuff N8.

Oxalic acid is also used to get black iron stains out of wood. Try a paint store or good lumber yard.

 

[Fullpan]

Here's a batch of small crystals that had "red rust" on them, after oxalic bath.
sorry about crappy photo.

 

[NuggetN8]

Here's a batch of small crystals that had "red rust" on them, after oxalic bath.<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=933277"/>

Nice looks like it works really good! I ordered some powder off of eBay. Hope it comes with instructions on how much to mix..

 

[NuggetN8]

Here's a pic of the crystals I found the other day.. I just stashed them away in a shoe box until I get acid to clean them.

 

[mellowyellow]

Here's a pic of the crystals I found the other day.. I just stashed them away in a shoe box until I get acid to clean them. <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=933283"/>

And u visually see these in the veins.. And then break em out? Where I go, there's not too many exposed veins..