Neat tool for finding lode gold deposits

[Seden]

Here's a handy little USB FLIR imaging system for ya for $399 that you plug into your Android or Apple cell phone:

http://www.newark.com/MarketingProductList?orderCode=18AC1044,18AC1045,18AC1046&CMP=e-email-Buyer-220518-NA-FLIR-HERO&et_cid=30021452&et_rid=1237137972&cmp=

I used to have a USB Thermal Camera like this that one of my son's friends felt he needed it more than I did )<:

Oh well at least next time I have the money I can move up to a FLIR thermal imager-mo betta! Ok, so you're wondering how in the Sam Hill (that was the original expression FYI) can you use a thermal imager to find a lode deposit? Easy (compared to the alternative), you wait till a time in either spring or fall where the daytime temps are say in the 80's but then it cools off quickly as the sun goes down. Then you drive around an area that the geological reports show has promise for a lode deposit or where other lode deposits have been found. The surrounding country rock will cool off much quicker than the host rock with the metallic deposit and you will see the temperature difference on the screen.

I never got around to using mine unfortunately so I depended on my Gamma Spectrometer which I located a mine in Little Tujunga Canyon. Was kinda hoping to take the Thermal Imager up to Texas Canyon as there's one spot where gold flakes and nuggets drop into from the hill above. Someday.....

 

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[Assembler]

The corporate office is in Oregon. The police use this camera also to find persons trying to hide.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Won't work. Not enough temp difference as the two rock types are in intimate contact and the diffusion of heat will prevent significant differences from being noticeable.

 

[UncleMatt]

You can't use thermal imaging to find lode gold

 

[pczim]

Have tried thermal and has only worked for me with large metal objects very close to the surface after a hot summers day and no cloud cover. It was however not a great camera

 

[Seden]

Thermal Imaging Technique

PCZIM,that would be about right. I'm trying to remember where I saw the article that mentions this as a new method. I want to say that it was one of Action Mining's publications on Prospecting Methods. Yes it would work only specific conditions such as a solid vein of gold in the type of host rock that is more of an insulator than a conductor of heat. Definately not for Lode gold that is disseminated through the rock as particles. I'd like to hear SaltwaterServ's experience from which he speaks. That counts in my book otherwise it's all conjecture from start to finish and academic. I just wish I could remember who wrote about this theory as I would like to write them and hear their experiences with this technique (show me the gold!). Hey if nothing else, thermal imaging is the hot ticket for us "Midnight Miners" to see who's watching us out there!

 

[signal_line]

Hi Randy, yeah dry sandy soil is best.

I have a thermal camera in the yard just before dark. I found a rectangle-shaped hot spot and I thought it must be a piece of sheet metal, maybe copper. So I put my hand down to see if i could feel anything---dog urine! LOL

 

[Clay Diggins]

Gold transfers heat better than just about anything else found in the earth but silver and copper. 6 times more heat conductive than steel. What that means in a practical sense is that gold will always be very close to the same temperature as the surrounding rock no matter how thick the vein might be.

There are some new helpful technologies in prospecting for gold but heat differences aren't one of them.

Heavy Pans

 

[Mad Machinist]

Gold transfers heat better than just about anything else found in the earth but silver and copper. 6 times more heat conductive than steel. What that means in a practical sense is that gold will always be very close to the same temperature as the surrounding rock no matter how thick the vein might be.

There are some new helpful technologies in prospecting for gold but heat differences aren't one of them.

Heavy Pans

Someone's ALWAYS trying to mine the miners.

 

[Mad Machinist]

PCZIM,that would be about right. I'm trying to remember where I saw the article that mentions this as a new method. I want to say that it was one of Action Mining's publications on Prospecting Methods. Yes it would work only specific conditions such as a solid vein of gold in the type of host rock that is more of an insulator than a conductor of heat. Definately not for Lode gold that is disseminated through the rock as particles. I'd like to hear SaltwaterServ's experience from which he speaks. That counts in my book otherwise it's all conjecture from start to finish and academic. I just wish I could remember who wrote about this theory as I would like to write them and hear their experiences with this technique (show me the gold!). Hey if nothing else, thermal imaging is the hot ticket for us "Midnight Miners" to see who's watching us out there!

We've explored just about every method out there on finding gold. I can tell you from personal experience (I owned and operated a core rig) that if you want to find gold you either go where gold has been found before or you drill likely looking spots. There is no other way.

There was a gentlemen here before that was trying to predict where gold was based off of topo maps before. He told me that gold was supposed to be in an area I drilled before. Nothing there but 700 feet of Gila Conglomerate that held nothing. Lost 200+ feet of drill string there too. Try explaining that to the wife.

Someone will always try to mine the miners. Been that way for a long time and I suspect it will be that way for a lot longer.

 

[Crowfriend]

You mentioned Texas Canyon, Cochise County?

 

[signal_line]

Gold has a low emmissivity so it catches heat and holds it better. But the problem of damp/wet ground is conductivity. Sand (dry) is somewhat of an insulator. Sunlight IR waves can only penetrate the ground so far. Don't have a number but only a few feet. All in all, not too good a way to find treasure, but better than the digital camera by a long shot. LOL

 

[Clay Diggins]

Gold has a low emmissivity so it catches heat and holds it better. But the problem of damp/wet ground is conductivity. Sand (dry) is somewhat of an insulator. Sunlight IR waves can only penetrate the ground so far. Don't have a number but only a few feet. All in all, not too good a way to find treasure, but better than the digital camera by a long shot. LOL

Unpolished raw gold has virtually the same emissivity coefficient as granite, sandstone and most other country rock. In contact with country rock, as lode deposits are, it will exhibit the same temperatures as the rock it's found in within a very tight range.

A low emissivity coefficient is only exhibited by gold when it's pure and highly polished, not conditions you will find in natural gold deposits.

Gold is hydrophobic so the water content isn't a consideration in heat transfer. Essentially gold will reach and maintain the temperature of any material it's in contact with very rapidly no matter what the moisture content.

Gold is nearly 100% reflective in the infrared range. There is effectively no penetration of gold by infrared. Even a 1 micron coating on thin plastic reflects nearly 100% of infrared wavelengths even though the coating is translucent to visible wavelengths. As the IR frequencies go up gold reflectivity of those IR waves goes up too and comes even closer to being 100% opaque to IR. That's why all those satellites, space rocket parts and astronauts are wrapped in thin gold plated plastic sheets. Gold is one of the best insulators for virtually all types of high energy radiation.

Any way you look at it heat differentials in infrared or any other form of optical investigation will not distinguish gold from it's associated minerals while still in the ground on the basis of temperature. Additionally not all digital cameras optical receptors are sensitive to infrared. Usually the manufacturer puts an inline infrared filter into the camera optics to block unwanted imaging from the invisible wavelengths. Users tend to get upset when infrared emissions unexpectedly lighten or put a halo around ordinary objects in the picture.

There are methods of finding lode gold that have been very successfully proven over thousands of years. Nothing wrong with investigating new ideas or methods but if those methods go against the laws of physics they are doomed to fail. Work harder, work smarter but in the end run there is no magic method to find gold with remote sensing. You still need to get down into the rock and dirt to find gold.

Gold is rare, valuable and hard work to recover when you do find some. That's why it is still out there for you to find. Go get u sum!

Heavy Pans

 

[SaltwaterServr]

PCZIM,that would be about right. I'm trying to remember where I saw the article that mentions this as a new method. I want to say that it was one of Action Mining's publications on Prospecting Methods. Yes it would work only specific conditions such as a solid vein of gold in the type of host rock that is more of an insulator than a conductor of heat. Definately not for Lode gold that is disseminated through the rock as particles. I'd like to hear SaltwaterServ's experience from which he speaks. That counts in my book otherwise it's all conjecture from start to finish and academic. I just wish I could remember who wrote about this theory as I would like to write them and hear their experiences with this technique (show me the gold!). Hey if nothing else, thermal imaging is the hot ticket for us "Midnight Miners" to see who's watching us out there!

Knowledge of physics and basic metallurgy is my experience. I can also tell you that despite having an atmosphere, you can't survive on Venus. What's my experience to show that particular piece of knowledge is correct?

Either way, Clay did a perfect explanation of the physical properties of why a FLIR camera or any other IR magnification device is like trying to empty an Olympic pool with a thimble when it comes to finding gold. Same funds invested in a proper detector or geology classes will lend you better results.

 

[dave wiseman]

Estwing sampling pick,sample bags...sweat and freeze your butt off in a known gold district is the best way to find lode gold.Realistically no one is looking to develop a gold mine..it's fun just to find an occasional pocket or specie.

 

[Assembler]

Finding 'Pockets' can be a type of "Mining" in some parts even if there is no "Lode vein". There can be little values disseminated through the rock as particles in between the 'Pockets' within the "Minimized zone". Physics can play a role with this type of formation of the mineral deposits.

 

[geom01]

Have you tried different applications like Induced Polarization or Electrical Resistivity?
It can scan and detect up to 2000 ft

 

[Mad Machinist]

Estwing sampling pick,sample bags...sweat and freeze your butt off in a known gold district is the best way to find lode gold.Realistically no one is looking to develop a gold mine..it's fun just to find an occasional pocket or specie.

Don't know about you, but we are trying to develop a gold mine. Hard damn work and entirely too much paperwork.

 

[Assembler]

Don't know about you, but we are trying to develop a gold mine. Hard damn work and entirely too much paperwork.

I hear what you are saying as many think there is little to no hard work involved........lol

 

[Azure]

I came across an interesting research article that describes how this approach is feasible and can be used for mineral exploration.

Identification of quartz and carbonate minerals across northern Nevada using ASTER thermal infrared emissivity data​

Identification of quartz and carbonate minerals across northern Nevada using ASTER thermal infrared emissivity data—Implications for geologic mapping and mineral resource investigations in well-studied and frontier areas | Geosphere | GeoScienceWorld

pubs.geoscienceworld.org