old mine dumps

winners58

Bronze Member
Apr 4, 2013
1,729
4,058
Oregon
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
usually if you are in an area open under the mining laws (public domain) or have the mineral rights or as an agent of the owner.
unless the tailings are hand stacked rocks like by Chinese miners, some of those are designated historic structures,
if its an old mining camp find the outhouse and dig it, things fall out of miners pockets or they hide a poke where no one would think to look.
just a generalized question is hard to give an answer, some added details would be helpful,
 

Last edited:

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
if its your claim or you have permission from the owner.
 

RobertF

Jr. Member
Jan 19, 2011
76
129
Bakersfield, CA
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
In addition to the access part, it's worth doing research into how that particular mine processed their ore. Is this the dump from a small mine? Or a big mine? If they did cyanide leach, the tailings probably won't contain much gold. Was it just with a stamp mill and mercury plates? Might find some good stuff...
 

SaltwaterServr

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2015
471
642
Texas
Primary Interest:
Other
In addition to the access part, it's worth doing research into how that particular mine processed their ore. Is this the dump from a small mine? Or a big mine? If they did cyanide leach, the tailings probably won't contain much gold. Was it just with a stamp mill and mercury plates? Might find some good stuff...

I was of the opinion too that old cyanide tails were pretty barren. Came across a few reports in the last two weeks that mentioned original processing via stamp mills and cyanide were only pulling about 53% of the assayed grade. Judging by the reports, this wasnt refractory ore either...
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top