iron gossan next step

[M_M]

I've been exploring for quite some time and found two stringers of quartz stained yellow. Took it all and crushed what I could by hand. I haven't recovered any physical pieces of gold.

I found close by a gossan stained quartz vein. I've taken all I could, 45 lbs worth. So far I've recovered 2+ oz of free iron with a magnet. A few pieces are very light due to boxwork while rocks of similar size have some weight to them. I figure this needs to be leached. I've recovered a few specks of iron though the rock seems very stained for the little bit inside.

I am considering leaching grind with muriatic acid and clorox. As for getting the grind done and where to set up the leach I am still figuring as I live in an apartment and am not currently working.

I've been researching/reading so much I am at odds of what the best thing to do next is.

Can I leach outside my door or are the fumes going to be to bad? No kids or animals around.

What do you do with the chemicals after you have used them?

What kind of problems will I have with the iron in the leach?

How do I select the right small piece to assay without giving my gold away?

What type of assay should I get?

When does one file a claim?

Colors of the ore: dark red, bright red, yellow, orange, red black, pure gold like pyrite, copper pyrite, rainbow, few green tints

Here are a few samples.

[M_M]

Decided to send out for assay. I'll wait till I have gold ore to buy the chemicals for leaching. If it is negative I think I will go deeper since gold is almost twice as heavy as iron.

[aussco999]

Hey M_M:

You’ve got some interesting mineral samples there, but you might be getting the cart before the horse on this project. I would recommend forgetting about a leach procedure at this time, until you know more about your ore. Iron stained quartz is only an “indicator” that says “maybe” there are precious metals in the vein structure, but in no way is it guaranteed.

Without a verifiable and repeatable assay showing something of value, then maybe iron stained quartz is all you have. Historically, more iron stained gossans have been barren of any precious metals, including to depth, than a rich find. A gossan is only an indicator to “look here”, as it should be with most darker mineral deposits. Nothing more. Only a good assay will tell you yes or no.

Direct acid leaching of ore is seldom very effective due to the normally high base metal content. By checking an EMS list of metals (elements), along with an elementary understanding of non-organic chemistry, you’ll find that all metals above the precious metal will go into solution first, before getting to the good stuff. Also, a high base metal content in an ore can easily and totally saturate most acid leaches with a lot of unwanted contaminations.

The only leaching procedure that I’m aware of that is virtually unaffected by the high iron content is cyanide, but some other base metals like copper and zinc will even render cyanide ineffective. And, because you live in an apartment, I would strongly recommend against trying any form of leaching there as all acid leaches will off-gas fumes that are not only unhealthy, but will corrode all exposed metal in the surrounding area. And, a home-brewed cyanide leach,,, well,,, we won’t even go there.

When filing a mining claim here in the states, a fire assay is the most accepted proof of values with government regulatory agencies , with an AA and an ICP-MS coming in second. And, I know it seems like most government agencies now days are only interested in collecting your money, you still need to follow the “Reasonable and Prudent Man” guidelines for determining the value of the claim. In other words, does your ore contain enough values, do you have a large enough ore body and can you make a profit extracting the values? There’s a lot more to a mining claim than that, but this a good starting point.

If I were seriously looking at your mineral for a possible claim, I would take about a 20 lbs. sample, crush it to a minimum 100 mesh, then split it into (cone and quartering will work if you don’t have a splitter) well mixed 2 lbs. sample sizes, to be sent off to 4 labs. Send a 2 lbs. sample size to three different labs for a precious metal fire assay and another 2 lbs. to the forth lab for a 55 or 70 element ICP-MS analysis. Take another 4 lbs. sample and do your own sieve analysis (tracking the pass/no pass info) down to -400 mesh. Then try your hand at manually extracting (panning, poop tube, sluice, e-towers, etc) any of the heavies at each sieve size. A microscopic examination of the heavies can be very informative. Keep the remaining sample for future references.

Without proper analysis of your ore body, you could easily wind up chasing your tail and spending a lot of unrecoverable money. Just my $0.02, but if you have any more questions, just ask.

Good luck on your project and I do hope it’s the Mother Lode for you.

John

[M_M]

Thanks for all your input John. It is much appreciated. Lots of good info there.

Finer sieves are next on my list.

[M_M]

Assay Report: No precious metals recovered.

The search continues....

[aussco999]

M_M:

Well, as too often happens the assay results are disappointing. By the visual appearance of your mineral samples, I would've also had to get them checked out. So,,, it's time to continue on to the next promising look-see spot.

Good luck,

John

[Tom2hunt]

What the other members say is right to essay the material. The gold could be down 10 feet or 100 or more feet. It will be an expensive expedition if you dig(excavate) and find nothing. Also read Jim straight books who is a geologist and gold prospector. The books might have some other answers to many question you might have. Good luck.

[russau]

if i had found some material just like that i would have done the same thing!