SaltwaterServr
Sr. Member
A few more vids from this weekend. I ran my Garrett ATX through the mine looking for hot spots. It sang at 5 different areas, two of which I didn't expect. I don't know if that is indicative of there being a tight pocket of gold in there, a nugget in the walls, or what.
I thought the specular hematite might be setting it off, but I ran it at the cut face where there's so much of it in the walls if you touch it you end up looking like a goth stripper. It didn't actually ring there. The second video will show you the third spot where the ATX went off.
This is then the second spot. This was the first of two spots that didn't the massive limonite and possible orpiment deposits where the detector sounded on.
This spot was very encouraging as the vein here is about 2-3' wide give or take which means a very low waste
re ratio. Realistically you'd like to as close to zero as possible in so far that you're mining only ore thereby maximizing your profits against labor rates.
This third video is where I found the first, and only to this point, bit of mine graffiti in the entire mine. I also measured the second biggest vug in the mine.
The deepest vug measures 44" deep from the sill to the bottom as shown below.
That said, I don't really classify this as a vug per se as it is a gap in the rock due to seismic activity rather than a cavity due to hydro-thermal processes. Additionally, there seems to be no mineralization within the cavity which is again a byproduct of the void being formed by seismic rather than hydro-thermal activity.
I spent the rest of the day digging out the portal which will be continued until the weather shuts us down in a month or so. The goal being to be able to come back in the fall and start the rehab process within the mine.
I thought the specular hematite might be setting it off, but I ran it at the cut face where there's so much of it in the walls if you touch it you end up looking like a goth stripper. It didn't actually ring there. The second video will show you the third spot where the ATX went off.
This is then the second spot. This was the first of two spots that didn't the massive limonite and possible orpiment deposits where the detector sounded on.
This spot was very encouraging as the vein here is about 2-3' wide give or take which means a very low waste
re ratio. Realistically you'd like to as close to zero as possible in so far that you're mining only ore thereby maximizing your profits against labor rates. This third video is where I found the first, and only to this point, bit of mine graffiti in the entire mine. I also measured the second biggest vug in the mine.
The deepest vug measures 44" deep from the sill to the bottom as shown below.
That said, I don't really classify this as a vug per se as it is a gap in the rock due to seismic activity rather than a cavity due to hydro-thermal processes. Additionally, there seems to be no mineralization within the cavity which is again a byproduct of the void being formed by seismic rather than hydro-thermal activity.
I spent the rest of the day digging out the portal which will be continued until the weather shuts us down in a month or so. The goal being to be able to come back in the fall and start the rehab process within the mine.
