Still here

[gold tramp]

So few weeks back i found n dug a small pocket. ended up squeezin out and piling up about 200 lbs of ore.
Well this dig is like a 1000 ft down a 60 degree rough n rocky slope. Its another 2500 downhill maybe closer to 3500 to the nearest rd.

Today i was supposed to get it together walk down load my 20 lb burlap ore sacks with about 10 lbs each. grab 4 bags 2 in each hand and start the walk up to my rig. What i do is haul them about 75 ft this is about as far as i can before my arms get stressed.
I pile them up and head back down to the digg grab another 4 bags haul up to my pile.

Do this till i gets all the ore to the first station on my way to the top of the mnt. Once i get it moved i do it again another 75 ft or so up through snake infested boulders and loose rocky terrain very steep.
Mind ya the whole time im walkin it up im prospectin for that next lead. Anyways it takes a bit to geter to the top this gives youall an idea of how i get things done.

We got no rain and its gettin warm this means the bees will be on me all the way up to the truck that means hour n half or better of them dadgum critters buzzin me and stingin.
So i wait till a windy day to do this job keep them little suckers off me that way.

Still cant get pictures figured out on this device so use imagination or just look up dale mining district see some pics of what my area looks like.

Gt.......

 

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[gold tramp]

Got my ore hauled up. Once i got down to my pile it kinda shrank turned out to be 120 lbs. 9 bags and a short bucket.
My slope figures were slightly off it was more like a 48 degree still steep if theres no trail.
It was pretty windy and cold so no bees. anyways i goter done and had enough left in me to do some prospecting.

That lasted about 1 hour as the wind was a bit much.

Gettin closer to runnin the mill. Have some repairs to my primary crusher once thats done and a little luck findin pockets we have enough to make it worth startin up.

Test pic.
Cant figure out why the others here wont show up. Anyways heres a shot of my field assay kit.
This one sideways ? Ohwell at least i can get pics now..

View attachment 1570141

Gt......

 

[Assembler]

Nice rock crusher gold tramp.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Howdy Herb!

Been following your updates..man, I feel for ya bein' stuck
out in that heat with the bees..hate them little bastages..

Your new camera's taking good pics, but it is set for the largest
image size (huge file size), and that may be your issue. If you want
to PM me the phone/camera model I can suggest how to correct
the issue.

Still running the arrastra? Here's your manual crusher upright,
hope you're not planning to crush all 200 lbs. with it...

 

[gold tramp]

80 degrees today.
Just about 2 weeks away from 90s im not really ready. My skin is.
We had no winter here so been shirtless for weeks.

Got the whole tropical tan going early here.

As soon as i get my ore pile built up i will do my last run with the arrastra. Then it gets to be a flower bed.

Still lookin over the last areas that i havent really been to. They were just to far out for me to chk out and very course boulders. Not a lot of exposed or shallow bedrock which makes it easy to spy the mineralization.

Mostly thick covering of debris makes it tough to walk and even tougher to see places to dig in.
So alot of slow walkin lookin for that lead can put me on a pocket.

Next few weeks i got to do the steep stuff get it out of the way before the big heat gets here any luck i can get my ore buckets full have a good last arrastra run.

Will have some pics of diggin after i finish i have a couple guys following me out in the hills they go to my spots. been diggin my stuff. After i leave. im the one got permission to dig. Im hopin they caught my vibe last time they stopped where i was diggin.
So cant really show pics of diggins. The hills have eyes.

Thanks for fixin the pic mike.

Gt.........

 

[gold tramp]

Spent a few days on a dig finish up. Got another 150 bs or so ore in the pile.
Story of my life the gold shows up and is gone just as quick.
Micro pockets.

Its still fun diggin in on these litte dudes. These spots sometime gets real good for just a minute. Then the vein just dissapears without a trace.
Like it was never there. Weird.
Pinched out.


Also managed some walkin up high on the mnt. Found 2 small spots of mineralization . they had been found by 1800 guys.
they scratched a shalllow pit on one spot. The other was about 6 foot dig on what looked like to me a small veinlet of alaskaite. Kinda of a gallena lookin rock somtimes good silver.

I took samples crushed just in case. cause ya just dont know till ya see the glow.
Nothing yellow in my pan.

I looked real hard but found no other mineralized areas. So no need to ever go up that mnt again
Gt....

View attachment 1572069

 

[gold tramp]

So after many mill runs of the finishing table i end up with much heavys this would be a combo of my middle tales . midlins
And my amalgamated clean heavys from the first port on my table this would be the top line where you gets the best yellow.

The mids i table twice but much heavys are still saved by the table. We no throw away . this stuff is still worth somethin.
I have built up a pile of this stuff with my amalgamated tales its Like fast aproaching 2000 lbs.

All black sands as by product of millin hardrock.

Well what are we gonna do with it. We leach it. As this black sand and other heavys.it still has got a fair bit of gold values locked up in these grains of black.
And a lot of really super fine gold thats just next to imposible to get out of the mix.

Some copper n silver porobably not enough to be worth processing but in order to finish my story. The last mill run will be with any luck my old pachuka system from mitchels mill.

Not going into anything about leaching. Been told by mod somebody else could tell how that cabbage got ett even though it is my thread. Still Here.

So we will just wait till i geter finished buildin just show pics. Till then im repairing the wear plates on the primary crusher body its cast iron has to be protected. Also hardface on the jaw plates. Building a taller permanent base and new power source.

I will get some pics of this when i gets to burnin some metal (welding). Looks like i may not make the 3 oz goal and the gold pays for my book.

I still got another month or so till its real hot. With no real prospects to even add to the pile i need some good luck now more than ever.

Gt.....

Shot of some black sands middle tailins. This has been run across the table twice. I always do this with my midlins. That super fine gold likes to hang out in the black.

View attachment 1573224

 

[gold tramp]

Little look inside my smelter its a bit messy and will be worth crushing n panning when im finished with it. Kinda crude built but this aint rocket science and it does well for my needs.
Always use fresh crucible. This prevents leakage caused from cracks.

Thats why you see gold in the bottom of the unit.
Hope youall enjoy the pics gives one somethin differant to think about.

View attachment 1573498

Looks like it may be another week before i gets back out in the hills. Decided since i hadnt been on the skate ramp or a board in sometime. Like a couple years. I would carve it up!!

Well i got on my board started havin to much fun. Needless to say i hurt myself. Pulled a muscle in my belly area cant hardly move.
So no prospectin.
Gt...

Should of known better im a grown man.

 

[TAKODA]

Spent a few days on a dig finish up. Got another 150 bs or so ore in the pile.
Story of my life the gold shows up and is gone just as quick.
Micro pockets.

Its still fun diggin in on these litte dudes. These spots sometime gets real good for just a minute. Then the vein just dissapears without a trace.
Like it was never there. Weird.
Pinched out.


Also managed some walkin up high on the mnt. Found 2 small spots of mineralization . they had been found by 1800 guys.
they scratched a shalllow pit on one spot. The other was about 6 foot dig on what looked like to me a small veinlet of alaskaite. Kinda of a gallena lookin rock somtimes good silver.

I took samples crushed just in case. cause ya just dont know till ya see the glow.
Nothing yellow in my pan.

I looked real hard but found no other mineralized areas. So no need to ever go up that mnt again
Gt....

View attachment 1572069

" Its still fun diggin in on these litte dudes. These spots sometime gets real good for just a minute. Then the vein just dissapears without a trace.
Like it was never there. Weird.
Pinched out. "


"Pinch out" and "disappear" are terms I'm unfortunately well acquainted with in my neck Tramp .

Much luck to you ..... press on and give'm hell Tramp .

 

[gold tramp]

Nice course piece. Takoda
Seems when the vein starts pinchin thats when i start hittin the pyrite. gold drops off vein disapears.

Not always pinchin out somtimes vein runs strong width n long strike.
But same thing pyrite or sheelite starts showin strong gold is gone.

Just somethin i noticed. Wish i could find a nice long vein system that hasnt been hit to hard.
Diggin little mineralized areas on these veins its just like christmas.

Hope your doin well. Its playen out here in my district not much left hardrock.
Last good pocket 2 summers back.
Gt....

Still ridin the pine. So no prospectin and its gettin hot here now!!!

View attachment 1575204
Some old tins found all in stacked rock carnes.
Oldest top one paper inside 1895.

 

[gold tramp]

Not much update. Nobodys buyin right now so no parts to fix the mill.
Looks like im headin out prospectin keep the pile building till i gets the mill fixed.

With any luck it doesnt take to much longer to geter back running gonna be hot soon.
Been a long time since we ran the mill. Guess 6 months back hope the shaker table stills works ok.
It just sets out on its concrete anchor with a blanket over it through the year for all i know the rats built a nest up in it.

Not ready to start up so we just leave it till then.

Gonna head out with my little drywasher see if i can score some more placer crumbs. Poke around a little bit on my way out of the hills get some hardrock maybe.

Looks like we might be on another bad karma run hope it dont last to long.

Thats the way it goes being a gold tramp sometimes you got it. most times you dont.

Knew youall probably were wondering what those beads in the bottom of my smelter weigh in at little over 1gr. Didnt weigh the tiny one not pictured.

View attachment 1576941


Till next time.
Gt..

 

[gold tramp]

Cant edit my pics in this thread so just gonna let it go.
Happy prospecting.
Gt......

 

[Assembler]

Maybe if you can buy the hard facing rod 10lb box then your son can take his time welding one bead then letting it cool down to reduce the cupping etc. This is about building up the face on your jaw plates. Keep us posted.
Thanks

 

[gold tramp]

I see folks are still lookin at my miner geebrish.
Should i keep going here with the claudette mill story.
Or move on.
Gt.....

 

[Aufisher]

Keep at it GT! Gotta get my hard rock mining fix on!

 

[gold tramp]

Had to ditch the drywashin. if im gonna dig id rather it be hardrock.
Anyways Murphy just seemed to be doggin me and could only produce crumbs.
Time to get back to mill work.

Been cuttin n grindin metal getting all the pieces together for my crusher stand. Be ready to burn some metal next week i hope.
Wont show any pics of my fab work until i geter painted. That way you cant see the chicken poop. Welding is not really my bag but i can fix it in a pinch if needed and it holds up.

The only real prospects i have right now are of the prospect shaft type meaning i gotta sink a hole down into a known mineralized zone see if it will pay at depth.
Most times out here where i work they really dont go deep so it can all be for nothing as im not following a lead. Its more blind prospect i guess you could call it. On a hunch i have.

Mind ya there is nada on the surface im just in a small area of mineralization tryin to get down to some stuff left over on a dig that had good pocket.

The heat is finally here it will be 100 or better everyday for the next 5 months oh boy fun.

So jack hamer time sink in a shaft of 3 ft wide by 6 foot long by i hope deep as i can dig thats if at the point i intersect the known system i hit a bulge in the system and it goes deep.

If not theres a bit left down. I guess 7 ft. Its where i hope it bulges and i can go deep. So i wont get the skunk for my work.
There is a couple shafts in the area 30 ft so maybe i gets lucky.
They mighta just been prospectin who knows.
Till next time.
Gt...
View attachment 1587002

 

[Mad Machinist]

GT,

On the welding thing, concentrate on tying the sides in, the middle will take care of itself. Hold on the side for a few seconds, then move to the other side and hold for a few seconds. Try to stay on the leading edge of the puddle as you move side to side. if you do it right, you'll have the stacked dime look when your done.

 

[russau]

Well said MM !

 

[gold tramp]

Still cant edit my pics. so its like a tool fixed with duct tape im about to toss it out.
We started runnin the mill again kinda sad this time as this will be the last real run we do no more ore left.
What ive collected oughta keep us busy a few weeks well into the heat of summer.

Tablin tip...
Finishing table is slow proccess cant have flucuation in the feed. Has to be steady across the table the stuff we are washin here is as fine as talcum powder.
The pic with the screen. If you run much ore across the table this area acts as a nugget trap under the screen in the fabricated edge of the abs.
So wash the table with mister after long runs and always after running high grade ore.
One would be supprised at how much stays in this area.

And its a big no to thinkin i ever find a piece of gold stuck on or in the screen wire. Been runnin this table better than 10 years never once.
placer or hardrock. Lots of chunkys get through to the table but not over the screen.
The ones that dont fit through the screen stay in the corner of the feed point in a nice little pile. Take these out with a snuffer.

Back to my ramblins.
Actually my whole system is kinda slow but it dont cost much to run. with our cleanups we cant afford high cost.

Runnin off all the loose piles of crushed ore i have saved. oversized stuff from the beggining when we were tryin to get it right and a few buckets first run midlins i was savin for a rainy day. We dont have those here. So times good as any to geter done.
Took a break from fabricating. primary crusher is still a week or so till done.
My saved piles oughta keep us busy rest of this week. Regrind and washin ore (tablin). This will give us a good start to our amalgam ball and getin ready for the last pour at claudette mill n smeltery.

No rats in the table everything runnin fine. Dig update soon. pics when im finished diggin.

The hills have eyes.

Never know what we get oughta the hole till we hits bottom.

Thinkin bout ditchin the book idea for a few years. see if i can buy with or trade my last gold take for a minelab.
Go see ifin i can scare up a deepseated pocket the other minelabbers missed!!!!
Finish my book in style with a big gold find haaa.

Heres a couple pics.
Nice n toasty at the waters edge in the shade summertime here.
Gt...

 

[gold tramp]

Update from claudette mill.
Been regrindin the oversized stuff i had saved. this takes a couple hours in the arrastra to get all the ore refluffed and into pulp. By now its ground down to the size i feel i have released all values from my regrind.

End up with about 12 2/3 buckets of pulp this takes about 6 hours to table off. end up with a few buckets middle tails. And about 10 lbs super cons.
These supers goes straight to the amalgamator i get 3 charges with the 10 pound bucket. Middle tails run back across the table when finished with the run.
Heres a couple pics one is of a pan shows how little we are gettin. The otherthing i have no clue ?
The pan pic is a concetrated pan of 6; 10 seconds holds under the main port. Thats a good test # ive found give you a round about idea how much ones gettin off the table. I like to test every 15 minutes or so. More so if my pulp density changes a little.


You trump guys can laugh at me now that you see what im after. probably think its a waste of time. Poor mans gold show.(just funnin)

That would be 6 test pans. Anyways a 10 lb bucket yields a decent amount. With my pile it ought give a 3 gram bead. Its much work to get but millin gold is my thing here. Today we take the little bit we gets add to our poke and im a little closer to the 3oz goal. And the last pour at Claudette mill.
Man i cant hardly wait to start runnin actual ore.

Alittle better pick of the 3 ball contrivance, its my amalgamator. Will get a shot of it running when the ore run gets started.
Gt.