metal detecting silver ore !

Ism

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Jun 17, 2009
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Michigan
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Whites TDI
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My brother's friend brought me a couple specimens of silver ore to test my Whites TDI on when I was in AZ. It couldn't detect the ore samples.
Not sure how a VLF would have responded. From what I understand silver is mostly found in raw ore that must be refined to extract the silver.
 

Tom_in_CA

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Mar 23, 2007
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Salinas, CA
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Seems everyone is talking about gold nuggets/ore veins.
Has anyone ever located silver ore while metal detecting ?
Any tips on detecting for silver ( raw, not coins )?:icon_scratch:
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No. I don't believe silver ore (soil that can be refined/processed to produce silver) will be detectable. Because, afterall, then it's just like a mineralized soil. It's just microscopic, that has to be crushed, processed, etc... to even get the silver out, to begin with (not like there's any "nuggets" or "flakes" of silver in silver ore. It's only a mineral content in some soils). Same with placer gold (vs nugget gold): It takes truck-loads to get to the gold within that amount. So it has to go through mills, crushers, processing, etc....

Not sure if silver appears in nature in nugget form or not (as gold can), or if strictly has to be processed from soil/rock.
 

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golden ray

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Jan 30, 2013
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Nevada
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I keep thinking that silver would be some what like gold, in that gold
is undetectable in the form of micro gold, small flakes, etc. But can be MD
when in the form of nuggets & nice size veins.
Silver runs in veins & I'm sure some must be fat enough to be detectable !!!
Hope to one day find out.
 

jmoller99

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Jan 8, 2010
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Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
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It all depends on the Silver Ore. In Colorado, there are hundreds of silver mines that were abandoned after around 1893 (when the US government stopped propping up the price of silver and it became unprofitable ship for processing). Many of these mines also found gold in the same veins. If they had gold, they tended to sort, then dump all but the most valuable silver bearing ore. As a result, you often find presorted silver ore tailings dumps in a mining area where it was not profitable to ship that ore. Makes for easy pickings if you know what that ore looks like. A good clue to do further evaluation is of the rocks/ore that you pick up is especially heavy for its size - If its not Galena (high lead content), you may have valuable minerals in that sample. Use a GPS to track where you found each sample and when you process it further - you will know where you are likely to be able to return to find more.

As for detecting the ore - sometimes the silver is tied up in sulphates (expensive to process and your detector won't pick it up), or in Galena (ie lots of lead - detectable, but very low conductivity, however some galina ore samples have high silver content), or somewhat closer to a more pure silver content (easy to detect). I have been collecting silver ore samples from many places in Colorado - I have found that there are many places that you can detect silver ore with a detector. Your best bet is to start learning more about the silver found in the area you are looking. There are few places that want to process sulfide based silver ores (and you might not want to if you can avoid it), but some ore may be easier to process (and you might be able to do that your self).

You will need a detector that can be ground balanced (a detector that has a prospecting mode usually has this), because these ores occur in highly mineralized ground.

As always, find out if there are valid claims in any area you are looking and don't trespass on someone else's claim to prospect.

There is always the possibility of you collecting several hundred pounds of silver ore that could make you some real money with material someone else mined and threw away over a century ago.

Jim Hemmingway has written some great artcles on the subject of finding Silver with a detector (It helped me a lot).
 

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golden ray

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Jan 30, 2013
215
90
Nevada
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Gold Bug Pro
& Lobo
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks for the input.
While silver may not be the nobleist (spelling) it can add up over time.
I also keep a sharp eye out for any gems,meteorites,out-of-place looking
stones,etc.
 

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