Do you guys wash your rocks?

[Dallasb84]

Just curious if you guys wash your +3/4" rocks when working a bank. I found some gold clinging this weekend to rock i would normally toss. I set aside a half full bucket of water and filled it 3/4 the way with greater than 3/4" rocks. Shook the bucket quite aggressively to wash the rocks and panned what was in the bottom. Found quite a bit of fine colors at the bottom. Is there an easier way to do it without a trommel or grizzled high banker?

As of late I'm only using my finishing sluice in the field.

What are your methods or do you just chunk em?

 

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[kingskid1611]

Is this a personal question?

 

[TrashureSeeker]

Most days I'm far too lazy to shave, let alone wash my rocks!

 

[coolfinie]

@Dallasb84
If you don't wash the oversize you're going to be playing catch and release with up to 10% of your gold, depending on the nature of the material.

It matters most where the rocks have a clay coating in their indentations and wrinkles. It matters less in "clean" gravels. I work on the idea that the farther from the watercourse I'm working the more need there is to wash everything thoroughly.

If you are using pans only, a big pan 17" or more can really shake and wash those oversize, it takes only a few seconds, sweep the oversize top 2-3 inches out with your hand, repeat, and then pan what has dropped to the bottom of your pan in a more conventional fashion. This is a workout.

Again with manual methods, tossing oversize into a water bucket for a final swirl around works. The bucket method is less satisfactory for getting the cleaned oversize out without dumping the nice bits at the same time! (You can do a panning action in the river at water level to roll the oversize out and keep the lowest material in the bucket) Better to dunk rocks in a perforated bucket within a slightly larger water containing bucket. Then the oversize can be discarded quite fast.

The lowest effort method I've found (again manual methods) is to put the big pan underwater in the shallows in slow-ish water, with it's riffles at the downstream side, (metal pans sink better but a plastic can be held with two rocks downstream and either side of it with a gap between them to let current through) then submerge a 1/2" classifier into it and classify the oversize into the big pan. The lights will wash away in the current, but your fines will go vertically down into the pan. A submerged classifier cleans rocks very effectively. You can work 3-4 fills of classifier and then pan what you get out once.

But all extra steps introduced into your processing reduces the amount of material washed and reduced. Let the material be the judge. Your original post suggests it may be worth your while to do something like this.

 

[Hoser John]

Just like the chinamen in daze of old, throw'm in a bucket and rinse at days end or whenever full enough for you to handle and give a rinse. Nice gold to be found if the ground is productive. John

 

[utah mason]

I would wash everything. I use a Marshall town wire brush to clean out the nooks and crannies.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Just like the chinamen in daze of old, throw'm in a bucket and rinse at days end or whenever full enough for you to handle and give a rinse. Nice gold to be found if the ground is productive. John

Exactly what I do too. Well worth it for both peace of mind and gold take.

 

[Goldwasher]

I would wash everything. I use a Marshall town wire brush to clean out the nooks and crannies.

ick try to use nylon brushes...if you ever go back to detect a spot you hit with a wire brush you will curse your self all day long

 

[Goldwasher]

thats why i rake and scrape wash or brush rocks in the hole whenever you can. obviously dry holes are a different think. many times my rock wash bucket wasn't all that impressive considering the time spent. I don't have a wash rock bucket anymore.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I no longer wash my rocks of while out prospecting. Why you ask? I'm in the desert and water is at a premium in the field. I do however brush them off with a stiff nylon brush. It works but is not as effective as actually washing them with water. If I find a good area that warrants hauling in water and running the re-circ system, I set up a bucket of water and wash any rocks that have clay stuck to them. Other than that I still just hit them with the dry brush.

 

[Dallasb84]

Cool thanks for the responses. I sorta just wanted to make sure I wasn't over doing it.

 

[utah mason]

ick try to use nylon brushes...if you ever go back to detect a spot you hit with a wire brush you will curse your self all day long

I don't do any metal detecting. So I'm usually not to concerned about that. But thats a dang good point if you are going to be detecting. I do also carry a nylon parts cleaning brush I use as well. But the metal brush is a little quicker.

 

[hunterbill]

I run 2'' and smaller straight through the box, Throw oversize rocks as far away as I can. The GOOD gold is on and in BEDROCK. Clean as many square feet as you can in a day and hit it with the gold bug once in a while. Think square feet, not cubic yards. The sluice is just a place to dump the trash and get it out of your way. It's not what you loose that matters, it's what you have at the end of the day that counts. Many people get so mesmerized by little specks when there are chunks to be had. But, of course, that all depends on what kind of place you are working. In general I think people play with their rocks way too much.

 

[deserdog]

On one of GPAA's clains, the Little Crystal, I have washed the large tailings from the dry washers in a bucket of water with a brush. In 3" of material that was washed off the larger rocks I got more gold than a full bucket of the raw material.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Rocks needs baths too, especially when living in Bedrock

 

[Tuolumne]

my bazooka washes the big rocks pretty good, then I metal detect the tailings, nothing gets missed so far........I dont want to wash or separate or classify and waste my time or energy more than I have too.....