🥇 BANNER 153 lbs of Silver.

cryptic

Full Member
Oct 10, 2009
174
144
🥇 Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Went metal detectecting in the old silver tailings around here and I got a great signal on the F75. It came in at around 67 on the screen. Oh great another piece of tin i thought to myself. Oh well, dig everything because you never know what it might be. After about 35 minutes of digging and having the hole collapse in on me many times I finally saw the target. It was a nice pink coloured rock. That is a good sign since around here a lot of silver has Cobalt in it. That is one of the ways the miners would find silver veins back in the old days. Anyways, after finally digging it out, I couldn't lift it out of the hole. It was too heavy for me. It was also a very deep hole. I had to get a ratchet strap from my truck and pull it out of the hole. It is so heavy that I could hardly carry the thing over the tailings piles and through the bush. I ended up dragging it most of the way with the ratchet strap which finally gave in and broke apart from the abuse. I ended up rolling/carrying it the rest of the way. When I got home I found out the true weight of it. It weighs over 150 lbs. I still have to clean it up. It has cobalt and calcite in it and I estimate it to be at least over 75% silver. I rubbed it up a little bit to show some of the silver. It still has to be cleaned. :hello2:
 

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Upvote 48
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cryptic

Full Member
Oct 10, 2009
174
144
🥇 Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Went back out to the same place for an hour and a half. Found five more pieces and the largest is about 4 pounds. I will continue to hit this spot when more time is allowed. I'm not sure if I should get an assay done on it or just leave it as it is. I would hate to ruin a nice specimen by having a hole drilled through it or having to break a piece off. What do you all think?
 

NeoTokyo

Bronze Member
Aug 27, 2012
1,803
1,580
Redding
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Eyes - Nokta FORS Gold - Fisher Gold Bug II
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Post some pics of the "SMALL" chunks that you found. :D
Good to see that there is still more out there.

I wouldnt want to damage it either as such a large specimen.
 

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cryptic

Full Member
Oct 10, 2009
174
144
🥇 Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Tomorrow i will take some pictures in the daylight and post them. :)
 

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cryptic

Full Member
Oct 10, 2009
174
144
🥇 Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Jim and I were out detecting about a week ago :)
 

strateloss

Sr. Member
Aug 21, 2012
266
111
NJ
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX3030, E-TRAC, ProFind25, Garrett Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
What an amazing find!! Banner for sure!! Good luck finding more
 

sonofadigger

Bronze Member
Apr 22, 2012
2,201
783
SOMEWHERE
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MINELAB E-TRAC MINELAB SAFARI TEKNETICS OMEGA 8000 GARRETT AT PRO GARRETT PRO POINTER VIBRA PROBE 580
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I would wait on the banner nods until proven its silver and how much if you really think its silver then send it in and have it refined
 

shepcal

Full Member
Mar 19, 2003
217
149
Oakhurst,CA
Detector(s) used
modded 4500, CTX30-30, Gold Monster1000
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Before I did a whole lot of 'cleaning', might suggest getting the smaller chunk done and confirm, then contact various silver conglomerants (sp?) and see if they might be interested in the specimen. And unless you're short of cash, after you check the whole hillside!
I'm pulling for ya!
Shep
 

FoundInNC

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2012
458
637
Mebane, North Carolina
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
4
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold and AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Why don't you just take one of the smaller pieces to a jeweler and have them test it for silver content? If it tests positive for silver I am voting banner. I am sure the small pieces are of similar structure and composition to the big piece. Lets wait on pinning it to the banner until we see if it passes the test! I hope it tests positive for silver. That would be the find of a lifetime.
 

detectahead

Silver Member
Dec 1, 2007
2,563
872
Western, N.C.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Equinox 600, Bandido UMax II, Fisher F5, Tiger Shark, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We want to no!!!! Big congrats!
 

Jason in Enid

Gold Member
Oct 10, 2009
9,593
9,229
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Why don't you just take one of the smaller pieces to a jeweler and have them test it for silver content? If it tests positive for silver I am voting banner. I am sure the small pieces are of similar structure and composition to the big piece. Lets wait on pinning it to the banner until we see if it passes the test! I hope it tests positive for silver. That would be the find of a lifetime.

This isn't a gold nugget, there is a world of difference between silver ore and solid silver. A jeweler wont be able to test ore. He needs to send it in to an assayer. obviously a smaller piece should work, but an assayer can show the actual composition.
 

bay pirate

Full Member
Aug 26, 2012
203
169
Mobile Bay
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT Pro
How's the ole ticker this morning? Is it still in heart-a-stroke mode or what? Mine is just from reading your your story. I can't wait to see the whole story unfold. I'm on the edge of my seat. Talk about a cliffhanger. I'm pulling for purity
 

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cryptic

Full Member
Oct 10, 2009
174
144
🥇 Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Trying to get some good pictures for everyone but my camera is not cooperating. I did get a couple decent shots. The one on the right is the piece that I found in the same hole as the big one. Will keep everyone posted with any results. :)
IMAG0343.jpg IMAG0340 (1).jpg
 

strickman

Bronze Member
Jan 27, 2008
1,865
115
Villa Rica georgia
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gold bug pro,garret,whites,tesoro,bounty-hunter,,.....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I would wait on the banner nods until proven its silver and how much if you really think its silver then send it in and have it refined
It's good silver ore ! I know who he went with . They know what they are doing , they know what comes out of that area . I have seen some . It might not be solid , but it is rich ore ! Rich enough for BANNER!
 

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