I finally finished all my accumulated buckets of crushed ore, though I believe what I ran today were panning tailings. Before I got my sluice set up, I could only pan my crushed ore. I've mentioned how bad my panning can be. But I did get some gold this morning, though only about 1/3rd of...
Yes, it has layers, and in those layers is a lot of blackish material. And that blackish material has produced the best gold results for me. The whitish brownish, and yellowish layers also produce gold, but not as good as the blackish material.
Here's a picture of local ore from the Pit. I've already tested similar, and this type produces the most gold of anything I've found.
As I've removed more lower down, more blackish material pervades these nodules. And yes, they are found as harder nodules surrounded by softer material. It's...
Was out at the pit this morning. I managed two full buckets of the good ore. I also toted back 1/2 bucket of what looks like granite type rock that's starting to get crumbly. It also seemed to have glints of what looks like fool's gold, and possible ultra fine gold.
Normally I don't crush...
I use the 75 percent formula for figuring what my gold purity is, so my one ounce of placer gold is probably equivalent to .75 ounce of pure gold. So I really need another 1/3rd ounce of placer gold for my one ounce goal. Right now the area I've been working for placer is giving nearly...
I redid everything I've panned for the past four days, and came up with more gold than I got this morning. I'm not going to toss my concentrates anymore. I'm not a bad panner, but I've got a ways to go before anyone ever calls me an expert.
I weighed my amalgam glob after today's run. In...
Ran the sluice again today.
Panned the concentrates down, the dried them, and then classified them with 100, 200 and 300 sieves.
Nothing as far as I could tell in the 300 mesh and smaller, though I still ran the mercury ball through the material.
200-299 mesh and 100-199 mesh wasn't as good as...
Since I do three runs on the sluice per day (totaling about 3/4 five gallon bucket), I'm wondering if I could rerun the sluice concentrates I just got through the sluice? I'd have to put a clean bucket on the discharge end to ensure I caught the 4th run sluice tailings in case fine gold managed...
Arizau, Today I sluiced, and then classified using 100, 200 and 300 mesh sieves. Lots of work when they're only 4 inches diameter.
the 80-99 mesh produced about 20 specks
100-199 gave a nice little line of gold
200-299 gave an very nice line of gold
and the 300 and smaller material didn't show...
I just finished panning. I only saw what looked like 30-40 visible specks in my gooseneck 5X lighted loupe. I started out with about a 3/16 diameter mercury ball, and ended up with one over 1/4 inch. That seems to tell me there was a lot of invisible gold I couldn't even see when I checked...
Didn't go today. I was afraid I might not be able to climb out of the Pit. Staying home.
I just mucked out the bottom of the water troughs. Still dirt in the bottom, but very thin. What a pasty mess.
Also ran nearly a five gallon bucket of milled material. Have it outside to dry so I...
Went placer mining at the club claim, and nearly got skunked. I only managed 14 pieces around mesh 50. Not even enough to bother weighing.
Thought I'd go back tomorrow, but I think I'll go to the Pit for a few more buckets of good ore, if my body permits it. Seems I developed a kink over my...
For now, I'm delighted with what I'm getting, even if sometimes there's not but a very thin line of the yellow stuff. I figure the Pit will take me a very long time to work. I'm not like you Guys, where you can spend hours knocking rock. I don't have that kind of strength anymore.
Right now...
Assembler, the more thrown at me right now will only confuse me. I tend to give up a pastime when people press me with so much at one time.
I know you want to help. I just learn things as I go along, and don't worry about too many things at once. My goal is enjoyment, not making a living...
I've gotten gold from the pit every time except once. I've already determined which rocks contain what. The rock with the blackish streaks are fairly high grade, though most of it is that talcum powdered sized gold. The whitish rock with the brownish streaks is what I call higher grade low...
Will be a short day today. Just don't have the enthusiasm for some reason.
I reran the sluice tailings from yesterday, and basically got nothing. Won't bother again, as the effort for return is so small.
I also scooped out material in the trough right around the catch bucket, and reran that...
Hey guys, Went out to the Pit with my new hammer drill to see how it works. It worked great in most places, but was somewhat thwarted where the harder material with the dark ore is.
I found that working the sides around the dark ore was the best way to open things up enough that I could swing...
I've got a picture of my first weekend sluice run of about eight gallons of milled material. While the picture shows a nice gathering of the yellow stuff, the panning has driven me crazy. Simply put, trying to get it all in the picture just is too difficult, and I won't continue. I'll just...
I've finished up for the day. Just way too warm for me once it goes over 80F.
I ran 2.5 gallons today. So far the only gold I'm getting is the ultra fine and smaller. So it's going to take a lot to weigh anything.
I'm starting to understand the area's gold properties. My guess is that...
Finally got the sluice leaks fixed, except where the pump hose connects to the sluice. Will have to use a catch bucket, and live with that.
I ran the sluice material a second time to see if my method of introducing material in suspension to the sluice was possibly an error. Nope! All I found...