Bought paydirt on ebay 5 pounds only .12 grams, is this normal ?

[GoldMine21]

I bought for the first time paydirt. It was 5 pounds of Whiskey Petes Gold on ebay. I paid $27.75 for the 5 pounds and was super excited. I expected to get at least 10 dollars worth in gold but I only had .12 grams of gold. I sluiced it and panned it about 10 times. I couldn't believe how little was in there. I know paydirt is for learning experiences, but is this normal for 5 pounds of paydirt for that price ? He has such good reviews I assumed it would be good dirt. Is .12 grams a lot for 5 pounds of paydirt bought online ? Can you recommend anyone that has better paydirt ? Like I said I know its for learning experiences, but I still expected a bit more than that, or is this normal ?

 

[beerguy]

Selling dirt online sounds like a great business. Ebay, here I come!

 

[Hamfist]

WD-40 is perfectly safe to put on your skin. I've been using it to treat arthritis in my hands forever. Mechanics spray it on rags to clean their tools and it hasn't ever killed anyone. If you read the instructions on the can, it even plainly states it can be ingested orally without harm (Not Recommended).

The material safety data sheet for WD-40 suggests otherwise. It's not anywhere as nasty as a polar solvent (I don't wear gloves when I occasionally use it), but neither of those actions are recommended. The MSDS says to call poison control if ingested, and repeated or prolonged skin contact should be avoided.

 

[stephen583]

Now that is really funny! I have been sluicing since 1968, when I built my own sluice box out of wood. And if you are having muck in your cons, then you are not setting up your sluice right, as simple as that.

Do you think anyone reading these posts is stupid enough to believe plain creek water dissolves red clay ? Doesn't matter how you set your sluice up. If you're throwing unwashed earth onto it.. the clay is still gonna end up in your cons dummy.

 

[stephen583]

Not if you know what your doing. Sluices do not hold onto mud, muck,roots,clay or any other light material.

I run more material doing it my way. I catch more gold and do not have poor recovery. Everything you are stating is very uninformed and incorrect.

Stream sluices are not junk. They do exactly what they are supposed to and are quite affordable.

Doesn't matter what you think you know. If you throw raw dirt on a sluice, doesn't matter how you set it up either. All that junk isn't going to magically vanish like you claim, not unless you set your sluice up in a raging current.. and there goes your gold out the end along with all that other junk.

Buddy, I been operating my own homemade sluices for over 30 years.. and judging from your uniformed posts.. there ain't nuthin you can show me.

 

[Tuolumne]

big saga this thread- For as much views as this thread gets there should be a separate forum for pay dirt gurus and all the facets of that and you guys can get nerdy with it you know compare bags, and rate of return on investment ect.... the terroir of the mother load vs Alaska......wd-40 needs another thread too

Since were starting a new forum, we need sub group for gems and other pay dirt- Best pay dirt Ive had ever was from Himalaya tourmaline mine in Southern California, they have high grade bags that are worth it , you guys count your mircon dirt bags and Id rather blow some money and get some stones to facet

Himalaya Mine Dig

next best was another California mine for Benitoite California State Gem Mine - The California State Gemstone, Benitoite

The best gold dirt bag I blew some money on was from Nevada, maybe this bag bliss I enxperienced was from the included free pocket knife or the crystaline structure of the chuncky gold not rounded or flattened . https://northernnevadagold.com/products/paydirt

 

[nh.nugget]

I have a bit broader interpretation of what this thread is about. It's about buying junk LIKE "pay dirt" as well as being exploited my other miners. Like recommending the new guys buy stock aluminum sluices off the internet with lousy mats.

I don't classify as Gold washer says it will push 3'' rock! You want to gorilla mine? Come right out during our season feed this thing 100 5gal buckets! Maybe you should start a thread on how to buy crap on ebay.

 

[stephen583]

Anyone noticed Gold Hog's post #87 on page six where he's sitting on a sofa in front a television eating pop corn and Golddwasher tags "likes this" ? Dead giveaway. (Armchair miner's mutual admiration club).

Buy pay dirt off the internet recommended by Goldhwasher. I'm sure he hasn't had a good laugh in a while.

 

[stephen583]

I don't classify as Gold washer says it will push 3'' rock! You want to gorilla mine? Come right out during our season feed this thing 100 5gal buckets!View attachment 1417896 Maybe you should start a thread on how to buy crap on ebay.

No thanks. I don't accept invites to dig other people's dirt for them and lug it to their gummed up sluices where they are pocketing what little gold they can find in that muck. I wasn't born yesterday ! Been there, done that. That goes for you too Goldwasher. Dig and haul your own dirt.

 

[stephen583]

I'll be on Cascade Creek in American Fork come spring with my homemade sluice making $200 dollars a day. I won't start work till 11 AM and I'll knock off at 4 PM every day.. and I won't pick up anything heavier than a 2 quart bucket of concentrate either. So you gorilla miners have fun doing it the hard way.

 

[goldog]

Wow. So a cast iron sluice, Wd-40, some eggs (cooked on the sluice-love me some cast iron) and lots of time washing/classifying/"concentrating.

I've lost so many sluices over the years... I thought it was the fish oil.

Oh one last thing. Where do you guys put the paydirt? I try to get it into the red clay. I find pouring a good bit of the clayBgone makes getting the gold a little more challenging. And the fish seem to really enjoy it too.

 

[stephen583]

A fella at Cache Creek invited me and another guy to feed his sluice with raw dirt. We dug and hauled eighty five gallon buckets of dirt a day 15 yards uphill to that dirt bag. His equipment cost about twice as much as yours nh. Darned if he couldn't get just a $100 dollars a day worth of gold outta that marvelous equipment, even though we were working an eighteen hour day.

When he was confronted about it on the second day, he loaded up his equipment in the middle of the night and drove away. Sorry guys. I've already fallen for that scam once.. and once is enough. You're wasting your breath.

 

[stephen583]

Wow. So a cast iron sluice, Wd-40, some eggs (cooked on the sluice-love me some cast iron) and lots of time washing/classifying/"concentrating.

I've lost so many sluices over the years... I thought it was the fish oil.

Oh one last thing. Where do you guys put the paydirt? I try to get it into the red clay. I find pouring a good bit of the clayBgone makes getting the gold a little more challenging. And the fish seem to really enjoy it too.

Oh.. You can believe I'll have a can of WD-40 on me alright. There are only about a hundred practical uses for it. Keeping tent zippers working, fish bait, first aid, fire making, close personal defense weapon (I've heard there are big bears on Cascade Creek) fortunately they're covered with fur and they don't like blow torches much. Now a gun is a different matter altogether. You shoot an 800 pound charging bear with a gun, you better kill it.. cause it ain't gonna stop charging till it's stone DEAD ! I know. I've shot a brown bear with a .50 caliber rifle from 15 yards away. Staggered him back a moment, but it didn't STOP him.

I also used a can of WD-40 with a bic lighter in front of it against a 300 pound attacking black bear that ripped the side of my tent open one night in the La Plata Mountians. As far as I know, that black bear is still running for the hills without most of the hair on his face !

 

[Tony_agr]

As much as I hate to admit this , I bought paydirt from Felix, I will say that I ended up with 4 nuggets and much flake close to 14 grams, this is the absolute truth..It did cost $198 and I got 3 one pound bags from maybe 3 different claims? IDK
This was some promotion that they had, the only down side is that they now send me a bunch of junk mail (USPS not email)

 

[nh.nugget]

No thanks. I don't accept invites to dig other people's dirt for them and lug it to their gummed up sluices where they are pocketing what little gold they can find in that muck. I wasn't born yesterday ! Been there, done that. That goes for you too Goldwasher. Dig and haul your own dirt.

Must of been last night! Anyway you've been good entertainment. good luck with your poop tube and wd 40!

 

[goldog]

Why was the blond (goldog) starring at the bag of paydirt?

It said Concentrate.

 

[Goodyguy]

I agree with Stephen583 that running clean pay dirt is beneficial. The reason why is simple.
Gold has a much easier time dropping out of the laminar flow when the fluid it is suspended in is less viscous.

Some compositions of bank run material can thicken the viscosity so much as to cause gold to stay in the laminar flow all the way down and off the end of a sluice.
Anyone running a sluice, especially a recirculating system, should be well aware that too much viscosity causes gold loss no matter what sluice or mats they have.

Also any prospector worth his salt knows that clumps of clay will rob you of some of your gold.

Can you make up for your losses by running more dirty material instead of running less clean material? Perhaps and perhaps not. There are two schools of thought on this subject. In my opinion it depends upon the size of the gold. Bigger and rounder..YES. Smaller and flatter NO.

Given the choice I would much rather run clean classified material than dirty unclassified material and work less as Stephen583 suggests. But really it depends upon how much muck is in the bank run material as well as the quantity and size and shape of the gold in the material.

The point of classification is to keep the larger gravels that bounce down the sluice from knocking smaller particles of gold back up into the flow to be swept out of the sluice. Another reason is that any large rocks or gravels that stop in the sluice will cause a faster flow around them thereby sweeping more gold back up into the flow or preventing it from dropping out in the first place. Easy to prove. Just push a finger down into the flow next to a small piece of gold and watch it be swept away.

When all the particles in a sluice, pan, miller table, blue bowl, etc. are closer to the same size, gold always wins easily. There again easily proven.

As far as wd40 goes, personally I would not want it in or on any of my recovery equipment for the simple reason that like any oil it will cause flour gold to collect and float on top of the water and be lost. That is a fact and it's easy to demonstrate. Sorry Stephen583, But I have to disagree with you on that one.

As far as the home made clay-b-gone goes Stephen583 is absolutely right on the mark.
Stephen583 is also right about dish washing liquid it is a surfactant (reduces surface tension and stops flour gold from riding on the surface ) but of course due to sudsing you only use a drop or two. Laundry detergent also works just use it sparingly. Using too much Jet-Dry will also cause sudsing.



Stephen583 you are welcome around my campfire anytime along with all you other hombres, that is if y'all can keep down the bickering.


Go for the Gold
GG~

 

[deserdog]

Anyone who sluices knows it goes without saying you don't run clay through a sluice.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Being able to adapt and adjust work methods and equipment to differing conditions is key.
I run whatever material has the gold in it, using the most efficient method I have available.

I routinely run clay through a sluice box. Granted it was been scrubbed/washed/broken down prior.
I do not run clay balls through a sluice if I can help it.

 

[mikep691]

Getting this thread back on track, my NOT FOR SALE gravels are from the creek bottom, right off the bedrock. Mother Nature has already cleaned it for me. There is no bank run material or clay. Since we highbank, and it's set up right in the creek where we work, there is no need to classify as that's what a highbanker does for you. Nothing larger than 1/2" rocks hit the crash plate, and through the riffles they go. Black sands and gold are all that remain in the sluice. We usually run 4-6 hours per cleanout, depending if we need to relocate the highbanker sooner. 6pack is in the beer bag upstream for those thirty moments.

 

[Goodyguy]

Catching gold is easy, actually you can do everything wrong with most sluices and highbankers and still catch gold. I've seen it done. Wrong angle, wrong flow, backward riffles, clay, mud, no classification, wrong feed rate, etc. and if there is good gold in the material some of it will still be recovered if enough of it is fed into the equipment. Watching Todd on Gold Rush proves that.

The trick is, recovering 95 to 99% of what runs through, especially if it is all fines and flour and precious little of it in the material being run. That's when all the tricks of the trade come into play. Most would not even waste their time with such poor material. But here in the mid west, where most all the gold has been ground down to fine and micro size as well as flour and powder size from glacial transport covering hundreds and hundreds of miles, it's all we have to work with.

Here if you feed a highbanker for 8 hours straight and get a 1/4 gram of gold you had a good day.

GG~