Breaking slate

[Hangtowndiggins]

Got back out to the creek today with my diggin buddy Aufisher. Both of us were tired and hurting from hiking and digging the day before but that didn't matter as much to us as having a action packed gold gettin weekend did. Hammered a small creek full of exposed jagged slate bedrock. Picked away at the rock for about 5 hours unlocking gold and wet classifying at a half inch. I ended up leaving with about 3/4 of a bucket full of material to pan at home, panned about a quarter of it down before I had to call it quits due to a splitting headache and back was killing me! But so far the color ain't bad, can't wait to see what the rest of the bucket will yield! The pic of the gold is from about four pans full but will update as I go. Thanks again for meeting back up to dig Aufisher, had an awesome day can't wait to hit it again!

 

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[Hangtowndiggins]

My apologies for the sideways pictures...

 

[Aufisher]

Nice work! Hope for toads in the buckets!

 

[Lanny in AB]

I've got some nice nuggets from cracks in the slate before. Keep at it and let us know what the final result is.

All the best,

Lanny

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

Thanks for the kind, encouraging words fellas, and thanks for the interest Lanny I appreciate all of your inspiring posts! Well panned the rest of the bucket down, didn't produce as well as I expected, but hey can't win em all, I still had a good time, got a little new color and didn't slice myself on that shape slate so Im happy. Already can't wait to get back out for more

 

[Aufisher]

Cool pan shot! You know your a pro when you can pan out that stuff!

 

[goldenmojo]

Got back out to the creek today with my diggin buddy Aufisher. Both of us were tired and hurting from hiking and digging the day before but that didn't matter as much to us as having a action packed gold gettin weekend did. Hammered a small creek full of exposed jagged slate bedrock. Picked away at the rock for about 5 hours unlocking gold and wet classifying at a half inch. I ended up leaving with about 3/4 of a bucket full of material to pan at home, panned about a quarter of it down before I had to call it quits due to a splitting headache and back was killing me! But so far the color ain't bad, can't wait to see what the rest of the bucket will yield! The pic of the gold is from about four pans full but will update as I go. Thanks again for meeting back up to dig Aufisher, had an awesome day can't wait to hit it again!View attachment 936605View attachment 936606View attachment 936607View attachment 936609

That creek has no chance against you two! Great Looking Gold!

 

[golden sluice]

Great job on finding that gold. Looks like a good spot. If your tall like me, back pain drives me crazy... this exercise help me so much im telling anyone who has back pain. Just lay flat on the floor face down and place your hand straight above your head. Li,e you are diving. Now lift your left arm above off the ground, and your right leg off the floor at the same time. Hold it till you cant or 20- 30 SECONDS. then do the other and the same. Then get up slowly and stretch out. You should feel better after.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Clearly, your perseverance paid off... nice gold!

Also, pics show correctly at full size.

 

[Aufisher]

Here is my take! Ha! Lol!

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

Thanks mojo, This creek doesn't look like much but it's kind of a pain. One time broke a good crack apart and went home with about five times more then this time. This was the first time I've been there in about ten months, being a seasonal creek with this drought I thought it would be dried up and planned to crack slate in the low line but I was wrong, forced us to work up closer to the bank where the gold isn't as concentrated at this particular spot, but we did what we could.
Thanks Golden Sluice, back is feeling much better today. Thanks for the advice, it sounds a lil crazy, but hey sometimes crazy works lol. Ill keep it in mind
Thanks Dizzy, I expected more, we sure tried hard but that's how it goes sometimes.. I mean most of the time lol. Thanks for the heads up on the pictures, glad they at least work in full size.
Aufisher lol, sorry bud! I guess you broke all the wrong cracks just let me know when you would like some revenge at this spot... If ever lol. But hey it's a new spot to you with a different kind of mining so can't expect much at first. Panning that slate is a pain but the trinity bowel definitely helps, once gold drops in the trap it doesn't come out until you tell it to, It takes a sec to get used to but I recommend it.

 

[Aufisher]

Thanks again Hangtowndiggins!

 

[fowledup]

Aufisher, sorry to change the subject but I just noticed you have a goldmaster v/Sat. Don't see many of us with them. How do you like it? I love mine, it's a 95 model. It may be a bit old and out of date but it works well for me where I'm at, better then the Eureka Gold I was using.

 

[Aufisher]

Love the VSAT! Will find the tiniest piece of metal you can imagine! TrinityRay says you can hear the pilots talking on the radio as they fly above sometimes! That's gotta count for something! Lol

 

[Follows Camp Craig]

Ha ha, Thanks fowledup.
I thought I just fell for the oldest trick in the book.

I was looking as hard as I could in those pics for a goldmaster VSAT.
It took me 2 minutes to figure it out.

HangTown and Aufisher, thanks for sharing the adventure.

 

[Aufisher]

Crazy pan you got there. I would like to see it in action!

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

Broke free again today for a few hours, decided to try some Sunday luck working slate. Broke, classified and panned a bunch, and got just a few specks With one hour left I decided to switch it up and scrape out some crevices. Probed around and found a few hidden cracks full of material and covered in moss, cleaned em out straight into the pan and salvaged my little trip. Gained some good confidence to do well at this spot next time, the gold isn't much but not bad for last efforts. Took a couple pictures so figured I would share. Was cool to find four little pieces covered and stuck together with mercury

 

[Jeff95531]

Damm that's chunky! When you say you probed around and found hidden full cracks that were covered by moss......could you give us some more details how you decided to look there and find it? How far above the current water level were you?
Thanks for sharing Hangtown.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Nice job using your "spidey sense" to zoom in on that spot, impressive always nice to see an experienced miner showing the way!

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

Hey thanks Jeff, always glad to share! Was a bit frustrating after a couple hours of breaking exposed slate, classifying and panning close to the bank, above water and wasn't getting anything but specks thought i would at least get a couple pieces of flood.. Decided to rethink what I was doing and take a look around. Found some smooth slate just above water much closer to the low line in the creek, looked like a good little area and looked like it could be holding some small hidden cracks, got my little scraping tool and literally poked around and sure enough, cracks! Broke the sides away to widen them, scraped down until bottoming out about one inch into the tan clay. Cracks filled in with water and ran outta time so sure I didn't get it all. Here's another pic that might give a better idea of how close it was to the current water level. Thanks for asking and good diggings to you Jeff!
Thanks Kevin, I appreciate it! "Spidey senses"... I like it lol. Not a whole lot for experience yet. Only a year and a couple months into it and can only manage to get out on average of four times a month for now. Mostly learning as I go but happy to share my little adventures and hope it helps some other newer guys at least a little. Thanks for the kind complements
AU, think I have this spot figured out, let me know when you want to hit it again!