Glowing quartz helps locate gold?

[AlwaysBusyJ]

Okay I was doing some research and happened to run across this article about gold prospecting using thermoluminescence to help locate gold bearing areas. Some of this stuff is a little over my head so I was wondering if anyone here understands this better than I can. What I get from this, is you can take quartz and heat it up and depending on how bright it glows it indicates if it's more likely to be from a gold bearing area. The less it glows the greater the chance of finding gold. I would imagine to get precise temperatures and measures of the amount glow you would need lots of expensive scientific gear, but this was the first I had heard of this kind of technique so I figured I would share it here and see what you all had to say about it.


"Thermoluminescence (TL) of monomineralic separates have been widely used in various geosciences fields in order to trace the thermal history and aid in prospecting for gold deposits. Quartz is a ubiquitous mineral in the Shihu gold deposit, which is situated in the northern part of the Taihang orogenic belt in the North China craton (NCC). The deposit is hosted by ductile-brittle faults within an Archean metamorphic core complex of the Fuping Group. This deposit is characterized by gold-bearing quartz-polymetallic sulfides and quartz veins. New TL results have been obtained for quartz, in which four type-TL glow curves were identified. The gold-bearing quartz present type III glow curves that consist of two peak glow curves at the middle and high peak temperatures with the similar TL intensity. In addition, the cross-sections of peak temperatures and TL intensity highlight the valuable area where the Au-bearing quartz present weak TL intensity and low-middle peak temperatures. Our results significantly enhance the usefulness of quartz in metallogenic studies of the North China craton and as an indicator mineral in mineral exploration"

 

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[pippinwhitepaws]

fairly sure one would need a university science program to buy the tools necessary to pull that off.

 

[TerryC]

ABJ, I will stick my two cents in.... which is almost two cents worth more than I know of "luminescent" properties of quartz or other crystals. Piezolumenescence of quartz is very well known. That is the property of (quartz)crystal-controlled watches. It is very predictable and is the quartz property that the entire computer industry is based on. Quartz also displays the properties called Tribolumenescence and Fractoluminescence. If you take a thin crystal of quartz and break it in the dark, a small "flash" of light will occur. That light is called fractoluminescence. I will say, though, I have no knowledge of the thermoluminescence of quartz. I am not at all saying that it does not exist, just that I don't know squat about it. I, for one, will take the narrative you quote with a grain of salt if it is part of an add trying to get you to buy an item called a long range locator (for gold). Quartz is the most abundant mineral on earth. Some form of quartz is found in virtually every rock-type on earth. With that thought in mind, trying to locate gold using quartz's thermoluminescence would make for a lesson in futility indeed! Take care, my friend. (EDIT: piezoelectric is the property I should have mentioned... see, less than 2 cents worth of knowledge!) TTC

 

[oldbrundogg]

So to me in my ignorant opinion, why not, we sent a man to the moon remember? But as always the question would end up being whether or not cost effectiveness would make it worth while.
I say good luck to anybody in the search
OBD

 

[Jeff95531]

A new gold detector? Whoopie

 

[Seden]

ABJ,

The type of test you do depends on the type of gold bearing area you're looking for. If it's a vein (i.e. hardrock) then you can either look for float,pan, use a gold test kit (this is the one I've used:http://www.thegoldhunter.net/page4.html) or sell your gold teeth and buy a scintillator gamma detector off ebay. I bought my Scintillator from some poor geologist in spain when their economy crashed and let me tell you they are dead nuts on and easy to use! Now if you're looking for placer it's :sample panning or use a metal detector to measure the amount of black sand (iron). Generally speaking the more iron the better your chances of finding a decent placer deposit (I use a White's GMT but there are others that are newer that do the same probably better). If you're in the desert and looking for a buried placer deposit it gets a little more pricey:take small samples screened to -50 to -100 mesh,heat it up and measure the amount of mercury vapor or get a proton magnetometer and measure the variation in magentic field to determine the amount of black sand.

There are other methods and I don't mean to overwhelm you but just so you know. Have you read Geologist Chris Ralph's book "Fists full of Gold"?

Randy

 

[AlwaysBusyJ]

Thanks for the posts everyone, first of all I wasn't saying that I would or even could attempt to try this method, just hadn't heard of it before and thought it sounded interesting so I figured I'd share it with everyone. No the article wasn't part of some scheme to get unwary prospectors to shell out cash for some silly contraption or service guaranteed to find gold or anything like that. And I wasn't planning to purchase anything anyway. I like researching things and learning new stuff. Of course I don't believe everything I find online, I'm not a sucker and I wasn't born yesterday. I know enough to think this seems plausible with the right equipment and expertise, and also to know it's not a technique I'd be able to do or afford even if it does work. I'll stick with whats been working for me, just passing on something interesting I ran across thats all. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Hoser John]

Randy now a scintillator?? Are you still married?? Admire your dedication to the proposition that your gonna buy/try/borrow/use anythang and everythang that comes down the road. I still wish I could have gotten a hold of that unit the techies used on my claims from UCSLO utilizing radioactive isotopes for finding gold. Fun fact is we dowsed prior to their extensive 5 days of testing and came up with the same exact area of enrichment. So many toys and such a limited stay-respect as always bud-John

 

[rodoconnor]

Terry, the Piezo properties of quartz also are what makes an electric guitar pickup work. It takes vibration and converts it to a small electrical charge. What that has to do with gold mining I don't know.

 

[TerryC]

Terry, the Piezo properties of quartz also are what makes an electric guitar pickup work. It takes vibration and converts it to a small electrical charge. What that has to do with gold mining I don't know.

Tnx, Rod. I have three Fenders! Two are 4 string and a five string. I never equated quartz to the pick-up. ABJ: Sorry if my post hit a nerve. Didn't mean that to happen. Now, having posted that, someone will prove LRLs work. THEN I will be the first to endorse them. TTC

 

[AlwaysBusyJ]

ABJ: Sorry if my post hit a nerve. Didn't mean that to happen. Now, having posted that, someone will prove LRLs work. THEN I will be the first to endorse them. TTC

Don't worry about it, I didn't take offense or anything, just wanted to clarify I wasn't about to fork over hard earned cash on a gimmick. I got thick skin anyway. Plus if I ever do plan on doing something dumb and I post it here, I'd expect you guys to call it like it is!

 

[Seden]

Hoser,

I just tried sending you a private message but nothing showed up in my sent box so I'll post it here. You are most welcome to borrow and use the Scintillator for as long as you want. No worries if it gets broke either, I bought it for a song, used it to find hidden old mines and now it just sits in my garage collecting dust(I am a placer prospector first, and part time miner 2nd). Nothing would make me happier than to have someone of your caliber,years of experience and a real miner get some practical use out of it.

Randy

 

[Jeff95531]

And thanks for the like Terry. I thought it was funny even after I sobered up.