Gold Ore

[southfork]

A little sample that was found with a metal detector. Crushed by hand then panned to wash away some of the dirt and clay? The photo is macro so real small particles, but the quartz shows and what looks like iron and free gold. I think we need a small smelter to retrieve the values trying to speed up the recovery what's your thoughts ?

 

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[southfork]

Fantastic!! Glad you have help. I know about having that gold fix. You're fortunate to live so close to a mine. Do you own the mine? I would go everyday if I lived closer. Gas is way too expensive right now. I really need to learn just what is needed to do what you're doing. I keep thinking what you're doing is the smarter way to go, over Placer mining.

We don't own the mine from yesterday its public land / BLM

 

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[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

We don't own the mine from yesterday its public land / BLM

then we all own it, right?

 

[Tesorodeoro]

then we all own it, right?

Possibly. Just have to find the mine then take the risk of stepping in between a miner and their mine.

 

[southfork]

Back to crushing rocks after the sun comes up, I've had a run of breakdowns in our mini mill. First the ribbed mat in my sluice came unglued repaired and operational then the pump in the blue bowl died ordered new pump. Then yesterday one of the chains in mill gave up the ghost repaired but out of balance lots of vibration. I'll run a bucket of rocks today to see if it will mellow out, I have some ore to smelt for a change of pace and a gold fix Happy mining.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Back to crushing rocks after the sun comes up, I've had a run of breakdowns in our mini mill. First the ribbed mat in my sluice came unglued repaired and operational then the pump in the blue bowl died ordered new pump. Then yesterday one of the chains in mill gave up the ghost repaired but out of balance lots of vibration. I'll run a bucket of rocks today to see if it will mellow out, I have some ore to smelt for a change of pace and a gold fix Happy mining.

At least it's all happening at once. When you get things fixed, you hopefully will be good for a few months.

I imagine that working with rock to extract its god, is really hard on any equipment.

Enjoy this thread. It's inspiring me, but M-O-N-E-Y is in short supply at this house. Maybe I should at least dig in the O-T tailing piles to see if they left anything. That way, if nothing found, I haven't spent that scarce resource for nothing

 

[southfork]

At least it's all happening at once. When you get things fixed, you hopefully will be good for a few months.

I imagine that working with rock to extract its god, is really hard on any equipment.

Enjoy this thread. It's inspiring me, but M-O-N-E-Y is in short supply at this house. Maybe I should at least dig in the O-T tailing piles to see if they left anything. That way, if nothing found, I haven't spent that scarce resource for nothing

All you need to do a little rock testing is a steel mortar and pestle gold pan and water. I have a T-post pounder I turn upside down and a blunt digging bar to pound the rocks to dust. Ok on little samples but I don't last long lol. We test samples all the time to see where the gold is hiding splitting giant black oak rounds for firewood and rocks for gold.
Finding small amounts of micro gold.

 

[desertgolddigger]

All you need to do a little rock testing is a steel mortar and pestle gold pan and water. I have a T-post pounder I turn upside down and a blunt digging bar to pound the rocks to dust. Ok on little samples but I don't last long lol. We test samples all the time to see where the gold is hiding splitting giant black oak rounds and rocks today finding small amounts of micro gold.

I purchased one of those tube/plunger pounders, and tried using it. I was pooped in five minutes. I have a small sledge hammer and a 8x8x1/4 steel plate, but the pieces go flying. Tried to use an old towel, but the towel lasted just a few minutes. Breaking rocks into powder by physical means is really hard work. So far I've discovered that white quartz doesn't mean gold. There's got to be something else I need to look for besides white dirty quartz.. Eventually I will figure it all out.

 

[southfork]

I purchased one of those tube/plunger pounders, and tried using it. I was pooped in five minutes. I have a small sledge hammer and a 8x8x1/4 steel plate, but the pieces go flying. Tried to use an old towel, but the towel lasted just a few minutes. Breaking rocks into powder by physical means is really hard work. So far I've discovered that white quartz doesn't mean gold. There's got to be something else I need to look for besides white dirty quartz.. Eventually I will figure it all out.

Rusty powdery streaks and pockets can be in quartz is where the gold is hiding.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Rusty powdery streaks and pockets can be in quartz is where the gold is hiding.

Thanks. I'll look for that also.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Thanks. I'll look for that also.

You also need to be in a geographic region that’s known for free milling gold. The areas known for “Pocket gold” are areas you would be more likely to detect specimens. Lode gold or hard rock gold isn’t the same everywhere you go. The majority of the lode gold produced isn’t recoverable by us normal folks.

 

[desertgolddigger]

You also need to be in a geographic region that’s known for free milling gold. The areas known for “Pocket gold” are areas you would be more likely to detect specimens. Lode gold or hard rock gold isn’t the same everywhere you go. The majority of the lode gold produced isn’t recoverable by us normal folks.

This is the geology of out mining area: underlain by a variety of rocks, which includes granite, quartz diorite, banded gneiss, andesite porphyry and schist The quartz veins contain native gold, varying amounts of sulfides and iron minerals, and silver is abundant in some deposits. The veins are up to 10 feet thick and have been mined to depths of as much as 1200 feet.

We have one gentleman who left this Forum, that does work to extract the gold from the local rocks found at these mines. I think he said he has a hard rock mine, or at least works one.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

This is the geology of out mining area: underlain by a variety of rocks, which includes granite, quartz diorite, banded gneiss, andesite porphyry and schist The quartz veins contain native gold, varying amounts of sulfides and iron minerals, and silver is abundant in some deposits. The veins are up to 10 feet thick and have been mined to depths of as much as 1200 feet.

We have one gentleman who left this Forum, that does work to extract the gold from the local rocks found at these mines. I think he said he has a hard rock mine, or at least works one.

What about the processes used by the nearby mines to extract the gold? Free milling gold recovered by traditional gravity methods?

 

[desertgolddigger]

What about the processes used by the nearby mines to extract the gold? Free milling gold recovered by traditional gravity methods?

I couldn't find a whole lot. But they did use Mills to pulverize the rocks, and used huge vats. I know one nearby used mercury, as I actually found some in a wash just below the area they did the processing.

But enough, this is Southfork's thread, and I don't want to clutter it up.

 

[southfork]

The ore chute mine gave up some nice gold. I smelted some today real dirty ran it twice ended up with 15.5 grams today. The cupel was loaded with stuff? so, 33 grams so far still waiting on a pump to finish the cleanup. I finished crushing all the ore samples I see a lot of micro gold, but it takes a lot to weigh anything there could be gold in the cracks in the cupel I'll crush latter Happy mining.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Totally Awesome results!

 

[southfork]

Totally Awesome results!

The ore that the metal detectors squawked on had the largest amounts of free gold even though they were the smallest samples. I'm crushing a lot of rock for small rewards, but it adds up by the end of each week lol.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

The ore that the metal detectors squawked on had the largest amounts of free gold even though they were the smallest samples. I'm crushing a lot of rock for small rewards, but it adds up by the end of each week lol.

The turtle ALWAYS beats the hare. Slow and steady.

 

[southfork]

I went down to the new old mine to get a couple of samples. I found two big samples of what looked like the rock the gold has been coming out of. This stuff is hard as hell took some heavy bashing to break it up small enough to run through the chain mill. But it powdered up good lots of pyrites along with a little free gold right along the rusty oxidized fissures above and below the vein of pyrite little pecks of gold all across in the quartz. Only a little drip spring down here I don't think there was enough water to mill on site there got to be more gold I'll let the youngsters dig me some more rocks. My pump arrived I have the blue bowl running small returns from my samples but good gold from the metal detector finds. So far on all these old mines if the detector squawks on a rock it's almost a sure thing to have some gold. Takes a lot of smelting to free up the gold more pyrite's than I've ever seen so far on these mines. Happy mining

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

You also need to be in a geographic region that’s known for free milling gold. The areas known for “Pocket gold” are areas you would be more likely to detect specimens. Lode gold or hard rock gold isn’t the same everywhere you go. The majority of the lode gold produced isn’t recoverable by us normal folks.

I could go with 'geologic' but be geography is a whole different geranimal

 

[southfork]

Seth just returned from prospecting with the metal detectors in Northern Nevada. They found some gold and brought me a sack of gold / silver / Galena ore to crush the last photo is some of the unwashed gold 6 grams worth.