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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[BoulderTroll]

That piece of gold is a beauty!

Is that a wolf print? Looks like a bid dog

 

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[southfork]

That piece of gold is a beauty!

Is that a wolf print? Looks like a bid dog

Thanks maybe someone has a wolf hybrid or a giant dog. I was walking down our road and seen a big hole through the fence the single track was on a gopher mound.

 

[southfork]

This is the rest of the gold from the other day still panning lots of dust still in the white sands. Real dirty grind like red mud no black sands and full of real small gold. I hope there's tons of this rock at the new spot. I weighed this but can't find my notes around a pound.

 

[desertgolddigger]

This is the rest of the gold from the other day still panning lots of dust still in the white sands. Real dirty grind like red mud no black sands and full of real small gold. I hope there's tons of this rock at the new spot. I weighed this but can't find my notes around a pound.

If this gold you have is as small as mine, then you need millions of the gold particles to make an ounce. I collected this tiny stuff for 2 1/2 years, and managed only 6.6 grams. I haven't even melted it down to rid if of some of the impurities. I'll probably be lucky to get 5 grams. Each speck counts towards your total. But these will only supplement your normal finds. Probably why I went back to placer mining. Just collect this gold dust for a few years, then see what you get.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Thanks maybe someone has a wolf hybrid or a giant dog. I was walking down our road and seen a big hole through the fence the single track was on a gopher mound.

I'd agree. Big canine, and far too large for coyote.

Do you have wolves in your area?

 

[southfork]

If this gold you have is as small as mine, then you need millions of the gold particles to make an ounce. I collected this tiny stuff for 2 1/2 years, and managed only 6.6 grams. I haven't even melted it down to rid if of some of the impurities. I'll probably be lucky to get 5 grams. Each speck counts towards your total. But these will only supplement your normal finds. Probably why I went back to placer mining. Just collect this gold dust for a few years, then see what you get.

We get grams from each rock sometimes an once or more. I try and anyways place something for size comparison and what's still in the sands I use mercury to pick up the small stuff. If the detector sounds off its a pay day rock. I don't try to weigh the fines they just go into the amalgam. When it gets thick its retort time. In my spare time I crush random rocks trying to find where this local gold is coming from without digging the whole mountain.

 

[southfork]

I'd agree. Big canine, and far too large for coyote.

Do you have wolves in your area? View attachment 2182025

Maybe we do now lol. We have Bears and mountain Lions for sure we have tweakers also far more dangerous.

 

[southfork]

If this gold you have is as small as mine, then you need millions of the gold particles to make an ounce. I collected this tiny stuff for 2 1/2 years, and managed only 6.6 grams. I haven't even melted it down to rid if of some of the impurities. I'll probably be lucky to get 5 grams. Each speck counts towards your total. But these will only supplement your normal finds. Probably why I went back to placer mining. Just collect this gold dust for a few years, then see what you get.

If you have a lot of small gold and the conditions are right like dry. Maybe start using the dry washer again you're in the right part of California for it maybe you already are Happy Mining

 

[desertgolddigger]

If you have a lot of small gold and the conditions are right like dry. Maybe start using the dry washer again you're in the right part of California for it maybe you already are Happy Mining

This gold is too tiny (smaller than 180 mesh) to be caught with a drywasher. It has to be carefully sluiced sluiced.

 

[southfork]

This gold is too tiny (smaller than 180 mesh) to be caught with a drywasher. It has to be carefully sluiced sluiced.

Working slowly with classifying screens just experimenting with micro gold I think it's starting to pass through a screen marked 100 microns? and one smaller I took a few macro photos with my phone if there weren't hundreds of specks they're not visible without a loupe. Same sample as above I need a new stack of screens. We normally run everything through stacked screens on a five-gallon bucket with soap and water on larger samples then pan or micro sluice each layer slowly. There's still micro gold hiding in the white sands I can melt out or mercury and a retort or with chemistry that takes some careful study.

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[russau]

It's certainly a thrill every time ! The joys of prospecting !

 

[southfork]

I got tired of testing a little mercury ball picked up all the micro gold and is going into the mercury jar saving for the retort. Very little magnetics / black sands

 

[southfork]

Micro Gold
61 degrees sunny no wind cleaning the Blue Bowl catch bucket it is bone dry, so I dumped into a pan. The bottom of the plastic pale had a layer stuck to the bottom I used a small paintbrush to clean the bottom out. About a couple tablespoons of super fine dust panned with water and jet-dry dishwasher anti spotting solution a little gold showing along the edge couple pounds of this to clean. This is the waste material that climbs the cone and drops into the catch pail contains a lot of micro gold. The rest of this material will go through micro screens to concentrate for collection.

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[southfork]

Storm coming back yard mining shutting down for a while I need to cover things up. But the samples are looking good. Changed my mind sunny and 56 degrees I washed yesterday's blue bowl concentrates out and panned for a quick look. I'm feeding the blue bowl again seems it worked ok on the slims and regrinds I added,

 

[southfork]

Storm coming back yard mining shutting down for a while I need to cover things up. But the samples are looking good.

Maybe rain tonight? I soaked the concentrations in a phosphoric acid solution overnight. Cleaned with water and jet- dri panned with a little mercury made a nice ball. I have tablespoon or so of dirty concentrates that I'm drying in the sun Headed for a smelt / melt.

 

[southfork]

I mixed all the concentrations about two tablespoons with a Tablespoon of Chapmans flux and a tablespoon of borax to start. I added a teaspoon of material into each cupel then into a crucible one at a time for safety glad I did then into the furnace. Things went well for a while this material was really dirty, I would run for 15 minutes the lift out and sprinkle a little more borax on top and back in for 15 more. The material in the cupel would start oxidizing setting out for a minute drawing in a little oxygen. I let them cool and started combining the black buttons which are gold with a hard coating. Back into the crucible for an hour I shut the furnace off to check and the cupel had disintegrated and there was a hole in the side of the crucible. I grabbed the tongs and poured what was left into water - corn flaking some gold dropped right to the bottom, but a bunch stuck in the slag I'll just start over crushing the crucible and slag. There is a lot more gold still to recover and maybe on the bottom of the furnace and I haven't even started on the amalgam. Happy mining.

 

[southfork]

Storms over back to crushing broken crucible and cupels in the jaw crusher and chain mill. The material coming out of the chain mill looks like ground charcoal. Water and jet - dri in the catch bucket real dense grind going to be a slow day. Ran through stacked screens had to keep agitating to make the slurry pass and not stack /pile. I have gold in the first screen. Blue Bowling now more than I thought still cleaning and some dirty gold in acid. Next the mercury jar Happy Mining.

 

[southfork]

Nice day for a little cleanup of micro gold you never know what's hiding in a piece of quartz. 5 pounds of quartz roasted-jaw crusher-chain mill- through a stack of screens ribbed micro sluiced then panned. It takes a bunch of this to make a payday, but this rock was right next to the barn by my work area.

 

[russau]

Good eye !!! I wonder how long that rock set there by the barn and nobody got curious about it but you !

 

[southfork]

Good eye !!! I wonder how long that rock set there by the barn and nobody got curious about it but you !

Thanks, my build on the barn so at least 30 years I always tossed the big pieces to the side. We used a lot fill low spots under the fences and garden borders now I'm trading rocks. My wife has a lot of these big chucks of quartz around the flower gardens.