SnowdogAk20
Jr. Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2021
- Messages
- 91
- Reaction score
- 94
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Palmer, Alaska
- Detector(s) used
- I've used a Fisher Gold Bug II, though now I have a cheaper Garrett model.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
- #1
Thread Owner
Hey everyone! From Alaska. I am from Alaska and was born here, however I've traveled a lot.
I learned how to pan gold in the late 80s when my father was working for a big gold mine up on the Paxson Highway. He kept bringing buckets of the stuff home and he showed me the basics and off I went! I was I believe 10 then. My family goes back to the 30s here, my very old great Uncle is a geologist and has bragged many times in the past by brandishing his latest find/s from Caribou Creek (on the Glenn Highway between Palmer & Glennallen). I'll add photos as I dig them up.
This past fall I met an individual who wasn't much of a prospector, but nonetheless he told me of his road trip up to the Paxson Highway last summer in 2020. It's a road I know well. Anyway, we traded gold and junk and he had three or four curious rocks he told me he picked up from a "trash" pile, bordering the highway. I found them interesting and he gave them to me. I crushed and processed one. It was interesting because the "black" sands were acting like gold in the pan! But thanks to a MAP Fuel torch from Home Depot, I cooked the material and dumped it into a small container of water, which I was aiming to get the salts off. Because I was suspecting it as silver.
I dried it, then hit it with the blow torch. The photos are of a few of the rocks I haven't crushed yet, and then after I hit the material with the blow torch. I admit the blow torch was definitely lacking power to melt it all. Still, it did appear to congeal some of the silver together.
Then after all that, I forgot what I did but the silver got tarnished all to hell. And went black again! Oh well. If anyone has silver ore refining capabilities, message me. I'd be willing to work out a deal to split percentages. I suspect the content is quite high. And another hint that it's silver ore, in the process I used my coffee table which is wooden. This was five months ago. The table has a black stain that will not clean out. I think it's lead. Oh well, at least it's stuck on the table!
I learned how to pan gold in the late 80s when my father was working for a big gold mine up on the Paxson Highway. He kept bringing buckets of the stuff home and he showed me the basics and off I went! I was I believe 10 then. My family goes back to the 30s here, my very old great Uncle is a geologist and has bragged many times in the past by brandishing his latest find/s from Caribou Creek (on the Glenn Highway between Palmer & Glennallen). I'll add photos as I dig them up.
This past fall I met an individual who wasn't much of a prospector, but nonetheless he told me of his road trip up to the Paxson Highway last summer in 2020. It's a road I know well. Anyway, we traded gold and junk and he had three or four curious rocks he told me he picked up from a "trash" pile, bordering the highway. I found them interesting and he gave them to me. I crushed and processed one. It was interesting because the "black" sands were acting like gold in the pan! But thanks to a MAP Fuel torch from Home Depot, I cooked the material and dumped it into a small container of water, which I was aiming to get the salts off. Because I was suspecting it as silver.
I dried it, then hit it with the blow torch. The photos are of a few of the rocks I haven't crushed yet, and then after I hit the material with the blow torch. I admit the blow torch was definitely lacking power to melt it all. Still, it did appear to congeal some of the silver together.
Then after all that, I forgot what I did but the silver got tarnished all to hell. And went black again! Oh well. If anyone has silver ore refining capabilities, message me. I'd be willing to work out a deal to split percentages. I suspect the content is quite high. And another hint that it's silver ore, in the process I used my coffee table which is wooden. This was five months ago. The table has a black stain that will not clean out. I think it's lead. Oh well, at least it's stuck on the table!
