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G-Man007

Newbie
Oct 9, 2021
1
3
Good afternoon fellow enthusiast! I've always been intrigued with gold prospecting for many, many years. I've never seen any of the reality shows and really don't know a lot. I panned once on the Arkansas River and found after 8 hours with an experienced guy that it was a helluva lot of work for $60 worth of gold. Recently though, I have come in possession of a piece of property that I found out has a lot of history. See this piece of property was the dumping grounds for the "tailings" of a large gold mine ran by a big company....in the early 1900's. There is literally somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 yards of sand, dust and dirt. I knew what it was but never thought anything of it as we are going to level the property. Well we brought a water truck in to keep the dust down and it had a leak. After washing away the dust and the dirt, there was just a pile of gravel. I looked down and saw this shinny little spec.....low and behold...I STRUCK GOLD! Hehehe! So just for poops and giggles, I grabbed a sandwich bag, turned it inside out reached down and filled it with this gravel/sand/dirt..... a sandwich bag, you know 6" x 6" sandwich bag. Well after playing with a pan and literally picking every little piece I could get a hold of, I end up with the below pic. You still look at the remaining sand/dirt/dust and there are still little sparkles. My question is this: after everything I have read, I just don't know if I should invest anything more than time? The industry to me just seems like one that every scam artist in the world would love a piece of, then you see items with "Magic" and "Huge" and all these words to make it sound easy and get quick rich thoughts and I know....it's not! If I could find a machine to separate the fine dust and was 50% positive I could make my money back over time doing it after work for a couple of hours a day, I would invest in it. I just don't know enough and really am not a big believer in get rich quick schemes...... but I also do see a possible opportunity that with a little guidance, it may be worth some effort. Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated!
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Seden

Sr. Member
Jan 28, 2008
281
321
Good afternoon fellow enthusiast! I've always been intrigued with gold prospecting for many, many years. I've never seen any of the reality shows and really don't know a lot. I panned once on the Arkansas River and found after 8 hours with an experienced guy that it was a helluva lot of work for $60 worth of gold. Recently though, I have come in possession of a piece of property that I found out has a lot of history. See this piece of property was the dumping grounds for the "tailings" of a large gold mine ran by a big company....in the early 1900's. There is literally somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 yards of sand, dust and dirt. I knew what it was but never thought anything of it as we are going to level the property. Well we brought a water truck in to keep the dust down and it had a leak. After washing away the dust and the dirt, there was just a pile of gravel. I looked down and saw this shinny little spec.....low and behold...I STRUCK GOLD! Hehehe! So just for poops and giggles, I grabbed a sandwich bag, turned it inside out reached down and filled it with this gravel/sand/dirt..... a sandwich bag, you know 6" x 6" sandwich bag. Well after playing with a pan and literally picking every little piece I could get a hold of, I end up with the below pic. You still look at the remaining sand/dirt/dust and there are still little sparkles. My question is this: after everything I have read, I just don't know if I should invest anything more than time? The industry to me just seems like one that every scam artist in the world would love a piece of, then you see items with "Magic" and "Huge" and all these words to make it sound easy and get quick rich thoughts and I know....it's not! If I could find a machine to separate the fine dust and was 50% positive I could make my money back over time doing it after work for a couple of hours a day, I would invest in it. I just don't know enough and really am not a big believer in get rich quick schemes...... but I also do see a possible opportunity that with a little guidance, it may be worth some effort. Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated! View attachment 1984555
If you got that much color from just a baggie full you bet you should invest in say a Highbanker. Dig a big hole for a settling pond and put a thick plastic liner in it. You can then use this water for your highbanker. However, I would take samples all over that area just to make sure it wasn't a fluke that all that gold was in that one spot. I wish I could find a spot like that!
 

crashbandicoot

Gold Member
Sep 27, 2020
12,129
27,100
Dumas,AR
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I say go for it.if it,s your property you can do as you wish.Why not try just panning a bunch of that stuff and maybe get enough gold to pay for that highbanker or what ever you decide to use.Welcome to Tnet by the way.Look over the gold prospecting forums and learn the many ways to get your gold.
 

Clay Diggins

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2010
4,862
14,181
The Great Southwest
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I don't see any gold. What your picture shows looks like mica. Gold does not sparkle.

It sounds like you are going through the tailings left from the processing of mined ore. Tailings tend to be fine ground rock or dust. You will not find gold in tailings even if the mine had free milling gold ore.

Sometimes the ore from a mine is piled near the entrance for future processing. Those ore piles may have free milling gold if the mine was a gold mine with free milling gold. Most mines were not dug for gold and even those that were gold mines rarely had free milling gold.

If you know where the mine entrance is look around for piles of larger broken rock nearby. IF the mine was a free milling gold mine you might find some gold there.
 

DizzyDigger

Gold Member
Dec 9, 2012
5,787
11,447
Concrete, WA
Detector(s) used
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
GMan..hate to say it, but I've got to agree with Clay..don't see anything but mica in your bottle..:BangHead:

If the source of your tailings is the leftovers from milled and processed ore, as said, it's not going to hold gold. BUT, if they are tailings from a placer mine, there could be some gold present.

My suggestion would be to take a few 5 gallon buckets, and use a 1/4" classifier screen to get rid of all the big stuff. I'd take that material home, and then classify it further using #8, 12 and finally 20 mesh, and then I'd pan it out one size at a time.

Even if you don't find much, this will greatly improve your panning skills, and that is a "must have" skill for every gold prospector. Find a couple good YouTube videos on panning, and start with just a basic, round pan with some riffles (like the Garrett).

As for the mica vs. gold....well, you'll know real gold when ya see it in the bottom of the pan. 8-)

Cal Nov 2013 - 112713 099 1.JPG
 

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