Hunt4gold - First prospecting adventures and beyond

[Hunt4gold]

Jeff - can't divert stream - steep side banks and the hole goes 3/4 way across the stream bed. Unfortunately, it snowed 6" and then warmed up and flooded the hole. Will have to wait until water levels are low again and it is a little warmer, then will empty the sediment out and work the bottom.

 

[Jeff95531]

Ah. So. To be continued...next year/season... ok with that. I'll wait for next season.

Love riding along BTW. Got out myself today for a lil bit and like usual, it was unusual. More to come.

ugh. can't resist...must...post diverting for dummies video. (paint it camo and do it on a holiday ho ho ho hint hint hint. (just kidding greenies)

 

[Hunt4gold]

Perfect solution to diverting this creek Jeff! Will work on getting the backhoe in - pretty sure the local parks and recreations won't mind!

Happy holidays to all.
May you pans be filled with supersized flakes and nuggets.

 

[Jeff95531]

Since it's just a one day thing, just rent it from Ace. Better get it today cuz they'll be closed tomorrow.
Happy Holidays to you as well!

 

[RookmanGold]

Hunt4Gold you are an inspiration... and you've only just begun! I feel the energy and fun you are having...

As long as you never forget all gold is gold, and finding any gold is something to treasure you are all set for a load of fun. (and then when you do get a good day it makes it feel even better [emoji6] )

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Yeah you did real good there. Nothing wrong with that turnout!

 

[Hunt4gold]

Rookman and Jonny -- Even seeing a few small specks of color is exciting. The research, exploring new creeks, and the puzzle each of these represents, is where 70% of the excitement is for me. Walking a 1/2 mile of creek and working through the puzzle of where the gold is -- that's exciting. Of course, stopping at a spot and saying that this should be where some gold is accumulating - and then taking a sample pan and actually seeing the first colors as the black sands wash away, is pretty cool.

 

[RookmanGold]

The only thought I would add... On reflection I have learnt more over the years on the days I didnt find anything... although clearly the frustration of the day clouded that view at the time [emoji6]

 

[Hunt4gold]

Another nice day in south Denver prospecting. Got out December 26th afternoon to a spot that showed good color in sample pans the week before.
Sample pan color (2 pans)(taken with my new closeup lens kit that fits on my iPhone):

Some of gold was mixed with what I believe is silver, which can be seen in the image above.

With the low winter flows, it took about 15 minutes to get the Bazooka set up with adequate flow.


Spent about two hours feeding the sluice. The stream bed was interesting - there was nice cobbles and gravel in the top 8-12 inches or so, which is where the gold was. Below that layer was just fine gravels and sand, and not much gold in it. So I worked on skimming the top gravel layer off. Tried to go down but after 2 1/2 feet still no bedrock.


Will be processing cons sometime in the next two days and will post results...
Material I ran through the Bazooka:


Here is a peek at the gold in cons from one the emptying of the Bazooka - gotta love the color!

 

[arizau]

Another nice day in south Denver prospecting. Got out December 26th afternoon to a spot that showed good color in sample pans the week before.
Sample pan color (2 pans)(taken with my new closeup lens kit that fits on my iPhone):
View attachment 1395969
Some of gold was mixed with what I believe is silver, which can be seen in the image above.

With the low winter flows, it took about 15 minutes to get the Bazooka set up with adequate flow.
View attachment 1395964

Spent about two hours feeding the sluice. The stream bed was interesting - there was nice cobbles and gravel in the top 8-12 inches or so, which is where the gold was. Below that layer was just fine gravels and sand, and not much gold in it. So I worked on skimming the top gravel layer off. Tried to go down but after 2 1/2 feet still no bedrock.
View attachment 1395968

Will be processing cons sometime in the next two days and will post results...
Material I ran through the Bazooka:
View attachment 1395970

Here is a peek at the gold in cons from one the emptying of the Bazooka - gotta love the color!
View attachment 1395971

Another nice take. What you "believe is silver" may be mercury coated gold also called amalgam. Keep it separate from your clean gold because if it is amalgam it can contaminate what you have. There are several ways to clean it up but I will let others give you suggestions.

Continued good luck.

 

[Goldfleks]

Or lead.

 

[KevinInColorado]

In south Denver it is highly unlikely to be mercury. If you are west of Holly it may be possible as you are downstream of old commercial operations but it'd still be a surprise to me! Much more likely it's lead from hunting back in the day. I've found LOTS of lead bits like those in these favorite of my hunting grounds

 

[Hunt4gold]

Arizau, goldfleks, Kevin -- its not mercury, the mineral attached to the gold has similar texture and malleability as gold. So of it is separate from the gold, some looks almost like an amalgamation. Lead or silver are my guesses, but at this scale it is beyond my skills to tell.

 

[Goldfleks]

Separate it and put it in a vial and save it. Can't hurt. If you ever have enough of it to warrant processing it, you'll know.

I had a bunch of grey colored flakes I had saved that eventually turned black. In retrospect they were probably silver that had tarnished from oxidation is my best guess. I think I tossed them out of my vial a few months later. Thanks for reminding me about them, now I'll probably hold onto them in the future.

 

[triple d]

I have found some gold in N.H. That has mercury on it. The same thing was said in N.H no Mercury. But the pieces I had coated my other gold so I believe its mercury coated gold. So keep them seperate or you may have a problem.

 

[Hunt4gold]

Panned out the cons from my Dec 26th outing (photos above). Sometimes I process the cons with my miller table and other times I pan it out. There is definitely something really awesome about panning it out and seeing flakes reveal themselves as the black sands wash away.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Super nice clean outs!
Mercury will stain gold a silver color. It will look chunky like cottage cheese if the liquid merc is present but if it's dried it will still leave the stain. Here's some I found awhile back.

 

[Jeff95531]

Panned out the cons from my Dec 26th outing (photos above). Sometimes I process the cons with my miller table and other times I pan it out. There is definitely something really awesome about panning it out and seeing flakes reveal themselves as the black sands wash away.
View attachment 1396585

You and I...my friend...have a LOT in common.

Love the pic btw.

Hope you have a safe, happy and golden year.

 

[Jeff95531]

Thanks alot, lol. Now I can't get this song outta my head!

 

[Hunt4gold]

Well, my last outing for 2016 was December 30. The temperature was a wonderful 52 degrees and sunny here in south Denver - actually had to take off my fleece vest - just too hot to wear while shoveling material into my Bazooka. It was a awesome day and at one point I sat down on the stream bank and contemplated about my first day out prospecting with a friend up clear creek canyon - that was early October 2016. Having received some instructions on how to pan, I proceeded to pan down my first pan of material. About 25 minutes later (yep, it took me that long) I got to see my first color. Needless to say, I was hooked. Through Tnet and the kind people on it providing tip and tricks and encouragement, I've progressed from a mere novice to a 2nd level novice with the understanding that I have years of learning and fun still ahead of me.

Thanks to all for helping me along this addiction, ah, I mean adventure. Hope to meet more local Tnetters and others across the country as opportunities arise. Guess I need to get out now and get some of that 2017 gold in my pan.

So here's my last processed cons from my Bazooka 36" Sniper outing, Dec 30th. Cheers to all...