is it worth gold mining at 50grams to the ton

[ozgold]

Have been researching old mines in my area and found a report done by a mining company 30 years ago that said samples taken from the old mine indicated gold at 50 grams per ton and it wasn't feasible at the time to mine.
With gold prices as high as they are now maybe it would be worth working.
I have been to have a look at the site and it is on the side of a steep hill and made up of granite

 

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[2fishon]

It might be if you could high grade.

 

[dave wiseman]

How much will it cost to get out a ton of rock?,in equoipment,time,money wear and tear on your body and soul Etc.Did the report mention free milling rock?Any mention of high grade in that report,others,in newspapers,personel accounts?How about other mines/diggings in the area.What do your samples show?It wasn't curiosity that killed the cat,but lack of decision.What's your gut instict on the place?......good luck,Dave

 

[Hoser John]

30 years ago gold hadn't made the massive jump yet and it wasn't worth all that much--now thats in the area of $1,300 a cu/yd--righteous BUT. Many companies took highgraded samples for assay to raise capitol OR swindle folks outta their hard earned cash. First see whatzup with property title, if open--sample sample sample(check them tailing piles/waste dump)with a good gold detector to see whatzup. Hardrock is a good deal if done QUIETLY without employees or MNOSHA breathing down your back with regs/rules/tons a bs. Keep your day job and quest on the weekends or vacations-ya never know ?? Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[ozgold]

Thanks guys
The report is just a summary .Might have to see if i can track down the actual report at the mines office.All it says is rock chip samples were taken and the peak value was 49.5 g/t .
I did find a document written back in the early 1900s that mentioned they pulled out a 40 oz nugget from the mine and a couple of similar size and smaller were found down in the creek below the mine.There are no claims or tenements of any sort that are active at the moment but there has been a fair bit of exploration of the area in the past 30 years or so.Its a very inaccessible area to get into .Buggered if i know how the old timers did it ...you wouldn't even get a donkey in there.

 

[dave wiseman]

ozgold,surprised you haven't asked that on the finders gold forum.A chap like Dave in Darwin could help you out immensely,but don't give away any coordinates of that reef or lead.If your up to the task,go for it brother.I gather that you've read Ion Idreiss's..How to find gold etc....If you want go to goldplacer.com and read the bit on hard rock gold sampling.keep us posted on how it works out.............Dave

 

[ozgold]

Thanks dave
And thanks for the heads up on goldplacer.com.....lots of good info on there

 

[tinpan]

Thanks guys
The report is just a summary .Might have to see if i can track down the actual report at the mines office.All it says is rock chip samples were taken and the peak value was 49.5 g/t .
I did find a document written back in the early 1900s that mentioned they pulled out a 40 oz nugget from the mine and a couple of similar size and smaller were found down in the creek below the mine.There are no claims or tenements of any sort that are active at the moment but there has been a fair bit of exploration of the area in the past 30 years or so.Its a very inaccessible area to get into .Buggered if i know how the old timers did it ...you wouldn't even get a donkey in there.

Alluvial deposits and hard rock gold bearing reefs are to different things and use differents methods of mining.Your using terms from both and thats making it difficult to determine how to help you.I always thought that samples where taken from test drills in Australia in the past 30 years.tailing heaps from deep rock mining is not a reliable way as often the ore is graded underground.Often the rubbish ore is left under ground and the left overs make up the tailing dumps.The cost of working a hard rock mine is expensive and the sureity cost on a exploration permit is over 50,000 dollars.There may be a claim on this site just because its not active doesn,t mean theres not one.
What type of land is mine located on ? state forrest,public land,National park.

need more info to help Tinpan

 

[ozgold]

The land is state forest and i have been down to the mines department to check that i was allowed to be there....i jokingly asked the guy in there what i should do if i found something big and he said i was able to stake a claim under 10 hectares for $10 000.
I presumed rock chip samples meant that rock was chipped out of the wall of the mine ....I have no idea what half the lingo in the report actually means .....i just saw 50gm to the ton and thought that you would have to process one ton of ore to get 50gm of gold
Heres a copy of the report minus the names

Target: Auriferous zones in granitoid plutons and auriferous veins and stockworks in the surrounding
sediments.
Work Carried Out:
Mapping - A literature review followed by reconnaissance mapping of (name removed) Creek occurred.
The investigation also combined geophysical and geochemical mapping with surface mapping of
spatial relationships between structural elements.
Geology - The licence area is dominated by Ordovician sandstones folded along a northwesterly
striking axis and overlain by Upper Devonian conglomerates to the south. Quartz veins and limonite
stained fractures were predominantly orientated perpendicularly to the fold axis.
Geochemistry - A total of 77 stream sediment locations were sampled in catchments averaging 5 km2
over the licence area. Two samples were taken at each location; one BLEG sample (-2 mm) and the
other -80#.(name removed) Creek returned the peak BLEG assay value of 14.1 ppb Au with (name removed) Creek
in the Mt. (name removed) area returning 9.91 ppb Au (BLEG) and 95 ppb Au (-80#). (name removed) Creek
returned values of 2.2 ppb Au (BLEG) and 200 ppb Au (-80#). Other -80# peak values were as follows
(ppm):
Cu Pb Zn Ag As Mo Bi Sb
170 65 230 1 70 5 5 10
At (name removed) Creek follow up stream sediment and rock geochemistry sampled 48 locations. Three
samples were collected at each site; a -2 mm (BLEG) sample, a -80# sample and a panned concentrate
sample. Peak Au values of 15.5 ppb (BLEG), 0.02 ppm (-80#)and <3 ppb (pan conc.) were obtained.
Ag, Mo and Bi were all below the detection limit. Peak values for other elements were as follows
(ppm):
Sample Tpye Cu Pb Zn As Sb Mn
-80# 55 130 200 70 BDL 750
Pan Conc 35 710 190 65 20 1150
A total of 227 samples including single grab samples (134), rock chip (67), multiple grab (34) and float
(2) samples were also collected from (name removed) Creek. A peak value of 49.5 g/t Au occurred at (name removed) workings at the head of (name removed). (name removed) near (name removed)peaked at 0.08 g/t
Au and 1800 ppm As with (name removed) above (name removed) Creek having a high value of 0.63 g/t Au.
High As values are also concentrated along a spur trending EW at the head of (name removed). Peak
values for other elements were as follows (ppm):
Element Rock Chip Single Grab Multiple Grab Float
Cu 75 65 65 10
Pb 180 820 70 <5
Zn 290 9600 115 5
Ag 11 5 <1 <1
As 1850 2050 950 18
Mo 20 100 10 <5
Bi <5 <5 <5 <5
Sb 215 200 80 10
Mn 1.93% 2600 1350 50


Element Rock Chip Single Grab Multiple Grab Float
Cu 75 65 65 10
Pb 180 820 70 <5
Zn 290 9600 115 5
Ag 11 5 <1 <1
As 1850 2050 950 18
Mo 20 100 10 <5
Bi <5 <5 <5 <5
Sb 215 200 80 10
Mn 1.93% 2600 1350 50
A soil sampling program collected 98 soil samples at 50 m intervals along major ridges and spurs
drained by the anomalous catchments near (name removed) Creek. "A" horizon samples (-80#) and "C"
horizon samples were collected at each site. Results returned peaks of 0.27 g/t Au, 470 ppm As and 34
ppm Sb west of (name removed) which was targeted to be drilled. Other peak values of 20 ppm Mo, 30 ppm
Cu, 65 ppb Pb and 90 ppm Zn were considered erratically spaced throughout the area and not
considered significant. On the basis of these results this (name removed) Creek area was divided into the
(name removed) prospects.
Mt. (name removed) prospect had 159 "A" horizon and 132 "C" horizon samples taken from a soil grid
(intervals not given). Peak results are summarised below (ppm) with Ag returning values below the
detection limit.
Au
(A)
Au
(C)
Cu Pb Zn As Mo Sb Mn
25
ppb
0.22
ppm
2050 930 110 195 15 20 1600
Note: A= "A" horizon soil sample
C= "C" horizon soil sample
A further 19 rock chip, 10 float and grab and 66 channel samples were collected from the Mt(name removed) prospect. Peak results returned were as follows (ppm):
Element Rock
Chip
Float &
Grab
Channel
Au 1.06 1.52 0.54
Cu 350 185 165
Pb 25 10 25
Zn 175 175 40
Ag 1 3 13
As 5 28 BDL
Mo 10 20 10
Bi 10 BDL 5
Sb BDL BDL 5
Further sampling of the (name removed) prospect south of the baseline collected 21 rock grab samples
returning peak values as follows (ppm)

Au Cu Pb Zn Ag As Mo Bi Sb
0.88 85 30 15 2 200 BDL BDL 40

Geophysics - I.P. surveys were run over the (name removed) and (name removed) Creek prospects
using a 50 m dipole-dipole spacing. (name removed) , 7 lines 600 m long and 200 m apart were initially
surveyed with three of these lines extended by 300 m. Four shorter 400 m long lines were placed at
100 m infill positions after three anomalous chargeabilities were identified. The chargeabilities
showed a strong correlation to drainage in the southern sector of the grid. At the Tower prospect 6
lines 800 m long and 200 m apart found no significant anomalies. No results were reported for the
(name removed) Creek survey, however it was gathered to be not anomalous.
The (name removed) prospect also had a total count radiometric survey conducted with readings taken at 50
m intervals and values recorded over a half minute interval. No gross anomalies were reported.
A ground magnetometer survey with readings taken at 10 m intervals along 100 m lines was also
conducted on the (name removed) prospect. Short wave anomalies that occurred on one line were apparent
but none were considered significant.
Drilling - Diamond drilling was conducted over the (name removed) I.P. anomaly at (name removed) . The
hole was at a dip 0f -55° and went to a total depth of 286.33 m. Using the cutoffs of 0.5 g/t Au, 0.1%
Cu, 0.2% Pb, 0.2% Zn, 0.2% Mo, no significant intersections were encountered. However peak values
of 0.33 g/t Au were obtained from a zone of intense fracturing, brecciation and quartz veining between
110 - 112 m.
RC drilling of four holes at the (name removed) prospect tested an intensely brecciated zone and ferruginous
(meta)sandstone located at the summit of the hill near the (name removed) Tower. Using the same cutoffs as
the diamond drill hole no significant intersections were encountered however peak values from each
hole are as follows:
Drill Hole Hole Dip Total
Depth
(m)
Interval
(m)
Au g/t
RC89ST1 -60° 99 7-9 0.19
RC89ST2 -60° 30 6-8 0.08
RC89ST3 -60° 30 26-28 0.11
RC89ST4 -60° 29 15-17 0.11
The (name removed) grid was proposed to be extended to the area NW between the existing grid and pyritic
siliceous outcrop above (name removed) Creek but was not undertaken.
Reason for relinquishment:
The mineralisation within the exploration licence was considered unlikely to contain viable gold

 

[dave wiseman]

http://www.finders.com.au/finders-forum-info/finders-forum/ ...read this about an Aussie mining outfit and their sampling......in any case ozgold your not really trying to make a gold mine,just find some nice yellow.A mining outfit must have glowing reports to raise funds and not upset stockholders,a single bloke just needs the smaller stuff with an occasional pocket........Dave

 

[ozgold]

Thanks Dave
I Joined finders ...just spent the last 5 hours reading old posts ...lots of good info on there if you can sift through the rubbish some of the members carry on with on there.
Certainly are blokes out there finding the stuff.

 

[Hoser John]

VERY interesting but not familiar with OZ rules/regs/costs. I understand operating costs can be horrendous in the outback. Bummer is it's not really how good the deposit is but what garbage ya gotta go through to profitably mine the deposit. Keep at it and have some fun-Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI watch those high As values, a cyanicide as well as a danger in processing..

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI: to eliminate a potential As problem, take 1000 - 1500 mg of Vit "C" daily. It is a chelating vitamin especially of the heavy metals. It cured my As poisoning problem.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[centennial]

Gday ozgold
I have 2 mineral claims in NSW total area 4 hectares I have held for 10 years, costs will have varied but this will give you an idea of costs and requirements.
Apllication fee $500.00
Native Tile requirements $1000.00
Surveying costs (your claims must be surveyed and pegged which I done myself)
Security deposit $2000.00
You need to submit to Dept Primary Industries ( you cant do any work without these)
Mine Operation Plan to there requirements
Mine Safety Plan to there requirements
You need to obtain a mine managers permit
Once you get your claims you need Development approval from the local council ( this is the hard and expensive bit )
I had to notifty State Forests, National Parks, Dept. Urban Affairs, Dept Land and Water and local council for there requirements in preparation of a Environmental Impact statement.
Surveys for EIS $5000.00
All up this took at least 500 phone calls and from first applying to being able to do anything about 6 years
Mines need explosives
1 year at tech doing course
lots and lots of bullshit with workcover for licenses to store and use $3000.00
Mine ventilation, Drilling Equipment, Haulage Equipment, Compressors, Water supplies for drills, air hoses and fittings, sheds , explosives, bobcat loader, rail line, ore cars, fuel etc etc $100,00.00 plus
Ive probably forgotten 1/2 the red tape and bullshit Ive gone through.
If you find a good deposit you might make a lot of money, you need to enjoy a challenge.

 

[Ed in SoDak]

The key phrase is "peak" value. That is, they found one small sample that was relatively rich. If you had a whole ton of -that- stuff, you'd have your 50 grams of metal. For discussion, and ignoring the difference between Troy vs. Avdp. ounces, one ton is 32,000 ounces. In there is two ounces of the good stuff.

If the best ore is in isolated chunks, a detector stands a chance at finding it. If it's fairly uniformly dispersed in the high-grade deposits, one pound of rock will have 1/1000th of an ounce in it. No detector made will read it.

However, those reports of large nuggets stands as a darn good reason to take a detector out there and try it. Just be prepared to have to cover a lot of ground and do some topsoil removal, etc.

Good luck!
-Ed

 

[beaks]

take a sample and have it checked. (dont work alone and keep some oxygen handy)

i use a metal detector before i take samples. just look for a good stringer and listen for the beep LOL

john