lost mines

[tweeta_bear]

i need more info... if i go into a mine that has a gold bearing quartz in it am i going to be able to just pick chunks of gold off of it? provided its exposed?

 

[tweeta_bear]

if you go back and read my first 2 post they were both in the form of a question, and everyone got offended it seems because they just started going off on me. just answer the questions. i got called manes by these so called experts. i didnt think professionals acted that way. greenhorn... i didnt call him an old fart. its childish and immature, i thought we where suppose to all be adults. it just goes to show some ppl shouldn't have smart phones or computers.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Tweeta: Armchair Prospecting on Google Earth might be a useful tool for the very experienced
prospector. In your case, no, as the "active component" of prospecting is actually getting out there
and doing the work, not surfing Google looking for "pie in the sky" opportunities. An abandoned
adit is just that..abandoned. Do you think, for one second, that if there actually was a 10" vein
in that shaft that anyone in their right mind would have abandoned it? Hell no they wouldn't,
especially after all the investment they made just getting there and working the shaft they dug.

Please don't think me (us) as being rude...we're not, but there comes a time when the computer
gets turned off, and you take up a pan, pick and shovel and get out there and do some DIGGING.
Gold ain't just gonna jump in that pan...it takes a lot of damn hard work and in-the-field experience
to even remotely have a chance for success. Miracle finds do happen, but it's a one-in-a-million
shot.

Again, I do appreciate your zeal, but you need to get out there and get some color in a pan
(or a few hundred pans) and work from there. Find a spot closer to home that doesn't
involve a major expenditure to get to, and get started doing some placer prospecting.

I do sincerely hope you find great success, however to get to there you need to start
at the basics and work up.

 

[tweeta_bear]

the mine exploring is just a second thought. i do have a a river closer to work and i do. this is all in preparation for a wk trip im planning and my main plan is to camp, set up my sluice dox and go to work, the road that ends in the creek is the beginning of a wilderness area . i have read geologist reports and they say that there is gold up there. this pic is the spot i plan on setting up in. i respect the advice given to me and will follow that advice if its put to me in the right way which you have done. i respect you for the way you put it to me, sounds of a professional.

 

[roadrunner]

I dont tell anyone to go into old abadoned mines, but:
My son and I found an old abandoned mine that actually pulled out gold.But was closed down.
He went in about 20-30 feet then I told him to stop as it was a little down wars incline after being partially filling in the entrance.
Told him to pick up some samples from the floor,put it in sandwich zip lock bags, and we panned them out at home.
My son is 25.

Anyway. That mine has been there since the 1930 and is not going to collapse as soon as me or my son step in it.
Next. Some of the older miners would carry a parakeet in a small cage in with them.If there was gas,or low oxygen,the bird would die or pass out.If you see the bird acting funny,leave immediately.
Get back to fresh air.
Always use LED bulbs, and a approved flash light or head lamp is better.
When I mean approved, one that is approved by the mining industry.
Then just go and see what you find.

Another thing you might do is carry a long pole.One to support your weight. We used to do this when walking around snow covered ground so in case we fell into something,the pole would hit the edges of the hole and we wouldnt go in the hole.
Just saying.
Always be careful,and take buddys.
One always stays out of the mine,out front.

 

[tweeta_bear]

My son and I found an old abandoned mine that actually pulled out gold.
He went in about 20-30 feet then I told him to stop as it was a little down wars incline after being partially filling in the entrance.
Told him to pick up some samples from the floor,put it in sandwich zip lock bags, and we panned them out at home.
My son is 25.

Anyway. That mine has been there since the 1930 and is not going to collapse as soon as me or my son step in it.
Next. Some of the older miners would carry a parakeet in a small cage in with them.If there was gas,or low oxygen,the bird would die or pass out.If you see the bird acting funny,leave immediately.
Get back to fresh air.
Always use LED bulbs, and a approved flash light or head lamp is better.
When I mean approved, one that is approved by the mining industry.
Then just go and see what you find.

Another thing you might do is carry a long pole.One to support your weight. We used to do this when walking around snow covered ground so in case we fell into something,the pole would hit the edges of the hole and we wouldnt go in the hole.
Just saying.
Always be careful,and take buddys.
One always stays out of the mine,out front.

thats exactly what im saying. if the mine has been there sense 1860 it done all the settling and collapsing its gonna do. i have read that the miners lost 30 to 50% of what they where mining in the tailing because the where to interested in the bigger chunks. this advice i get from guys like you is why im planning well in advance. thanks

 

[tweeta_bear]

if you go back and read the 5th thread that b h prospector posted he made reference to me being a green horn first. i have spent numerous hour researching and yes i have even been to the river with my sluice and panned. im not perfect or an expert but im intelligent enuf to figure out simple things lick this. ya so i cant afford to run right out the door and go everyday. look i dont want to argue with anyone but i do know how to do research.

 

[midnightmoon]

thats exactly what im saying. if the mine has been there sense 1860 it done all the settling and collapsing its gonna do...

No.

Not true. A mine is never done settling. There is always the risk of collapse.

Erosion is an ongoing process.

The Earth's gravitational pull never lets up.

Earthquakes happen.

Whoever told you that an old mine shaft is done settling was mistaken.


On a 'positive' note: if you want to go ... go.

 

[tweeta_bear]

can you explain to me how the odds of finding anything are so great but the odds of me getting crushed or die in a mine is so little. no one has even said anything about the thread that say they do it and find. its just baffling to me that everyone an expert.

 

[tweeta_bear]

no gold laying around? i suppose the first miners in the early 1800's just went up on the side of the hill and started digging a hole? no i dont think so. they found gold that you say is not laying around. i get the whole concept of how gold get to the river. and yes you are right that land may have been worked be my great great grandparents but there has been a lot of rain and snow and erosion sense then. oh and as far ass the tailings, yes i know that the gold needs extracted, i have read that some mines where to remote to take the ore to a plant to have extracted so they extracted it right on site, and with that in mind you cant tell me they got everything.

 

[Jason in Enid]

TB, I'm out of this thread too. I just want to leave you with one thing. Yes, people have been blunt with you in their responses about entering mines. They are blunt because it IS a life and death situation and there can be no room for "well I didn't think they really meant it." We know you are going to do whatever you want to do anyway, just keep their words in mind while you go do whatever it is you want to do.

I have friends who used to think it was fun to explore old mines. Until a car-sized chunk of ceiling came down behind them as they left. A minute earlier they would have been crushed. 2 minutes and they would have trapped to die a slow horrible death.

Good luck in YOUR explorations.

 

[B H Prospector]

Yes I called you a greenhorn first and that is just what you are. You said mine exploring was a second thought. Well your first thought should have been not to have the second thought. As Midnightmoon said mines are never done settling. In some if you sneeze or fart it will come in on you. We are trying to advise you like you asked in order to save your a$$. This forum is all about helping newbies or greenhorns and encourage them. But once in awhile someone like you comes along asking for info and advice but already has it in his head what he is going to do and blows everyone off because they don't agree with them. You did read right that the old timers lost a great amount in the tailings. WORK THEM! it is alot safer and that is where the gold is not in the mine that they quit working because the gold ran out. PLEASE STAY OUT AND STAY ALIVE! GOLD AIN"T WORTH GETTING DEAD!
In the 1800's yes gold was just laying around but not today. Why do you think the large companies go so deep. Because gold isn't just laying on the top anymore. As said earlier one in a million that might happen. Mining is not a get rich quick deal. Also no one says that they go in mines and what they find because they don't do it! Oh and by the way greenhorn is not ment as an insult. It is a mining term used to describe a beginner just as sourdough discribes a vetern miner.And yes I am an old fart and I got this way by being smart about mines.
This my last post on this thread. You asked for advice but won't heed it. I guess you know more than us who have lived it so go with God's grace because you are going to need it. At least he still looks over the foolish.

 

[AZADAM]

no gold laying around? i suppose the first miners in the early 1800's just went up on the side of the hill and started digging a hole? no i dont think so. they found gold that you say is not laying around. i get the whole concept of how gold get to the river. and yes you are right that land may have been worked be my great great grandparents but there has been a lot of rain and snow and erosion sense then. oh and as far ass the tailings, yes i know that the gold needs extracted, i have read that some mines where to remote to take the ore to a plant to have extracted so they extracted it right on site, and with that in mind you cant tell me they got everything.

Dude,
Its a great plan , and you must see it through. You will be rich beyond your wildest dreams....Just make it happen

 

[calnatv]

As far as tailings, you don't get it. That gold that was mined out of the earth was contained in a matrix, like quartz rock. After you get those tailings, you then have to begin the process of crushing the rock to extract the gold. You may find an occasional piece of free gold or a nice specimen, but to get that 30-50% you claim, you have to PROCESS the tailings. How many tons of rock can you crush and process and then extract the gold from a day?

Tweeta Bear : Thats about the most realistic opinion your going to get as far as finding the gold

 

[KevinInColorado]

This reads like evolution in action....if you don't have children yet, do what you want and good luck!

 

[Rawhide]

tweeters, there is many fall and crush hazrads to mention all the above hazrads in this thread. There is a online course that will give you a basics on mine safety. problem is not you found a hole and will be careful. It is when something goes wrong, and something always goes wrong, will you survive? hard rock mining is work, and most folks just want to walk around and pick it up off the ground, good luck with that too. please let a family member know when you go, and when you will return, and good enough directions for the SAR just in case all your years of experience fails you.

 

[tweeta_bear]

ok ok ok ive heard enuf of you tell me "stay out and stay alive" i am new at this prospecting game. i cant help it i passed my high school debate call with an A. after further thought it would be alot easier to play in the nice cool creek where i can drive to and dont have to spend 3 or 4 hours hiking up a monster mountain. the time spent would be more productive moving up or down the creek all day. im sorry i got everyone tail feathers ruffled by my thoughts. again terribly sorry.

 

[B H Prospector]

We were only looking out for you tweeta. Don't know you but we still care. Would hate to hear in the news of a terible mining accident that snuffed out a promising young life. Thankyou for heeding our advice.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good plan (hitting the creek)...I hope you find a hot spot and amaze us all with your haul of gold!!

 

[tweeta_bear]

im gonna try like hell. thanks

 

[Jason in Enid]

Let me give you a bit of advice (or two) that I have learned so far. First, PLEASE check the county records first to make sure you aren't trespassing on someone else's claim. Second, When you find an open patch of river to prospect, check the aerial picts and probably print some off too. I'm sure everything you have read so far tells you that gold wants to deposit along the straight line from bend to bend right? Things can look much different on the ground, so make sure you know where that straight line runs when go to start your test holes. I wasted my Colorado trip because the "great looking spot" was 50 feet away from where I SHOULD have been testing if I had paid attention to the aerial.