Newbie question?

[Jwoot]

Can a mod fix the title?

The below 4 pictures are from a bottom by a creek that was mined probably in the late 1800s in rutherford, NC. I am not sure this specific place was mined but wanted to ask, are these tailings piles? There is a creek and a little backwater to the creek then some obvious manmade piles around it and also just a couple of random piles upstream. They seem to be full of quartz rock but there is also a lot of dirt in there. If they are tailings, is there anyway to tell if they are old like 10 years or maybe just 10 years? I found a hole in the gully of a creek backwater that was obviously dig within the last few years(cut roots) but I'm not sure about the ones form
The creek.


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I also wanted to ask what this was in the side of a hillside where there was once a place cut for a trailer. What is the white below? I scratched some of it off.

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[enamel7]

I can't say for certain, but that does look like tailing piles I've seen out at Bracket town in that area. Are they real close to the water or away?

 

[Jwoot]

I can't say for certain, but that does look like tailing piles I've seen out at Bracket town in that area. Are they real close to the water or away?

Real close to the water, most right next to it up on the bank and 1 pile was a little further(10 yards). It looks like somebody dredged/dugout a trench next to the creek. What you see in the photo with the water is the trench. The creek is on the far side, you can barely see it.

Is there anyway to know if these are real old
Or just the last few years?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Can a mod fix the title?

Yes a mod can edit title if you tell us what you want it to be.

 

[Jwoot]

Yes a mod can edit title if you tell us what you want it to be.

I tried to change it to "tailings piles?" but it only changed the posts title. "Newbie question" would work lol

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Title changed.

January 20, 2017 A New Beginning!

 

[russau]

No comment actually ! Im just happy I got something done that was worth while and felt like celebrating!!!

 

[Ragnor]

I get an 'invalid attachment' message when i try and look at the pics

 

[Bigfish22]

As do I!

 

[Jwoot]

^^^ they stopped showing up after the first day or so, odd. I'll try post them later

 

[Jwoot]

Below are the suspected tailings. (Are they?) in none of the pictures can you see them as mounds but they are. The creek is on the far side. The ditch leads to the creek with piles of dirt and quartz rock beside it. There was also another random pile of dirt and quartz rock a little ways off with no hole and it was 10 yards from the creek by the bank to the next bench. I was curious if there is anyway to know if they are 10 years old or less or extremely old like maybe the 70s rush or 100 years when this was mined heavily. I figure 100 years would clean this off though.

 

[Jwoot]

Below is the white material in the side of a bank that was cut out for a trailer. Can anybody tell me what it is? It fell apart as I touched it, seemed very soft and light almost like dust.

View attachment 1433968View attachment 1433970View attachment 1433972

 

[russau]

Your attachment wont open. But a Tiff outcropping comes to mind without looking at your picture. There are lots of this Tiff in the Midwest.

 

[Jwoot]

The photos seem to work for about a day. I don't understand why. Here are a couple of new ones from the tailings pile, if that is what it is. I don't reallly understand it and what this backwater is. The creek is off to the far right and the little backwater ditch is in front of me with quartz and bedrock along with dirt. Could it be anything besides tailings? The holes don't make sense.

 

[TerryC]

The photos seem to work for about a day. I don't understand why. Here are a couple of new ones from the tailings pile, if that is what it is. I don't reallly understand it and what this backwater is. The creek is off to the far right and the little backwater ditch is in front of me with quartz and bedrock along with dirt. Could it be anything besides tailings? The holes don't make sense. View attachment 1434314

First off, Jwoot, dictionary time.... Tailings is what is left over after a "mill" crushes ore to separate the (precious) metal from the surrounding rock. Dump is what is left over after a mine operation separates ore from the country rock. Tailings CAN be near a mine if the operation was large enough to build a stamp mill. More than likely, the ore was sent off to a "community" stamp mill. You may have a dump. Is there any tunnels or large holes indicating ore was removed from the ground? I'm not sure if the gravels removed from a streambed would be called a dump or tailings. TTC

 

[Jwoot]

No but way up the main hollow there was a mine. There is probably only 2 tons of dirt and rock piled. Mostly next to a man made trench out of the creek which is why I thought somebody dug it out for mining.

Sorry I had always heard people call their discarded mined material tailings. So what would those be called? Those big piles of rocks left behind a dredge? Just a dump? I have never heard that but what do I know lol

Anyway, its mostly rock but probably doesn't appear like it in the photos due to the years of the creek flowing over it during floods.

 

[brianc053]

I believe that the rocks leftover from mining are typically called tailings, so you have that right.
It's tough to tell a lot from any pictures - or even in person on site - because nature takes over so quickly. Digging could have happened 10 years or 100 years ago there.
I've been around tailings piles in BA that were left over from an old stamp mill, and one of the distinctive things there sounds like something you are seeing: broken quartz strewn around unnaturally. Is that what you're seeing? Maybe there was a stamp mill near your location.
The other thin I've read about - but sadly never experienced - is that something the old timers missed some larger gold because their grizzlies or classifiers only let smaller stuff through. Who knows, maybe there's a nugget waiting for you. Do you have access to a gold specific metal detector? Try that.
Good luck. Let us know what you find.
- Brian

 

[TerryC]

No but way up the main hollow there was a mine. There is probably only 2 tons of dirt and rock piled. Mostly next to a man made trench out of the creek which is why I thought somebody dug it out for mining.

Sorry I had always heard people call their discarded mined material tailings. So what would those be called? Those big piles of rocks left behind a dredge? Just a dump? I have never heard that but what do I know lol

Anyway, its mostly rock but probably doesn't appear like it in the photos due to the years of the creek flowing over it during floods.

No sir, no apology needed. I was just showing off. Forgive me. The two tons of stuff removed from the creek would probably be called overburden. NASTY dictionary! Dump and tailings are often used interchangeably. Overburden is the stuff that is not expected to contain ore in collectable amounts. It is "put aside" to get at the ore - or gold bearing material - in a placer mine operation. I suspect the large amounts of stuff behind a dredge is called overburden as the rock is not crushed to remove ore. Confused yet? Bottom line: sample the pile, the hole, and the creek. Maybe.... TTC

 

[arizau]

In my experience, having worked over 30 years at an open pit copper mine, what we considered "tailings" were the valueless fines that were separated from the high value material/copper concentrates after the ore was crushed and milled. The "tailings" slurry was piped to a "tailings pond" for settling. The concentrates were shipped to a smelter. Overburden/"waste" rock was trucked or conveyed out of the pit and stacked outside the perimeter of the pit in "waste dumps".

For hard rock mining and in a nutshell, "waste" is usually found piled up adjacent to a mine entrance and "tailings" are usually found somewhere downhill from a mill where the ore was processed and the ponds are usually broad flats in appearance and mostly sandy or very fine dirt.

The following are my opinions as to "waste" and "tailings" when applied to placer mining. I think it is correct to call what is actually "processed" with water for gold capture but as a result washes through and out of a sluice (highbanker or stream) or washes over the side of a pan, "tailings". I also think that it is correct to call what is dug but not processed, including rejects from screening/classifying, "waste".

Having said that, what you are seeing is probably just dug and/or classified reject material ("waste") and any "tailings" is probably somewhat spread out away from the hole(s) or in the creek as a result of sluicing.

Good luck

PS: I don't think you have mentioned it in this thread but have you done any sampling and found any gold in that general area?

 

[Capt Nemo]

My stab at "tailings"...If it came off the tail of your sluice, it's tailings.