Placer Claim Mined Out?

[desertgolddigger]

I belong to a local club that owns a claim. This club has had this claim for many years, and acquired it after the old timers had mined it previously, and others after they commercial outfits closed up.
I walked quite a bit of the 160 acre claim, and noted that just about every wash had been worked. Most of the surface nuggets has also been detected by those with gold detectors. In other words, this place has been picked over and over and over.
But I m a stubborn type of person, and I figured, just watching how people ram their puffer and blower drywashers, that some gold was just being blown through them. maybe not much, but some small stuff that never got a chance to settle behind the riffles.
I know many of you would never go to the effort of digging for three to four hours through the tailings in these washes. Again, I'm a bit stubborn, and anyway, I just wanted to have some fun locally, instead of driving 300 miles roundtrip to something that gives a little more for less effort.
I've spent the last three weeks, digging a few times a week along about 30 yards of wash, and have recovered just about a gram of gold. That might not seem like much, but I have only dug up 5 grams, not counting this one gram in almost 20 years out here drywashing in the desert of southern California.
As you would know, things always seem to go wrong. My gas powered blower motor decided it was time for the repair shop, and haven't heard from the shop in two weeks. So I purchased a WORX WG521 corded electric leaf blower to use with my Royal Large drywasher. I'm using a portable generator to provide the power. And it actually is working better than with my old gas powered blower. I have to run the blower on the lowest speed, or I just blow everything through the riffles. Results are very good, as I am getting gold specks so small that I will have to use the Blue bowl in order to recover them.
I'm not only getting a little gold, I'm having some fun, and I am getting a good workout. I've lost 10 pounds since I started. So things are going well.
I'm still digging test holes around the old time hard rock mines in the hope I will find where the gold has drifted downhill below these mines. So far just a couple specks here and there. I figure I just have to move laterally one way or the other before I get something better Of course, I' don't really know if the old timers stripped the hillsides. Even if they have, they apparently aren't as thorough as I am. I hope that I may be lucky and find a larger piece of gold that the old timers, previous placer miners, and detectorists have missed.
Hope everyone is having as much fun as I have been having.

 

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[desertgolddigger]

I really got tired of the clumpy mess the current material I sluiced this morning. There had to be a better/easier way to mix things, so it just poured into the sluice.

I went to the on base MCX looking for the solution, and found it for $6.99. You can find it's likeness at Amazon
for three times the amount.

I filled the bottle up half way, and scooped in 30 heaping tablespoons of material. I then shook it vigorously 30-40 times. It pours out smoothly. The cap on the bottle makes a nice handle once unscrewed to make precise pouring effortless.

I will run the material I used to make this experiment. I'm hoping for very little in the sluice tailings. I was still getting my normal ultra fines even when pouring the suspended material in solution.

Will let you know tomorrow how the rerun goes.

 

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[desertgolddigger]

Finally got the sluice leaks fixed, except where the pump hose connects to the sluice. Will have to use a catch bucket, and live with that.

I ran the sluice material a second time to see if my method of introducing material in suspension to the sluice was possibly an error. Nope! All I found were a few specks of gold on the rerun. Am happy with the results.

I also ran all those panning tailings to see how bad my panning was. It wasn't atrocious, but I still ended up with a small line of god, most being smaller than ultra fine.

Here's the pictures I promised of my cleanup area. I used a horse tack stainless steel hook to hang my pump on the side of the sluice. I used conduit loops to attach the sluice hose and pump 12 volt power line to the top edge of the sluice. I still have to work out a way to fix the hose between the first trough and back to the sluice. I'll figure something out.

I installed two LED strip lights on the shelter ridge pole. This will allow me to work at night during the heat of the summer. The lights were left over from my quilting setup.

You can see the shelving units. The two back units will be for my tools and storage. The first short one on the right will hold my Miller Table. and other electrical appliances.

Except for figuring ways to make things more securely attached, I'm finished. I'm delighted with how well everything is working. Now I need to process about 10 more half buckets of milled ore.

We had rain last night. I forgot to cover my drywasher material that comes from the mill (larger than 80 mesh). So no drywashing until things dry out. Also, the ore I have is wet, so no milling.

 

[southfork]

Nice setup! now for the Gold

 

[desertgolddigger]

Nice setup! now for the Gold

I've finished up for the day. Just way too warm for me once it goes over 80F.

I ran 2.5 gallons today. So far the only gold I'm getting is the ultra fine and smaller. So it's going to take a lot to weigh anything.

I'm starting to understand the area's gold properties. My guess is that most of the gold in this area is exactly what I'm getting now. Probably one reason the old timers used mercury and chemicals to extract this fine gold. Yes, there's much larger gold, but the majority is what I'm getting. Largest nugget I was shown by a local detectorist was about 1.5 inches in diameter, and I believe it was a mostly solid nugget. Almost broke my arm trying to hold onto it .

I'll run another 2.5 gallon bucket tomorrow. Then I'll get it all panned down for a photo. Right now it will consist of 5 gallons of milled material, and what I missed in my two weeks of simply panning. I wish it would amount to a gram, but there's just no way with the type of gold I'm getting.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I've got a picture of my first weekend sluice run of about eight gallons of milled material. While the picture shows a nice gathering of the yellow stuff, the panning has driven me crazy. Simply put, trying to get it all in the picture just is too difficult, and I won't continue. I'll just weigh my mercury ball, and have it slurp it all up.

Why the difficulty? The gold is super ultra fine, and resists a complete cleaning from the waste material.

I'm estimating what I got this weekend is what you see in the picture, plus possibly 1/3rd to 1/2 again as much. I'll edit this post once I finish amalgamating it all.

EDITED: I sometimes think my scale must be screwed up. I panned another line as good as the one in the picture, and for all my efforts, totaled, according to my scale, 0.09 grams. At this rate, it'll take me all the ore I have on the property to get even one gram. I wonder if the effort is worth it? I'm happy I'm getting the yellow stuff after six months of frustration at the club claim. I guess I'll just take the attitude I'll never pay for my equipment doing hard rock mining, and have to supplement my gold take doing pacer mining, working the old drywasher piles.

EDITED again: Now that I think if it, I do have a gram from all the little stuff from the Pit. I put all the amalgamated gold together, and sucked out all the liquid mercury. The total was 3.14 grams. I've read that the gold content should be about half of the weight total.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Hey guys, Went out to the Pit with my new hammer drill to see how it works. It worked great in most places, but was somewhat thwarted where the harder material with the dark ore is.

I found that working the sides around the dark ore was the best way to open things up enough that I could swing my Paleo Pick to dislodge these harder nodules.

The work still was hard on my old body, but I managed three half buckets of this good ore.

I just finished milling 1/3rd of a bucket. Ended up with 1/4 bucket of powdered ore (80 mesh and smaller), and ran it through the sluice. The picture in post 565 shows gold from nearly two buckets. This test run to check out the values ended up very close to the same amount in that picture.

I panned the material fairly fast, so I'm betting that there's more gold in the panning basin. And I will run the sluice tailings again, as the last time I had so much black sand, I almost got the same amount from the rerun . This test run had a lot of black sand, the most I've ever seen.

Will find out tomorrow if there's more in this material. It's too windy to work outside now.

Anyway, my test says I'm on a good pay streak. It'll just take me a long time to chip away at the rock. I am getting almost too old for this hard rock mining, and don't have the upper body strength you guys have.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Will be a short day today. Just don't have the enthusiasm for some reason.

I reran the sluice tailings from yesterday, and basically got nothing. Won't bother again, as the effort for return is so small.

I also scooped out material in the trough right around the catch bucket, and reran that. Again, the amount of gold was very small.

So I ran five (total 150 heaping soup spoons) of my bottles of shaken material, and got a small line of what I'm going to call talcum powder sized gold (super ultra fine).

I'm panning slightly differently. Instead of dumping the discards into the big panning basin, I'm depositing all the supposed waste into a drying pan. Once it dries out, I'll use my super magnet to pick up the magnetics. Then I'll re-pan what's left. This is another of my experiments to see what happens. I learn what works, and what doesn't for me. But this should ensure I get all the gold on the second panning, and not have to run it through the sluice again.

I checked the debris in both troughs, and almost none is in the pump trough. Most of the debris is next to the waste bucket, with a thin layer spreading out from there. The system is working well.

EDITED: The panning tailings of this morning were dried, magnetics removed, and classified. Second panning resulted in about the same amount of gold as the first panning. Nothing to scream about, but not a skunk. :-)

 

[Assembler]

Will be a short day today. Just don't have the enthusiasm for some reason.

I reran the sluice tailings from yesterday, and basically got nothing. Won't bother again, as the effort for return is so small.

I also scooped out material in the trough right around the catch bucket, and reran that. Again, the amount of gold was very small.

So I ran five (total 150 heaping soup spoons) of my bottles of shaken material, and got a small line of what I'm going to call talcum powder sized gold (super ultra fine).

I'm panning slightly differently. Instead of dumping the discards into the big panning basin, I'm depositing all the supposed waste into a drying pan. Once it dries out, I'll use my super magnet to pick up the magnetics. Then I'll re-pan what's left. This is another of my experiments to see what happens. I learn what works, and what doesn't for me. But this should ensure I get all the gold on the second panning, and not have to run it through the sluice again.

I checked the debris in both troughs, and almost none is in the pump trough. Most of the debris is next to the waste bucket, with a thin layer spreading out from there. The system is working well.

Take a close look at the rock ore your are processing to make sure there is something in it if you can first.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Take a close look at the rock ore your are processing to make sure there is something in it if you can first.

I've gotten gold from the pit every time except once. I've already determined which rocks contain what. The rock with the blackish streaks are fairly high grade, though most of it is that talcum powdered sized gold. The whitish rock with the brownish streaks is what I call higher grade low grade ore, which also has talcum powdered sized gold with some large sized gold. And the whitish rock with yellowish streaks is low grade, with larger gold (probably 100-200 mesh) but not all that much. All of this ore I'm collecting. Simply put, it's a lot better ore than what I've gotten at the club claim.

BTW, I've tried to see the gold in these rocks to no avail. Most of it is so small, an individual speck isn't visible with a loupe in sunlight. It only starts showing in the pan when enough is there to start showing a line of it. I missed this talcum powder sized gold for weeks before I started using mercury to slurp up the gold. I noticed this stuff that looked like yellow dirt was disappearing after the mercury flowed over it. This gold is my main source of gold now. An individual speck needs a 20X loupe before I can see it. So it's really small.

 

[Assembler]

I've gotten gold from the pit every time except once. I've already determined which rocks contain what. The rock with the blackish streaks are fairly high grade, though most of it is that talcum powdered sized gold. The whitish rock with the brownish streaks is what I call higher grade low grade ore, which also has talcum powdered sized gold with some large sized gold. And the whitish rock with yellowish streaks is low grade, with larger gold (probably 100-200 mesh) but not all that much. All of this ore I'm collecting. Simply put, it's a lot better ore than what I've gotten at the club claim.

BTW, I've tried to see the gold in these rocks to no avail. Most of it is so small, an individual speck isn't visible with a loupe in sunlight. It only starts showing in the pan when enough is there to start showing a line of it. I missed this talcum powder sized gold for weeks before I started using mercury to slurp up the gold. I noticed this stuff that looked like yellow dirt was disappearing after the mercury flowed over it. This gold is my main source of gold now. An individual speck needs a 20X loupe before I can see it. So it's really small.

Can you see any values in the nodules?
Have you found metamorphic rock near by?
Have you found the white rock that nature has given a metamorphic treatment too?
Have you pan test away from the pit to see if there is other better rock?
Have you found the black or even the white rock that is in a much thicker vein?

There are other things as well to ask about however this is a start. Think of precipitations of each rock flow as it gets further away from the source.

Can you find the same types of rock flows that are more vertical in nature?

 

[desertgolddigger]

Can you see any values in the nodules?
Have you found metamorphic rock near by?
Have you found the white rock that nature has given a metamorphic treatment too?
Have you pan test away from the pit to see if there is other better rock?
Have you found the black or even the white rock that is in a much thicker vein?

There are other things as well to ask about however this is a start. Think of precipitations of each rock flow as it gets further away from the source.

Can you find the same types of rock flows that are more vertical in nature?

Assembler, the more thrown at me right now will only confuse me. I tend to give up a pastime when people press me with so much at one time.

I know you want to help. I just learn things as I go along, and don't worry about too many things at once. My goal is enjoyment, not making a living. Yes, I'd love to find richer ground.

The miner who originally worked this pit gave up, more than likely because there's three to six feet of over burden needed to be removed before one can work the gold bearing rock. Probably too much effort involved to get to what most probably consider a low grade ore.

Remember my frustration when I tried to find gold bearing ore at the club claim. I basically quit until GT directed me to the waste pile neat this pit. I found gold in the waste pile, and learned which colored rocks gave gold, regardless of the amount.

EDITED: Just so you know, my crushing of some of those nodules, and scraping of dark material from rocks that were invaded by this same dark material, have produced the most gold for my efforts.

If I remember correctly reading something, these deposits occurred most likely along fault lines where fissure extended far enough downward to have extremely ho mineral/gold laden material to move in these areas. The cracked rocks with these blackish deposits seem to be indicative of extremely hot temperatures invading the rocks, and the nodules look like the way bubbles would rise in water. The material scattered just above the harder layer below the over burden I removed seem to indicate these bubbles hit the surface, cooling extremely quickly, leaving these flat mineral laden clumps.

I probably would be graded an "F" by a geologist, or professor for what I just wrote, but I'm neither, and am going on what I've scanned on the internet, and my own visual observations.

But enough, I'm still learning, and enjoying the process.

After that I chipped away inside the pit, and found ore that had been missed. And that got me thinking about the three pit mines that are all in a row. I figured that maybe something might be between these pits and I was correct, once I removed some over burden. The ore I've found is very rich to me, though most would probably turn their noses up at it.

Anyway, let me have enjoyment and let me learn at my own pace. I only have a few more years before I'll have to quit due to my age. I'm female and 73 years young. But my body is slowly tiring. All I want to do is enjoy, which I'm doing.

If you wish to help, just throw one thing at me, and let me absorb things. But for now I'll work this pit, and if I never finish it, so be it. For now I'm having fun.

 

[Assembler]

Assembler, the more thrown at me right now will only confuse me. I tend to give up a pastime when people press me with so much at one time.

I know you want to help. I just learn things as I go along, and don't worry about too many things at once. My goal is enjoyment, not making a living. Yes, I'd love to find richer ground.

The miner who originally worked this pit gave up, more than likely because there's three to six feet of over burden needed to be removed before one can work the gold bearing rock. Probably too much effort involved to get to what most probably consider a low grade ore.

Remember my frustration when I tried to find gold bearing ore at the club claim. I basically quit until GT directed me to the waste pile neat this pit. I found gold in the waste pile, and learned which colored rocks gave gold, regardless of the amount.

EDITED: Just so you know, my crushing of some of those nodules, and scraping of dark material from rocks that were invaded by this same dark material, have produced the most gold for my efforts.

If I remember correctly reading something, these deposits occurred most likely along fault lines where fissure extended far enough downward to have extremely ho mineral/gold laden material to move in these areas. The cracked rocks with these blackish deposits seem to be indicative of extremely hot temperatures invading the rocks, and the nodules look like the way bubbles would rise in water. The material scattered just above the harder layer below the over burden I removed seem to indicate these bubbles hit the surface, cooling extremely quickly, leaving these flat mineral laden clumps.

I probably would be graded an "F" by a geologist, or professor for what I just wrote, but I'm neither, and am going on what I've scanned on the internet, and my own visual observations.

But enough, I'm still learning, and enjoying the process.

After that I chipped away inside the pit, and found ore that had been missed. And that got me thinking about the three pit mines that are all in a row. I figured that maybe something might be between these pits and I was correct, once I removed some over burden. The ore I've found is very rich to me, though most would probably turn their noses up at it.

Anyway, let me have enjoyment and let me learn at my own pace. I only have a few more years before I'll have to quit due to my age. I'm female and 73 years young. But my body is slowly tiring. All I want to do is enjoy, which I'm doing.

If you wish to help, just throw one thing at me, and let me absorb things. But for now I'll work this pit, and if I never finish it, so be it. For now I'm having fun.

Just try one idea at a time for the most enjoyment.
You are persistent in your efforts so there is no way you could get a low score / grade.
You already have some idea what to look for so if richer ground comes along you will do well.

Not being there of course I will put out a number of things to check for as no two areas are exactly the same.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Just try one idea at a time for the most enjoyment.
You are persistent in your efforts so there is no way you could get a low score / grade.
You already have some idea what to look for so if richer ground comes along you will do well.

Not being there of course I will put out a number of things to check for as no two areas are exactly the same.

For now, I'm delighted with what I'm getting, even if sometimes there's not but a very thin line of the yellow stuff. I figure the Pit will take me a very long time to work. I'm not like you Guys, where you can spend hours knocking rock. I don't have that kind of strength anymore.

Right now the vein I'm following is about 4 inches wide, and several feet high. It's mostly a mix of black sand (iron oxide?) and microscopic gold. It's associated with whitish/yellowish material with bands (streaks of darker yellow to brownish material, which is also gold bearing

My view of how these pits line up in nearly a straight line is they are part of a fault/fissure system, and I only need to follow in a line. Like you suggested, sampling along this line will probably show me where more of these pockets of gold bearing material are. But then again, some of these gold veins may be under feet of over burden, and not showing signs you would normally follow. But for now, I'm just working on the Pit, which might take me years to finish.

 

[Assembler]

For now, I'm delighted with what I'm getting, even if sometimes there's not but a very thin line of the yellow stuff. I figure the Pit will take me a very long time to work. I'm not like you Guys, where you can spend hours knocking rock. I don't have that kind of strength anymore.

Right now the vein I'm following is about 4 inches wide, and several feet high. It's mostly a mix of black sand (iron oxide?) and microscopic gold. It's associated with whitish/yellowish material with bands (streaks of darker yellow to brownish material, which is also gold bearing

My view of how these pits line up in nearly a straight line is they are part of a fault/fissure system, and I only need to follow in a line. Like you suggested, sampling along this line will probably show me where more of these pockets of gold bearing material are. But then again, some of these gold veins may be under feet of over burden, and not showing signs you would normally follow. But for now, I'm just working on the Pit, which might take me years to finish.

If you decide to investigate down the line of the fault system you will have something to look for that is different then the pit you are now in. Even if it looks about the same be on the look out for the things I pointed out. A 4 inch vein is not bad still look for some different factors down the fault line.

Look for some difference in the whitish / yellow banded rock with your magnifying glass or better in strong good light as this could be your next strike / favorite rock.

Sounds like you are having some fun and that is what counts.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Went placer mining at the club claim, and nearly got skunked. I only managed 14 pieces around mesh 50. Not even enough to bother weighing.

Thought I'd go back tomorrow, but I think I'll go to the Pit for a few more buckets of good ore, if my body permits it. Seems I developed a kink over my right hip near the back, and walking is a bit of a chore without painful twinges. Maybe I'm getting too old and decrepit for gold mining. I'll just play things by ear.

 

[russau]

Welcome to "pain therapy" ! I hope the gold you find helps with the "pain" !!

 

[desertgolddigger]

Welcome to "pain therapy" ! I hope the gold you find helps with the "pain" !!

Didn't go today. I was afraid I might not be able to climb out of the Pit. Staying home.

I just mucked out the bottom of the water troughs. Still dirt in the bottom, but very thin. What a pasty mess.

Also ran nearly a five gallon bucket of milled material. Have it outside to dry so I can remove the magnetics. Doing so seems to make panning the super ultra fine gold a lot easier.

 

[arizau]

Didn't go today. I was afraid I might not be able to climb out of the Pit. Staying home.

I just mucked out the bottom of the water troughs. Still dirt in the bottom, but very thin. What a pasty mess.

Also ran nearly a five gallon bucket of milled material. Have it outside to dry so I can remove the magnetics. Doing so seems to make panning the super ultra fine gold a lot easier.

I rarely use a magnet but rely on fine mesh screens. I recently got, and recommend, the "Golden Rule Classifying System" screen set put out by Gold Cube. My set includes 200 and 400 mesh screens, which if you don't already have, would probably help you out in your panning efforts for the "ultra fine" gold.

Good luck

 

[desertgolddigger]

I rarely use a magnet but rely on fine mesh screens. I recently got, and recommend, the "Golden Rule Classifying System" screen set put out by Gold Cube. My set includes 200 and 400 mesh screens, which if you don't already have, would probably help you out in your panning efforts for the "ultra fine" gold.

Good luck

I just finished panning. I only saw what looked like 30-40 visible specks in my gooseneck 5X lighted loupe. I started out with about a 3/16 diameter mercury ball, and ended up with one over 1/4 inch. That seems to tell me there was a lot of invisible gold I couldn't even see when I checked with mt 10X loupe.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but I hope not.

EDITED: Yes, I have sieves that are similar from 16-1000 mesh, but not the 400. I've not tried the 300 except a few times, but not since I started milling ore. Guess I'll give that a try.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Arizau, Today I sluiced, and then classified using 100, 200 and 300 mesh sieves. Lots of work when they're only 4 inches diameter.

the 80-99 mesh produced about 20 specks
100-199 gave a nice little line of gold
200-299 gave an very nice line of gold
and the 300 and smaller material didn't show anything. But I ran the mercury ball anyway, and the line of what I thought was dirt, disappeared. Apparently some gold resembles dirt in color, or maybe it's just mixed in with the dirt, and not noticeable to my poor eyesight.

One more day of sluicing, then Monday I'll go to the Pit for a couple or three more buckets of the rich ore. Getting that much is hard work, even with the hammer drill.