Placer Claim Mined Out?

desertgolddigger

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May 31, 2015
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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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arizau

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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.
Re: Screening effort......Just as an experiment, I would pan to reduce the sluice concentrates volume by half or more then dry the super cons and panned tails separately before screening and panning for gold recovery. I'm guessing the screened and panned tails would have no visible gold(?) so from there I could make a decision whether, in the future, I would process only super cons or all of the sluice concentrates.

As for gold visibility. I like to check my pans in direct sunlight. Also you might be able to see the gold better in a different colored gold pan. For example, blue is opposite gold on the color spectrum. Some like black but that hides black sand IMO.

Good luck.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Re: Screening effort......Just as an experiment, I would pan to reduce the sluice concentrates volume by half or more then dry the super cons and panned tails separately before screening and panning for gold recovery. I'm guessing the screened and panned tails would have no visible gold(?) so from there I could make a decision whether, in the future, I would process only super cons or all of the sluice concentrates.

As for gold visibility. I like to check my pans in direct sunlight. Also you might be able to see the gold better in a different colored gold pan. For example, blue is opposite gold on the color spectrum. Some like black but that hides black sand IMO.

Good luck.
Since I do three runs on the sluice per day (totaling about 3/4 five gallon bucket), I'm wondering if I could rerun the sluice concentrates I just got through the sluice? I'd have to put a clean bucket on the discharge end to ensure I caught the 4th run sluice tailings in case fine gold managed to blow out the end.

My first three runs get a lot of the heavy mud material in the two mats and grizzlies. Only about 1/10th of the sluice material is gold and black sand.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Ran the sluice again today.

Panned the concentrates down, the dried them, and then classified them with 100, 200 and 300 sieves.

Nothing as far as I could tell in the 300 mesh and smaller, though I still ran the mercury ball through the material.
200-299 mesh and 100-199 mesh wasn't as good as yesterday, but larger than 100 mesh produced about triple yesterday's gold.

Though not as good as yesterday, every little bit helps.

The panning down of concentrates to super concentrates reduced my efforts by about two hours. Thanks Arizau.

Now I have to repan the original material to see if my first panning was lacking as it usually does..

EDITED: I repanned the panning tailings, and got more gold. Guess all that black sand on the first panning made precise panning difficult for me. I do much better drying out the concentrates, then removing as much black sand as possible, before actual panning.

I'll still do the concentrates panning after removing the black sand, then classify it. Got to do what works for me.
 

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desertgolddigger

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I redid everything I've panned for the past four days, and came up with more gold than I got this morning. I'm not going to toss my concentrates anymore. I'm not a bad panner, but I've got a ways to go before anyone ever calls me an expert.

I weighed my amalgam glob after today's run. In four days I've added .65 grams to my total. So that probably means I got about .35 grams of gold.

Seems there's always learning in this pastime. Today's lesson learned is not to throw away your concentrates thinking you got everything. I'll store a few buckets of it, then remove as much of the magnetics as possible, then sluice it.
 

Reed Lukens

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Your catching all of the non ferrous metals in the merc, gold, copper, brass, tin, etc... Depending on the location, you could be getting anywhere between 50% to 90% gold mixed with the other metals. I get about 70% gold off of the hydraulic era amalgam, but there's lots of copper up north.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Your catching all of the non ferrous metals in the merc, gold, copper, brass, tin, etc... Depending on the location, you could be getting anywhere between 50% to 90% gold mixed with the other metals. I get about 70% gold off of the hydraulic era amalgam, but there's lots of copper up north.
I use the 75 percent formula for figuring what my gold purity is, so my one ounce of placer gold is probably equivalent to .75 ounce of pure gold. So I really need another 1/3rd ounce of placer gold for my one ounce goal. Right now the area I've been working for placer is giving nearly nothing. I need to dig test holes to see if I can find something more worthwhile.

EDITED: To continue on this thought, I imagine that at one time, there wasn't a significant wash like there nis now, and that material coming down from higher up mostly spread out as slowly but surely that present wash as formed. I have found gold where no wash exists, though usually only less than a 20th of a gram per 10 five gallon buckets. I imagine there are low spots that accumulated gold like riffles. I just need to locate some. I did find one that produced about two grams of gold last year.
 

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arizau

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I use the 75 percent formula for figuring what my gold purity is, so my one ounce of placer gold is probably equivalent to .75 ounce of pure gold. So I really need another 1/3rd ounce of placer gold for my one ounce goal. Right now the area I've been working for placer is giving nearly nothing. I need to dig test holes to see if I can find something more worthwhile.

EDITED: To continue on this thought, I imagine that at one time, there wasn't a significant wash like there nis now, and that material coming down from higher up mostly spread out as slowly but surely that present wash as formed. I have found gold where no wash exists, though usually only less than a 20th of a gram per 10 five gallon buckets. I imagine there are low spots that accumulated gold like riffles. I just need to locate some. I did find one that produced about two grams of gold last year.
Yep. Drainages and no exit low spots are natural concentrators.

Good luck.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Was out at the pit this morning. I managed two full buckets of the good ore. I also toted back 1/2 bucket of what looks like granite type rock that's starting to get crumbly. It also seemed to have glints of what looks like fool's gold, and possible ultra fine gold.

Normally I don't crush ore after a mining outing, but was curious if this strange rock might contain gold. After crushing, milling, classifying, and sluicing, it turned out to be what I consider medium grade gold bearing ore.

Where this odd rock is, is where there's a lot of rock fracturing, and infiltration of iron and apparently some fairly good gold. I'd previously scraped some of the harder rock in this area to remove the blackish layer, and that had produced fair gold. Soooo, this are on the right will get more attention, while the area on the left seems to have nothing in it.

Not sure why the left and right rock walls are so dissimilar.
 

southfork

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Was out at the pit this morning. I managed two full buckets of the good ore. I also toted back 1/2 bucket of what looks like granite type rock that's starting to get crumbly. It also seemed to have glints of what looks like fool's gold, and possible ultra fine gold.

Normally I don't crush ore after a mining outing, but was curious if this strange rock might contain gold. After crushing, milling, classifying, and sluicing, it turned out to be what I consider medium grade gold bearing ore.

Where this odd rock is, is where there's a lot of rock fracturing, and infiltration of iron and apparently some fairly good gold. I'd previously scraped some of the harder rock in this area to remove the blackish layer, and that had produced fair gold. Soooo, this are on the right will get more attention, while the area on the left seems to have nothing in it.

Not sure why the left and right rock walls are so dissimilar.
Just a thought but the black layers in the quartz carry a lot of gold here. Along with the red oxidized quartz.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Here's a picture of local ore from the Pit. I've already tested similar, and this type produces the most gold of anything I've found.

As I've removed more lower down, more blackish material pervades these nodules. And yes, they are found as harder nodules surrounded by softer material. It's like they were bubbles of material rising, then cooling into these nodules.
 

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Assembler

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Just a thought but the black layers in the quartz carry a lot of gold here. Along with the red oxidized quartz.
The picture of the rock looks like metamorphic rock.
 

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desertgolddigger

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The picture of the rock looks like metamorphic rock.
Yes, it has layers, and in those layers is a lot of blackish material. And that blackish material has produced the best gold results for me. The whitish brownish, and yellowish layers also produce gold, but not as good as the blackish material.
 

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desertgolddigger

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I finally finished all my accumulated buckets of crushed ore, though I believe what I ran today were panning tailings. Before I got my sluice set up, I could only pan my crushed ore. I've mentioned how bad my panning can be. But I did get some gold this morning, though only about 1/3rd of what I usually get. I'm still happy I didn't get skunked for my efforts.

I still have all my old panning tailings to run before I get to my gathered mound of ore. I just want to clean up my back backyard of the last pile I have, and get a little gold doing it.
 

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desertgolddigger

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I finally decided it was time to purchase the last of the equipment I will need to take me from mining gold to making little gold buttons.

I purchased a 30 pound propane tank, and have on order a 3 kg furnace with one additional 3 kg crucible and a 1 kg crucible, as well as a digital infrared thermometer, cone ingot mold, and bag of borax.

I get the feeling the 1 and 3 kg crucibles are overkill for melting gold, so what size crucible should I order for working with 5 to 10 grams of gold?

Also, what else should I have to complete the basics. I've a face shield and gloves.

I figure that while I'm accumulating more hard rock gold, I can prepare the mold and crucibles, based on the videos I have been watching.

I also ordered a continuous recirculating retort, and a small torch. I've already gotten a chamois, and practiced squeezing the excess mercury out.

Except for any items you might suggest, I think I've got most of what I need for a fully functioning mining, and processing setup.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Sounds good ! I'd also check the local laws pertaining to this process ! I'm assuming your living in a residential area ??
Yes, I probably will need a open flame permit. My neighbor got one for his fire pit. Apparently they cost nothing.

I guess I don't need a permit because it isn't an open flame like a fire pit. The flame is contained, and doesn't spew sparks or embers. And there's no flammables close by.
 

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southfork

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I finally decided it was time to purchase the last of the equipment I will need to take me from mining gold to making little gold buttons.

I purchased a 30 pound propane tank, and have on order a 3 kg furnace with one additional 3 kg crucible and a 1 kg crucible, as well as a digital infrared thermometer, cone ingot mold, and bag of borax.

I get the feeling the 1 and 3 kg crucibles are overkill for melting gold, so what size crucible should I order for working with 5 to 10 grams of gold?

Also, what else should I have to complete the basics. I've a face shield and gloves.

I figure that while I'm accumulating more hard rock gold, I can prepare the mold and crucibles, based on the videos I have been watching.

I also ordered a continuous recirculating retort, and a small torch. I've already gotten a chamois, and practiced squeezing the excess mercury out.

Except for any items you might suggest, I think I've got most of what I need for a fully functioning mining, and processing setup.
I place the gold in a cupel with a pinch of borax and then place the cupel inside a crucible. To keep from blowing the gold out I melt between a couple of grams and a ounce or so. No squeezing needed the retort will recycle the mercury.
 

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desertgolddigger

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Was out at the Pit this morning. Hard rock mining is very hard. I only managed a little over a bucket before pooping out. I'm beginning to think I'm not cut out for hard rock mining.

I processed enough ore to make one sluice run. I thought the material would give good gold, and discovered how wrong that thought was. I barely manage a very thin line of gold.

So the blackish material I've been following may be petering out. I'll try a few more times to see how things go, and if it continues being nearly no gold, I'll have to give up on the Pit, and try to find another location. With the heat coming on strong now, prospecting will probably start late September, when things should cool down a little.

I have enough low grade ore to keep me busy for a year or more. It takes me a few hours to sluice, pan and then go back out and crush, and classify a few more buckets.

What's strange is that the panning tailing pile I've been reprocessing gives me better gold than the rock ore I'm starting to work. I'm beginning to think the Pit location is basically a location for low to low medium ore, and was never a big gold producer.
 

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Nope, the complete wash was mined down to bedrock, and the cracks cleaned.

The people who did the drywashing used shovels to load the hoppers through the drywasher grizzlies, weren't very careful. All they waanted was to process as much as they could, as quickly as they could.

Yes, they got most of the gold, but the wire, flake and occasional chunky gold either bounced off the grizzly, or was flushed through the drywasher because that miner was in a hurry.

What I'm getting is that gold that they missed because of their haste. So far I've gotten about 24 grams of gold from their drywasher tailing piles. I get anywhere from 1/20th gram to 1/2 gram per ten 5 gallon buckets classified to smaller than 1/4 inch. I've never found anything larger, as the rock piles I leave don't have anything in them. I detect them.
Up to half a gram for 6 cu feet? Nothing to sneeze at. Economic at large scale now a day.
 

arizau

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What's strange is that the panning tailing pile I've been reprocessing gives me better gold than the rock ore I'm starting to work. I'm beginning to think the Pit location is basically a location for low to low medium ore, and was never a big gold producer.
Re: primary gold recovery.....I have found that sometimes it helps to pan concentrates by the cupful or less when the gold is extremely fine.

Good luck
 

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