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]

Consider two things for your safety.

Your furnace and all your tools must be kept dry.

Things spill. Spilling hot metal on concrete will result in splashing. (Splashing BAD) Many consider packed dry clay to be a better surface to avoid splashing. Packed clay can be shaped and reshaped to contain and direct spills.

So. basically what you're saying is that it might be best to store it all inside my tent shelter, and when I need to do melting/smelting, set it up in a place capable of handling spills.

I guess that since I'll use the furnace only every few months, there's no need for that permanent setup. I'll have to see if Home Depot sells clay that I might be able to use as you indicated.

I probably just need a level, solid surface to set the propane tank on when I use it. A few pavers should do fine.

 

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[desertgolddigger]

I guess my cement mixer finally got too pooped from all the use putting in my driveway, sidewalks, and now acting as a ball mill. It was a cheapie, and only big enough to mix one 60 pound bag of cement at a time. So I now need to figure out what to buy to replace it; something larger, and more robust.

Can any of you tell me what would be ideal size and quality for use as a ball mill.

 

[Assembler]

I guess my cement mixer finally got too pooped from all the use putting in my driveway, sidewalks, and now acting as a ball mill. It was a cheapie, and only big enough to mix one 60 pound bag of cement at a time. So I now need to figure out what to buy to replace it; something larger, and more robust.

Can any of you tell me what would be ideal size and quality for use as a ball mill.

Any size will work for the materials you are currently running.
Have someone weld more metal on the one you have or buy another one new or used.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I guess my cement mixer finally got too pooped from all the use putting in my driveway, sidewalks, and now acting as a ball mill. It was a cheapie, and only big enough to mix one 60 pound bag of cement at a time. So I now need to figure out what to buy to replace it; something larger, and more robust.

Can any of you tell me what would be ideal size and quality for use as a ball mill.

Did the motor give out?

 

[southfork]

We have our furnace sitting on fire brick works for us. You can place the fire brick on the ground / cement slab or a sturdy table or bench. I have the fire brick setting loose on a sturdy metal framed table in my barn / shop.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Did the motor give out?

Yes, and no. The drum is as good as new. I discovered the motor electronics are shutting down the motor after about three hours due to overheating. I think it doesn't like the extended run time when when ambient air temperature is around 90F or hotter.

I'm going to try running the ball mill two hours, then stop for an hour, then run it again for the last two hours.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Have you considered autogenous milling? It's pretty much standard in the industry for the type of material you are running and would save wear and tear on your chain flail mill. Thow some ore rocks in and you could process more material and save the energy moving those heavy balls for the actual grinding. Since the process is continuous you will need an exit screen like your chain mill. Easy to do. As the mill operates the load gets lighter as the ground material exits until you add more material.

It's unlikely your motor is causing the heat shutdown. More than likely the problem comes when the electronic controller board overheats. Try exposing the control board to cooler air or protect it from the sun's heat.

 

[Assembler]

This mite work better for you however check out the motor for yourself first. I think the drum is plastic.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-cu-ft-cement-mixer-58991.html

 

[desertgolddigger]

This mite work better for you however check out the motor for yourself first. I think the drum is plastic.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-cu-ft-cement-mixer-58991.html

That's fairly expensive for what they give you. I'll be trying to work with my little one bagger cement mixer for now, but if I need something, I'll be looking for one with at least 3/4 HP motor, and at least 5 cu ft capacity. Right now I'm limited to the 25 pounds of milling balls, the 1/3rd bucket of water, and 1/3rd bucket of 80 mesh and larger ore.

 

[Assembler]

That's fairly expensive for what they give you. I'll be trying to work with my little one bagger cement mixer for now, but if I need something, I'll be looking for one with at least 3/4 HP motor, and at least 5 cu ft capacity. Right now I'm limited to the 25 pounds of milling balls, the 1/3rd bucket of water, and 1/3rd bucket of 80 mesh and larger ore.

If you put an add out say in Craigs listing you should be able to find a used belt drive type of cement mixer may be not the 5 cu ft size.

If you are trying to increase the capacity and cut down on the over all grinding time try running two or more cement mixers.

 

[desertgolddigger]

If you put an add out say in Craigs listing you should be able to find a used belt drive type of cement mixer may be not the 5 cu ft size.

If you are trying to increase the capacity and cut down on the over all grinding time try running two or more cement mixers.

Nice suggestion, but I don't have unlimited monetary resources. I'll work with what I have for now, and if, for some reason, my present mixer gives up the ghost, I'll get another higher capacity, stronger electric motor machine.

I ran my second day in a row, and while I didn't get a lot of gold, I did get enough in the pan to be quite noticeable. Along with those larger pieces I'd been getting when drywashing this 80 mesh and larger material, I'm getting nice sub 400 mesh gold that apparently was locked onto that larger material. I'm happy with the results.

 

[Assembler]

Nice suggestion, but I don't have unlimited monetary resources. I'll work with what I have for now, and if, for some reason, my present mixer gives up the ghost, I'll get another higher capacity, stronger electric motor machine.

I ran my second day in a row, and while I didn't get a lot of gold, I did get enough in the pan to be quite noticeable. Along with those larger pieces I'd been getting when drywashing this 80 mesh and larger material, I'm getting nice sub 400 mesh gold that apparently was locked onto that larger material. I'm happy with the results.

I would suggest replying to Craigs listings etc. when ever you take the long trip into the nearest town. This can really give your setup a jump start on a budget.

Have you tried taking a canvas or double bed sheet with a air blower under it that is blowing up through the material with the ultra fine material on the top side yet?
You will fine that you can reduce the material very quickly with this method. Just have the retaining walls around the top side and a small fan to blow away the waste dust.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I would suggest replying to Craigs listings etc. when ever you take the long trip into the nearest town. This can really give your setup a jump start on a budget.

Have you tried taking a canvas or double bed sheet with a air blower under it that is blowing up through the material with the ultra fine material on the top side yet?
You will fine that you can reduce the material very quickly with this method. Just have the retaining walls around the top side and a small fan to blow away the waste dust.

No, and no. Like I said I'll work with what I have. I think I'm doing fine without adding the bed sheet gizmo. I think patience is the better tool.

 

[Assembler]

No, and no. Like I said I'll work with what I have. I think I'm doing fine without adding the bed sheet gizmo. I think patience is the better tool.

Most people prefer the dry washer instead.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I know this isn't about gold prospecting, but this is why I've been silent for a while. Recently my Sister passed away from related illness after years of smoking. This week my oldest Niece passed away from a brain aneurysm. In the past five years I've lost those two, my Father, and two best friends. I'm trying to deal with this avalanche of misery by doing something that keeps me busy, and my mind from dwelling on all this, but yesterday's news of my oldest niece passing at only age 53 has devastated me. Sabra was a freelance writer for business, and delved into writing fiction. She was the loveliest person I've ever know, other than my Mom. Both just attracted others as friends. Sabra was the smartest person without a college education I've ever known. She was taking care of two of those friends when she passed. She'll never get the chance to fulfill her travel plans to Thailand, and business trip to Europe. Sorry if this isn't the right place to write, but I thought maybe some of you would know that I'm not sure How well I will continue with gold mining/prospecting.

This past week, prior to the bad news, I'd been slowly accumulating super concentrates, and classifying them. Overall, I did Ok with 1/10th gram (I'd goofed), most of which came in the form of smaller than 300 mesh.

I'll try to continue my quest for the yellow stuff, but not sure how dedicated I will be to the pastime.

 

[russau]

DD Gods speed to your Father , family and friends that have passed ! keeping busy has helped me through this also in the passed !

 

[desertgolddigger]

Not much to report. Monsoonal season has hit. So far lots of clouds and wind, but only sprinkles locally.

I'm staying home, as it's just too hot. Every morning I sluice a bucket of reprocessed slag that I mucked out from the bottom of my water troughs. I discovered that there actually was still gold in it, though not a lot. Most of it is super tiny gold, the kind you wouldn't see an individual speck without a loupe.

The past few weeks I've just run the slag and all the supposed gold free buckets. Still finding that super fine stuff each go around. And I'm just accumulating it until I fill a container. I'll redo the material in the cleanup sluice after removing as much of the magnetics as possible, then see what I've got.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Hi Everyone, I got cabin fever really bad, so I made an excursion out to the club claim.

My goal was modest.

First I classified down from one of the mines waste piles to get one bucket of pea sized gravel. I also saved the dirt I sifted out from this waste pile. I'll run both through the chain mill sometime next week to see if there's anything there.

Next I walked 10 feet downhill from another old timer surface dig, and gathered the same thing, pea sized gravel and associated dirt. I had to use my hammer drill as the material was too tough for my paleo pick axe.

I ran the half the stuff from below the old timer dig through the mill, and sluiced it.

Now, you might wonder why I'm revisiting the areas I already checked for gold. The reason is I've a better understanding of how to process the material I dig up. Before, I only hand panned my material, and rarely found anything on the club claim.

Today I did find gold in that bucket. It wasn't a lot, only being a skinny thin line, but It's more than I'd found in months of frustration last year. the gold is smaller than mesh 300, and that's why I never saw any gold last year. I wasn't looking for such small gold.

I'll try to repeat next week, but try to haul two full buckets, and see if I get similar results. If I do, I dig in earnest at this new hole.

Similarly, if I discover the waste pile pea gravel produced gold, I'll also haul a few more buckets home.

It was just nice to get away from the four walls, and have something positive happen.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I processed the last bucket of material I dug downslope from an old timer surface mine. I again got a thin line of 300 mesh and smaller gold. I've one more day of digging a bit deeper to prove this is actually a low grade gold producer.

The problem with processing this material is it is very granular from the digging process. Running it through the chain mill causes a backup, and eventually thermal shutdown. I think I can run the material larger than 1/4 inch through the mill, but everything else will probably be run through the cement mixer ball mill.

This material needs to be ground down to basically a fine paste anyway, as the size of the gold particles are so small that they need it done that way.

I hope that the deeper I dig, the better the gold will be. Hard work, and time will tell.

 

[southfork]

I processed the last bucket of material I dug downslope from an old timer surface mine. I again got a thin line of 300 mesh and smaller gold. I've one more day of digging a bit deeper to prove this is actually a low grade gold producer.

The problem with processing this material is it is very granular from the digging process. Running it through the chain mill causes a backup, and eventually thermal shutdown. I think I can run the material larger than 1/4 inch through the mill, but everything else will probably be run through the cement mixer ball mill.

This material needs to be ground down to basically a fine paste anyway, as the size of the gold particles are so small that they need it done that way.

I hope that the deeper I dig, the better the gold will be. Hard work, and time will tell.

My chain mill likes it all unless wet. Never backs up I pour sand down it's throat all the time moisture is my enemy. If you're getting thermal shutdown maybe overloading a bit? feeding too fast I've, had it happen when rushing things. It makes a lot of noise when fed larger than a 1/4 inch. Before I had a jaw crusher, I was stuffing whatever would fit down it's throat and sounded like a bucket of bolts.