Still here

[StreamlineGold]

It's not a competition gold tramp. Some people seem to naturally assume that success belongs to the man with the most gold. You and I know better.

I'd rather read about your real life adventures here than hear another success/failure tale from a "miner" spending their retirement money trying to make gold appear by applying boatloads of equipment and money.

My real life job involves providing information and analysis for junior exploration companies, major mining companies, Wall Street mining analysts and oil and gas companies. I can't reveal anything I do with those folks because in the mining industry everything is a secret. Part of my job is keeping peoples secrets safe. If I could write about what I do for money you would be bored to tears.

There is a middle ground. I have several friends making a good living with small low cost mining operations. 2-5 people can make a go of it with minimal investment IF they have found a good deposit. That good deposit is the key to success. Most of the people coming here wanting to start a bigger mining project ask about the money needed. A good deposit doesn't need a money investment. A good rich deposit will pay it's own way.

To find that good rich deposit you don't need money you need experience. Often people ask me about how they can become a successful full time miner and my response always starts with "find a valuable mineral deposit". They usually ignore that crucial first step and want to know about the equipment they will need and how much it will cost. Experience is harder to come by and not nearly as much fun as spending money and getting new mining equipment so most folks don't want to hear that part.

You have the experience and knowledge to recognize a good deposit. When you find one you won't be asking about how much money you need to mine it. The mine will provide the money. You know that. Most folks just don't get it and want to buy their way into a good deposit. You and I know there is no reason for a real miner to sell a good paying rich deposit. That would be like selling the goose that lays gold eggs for a few pieces of gold - stupid.

Keep on being the small miner for as long as you can. We need experienced men doing the real job or we will turn into a nation of wussy wannabes whiners. Leave the big gambles to the big money boys and keep looking for that rich strike. You will realize when you find it that your wealth is really about the memories and experience of the journey. You are already a wealthy man you just need to find enough gold to pay for the journey. That comes through loud and clear in your posts.

You keep asking for proof that it's out there. People offer you a nugget picture or a shot of a hole in the ground. I understand that, it gets discouraging sometimes wearing out your body and risking your health and your future for what might just be a dream. I can assure you that dream is a real possibility.

I can't share a lot of details but here's the take from 3 days on a rich deposit in Arizona being worked by 4 partners with two tools - a trackhoe and a metal detector. Not every day is this good but every day is a pay day.

Rob Allison's cup o gold - weight a little over 5 pounds. Pay from a 3 day weekend.
View attachment 1521179

Rob's got nearly 30 years of experience and he probably has a few dozen paying locations he works. It's the experience that leads to gold. Most inexperienced prospectors would end up with nothing if he turned them loose on one of his good spots because most would walk right over the gold.

It's still out there ...go get u sum!

Heavy Pans

Thats a glorious cup of yellow there, excavator and probably one of the lower channels below Rich Hill Id assume .. considering 9/10 diggers out there never made it close to bedrock.

 

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[StreamlineGold]

For folks wanting general guidelines, here's what I would give you as an overview.

Take a jaw crusher, reduce your ROM (run of mine) ore to between 1/2" to 1/4". Run that through either an impact mill or roller mill. Or buy a Keene 46DR and get two for the price of one.

Next step, impact mill to take it to P80 sub-75 micron. What doesn't pass as larger than 75 micron run it through the impact again.

Third, gravity separation. You've got a few choices in mineral jigs or shaker tables. Hydrocyclones and such are out of the realm of the artisanal miner. You've separated your macroscopic gold, now onto micro. You'll also need to assay your tailings to determine if your gravimetric circuit is working. It may be as simple as running your tails across a scavenger table or running them again over the same table by themselves.

If you've got a lot of sulfides you can roast or bio-ox. Pretty much the simplest ways for small scale folks.

Cyanide at 5-15 grams per liter with 2:1 water to solids, unless you want to do intensive cyanidization. If you run intensive, 15-25 g/l which will also grab a lot of gold out of light unoxidized ores. Best to run it at 30C or better. Don't mess with this though if you're a first timer. pH control is imperative as is the activation of the cyanide, disposal, and tailings processing.

3-4 days retention time for standard cyanide, 24-48 hours or less for intensive. If you're pushing tonnage, then that changes. For small scale guys, those two retention timelines will grab you 90% plus of the freemill. If you're unsure of your recovery, send the ore off for roll bottle testing at a certified lab. You can use a hot tub blower to inject air into the system to maintain the proper O2 levels as cyanide leaching eats it pretty good.

Finally, off to either Merrill-Crowe or Activated Carbon. If you're working with concentrates averaging over 1 ounce per ton of concentrates, which you probably are, Merrill-Crowe is by far the most economical. Filter your zinc residue, then smelt your gold. So easy even a cave man can do it. So easy to mess up that even an advanced miner can screw it up.

There are dozens and dozens of texts for this and tens of thousands of research articles explaining how to run an effectively gold recovery circuit; and yet you can take that body of knowledge and need to distill it down to what is going to work and what is going to put you on food stamps. Each ore has to be tailored to see how it runs, which is exactly how you mentioned it, better to see it done in person.

Like they say, the Devil's in the details and it's what Mad Machinist, myself, and StreamlineAudio are working on. Bringing our examples of what works in our ores to the mining public so the curtain can be pulled back a degree and get some folks some of that sexy shiny yellow stuff.

Keep digging it GT!

StreamlineGold!

Its out there folks, took me 10 good years to find something worth chasing and it helps to have good people on board.. A little luck doesn't hurt either.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thats a glorious cup of yellow there, excavator and probably one of the lower channels below Rich Hill Id assume .. considering 9/10 diggers out there never made it close to bedrock.

Actually those nuggets were mined a little over a mile northeast of your claims.

From the surface down to bedrock at 30 feet deep is where the cup of gold came from. The area above bedrock is riddled with coyote holes from the 1880's and before. Folks have been working bedrock and below on Rich Hill for nearly 150 years. The boulder area you have under claim has been worked too but not as deep. Just below you around the patents the area has been worked to bedrock several times. There is a fault near decision corner that was drilled to 200 feet without reaching bedrock but just a few hundred feet to the east bedrock is exposed all over the hillside.

Probably the only place Rich Hill hasn't been dug to bedrock is the old Weaver town dump where the Diagonal claim is located now.

Heavy Pans

 

[Assembler]

StreamlineGold!

Its out there folks, took me 10 good years to find something worth chasing and it helps to have good people on board.. A little luck doesn't hurt either.

Good for you and thanks for sharing StreamlineGold.

 

[StreamlineGold]

Actually those nuggets were mined a little over a mile northeast of your claims.

From the surface down to bedrock at 30 feet deep is where the cup of gold came from. The area above bedrock is riddled with coyote holes from the 1880's and before. Folks have been working bedrock and below on Rich Hill for nearly 150 years. The boulder area you have under claim has been worked too but not as deep. Just below you around the patents the area has been worked to bedrock several times. There is a fault near decision corner that was drilled to 200 feet without reaching bedrock but just a few hundred feet to the east bedrock is exposed all over the hillside.

Probably the only place Rich Hill hasn't been dug to bedrock is the old Weaver town dump where the Diagonal claim is located now.

Heavy Pans

Oh ya? South of Johnson mine? I have 2 up there around rich hill at the moment. One you know of and another north of stanton. The golden goose area is prob where im thinking of.large boulders that was really beyond what they could move around with older technology.

 

[StreamlineGold]

I saw his name on a claim or 2 up by stanton to my west..over by red twister

 

[Clay Diggins]

Oh ya? South of Johnson mine? I have 2 up there around rich hill at the moment. One you know of and another north of stanton. The golden goose area is prob where im thinking of.large boulders that was really beyond what they could move around with older technology.

That's funny. There are no claims I don't know about. I keep the database at my fingertips.

The 5 pounds of gold in a cup came from a State mining lease. It's not all about mining claims.

The area around Stanton had larger boulders than where your claim is. It's all flat and boulder free now. That area has been dug so much that Antelope creek used to be on the other side of Stanton. Never underestimate the ability of miners based on the technology available to them.

Heavy Pans

 

[StreamlineGold]

Section 36 nw / ne Hasser. Funny you mention that theres a big bundle of drag line cables over 1000ft long they used to drag up in there. And ya im sitting on the old antelope creek channel

 

[StreamlineGold]

State land im sure theres a lot of red tape to deal with..

 

[Clay Diggins]

State land im sure theres a lot of red tape to deal with..

There is some. A lot less than a major operation on public lands. If there is good gold there it's worth the effort.

The biggest problem is finding a place for all that gold.

Heavy Pans

 

[StreamlineGold]

First world problems.. where do I store my pounds of gold..lol

 

[Clay Diggins]

Section 36 nw / ne Hasser. Funny you mention that theres a big bundle of drag line cables over 1000ft long they used to drag up in there. And ya im sitting on the old antelope creek channel

You will find that the East side of the claim/road is more productive there. The west side has been bulldozed so many times the primary metal found there is dozer blade chips.

The claim on your NW corner is Rob's. The claim on your west is Mel's. The claim on your north is named after the Director of Land Matters.

Heavy Pans

 

[StreamlineGold]

Yeah theres something unusual up there..some timbering and a platform that could of been an old shaft.. a bunch of tailings and dumps..the east end is really hot ground that deep red iron stuff. Its on the backburner for now since im on a Lode but still poking some holes out there occasionally and finding gold flake laying just 3-4” down. I think it was at one point called the morning star placer, also the Ajax mine.

I know the indian creek area supposedly had some really fantastic placers I think thats Rob’s claim or near it. I talked with the guy who bought Mel’s claim quite a bit when I was out there last..hes moved a lot of dirt for sure.

 

[StreamlineGold]

Sorry didnt mean to hijack your thread Tramp...keep up the reports we love old school stuff!

 

[Cactus]

It's been some time Tramp!

Jake here. I see your site is down. I'd check in here every once and awhile to see if you were active and am glad to see you are again. Unfortunately I wasnt able to see any of the pictures in your this thread.

I hope all has been well for you. How are the boys?

I also am actually a miner now. Working at a sand mine a few miles away. The plant just reopened do to Hallaburton fronting them a bunch of money. Our quota is 67 rail cars a week of sand. I get to run a front end loader. Always wanted to be a miner, never thought it would be for sand though haha. I'd love to see some pictures. Id love to visit with my wife and have you show her some of the spots we hit up.

I often think of my time out there with you and how much I enjoyed it. Thank you for the experience you provided me, the experiences and stories you told me will stay with me the rest of my life. Very fond memories. Hoping gold prices can breakout for you.

I would have private messaged you but you have that disabled.


Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your friend, Jake.

 

[Assembler]

Not every one is mining with equipment like this any more. Want to give thanks again for the pictures of the post and the stories as well.

 

[gold tramp]

It's been some time Tramp!

Jake here. I see your site is down. I'd check in here every once and awhile to see if you were active and am glad to see you are again. Unfortunately I wasnt able to see any of the pictures in your this thread.

I hope all has been well for you. How are the boys?

I also am actually a miner now. Working at a sand mine a few miles away. The plant just reopened do to Hallaburton fronting them a bunch of money. Our quota is 67 rail cars a week of sand. I get to run a front end loader. Always wanted to be a miner, never thought it would be for sand though haha. I'd love to see some pictures. Id love to visit with my wife and have you show her some of the spots we hit up.

I often think of my time out there with you and how much I enjoyed it. Thank you for the experience you provided me, the experiences and stories you told me will stay with me the rest of my life. Very fond memories. Hoping gold prices can breakout for you.

I would have private messaged you but you have that disabled.


Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your friend, Jake.

Good to hear from ya buddy.
By myself now out in the bush still hittin it hard was pullin boulders few days back got some crumbs.
Hardrock prospectin right now havin fair luck.

Stay safe
Herb...

 

[gold tramp]

Update.
Bleepin has been non productive. My heart just aint in it. Im still a swingin as much as i can. my machine is 22 years old. Its not workin very good for small stuff just wont stay tuned. Drivin me nuts so no gold from bleepin. Wasnt for lack of tryin.

Drywashins lots of work tossin rock and washin dirt. My take is not much but it adds to the bottle for my end take. No nuggets yet just crumbs.

Hard rock has been the best for me got a couple decent pockets for about 1200 lbs of ore.
Im a third of the way to my 3oz goal. Hope i make it before it gets to hot!!!

Pics when i do my final millrun till then im beatin the hills chasin that elusive yelllow metal.

Gt......

 

[gold tramp]

Dadgum bees just wont leave me alone.
Been dealin with them for a few days now got stung yesterday. Took the day off today. Hope it rains they leave me beee.

Guess its the diggin into the vein you get down a ways it gets moist they smell it. Then get in my hole and all over me makes it hard to work with 30 or so killer type bees dive bombing you for hours.
Long about 1 o clock they won out i left.

Havnt been afforded much easy digs. Most has been in the very steep terrain. Makes recovery of my ore very tough job. Its gettin very hard to find any new stuff at all and i really have took look close go slow and then recheck again just to make sure i cleaned and sampled all the mineralizations i can find. Theres not that much mineralization to a mnt when you really get down to it and even less gold values.

So its much walkin diggin in and sampling of rocks. I was just doing my samples right at my rigg but its bee time now so no open water. i use my eye glass to make my decision to dig or i just wait till i get home with sample and come back to dig if it was good.
Needless to say i see gold in my rocks i dig in.


More later..
Gt.....

 

[rockbar]

You might try setting out a bowl of water with something sweet in it, like honey, to give the bees something to focus on away from you.

Similarly, when I hear the tell-tale sounds of rodents trying to get into my camping rig, I crumble up some chips or crackers and throw them something to appease them. Seems to work pretty well.

Best of luck on your prospecting and mining.