Underwater Gold Sniping - Mercury Cleanup - 8 Videos

[NeoTokyo]

Heya Everyone;

I am sorry that I have not been on much, other than checking Facebook I don't spend much time on the computer during the summer.


Here are 8 videos from a single outing on Lower Clear Creek in Shasta County.
I don't recall the amount of time I spent sniping to recover the 7 grams but it was around 3 hours if I had to guess.

Some days are really good, but there are a whole lot of days where the only color you get is on your skin.
Its all a win win for me though, I love sniping even if I don't find anything.




I hope that you guys enjoy the videos, feel free to like, comment and share them.

-Eric-


Part 1.



Part 2.



Part 3.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[NeoTokyo]

Part 4.



Part 5.



Part 6.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Part 7.



Part 8. (Sorry for the poor audio at first, this GoPro has died a couple times so it has some lasting issues. lol )

 

[ratled]

Thanks as always for the videos. Next time you fire up the retort I would like to see it in action - just because! One quick question it is a recycling the water or static?

ratled

 

[Aufisher]

Awesome gold and a great cleanup for our local waters! Glad to see your doing well!

 

[Nitric]

Thanks for the videos!!

Looks like too much fun!!

 

[NeoTokyo]

You can recirculate the water or run straight from the hose.

One thing that I have found running it from the hose is that it is actually too cold and cools the mercury before it can fully leave the tube above the heating chamber.
Because of that it just drops back down.

It worked better letting the water warm up into the 70's I would guess.

There has been quite the learning curve to try to get the retort to work just right which is why I have not made a video yet, it just takes so long.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Once you clean out the mercury/gold on the bedrock on your mining claim, how long does it take for the bedrock cracks to fill back up with enough gold/mercury to make it worth your time to re-visit the same bedrock?

 

[NeoTokyo]

This actually is open BLM land that I am working.

It replenished really well from last year, but this is a water managed creek and it depends on the rainfall that we get and how much water they decide to let out.
We got plenty of rain this year and they let a lot more water out it seemed than years past.

The Mercury in this creek is from Legacy Mining as well as Cinnabar deposits.

 

[johngfoster]

What do you do with the mercury once you've recondensed it? Donate it to some high school science lab?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

This actually is open BLM land that I am working.

It replenished really well from last year, but this is a water managed creek and it depends on the rainfall that we get and how much water they decide to let out.
We got plenty of rain this year and they let a lot more water out it seemed than years past.

The Mercury in this creek is from Legacy Mining as well as Cinnabar deposits.

I have always wanted to do this, but I don't have the lungs for it.

 

[Alex Burke]

Wow great videos Neo, if the miners in SA and Africa had retort machines like that one, or the ability to build one it would def cut down on the use of merc in towns, in the entendres and gold shops. Safe retorts is something artisanal miners in other countries really need to recycle Mercury and use less so hopefully someone important will see your videos and consider how valuable a machine like that could be if introduced to different areas.

Also hopefully anti small scale mining groups will see how much merc and lead you were able to remove and comprehend what they just saw with their own eyes. Keep up the good work.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Also hopefully anti small scale mining groups will see how much merc and lead you were able to remove and comprehend what they just saw with their own eyes. Keep up the good work.

In my opinion...
The anti groups do not have solutions as an end goal.

Do you really think they want untrained/unlicensed redneck miners messing around with mercury in the streams? Nothing directed at NeoTokyo
State and Federal funding, grants, private donations, and restoration money is what drives these issues, not actual damage/harm or solutions.

I would not be a single bit surprised if the activities shown in the videos is not illegal in some manner. Crazy.

 

[Alex Burke]

I wouldn't consider dredgers untrained, the ones I've met are highly trained professionals doing a risky profession but I understand the point you are making and I agree the "groups" aren't out to solve a real or perceived problem.

My comment was meant to be sarcastic I guess lamenting the various groups inability to grasp facts and see for themselves; or to read the actual studies about dredging done in AK etc. sorry for any confusion

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Untrained in environmental clean-up, handling hazardous materials in the live stream, ect. ect.

You don't get to join the club unless you know the secret handshake and complete the brainwashing classes.

 

[jere64ca]

yes, Enviro groups do not want miners to touch mercury,,, why?, because they are scared of it and they make money off of the grants.

Have you seen the video of the SB637 hearing of the Sierra Funds expert witness talking about the program that collected mercury from miners? she testified that "we HAD TO stop that program because it was SO successful",,,,, insanity if it was really about the enviroment.