I go up to Silverton, CO tons and want to use my Goldhog sluice so bad on all the tailings piles I see.... Are they fare game to venture through? I know there are some that are still part of claims but how would one know and I'm so small time that I'm sure a shovel full of ten wouldn't even be noticed. My 6 yr old son is ready to "get the gold!"
Are old mining tailing fare game?
- Thread starter k28drgw
- Start date
Indian Steve
Silver Member
If they are part of a legal claim, then stay off or face the consequences.
alloy_II
Hero Member
- Dec 24, 2021
- 630
- 1,028
From the bit of research many areas of Colorado are contaminated with arsenic, especially those located near mines new and old.
Arsenic, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
flinthunter
Hero Member
- Jan 3, 2011
- 899
- 1,076
- Detector(s) used
- E-Trac, V3i, DFX
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Post this to the TreasureNet " Gold Prospecting" forum. You might get your answer there.
crashbandicoot
Gold Member
I,d think ask around!
- Thread starter
- #6
LOL I totally get that Indian Steve.. I stand warned!
- Thread starter
- #7
alloy_ll I heard of the dangers of this also! Old mining ops weren't exactly safest places even to work..
- Thread starter
- #8
Yep, that's why I'm here lol.
crashbandicoot
Gold Member
I figured,but I meant ask around in that area,surely someone knows.
- Thread starter
- #10
Hey there flimthunter, thanks for the "nugget."
- Thread starter
- #11
Totally got that, I'm looking in to the GPAA in Durango, CO. Moving houses so the funds ain't there to spare just yet.I figured,but I meant ask around in that area,surely someone knows.
alloy_II
Hero Member
- Dec 24, 2021
- 630
- 1,028
I suspect if you remove material from tailings the EPA will come knocking at your door.
Send a small 30 gram sample to the address of a lab in Canada and have an ICP assay done, then you'll know to proceed or not.
Back-of-the-boat
Gold Member
- Apr 18, 2013
- 6,940
- 8,616
- Detector(s) used
- AT GOLD/Garrett /C.Scope cs4PI/Garrett(carrot) pro pointer/ 5x8 double d coil and sniper coil/Lesche digger/Lesche "T" handle shovel.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Most claimed areas, the owners will tell you NO because of liability reasons plus it is their claim. See if you can find something on Bureau land that isn't claimed. But you can find some claim owners who might, if your small timing it or just find out where you can go where all the other weekend prospectors go.
- Thread starter
- #14
Thanks for the information. I will for sure do more research on claims and areas to look at. For now I'll stick to the streams and natural areas.
- Dec 30, 2012
- 8,373
- 15,816
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- Presently using Deus 2's & have Minelabs, Nokta's Tesoro's DEus's Have them all . Have WAY to many need to get rid of some
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Out near Murray Idaho a Dredge went through in the early 1900's i wanted to do the tailings pile but was warned to STAY OFF I was told i might get shot. They did not have to tell me anything else !!!
alloy_II
Hero Member
- Dec 24, 2021
- 630
- 1,028
Hedley BC they relocated the tailings onto a large mat which slopped to one corner then sprayed a cyanide leach over the top of the pile.
As the cyanide peculated through the medium gold was picked up, the pregnant liquor collected in the ponds from there it was passed through a large filter filled with zinc chips.
Zinc cements the gold from the liquor as slime's the barren leach returned to one of the ponds. A sample taken for titration , from the results the operator knew how much cyanide was needed.
Titration
Photo labs, X'ray labs and dental offices use a similar heavy metals trap to recover the silver.
Instead of zinc the filter is filled with steel wool.
When Pat and I had our scrap yard, one morning while heading to the jobber for a parts when I got to the stop sign would have had to turn right to get to town.
As I was looking to ,my left to see if the road was free of traffic spotted a yard sale sign.
Made the left, interesting yard sale, the heirs were selling off their fathers goods from a business he had once owned.
Out of the blue the fellow asked me if I picked up scrap, after telling him that I did. He took me inside the garage.
Inside was a one hour photo lab which consisted of many large pieces along with many new and used Radio Shack inventory.
Truck loads o camera's and 35 mm projectors tubes, new bulbs and belts. Advertising and manuals for a lot of the old 35 mm camera's
People brought their camera's in for repairs but once they received an estimate had abandoned the camera.
Every disassembled camera stored neatly in a box, we were clueless. Listing them on auction we simply labeled the first box A1 going forward. Posted images and let the bidding begin.
At the time I had a crane truck large enough to lift a car or truck onto the deck then stack another on top of the first.
When I came with the truck to pick up the photo lab, the last thing I had picked up was the silver recovery canister and it was heavy.
I told the guy that it contained silver and that he should send it into a refinery. Told me to keep it, we sent it to the refinery and received a nice check in the mail.
On another occasion a buddy purchased a building on a tax sale, the building had been used as a dental office and it had all the equipment, chairs, drill stations, box's of preformed crowns, compressor in the basement along with many old heavy metal filter traps sitting on a self.
The heavy metal traps capture the mercury along with silver, gold and any platinum sister that maybe present. Blood and bone chips these things stink bad enough to gag a maggot.
I built a retort to drive off the mercury as a vapor which condenses back into a liquid before leaving the retort.
What is left is a grey looking powder, the values.
If your going to play with tailings have an assay done, you need to know if any harmful elements are present.
As the cyanide peculated through the medium gold was picked up, the pregnant liquor collected in the ponds from there it was passed through a large filter filled with zinc chips.
Zinc cements the gold from the liquor as slime's the barren leach returned to one of the ponds. A sample taken for titration , from the results the operator knew how much cyanide was needed.
Titration
Photo labs, X'ray labs and dental offices use a similar heavy metals trap to recover the silver.
Instead of zinc the filter is filled with steel wool.
When Pat and I had our scrap yard, one morning while heading to the jobber for a parts when I got to the stop sign would have had to turn right to get to town.
As I was looking to ,my left to see if the road was free of traffic spotted a yard sale sign.
Made the left, interesting yard sale, the heirs were selling off their fathers goods from a business he had once owned.
Out of the blue the fellow asked me if I picked up scrap, after telling him that I did. He took me inside the garage.
Inside was a one hour photo lab which consisted of many large pieces along with many new and used Radio Shack inventory.
Truck loads o camera's and 35 mm projectors tubes, new bulbs and belts. Advertising and manuals for a lot of the old 35 mm camera's
People brought their camera's in for repairs but once they received an estimate had abandoned the camera.
Every disassembled camera stored neatly in a box, we were clueless. Listing them on auction we simply labeled the first box A1 going forward. Posted images and let the bidding begin.
At the time I had a crane truck large enough to lift a car or truck onto the deck then stack another on top of the first.
When I came with the truck to pick up the photo lab, the last thing I had picked up was the silver recovery canister and it was heavy.
I told the guy that it contained silver and that he should send it into a refinery. Told me to keep it, we sent it to the refinery and received a nice check in the mail.
On another occasion a buddy purchased a building on a tax sale, the building had been used as a dental office and it had all the equipment, chairs, drill stations, box's of preformed crowns, compressor in the basement along with many old heavy metal filter traps sitting on a self.
The heavy metal traps capture the mercury along with silver, gold and any platinum sister that maybe present. Blood and bone chips these things stink bad enough to gag a maggot.
I built a retort to drive off the mercury as a vapor which condenses back into a liquid before leaving the retort.
What is left is a grey looking powder, the values.
If your going to play with tailings have an assay done, you need to know if any harmful elements are present.
Last edited:
Top Member Reactions
-
3507 -
1992 -
1895 -
1164 -
1069 -
1012 -
877 -
873 -
849 -
785 -
763 -
665 -
660 -
571 -
508 -
450 -
439 -
404 -
E
401
-
397
