Thanks Terry. This first trip is just to sample and find out whats there. What amount of gold would warrant bringing in a small excavator to move more dirt?
A simple cost analysis should determine whether the mineral values warrant heavy equipment investment.
First you will need to know what the mineral values are per yard of material. And then calculate what costs would be involved in the recovery of those values.
Such as fees, equipment, insurance, fuel, labor, refining, reclamation costs, transportation, etc.
For instance if you have $150 per yard values but average $160 a yard to recover them you would lose big time.
(There are about 40 full, screened and reasonably packed 5 gal buckets to 1 yard of material)
In my opinion the return should be at least double your investment to be worthwhile.
The use of a small excavator is going to require filing a notice of intent as well as posting a bond to insure reclamation.
Also you would need more than a 151 drywasher to process material.
To justify bringing in a small excavator I would estimate that the assay should show AU to be in access of 10 ppm
Here is the formula for figuring ppm or parts per million
1 ppm = one gram in one metric ton of sample
A metric ton = 2200 pounds = 1000 kilos
so a fast one on the calculator is:
ppm divided by 2200 x 2000 = grams per ton
grams divided by 31.1 = troy ounces
So lets say you are getting 10 ppm which is equal to 10 grams per ton. *That's nearly a third oz. per ton!
or over 1/4oz per yard!
*(provided my math is correct)
As Tim suggested "Don't bite off more than you can chew" But expect to spend some money on assays while sampling your claim.
You never know what valuable minerals besides AU may be in your samples.
Klondikeike has a couple of really good threads on that subject.
Here are the links:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/248741-okay-youve-found-some-gold-now-what.html
And:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/287774-how-do-placer-gold-assay-why.html
GG~