Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

Out of the slump.

A buddy of mine has a wonderful claim that is quite unique. Nuggets can be found right on the surface, genuine sunbakers, or down in irregular pay layers; however, what makes this ground unique is the way Nature deposited the gold. Those sassy nuggets were blown out in a huge glacial gush from a massive natural dam created by the Ice Age. Moreover, when the cataclysm occurred, gigantic boulders tore downstream with the explosion of ice, rock and water, and after the turmoil was over, the gold came to rest among the jumble of boulders, and huge sections of bedrock torn loose from bedrock rims far upstream.

Now, in the old days, the sourdoughs worked that ground the best they could, but there were very few places where it was shallow to bedrock, on exposed rims only, as most of the deposition occurred where it was deep down to bedrock, never mind the complications of sometimes room-sized boulders that barred the way.

In the ‘30’s, some enterprising miners brought in a steam shovel and windrowed their way through the rocks. They mined strips between the behemoths wherever navigation was possible, but they were far from able to work all of the pay. In fact, when people first began detecting the area, numerous nuggets rested on the tops of the boulders, cradled there since the dim past when state-sized glaciers ruled the land, before they’d retreated back to the safety of the Arctic’s arms.

Gold seekers have electronically hammered the ground for the last thirty plus years with gold detectors and retrieved pounds of gold. Moreover, small wash-plants are still in use today, and when patches of gravel can be found among the titanic mess generated by the Ice Age, the steam shovel, and numerous large-scale placering operations, good pay is still the reward for the hard work of toiling around the boulders.

On a different note, years ago, when I first started detecting with the Minelab 2100, I went to visit my buddy. He’s the generous kind of person every gold hunter wishes they’d have the opportunity to meet. He loves chasing the gold, and he is genuine and sincere in his desire to see others find gold on his claim. So, after swapping gold tales for a couple of hours, he told me to head out and give it a try wherever I wished.

Well, several lazy summer hours after I started I got a screaming signal on a roadway where he’d been transporting dirt from his workings dug with a backhoe high on a side hill.

Of course, this signal was only detected after I’d spent hours digging an entire pouch of trash (can-slaw, bits of lead, square nails, round nails, small BB sized pieces of native iron, copper and iron sections of wire—all the normal trash left in disturbed ground that’s been worked on and off since the 1860’s). Nonetheless, the signal was a screamer, yet its tone was disappointing, as it sounded exactly like a round nail.

I was hot. I was tired. My thirst was a thick, nagging urge. The sun, a sky-hooked brass furnace was roasting the back of my neck.

I passed the coil over the signal again. It was the perfect signature of a round nail. That sound was scrimshawed on my brain from the many disappointing signals I’d already dug that day.

It was almost as if I was in some kind of lethargic metal detecting trance. I look back on it today and realize that I was simply too hot, too tired, and too thirsty—undoubtedly I should have hauled my carcass into the shade, had a drink of some icy mountain water and refreshed myself. Nevertheless—I hadn’t.

I swung the coil again, and this time my miniaturized, fatigued brain forced me to pay attention, take some action, and make a decision. “Dig it or leave it” was the looped recording playing in the message center of my brain. Of course my every instinct was to walk down the road to the shade and the cool, refreshing waters.

That is not what I did.

Mechanically I pulled my pick from the hip mount, dug around the wide perimeter of the signal, drug a pile of dirt from the surface of the encompassed ground, and then scanned the pile. No signal. So, I went back to the circular-shaped excavation of disturbed soil. I swept the ground. The signal was still there.

I carefully dug down several inches and drug the gravel and clay out of the hole. The signal was now in the pile. I sawed the super-magnet through the pay dirt—no contact whatsoever—nothing jumped to its rare-earthed body.

I started the process of scooping and scanning, slightly more animated this time. In the back of my prospecting brain, a flicker of hope fanned itself into a hopeful flame. However, I perfectly remembered the lead and other nonferrous targets I’d dug that day, and this tempered my enthusiasm. Nonetheless, I went back to using the plastic scoop.

At last, the target was trapped in it.

Well, after quartering the material in the scoop and dropping it on to the surface of the Joey, I heard that electronic “whap” and growl of a target landing on the coil—that blood pumping sound that never gets old.

I shook the small pile of dirt off of the Joey's surface, back into the secure confines of the scoop. I slid the contents across the surface of the coil—the sound made a happy, sharp bark in my Gray Ghosts. With my thumb, I slid small portions of the dirt back on to the surface of the coil, and then I passed the scoop over the coil until there was only a tablespoon or so of material left in the scoop. For you see, the target had been nudged to the edge and was now reading right on the tip of the scoop. I gently blew the powdery clay away and there, with a sassy grin on its golden face, was a gorgeous nugget, half the size of my thumbnail. That ancient beauty just lay there sun-tanning itself in the scoop, winking at me with the crystal clear message that is was not just another rotten round nail.

Of course, I adopted that lonely orphan right there on the spot, and with no court process or judge present for convenient use, I gave it an excellent home. I’d finally struck gold on that claim.

Now, I find that due to my rambling in telling this story, I’ve totally missed my original focus which was to tell you of the adventure of what I found this, the summer of 2012, when I went back for a return visit with the 5000 to that same claim. But, I guess that’ll have to be a tale for another day, as I’ve burned through every minute of writing time I’d set aside to tell you this one.

Until then, and as always my friends, all the best,

Lanny

You'll notice this is not the Joey, but I'd used this coil earlier in the day before I switched to the Joey.

 

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[gold nuggets]

Thanks for retelling that gold prospecting adventure Lannie.....Can't hardly
wait for your next one. Gold Nuggets

 

[63bkpkr]

You Tease ! I recognize it and I love it! .....I am also looking forward to the next one.....63bkpkr

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for retelling that gold prospecting adventure Lannie.....Can't hardly
wait for your next one. Gold Nuggets

Thanks so much for being so kind to tell me you like the story.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Fullpan]

Hey Lanny - Hows the book coming? Just curious about assays. There has been several questions about both placer (blue lead) and hard rock ore samples
on this forum recently. I'm betting you had assays performed over the years. How would you characterize the experience - good, bad, too expensive?

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hey Lanny - Hows the book coming? Just curious about assays. There has been several questions about both placer (blue lead) and hard rock ore samples
on this forum recently. I'm betting you had assays performed over the years. How would you characterize the experience - good, bad, too expensive?

I've never done any hard-rocking in earnest--so I've never sent off any assays. I've spent almost all of my time chasing placer. Maybe I should try hardrock sometime, but as for now, I'm still chasing the nuggets..

If I could work on the book full-time, it would be coming along faster; however, I'm still getting to it as I have time. Thanks for asking.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Hefty1]

Hey Lanny
Been a bit posting here...As far as I am concerned...You have a number "1BEST SELLER" right here in these 57 pages and 1130 posts.

As far as hard-rocking...chasing the placer Ted Nugents is tough enough.

Kinda been busy writing my own book on mining laws and learning what the FS is "suppose to do" by their own manuals and handbooks. 63 can testify to the stacks of paperwork I have by my desk.

Anyways Great Reading your thread.

Hefty

 

[63bkpkr]

YUP!!! STACKS & STACKS!!!!!..........63bkpk

 

[leenie]

hello lanny. i like your great stories and the pictures of canada. i wish you a happy thanksgiving. are you whistling in your sleep yet. thanks dave

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hey Lanny
Been a bit posting here...As far as I am concerned...You have a number "1BEST SELLER" right here in these 57 pages and 1130 posts.

As far as hard-rocking...chasing the placer Ted Nugents is tough enough.

Kinda been busy writing my own book on mining laws and learning what the FS is "suppose to do" by their own manuals and handbooks. 63 can testify to the stacks of paperwork I have by my desk.

Anyways Great Reading your thread.

Hefty

Hefty,

So great to hear from you again. And, as to your ongoing saga--I certainly hope that you will be able to hold the FS to task for what they have done. Herb says you have stacks and stacks of papers building up on the issue.

Thanks for your humor about the Ted Nugent Hard-Rock allusion, and many thanks for your kind words about the thread and the stories.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

YUP!!! STACKS & STACKS!!!!!..........63bkpk

Herb--it's nice you've got Hefty's back--from all I hear, you sound like a great guy.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

hello lanny. i like your great stories and the pictures of canada. i wish you a happy thanksgiving. are you whistling in your sleep yet. thanks dave

Dave--thanks for dropping in, and thanks for the compliment! And, no, I haven't had to whistle in my sleep for a while now, and I'm enjoying that a lot as it means I get a lot more sleep.

All the best, and one of these days I'll get that next story written,

Lanny

 

[63bkpkr]

Welcome back Lanny,

Your comments are appreciated and are always kind. Friends need friends besides he's kinda crazy like me so we do well together as friends. By now Canada should be quite cold and even white, is this the case? If it is then you are mostly shut down for the winter. Do you have any other work you do? I'm just curious about what professional prospectors do in their 'off time'.
Enjoy........63bkpkr

 

[nuggy]

Hi Lanny, Hefty, 63 and all - I finally got my new, home built pump finished - it's a beast with it's 70 hp Ford industrial loader motor, extra large diameter impeller. Can't think what the specs are any more, but it will pump a pretty decent creek up a 100 foot hill - no problem. The skids mean I can tow it around a site with my Landcruiser even though it weighs over a ton. Had a bad run with some of the bolt on parts as I had to get a new starter motor, and get the injector pump rebuilt , these old Ford diesels though generally go on almost forever.

Upside down and off to one side you can see a bright yellow hopper - this is the only finished part of my washplant. In the background my old Hitachi digger is undergoing some rust treatments.

The other half is not too happy about the look of our lawn at the moment lol.

Good luck guys Nuggy

 

[NeoTokyo]

Very nice Nuggy.

The only thing that I could think of that would make that more awesome is nothing short of tank tracks and a seat to control from.

Awesome worksmanship!

 

[63bkpkr]

Wow Nuggy,
That is one awesome piece of construction/engineering and a plain beauty of a beast! It will be awesome to see it working.
The best of good success to you. When might you try it out?.......63bkpkr

P.S. - when you are riding your solid gold lawn mower trimming the lawn your good wife will have quite a smile on her face.

 

[nuggy]

Thanks for the compliment NeoTokyo, glad you like it, I am rather pleased with it too, at least looks and motor running wise. The Hitachi in the background provides both the tracks and control seat you mention, it also has a couple of other handy features .


Thanks 63bkpkr, it is quite good looking. Construction was a long arduous task, and even though I got bits from every scrap yard nearby - it still cost quite a lot, and I totally lost track of the hours I put in.
I should be running it in serious work by our autumn your spring, ( I can work through the winter here). Just got the rest of the washplant to finish off now - if my finances can take the pressure .
Think of a slightly smaller and semi portable version of what the gold rush Alaska boys used, and that's my current construction project. It will weigh about 4 tons when completed. This project and my regular work is why I don't get out fossicking more, there's only so many hours in a week. Will put some more photos on here when there is something more complete to look at.
As far as mowing goes - I hate it, as a former school grounds keeper, I have spent way too much time mowing grass. As soon as possible that job gets farmed out to a contractor.

Best luck to you both, Nuggy

 

[Lanny in AB]

Herb,

Things are indeed mostly white, and I'd love to be someplace warmer in the winter. It's been a while since I've been to Arizona nugget shooting in the winter time, but I sure love it. And, I imagine that parts of California are also prospector friendly in the winter months. I'm glad that you have Hefty to hang out with. It's always better to have a buddy along on prospecting adventures. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi Lanny, Hefty, 63 and all - I finally got my new, home built pump finished - it's a beast with it's 70 hp Ford industrial loader motor, extra large diameter impeller. Can't think what the specs are any more, but it will pump a pretty decent creek up a 100 foot hill - no problem. The skids mean I can tow it around a site with my Landcruiser even though it weighs over a ton. Had a bad run with some of the bolt on parts as I had to get a new starter motor, and get the injector pump rebuilt , these old Ford diesels though generally go on almost forever.

Upside down and off to one side you can see a bright yellow hopper - this is the only finished part of my washplant. In the background my old Hitachi digger is undergoing some rust treatments.

The other half is not too happy about the look of our lawn at the moment lol.

Good luck guys Nuggy

Holy jumpin' dynamite Nuggy--you've been one busy hombre! That's a beauty you've built there. I love how you said it will pump a pretty decent creek uphill--I'm still chuckling about that one. Make sure you come back and post pictures of your washplant when it's done.

It's a delicate art form to keep the other half (the little lady) happy about prospecting progress, whichever form it takes or wherever it takes it.

All the best, and great to hear from you again,

Lanny

 

[Hefty1]

Hey Nuggy...put a seat on top of the pump and you got one hella jet ski