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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[strickman]

kiwi jw,i have never met jim h personally,he lives in canada-a long freakin way from u.s.a. ga. he answered a post i put up a long time ago in a very detailed and personal way.(that ment a lot to me )he was a stranger, but took time out of his day to explain a lot of differences between detectors to me that really helped me a lot! later on he put up a post about some silver ore he found.i told him i would like to purchase some for my sons collection, just let me know what i owe him and i would take care of it .to possibly make a nuggett pendant for them ,he done the ultimate PAY IT FORWARD ---he sent me a awsome assortment of specimens and nuggetts .i asked what i owed him and he said NOTHING...........all he wanted was to put up pics of the pendants when i finished them..........is that awsome or what?so i have tried to finish them ,(i only could get a small amount of silver solder ,hope fully i will get more soon )but my point is ,that is what this is all about.it's not the greed ,money ,fame or fortune .it's the friends,the search,the exciment of the hunt ,and the thrill of the finding ------not the cashing in....so in return he should reap what he sowed,i know he is the perfect example of what this is all about .and he (and his family)will always have a special place in our hearts.i have met a couple of t-netters and must say the ones i have personally met have always ,met or exceeded my expectations,and trully believe in my heart there are a lot more that i haven't met.i know that all don't fall in this catagory but there are some truly good people left in this world ,and some of them frequent t-net!!!!!!!!!!!!!so this will always be a very comfy site to me .and the friends along the way is a definant bonus!!!!

 

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[Jim Hemmingway]

Thanks JW. As you know by now, I have enjoyed reading all your articles. Great photos and instructive, I've learned a good deal, and its been timely information...

Up to the present time, I've always focused on searching with a metal detector, but in the future there will be a good bit of using the dredge one way or another. Or the sluice where the dredge can't be used or is not permissible. So, your presentations have helped a great deal.

I intend to use the various parts of my dredge and extra sluice and see if I can't come up with something to use as a gravity dredge. Only because I have a very good spot in mind to use it...if there is enough water. Another project thanks to you John, is I like the idea of building a backpackable high banker. Your project on that left quite an impression on me. I was wondering about using your gravity concept to feed water to a highbanker, and thus avoid have a pump running with the accompanying noise.

Strickman, thanks for those generous remarks, you are too kind. Fact is, there are many fine people here on the prospecting forum. Now, something I wanted to ask you. I see you use the silver solder. Do you have to use a higher heat than normal propane soldering units supply, or will the propane torch do OK? Yep, you've got me thinking...

Jim.

 

[strickman]

a very very very small oxegen and acytelene rig,and it DON'T TAKE MUCH!!!!1 second too long on the heat and you have a mess!!!!!!!!i had a little help with those because of the impurities in the silver the majick temp.for the solder was very close to the melting point of the nuggett.hope this helps.

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi Guys, Strickman.....You think the USA GA is a long way from Canada......try New Zealand
Yes Jim is a very generious person both in the time he spends giving advice & info on what he has learnt over the years & as you found out, also in his "gift" he sent to you. The pleasure he gets from doing those kind of things & the respect he gets for it is more than money can buy. I am a bit the same way. Giving for no capital gain comes back ten fold in karma, good feeling & a clear conscience knowing you have helped some one. Makes you sleep well at night. I know I keep saying the same thing.....but we seem to be birds of the same feather & that is what makes us "click" with each other. We are on the same parallel in so many ways irrespective of our back grounds &/or education & wealth. How do you really judge "wealth"?? It isnt always about money, as you touched on.

Good luck in your endeavours.

Jim, I dont see any reason why you couldnt use the siphone principle to run a Highbanker/banjo or even a sluice box. The only doubt I would have about running a highbanker/banjo is if the pressure in the water jets would be strong enough from the siphone & not get choked off a bit to only a dribble. The siphone actually opens up a few avenues. Like using it like a mini hydrolic water monitor to wash down bed rock or bank material. If that is allowed? Must admit I have done just that. Washed the material into a pool & then sucked it out through a sluice box.

Truth is....metal detecting is a lot easier on the body than all the other mining methods for the recreational fossicker. Especially as one gets older

Happy hunting

JW

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Thanks JW, those photos speak volumes. One way to find out if a thing will work is to try it. That's what I'll do.

Strickman, just a few words about JW. What with answering my few questions about his crevicing equipment, John decided he would go ahead and send me one of his self-made crevice-sucking devices (for lack of a better word). He made that known in a PM, and would not accept any help with the shipping costs. On the subject of good deeds, this would be a likely place to acknowledge John's kindly works as well.

Strick, similar to you, I have asked JW to send a return address, so we'll see about things hmm?

Jim.

 

[strickman]

got to love ridin' the karma train! 8)

 

[Lanny in AB]

Got a minute--just dropped in for a quick visit and, wow!! You boys have been busy--nice information and great pictures--well done!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[kiwi jw]

G'day Lanny, How have you been mate? What have you been up to? This thread has been missing you & your sassy nuggets.

You been down country gold hunting?? If so......any luck??

JW

 

[Lanny in AB]

I wish I'd been out hunting, or in the desert hunting, but nope! Just totally tied up with issues lately. Hope to get out to the gold camp to check on thing within the next couple of weeks--won't be prospecting or nugget shooting for a while yet, but it's always good to see how things survived the winter.

All the best to everyone,

Lanny

 

[extractor]

a very very very small oxegen and acytelene rig,and it DON'T TAKE MUCH!!!!1 second too long on the heat and you have a mess!!!!!!!!i had a little help with those because of the impurities in the silver the majick temp.for the solder was very close to the melting point of the nuggett.hope this helps.

I 'm not sure if it would be applicable in what you are doing,, I use Map Gass to melt silver solder in tubing applications.

kiwi jw, Lanny in AB , Strickman , and Jim Hemmingway, you all have great info that adds to the forums . I always read you all 's posts as I spot them. thanks Extractor

 

[strickman]

i used a jewelers silver solder(not seal foss),mapp gas has to big a flame(for me ).but if you have expierience with doing copper tubing silver solder,you would pick up on it easy.it is close to the same.except on a smaller scale.

 

[kiwi jw]

Extractor, You are welcome & thank you. It is a pleasure to share with others & to read what others have to offer. It is what makes the forums go around.
I went back to my little creek last weekend but only got a bit of colour & no specimen pieces that time. So nothing to report or show. I was going to go further up the Coromandel Peninsular for this weekend with my 4" dredge. But as a side line to my building trade I make & sell sluice box's & crevice suckers & I have got behind in production to fill orders. So have made up a batch over this weekend. Bugger.....the weather has been great so the creeks will be low.....& closer to the gold
Jim....I am wrapping yours up & sending it off monday before I on sell it....... again!!!!!! Sorry about that.

Happy Hunting

JW

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Extractor, thanks for those kind words.

JW, a PM sent tonight.

Thanks fellas...Jim.

 

[Shake n Flake]

My apologies, I’ve certainly gotten off track again.

I have to say I've learned more from your meanderings than from the "Just the facts" of many others. Go as far astray as you want!

 

[EagleDown]

Re: Nice Canadian Gold Nuggets

Here's a shot of some nice Canadian gold nuggets I found with the SD2100.

All the best,

Lanny in AB

Great post Lanny!! For some reason, there's no link for this shot. Ah, no matter, the pic above (vials) gave me some dream food for tonight. I'll probably wake up tired tomorrow from dredging all night.

Most of my dredging in the Merced river has been in slate, on edge.

In reference to the nuggets IN the bedrock, I found a small nugget wedged in a fine crack, in about 7 ft. of water. I took my pick, (screwdriver,) and worried it for a few minutes and couldn't even move it, much less get it out. So, I came out, walked back to my camp and got a chisel and a single jack. I started working the crack beside the little nugget. Imagine my surprise when the single jack hit the chisel and the chisel was knocked out of my hand dropped about 6" into what was now a crevass about 7" or 8" long and maybe 7" deep. (Along with a piece of the slate and the little nugget. Fortunately, the sun was directly overhead and I could see the nugget, chisel and 5 or 6 other nuggets at the bottom.

Another trip back to the camp for a spring loaded "mechanics finger" and a magnet with telescoping handle. But it was worth it. Almost half oz in nuggets.

Through studying about rock formations, I found that there can be a crevass in bedrock, gold falls in, then, the next spring runoff, boulders roll over it, causing the sheets of slate to separate minutely, (or swell if you prefer,) closing a decent crevass, leaving the crevass "proper" totally closed at the top, but still a crevass just a few inches down, with any gold in it still trapped at the bottom.

If it had not been for that one little piece of gold pointing the way, chances are I would never found out about this little quirk of bedrock.

 

[kiwi jw]

Well done EagleDown. Bet that brought a smile to your dial.

Happy Hunting

JW

 

[Lanny in AB]

Shake n Flake--you know--that's one of the nicest things about my prospecting musings I've heard in a long time. Thanks a bunch--I hope it helps you find some nice, sassy gold!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi there EagleDown(E.D.)--Thanks for your comments. By the way--I loved your story--it's amazing where gold will trap itself. Good work getting it out and then finding those bonus nuggets. I appreciate you posting your story on this thread--the more gold-getting info. that can be attached to this thread, the better. There have been some very helpful visitors recently, and I appreciate all of the input and feedback from all contributors.

I'm heading to the mine this weekend--have to figure out my dredge strategy for this summer.

Thanks again E.D., and all the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Thanks Lanny and Kiwi for the comments.

I just returned from a weeks vacation in Northern Nevada. God's country for sure, as is Canada, etc I'm sure. I have another little experience to relate. This happened on the Merced river in about 1962.

I was dredging just a few feet up river from the mouth of the North Fork, in about 4 ft. of water. I wasn't finding much with my new Keene 4" surface dredge, so I drifted over a little closer to the bank. Now keep in mind that back then, I was young, dumb and of course, I didn't need anyone telling me how or where to dredge. I sure wish I had been around to tell the young me what to do.

Anyway, there were several isolated boulders scattered about with grass growing from the sand and gravel around them. Of course, I wasn't concerned about rolling the boulders out of the way and dredging up the sand and gravel. I wanted to work the easy stuff. So, I started dredging in an open area and worked toward the riverbank.

Hey, this was great, there was only about a foot of overburden.

Then, I uncovered a vein of quartz about 4, maybe 5" wide. Right away, I saw a small "matchhead" size nugget go into my suction nozzle. As I uncovered more of the quartz, I found 8 or 10 more of the small nuggets. Funny thing was, only a couple of them were sucked off of the quartz.

I had to take my pick, (a thin bladed screwdriver,) and "pop" them loose before the suction would pick them up. I cleaned all of the exposed quartz and figured that was all there was. Wow, was I really all that dumb when I was a kid??

5 or 6 years later, I was telling a friend about this wonderful experience and he, (having a Masters in Geology,) started laughing. Of course I was expecting oohs, and ahhs, but not humor. I asked him what was so funny and he replied, "Man, you don't even realize what you had there do you"? "Uuh, some gold stuck to the quartz"?

"No", he said, "More than that"!! "What you had was some very rich, gold bearing quartz. The reason the little nuggets were "stuck to it" was that they were coming OUT OF THE QUARTZ, through little capillaries". "The gold is squeezed out by pressure and as it hits the surface, rocks and boulders pound the little tendrals down into nuggets, but, they're still part of, (and stuck to) the main vein of gold".

I don't know if this will help anyone in the future, but I felt that this was an experience worth sharing.

EagleDown

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi there Eagledown. BEST YOU GO BACK & CHECK IT OUT. You never know, maybe no one else has come across it once it got covered up again. What are the chances?

JW