Finally, After Some Seven or so Years

[rodoconnor]

It's always something ain't it Caley. There are ways to dry the soil out . It just depends how many times you want to handle it.Drywashing already resembles work anyways, so addition processes to dry it only adds to the labor. Hopefully you've got a decent paystreak or two to work.Good luck.

 

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[desertgolddigger]

rodoconnor, Last time I was out I had to run the material twice due to damp soil.

Where we dig, we aren't going to get great quantities of gold. The person who was digging nearby told me that what I was getting was pretty good. The reason we don't get lots of gold is that this area was worked back from the 1890's through the depression era. Those miners pulled out all the large gold by strip mining the area. But they left a lot of fine gold. Yes, it is hard work for the little gold I got last time. I dug out a little over five grams of gold in three days. Each day I managed to process 120 2 gallon buckets of classified material. I imagine most of you guys wouldn't bother for such meager pickings. But we don't have a lot of choice unless we go out in other areas that aren't claimed, and hope getting lucky finding a pay streak of larger nuggets.

There are places out there, but it really takes a lot of time. It took a group of six guys an afternoon to find a good place to take the gold mining class years ago when I first visited the area. I didn't go to that dig, as I wasn't feeling quite chipper after a bad night sleep, or rather lack of sleep. I think the dozen people who went, split about 1/4 ounce of gold.

The other drawback is that I have a 300 mile roundtrip to the claim. So I do have to find a way to stay for at least three days to make the trip worthwhile. Camping is the only way. I refuse to spend money on a motel, ANYMORE. I'll just have to learn to rough it.

But yes, it is fun, and I get two things, a little gold, and lots of exercise, which I really do need to get the flab off this old bod of mine. :-) CaleyAnn

 

[rodoconnor]

I camped out for years and years. With and without a tent. Having worked for years as a buckaroo and misc. outdoor endeavors , camping is just second nature. Until one day somebody gave me a very nice camp trailer. Oh man, the Taj Mahal! Good Luck Caley

 

[desertgolddigger]

Hey, Thanks Rod. I camped out for half my 24 years in the service, and kind of got tired of the whole camping thing. But I will be giving it a try. I just hope I don't get spooked like the last few tries.

I envy you having a trailer to camp out in. That is my dream of a few years from now. Right now I just am going to pay off bills, and once my money is mine, I can decide on maybe a 4-wheel drive truck with a small camper, at least a camper I can hopefully stand up in. I'm 6 foot tall. Having such a setup allows you to drop the trailer, and still go exploring in the truck.

I looked at the weather forecast, and it looks like I might squeeze in a three day visit to the claim next week. Doesn't look like bad wind or rain, but then, extended forecasts aren't always very accurate. CaleyAnn

 

[placertogo]

My experience is that magnetic black sands retain gold by "pinching" small pieces of gold between particles of black sand due to the magnetic attraction of the particles of black sand. Also, the magnetic attraction of particles of black sand allows gold particles to sit on top of black sand even though the gold is heavier than the black sand. For this reason, you have to process magnetic black sands several times to get most of the gold out.

 

[KevinInColorado]

My experience is that magnetic black sands retain gold by "pinching" small pieces of gold between particles of black sand due to the magnetic attraction of the particles of black sand. Also, the magnetic attraction of particles of black sand allows gold particles to sit on top of black sand even though the gold is heavier than the black sand. For this reason, you have to process magnetic black sands several times to get most of the gold out.

Or just get a stronger magnet and pull the classified (first!) mags up THRU the water. That'll rinse out the non-mags like gold. Easy and no repeated processing.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Just saw the conversation. I've tried two methods of removing the black sand. The wet method involves swishing the concentrates around in the pan while holding the magnet about 1/4 inch above the bottom. The black sands jump up through the water, while leaving the gold at the bottom.

Of course, there is the dry method which I am using now. I classify my concentrates with sieves, then use a magnet with each different sized material. I have to swish the magnet through several times until all I get is the blonde materials. More time consuming, and not sure if it really is the easiest, most accurate method.

I got out to the claim once again, and spent about five hours, of what I had planned to be an eight hour digging session. The heat again was just too much right around noon, so I got smart again, and quit. Still ended up suffering a little for my digging enthusiasm, but did pretty good considering the abbreviated digging session. Ended up with .525 grams of goodies. Most of it was super fine gold, well over 1000 pieces.

With the heat here, and sometimes terrible winds, my outdoor digging is considerably curtailed. So I decided to try backyard prospecting; that being going online and purchasing gold pay dirt. I didn't just pick one off a list on EBay. I am too wary of doing such a stupid thing. I watched a lot of YouTube video reviews, and chose one. I will not mention the vendor, as that probably is considered advertising. But I did fairly well with the two pounds of material I purchased, getting 1.42 grams for $48. It is strange looking gold, kind of washed out looking, but it is gold, though the purity is probably pretty low. The only trouble I had was that the vendor's pay dirt was quite dirty, and had lotttttts of plant matter. Anyway, this home adventure was fun, and I figured I would've spent more money if I had actually gone out to a claim. Probably wouldn't have gotten as much gold

The Memorial Day weekend coming up is supposed to be a club outing at Coolgardie, but the weather forecast looks really terrible for tent camping, with winds in the 10-25mph range. And of course, you have to contend with the desert. Even if it is 75F, you can suffer dehydration because the air seems to suck the moisture right out of you. I hope the weather forecast is inaccurate. I'd like to get back into the area I have been digging that is giving me at least 1/10 gram of gold per hour of digging. CaleyAnn

 

[goldenIrishman]

Weather you clean out your magnetic materials wet or dry, save them for further processing! A LOT of the desert super fines get coated with magnetic materials over time and will be picked up by your magnet. You can recover it by one of two methods. Crushing the materials will knock that coating off or you can use the heat and quench method (aka Shake n Bake) to remove it. I get a lot of extra gold using both of these methods and it's a great way to have something to do when you can't get out to work more materials due to weather or schedule. I save mine up and then run them when it's to hot to go out and dig. Mad dogs and Englishmen comes to mind here.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I actually bring home all my concentrates. Before I can classify them to various sized material, I cook the moisture out. Maybe that is one reason why I am getting stuff smaller than 100 mesh. Of course, it may very well be that my small slope on the dry washer is allowing the smaller stuff to be captured. I really don't know, but the last time I was out, I reduced the angle of my dry washer tray, and it seemed I was getting more super fine gold. But doing so slows things down on feeding the machine.

And, of course, this super fine gold is just too difficult for me to separate from the similar sized concentrates. So right now I am just saving all the stuff smaller than 100 mesh. Maybe eventually I will figure out how to get to it. Panning doesn't work for me, and the "Blue Bowl" is useless. Wonder if the "Miller Table" will allow separation of that small stuff? But right now I don't have enough of it to justify the cost of another contraption. CaleyAnn

 

[Hard Prospector]

I actually bring home all my concentrates. Before I can classify them to various sized material, I cook the moisture out. Maybe that is one reason why I am getting stuff smaller than 100 mesh. Of course, it may very well be that my small slope on the dry washer is allowing the smaller stuff to be captured. I really don't know, but the last time I was out, I reduced the angle of my dry washer tray, and it seemed I was getting more super fine gold. But doing so slows things down on feeding the machine.

And, of course, this super fine gold is just too difficult for me to separate from the similar sized concentrates. So right now I am just saving all the stuff smaller than 100 mesh. Maybe eventually I will figure out how to get to it. Panning doesn't work for me, and the "Blue Bowl" is useless. Wonder if the "Miller Table" will allow separation of that small stuff? But right now I don't have enough of it to justify the cost of another contraption. CaleyAnn

The Royal Gold Dust Concentrating Table is what you need girl, I switched over to processing all of my super fine cons to this thing last year and it works great! Retired the blue bowl (my grand kids play with it now and it keeps em busy watching the water spin around and around). Anyway you can pick one up for a hair over $200. and its worked well for me.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Have you tried using a pan with a large, smooth bottom (the flat part I mean) and using the shake and tap method? I've found that works great for me on the -100 stuff [emoji106]🏻

 

[desertgolddigger]

Kevin, I've tried to do that shake and tap method, but I don't seem to have the knack for it. Others have shown me how to do it, but when I try, nothing. I guess some people just don't have the ability to master that particular skill, and I am one of them.

What is strange is I do remove as much of the black sands as I can, but some remain, and those black sands seem to be heavier than the super fine gold. And those black sands aren't magnetic. CaleyAnn

 

[KevinInColorado]

Kevin, I've tried to do that shake and tap method, but I don't seem to have the knack for it. Others have shown me how to do it, but when I try, nothing. I guess some people just don't have the ability to master that particular skill, and I am one of them.

What is strange is I do remove as much of the black sands as I can, but some remain, and those black sands seem to be heavier than the super fine gold. And those black sands aren't magnetic. CaleyAnn

That must be frustrating. I've certainly noticed that there as many panning techniques as people...what works for one may not for others. A miller-type table may be your best option...if/when you have enough material to process to make it worth the investment. Otherwise find someone else who will loan you theirs?

 

[arizau]

Kevin, I've tried to do that shake and tap method, but I don't seem to have the knack for it. Others have shown me how to do it, but when I try, nothing. I guess some people just don't have the ability to master that particular skill, and I am one of them.

What is strange is I do remove as much of the black sands as I can, but some remain, and those black sands seem to be heavier than the super fine gold. And those black sands aren't magnetic. CaleyAnn

As to panning......I don't know what quantity of material you are trying to pan at a time but for me, panning quantities of a tablespoon to much less usually yields success. For the toughest material I often only pan about a quarter teaspoon. This allows the material to spread out to about one particle thickness allowing the gold to move independently from the black sands and not be influenced by the overwhelming weight of numerous black sand particles, magnetic or not, that surround and cover it. Tedious but worth it to recover every last piece of gold without the use of specialized equipment such as a miller table, etc.

Good luck whatever you do.

 

[bobw53]

What is strange is I do remove as much of the black sands as I can, but some remain, and those black sands seem to be heavier than the super fine gold. And those black sands aren't magnetic. CaleyAnn

That's where the classification comes in. The black sands ARE heavier than the smaller gold... Those black sands WILL knock the small gold out. Once you are classified, its easy...

Here is an example of when I FIRST tried classifying really small, I found a lot of gold I didn't even know I had...

This pic.. About the thickness of a human hair. Those #s are just a regular ball point pen... It separated out easily.

Next step... Can't see the gold can you? That's because my camera/phone reached the point of being unhappy.. The gold is also so small that
the naked eye can't see it, unless its in a pile.. Its up in the crease of the pan, there were a couple hundred pieces there, seperated out fairly easily.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Right now all I have for classifying concentrates are Mesh 30, 50, 70 and 100. The set stacks with a catch cup for anything going through the 100 mesh screen. But I haven't found any screens below 100 mesh that I consider cost effective. All I've found are scientific screens that run high double digits or more.

All I will do is keep collecting the material that I cannot separate the gold from. Maybe a year from now I will take it to one of the club members to see if they can separate the fine stuff.

I've checked out my equipment, and maybe tomorrow I will toodle up to the Barstow area for my first campout. Supposed to be no hotter than the mid-80's for the three days I would like to stay. Want to be gone from the area when all the off road and recreational people invade the area. CaleyAnn

 

[bobw53]

But I haven't found any screens below 100 mesh that I consider cost effective. All I've found are scientific screens that run high double digits or more.

McMaster-Carr

Even has wire and hole sizes... I just cut and glued the screen into classifiers that I wasn't using, right over the larger mesh.
McMaster Carr ships quick, and they DO NOT sell crap, and its very rare they don't have something in stock in California, sometimes it has to come out of Chicago..
They have pretty much every nut/bolt/widget/thing you could ever possibly need (and a ton of stuff you don't know you need until you see it), and an awesome search engine..
Apparently it learns.. A year ago typing "classifier screen" wouldn't take you to the wire cloth... Now it does.

Here is some 120 glued (badly) over a 10... For a long time I didn't even have them glued.. But you could use anything, a bowl, a piece of PVC pipe etc... Or just stuff
the screen down into your larger mesh sizes and take it out when you're done.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Right now all I have for classifying concentrates are Mesh 30, 50, 70 and 100. The set stacks with a catch cup for anything going through the 100 mesh screen. But I haven't found any screens below 100 mesh that I consider cost effective. All I've found are scientific screens that run high double digits or more.

All I will do is keep collecting the material that I cannot separate the gold from. Maybe a year from now I will take it to one of the club members to see if they can separate the fine stuff.

I've checked out my equipment, and maybe tomorrow I will toodle up to the Barstow area for my first campout. Supposed to be no hotter than the mid-80's for the three days I would like to stay. Want to be gone from the area when all the off road and recreational people invade the area. CaleyAnn

That set of screens should be enough for quite a bit of success and it's unlikely finer screens will ever pay for themselves unless you are working beach sand or crushed hard rock ore.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I checked out McMaster website. They certainly do have the screens available. If and when I start getting smaller material, I will keep them in mind.

Weather report has changed to double digit winds with higher gusts. Looks like my road trip is on hold. Temperatures are perfect, but the winds will sandblast you. I may still go for one day for that just in case it really isn't as bad as predicted. CaleyAnn

 

[rockbar]

I checked out McMaster website. They certainly do have the screens available. If and when I start getting smaller material, I will keep them in mind.

Weather report has changed to double digit winds with higher gusts. Looks like my road trip is on hold. Temperatures are perfect, but the winds will sandblast you. I may still go for one day for that just in case it really isn't as bad as predicted. CaleyAnn

Yep, desertg. It was windy as all hell here in Az yesterday, too.

If you're able to stay away from that super fine stuff, then you're doing well. I can't bring myself to classify anything finer than 100 mesh minus… too tedious.
I have been thinking about getting a vibratory screen setup to automate screening, but it would mostly apply to fiddling around with hard rock ore, which is not really my main pursuit. I think one of the Harbor Freight vibratory tumblers could be retro-fitted to shake a screen sieve over a catch pan (or the barrel) nicely.