First Foray into Processing Crushed Rock

[desertgolddigger]

Try some cheap cow magnets first for riffles.

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Reed, those are actually more expensive per unit than the rare earth magnets I've looked at, and they're not as powerful. I think I'll do one riffle to see what happens on the large sluice with what I have on hand.

 

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[southfork]

I use the ribbed sluice for the classified material out of the mill then the Blue bowl. The milled ore is classified wet I wash it through the screens into buckets with a garden hose. I'm on top of a concrete slab so mud and water are not a problem. Some of the ore we are processing is quartz with free gold comes out like beach sand with little mud. Up on one of the claims there is massive piles of quartz that my son keeps me supplied with. I've already gone through two sets of chains and one screen. The micro gold is keeping me busy but once in a while a specimen piece shows up and one little rock can have grams of gold. Yesterday they found one with a 1/4 ounce of gold and a lot of smaller bits. I don't use magnets until final clean up in a plastic gold pan but that's just me it's the way I've always done it.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I use the ribbed sluice for the classified material out of the mill then the Blue bowl. The milled ore is classified wet I wash it through the screens into buckets with a garden hose. I'm on top of a concrete slab so mud and water are not a problem. Some of the ore we are processing is quartz with free gold comes out like beach sand with little mud. Up on one of the claims there is massive piles of quartz that my son keeps me supplied with. I've already gone through two sets of chains and one screen. The micro gold is keeping me busy but once in a while a specimen piece shows up and one little rock can have grams of gold. Yesterday they found one with a 1/4 ounce of gold and a lot of smaller bits. I don't use magnets until final clean up in a plastic gold pan but that's just me it's the way I've always done it.

Southfork, I finally had a test run on the large 9x40 sluice. The control valve I installed worked great.

But the stock matting, grizzly and metal riffles are way too much for the task I need it for, Of the material run, 60 percent was caught by those things, which I assume are absolutely great for actually high banking, or dropping the sluice in moving water.

So another thing I need, your recommended ribbed matting.

My test magnet worked fairly well. I believe I'll install two in the upper part of the sluice, so the ribbed matting doesn't get overloaded with magnetics. Yes, I know, some gold is magnetic due to it binding with iron. Just have to save that black sand.

 

[southfork]

Southfork, I finally had a test run on the large 9x40 sluice. The control valve I installed worked great.

But the stock matting, grizzly and metal riffles are way too much for the task I need it for, Of the material run, 60 percent was caught by those things, which I assume are absolutely great for actually high banking, or dropping the sluice in moving water.

So another thing I need, your recommended ribbed matting.

My test magnet worked fairly well. I believe I'll install two in the upper part of the sluice, so the ribbed matting doesn't get overloaded with magnetics. Yes, I know, some gold is magnetic due to it binding with iron. Just have to save that black sand.

I don't know who the mfg was the local hardware store had several different types of mats but the one I got was the only ribbed rubber mat. I just have the mat running the length of the box no riffles the mat works just like micro riffles and classifies great. I think it's just floor mat, but it was in the gold mining section in the old hardware store in downtown Placerville Ca.

 

[desertgolddigger]

southfork, thanks so much for the help. I got a ribbed mat ordered, and just have to slice it to length and width, The mat is big enough for several sluice mats. Don't know if they wear out, but will have backups just in case.

After a lot of panning of different mesh sizes of recovered material, I decided nothing would be in the rest of the material, or enough to make the effort worthwhile. I'm just wasting time. It's in a big pile in the backyard, and will run through the dry washer when I have enough to do so. Then take the remainder back to the claim. Oh, I didn't dump the mesh 100 and smaller. That's usually where I find any gold, if the material had any.

I plan on just working a few rocks at a time, so I don't get overwhelmed with massive crushed material. So tomorrow I'll crush no more than three fist sized rocks, and work that. Maybe the smaller amount won't discourage me, even if I get skunked.

 

[desertgolddigger]

I can't believe I already need to change chains, and the screen on my Crusher. This morning was the last for those parts.

The screen isn't broken, but it has an indentation on one side. The chains nare about 2/3rd worn on the one link that is on the outside.

I just don't want to take a chance and have something explode.

Of course, I can only hope I have the hand strength to take those parts off, and put new ones on.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Question about quartz, the white kind or mostly white kind with darker banding.

Is it worth the effort to break up this type of rock, and then run through the chain mill?

I noted that Southfork mentioned how hard it is on the chains and screens.

No, these rocks didn't sound off when beeping them. Of course I've yet to find one rock that sounds off like gold does. All I get is the mineralized sound the detector makes.

The reason I ask is I've a neighbor who is interested in the white quartz.

 

[RTR]

Question about quartz, the white kind or mostly white kind with darker banding.

Is it worth the effort to break up this type of rock, and then run through the chain mill?

I noted that Southfork mentioned how hard it is on the chains and screens.

No, these rocks didn't sound off when beeping them. Of course I've yet to find one rock that sounds off like gold does. All I get is the mineralized sound the detector makes.

The rason I ask is I've a neighbor who is interested in the white quartz.

The "Darker",,,, the quartz,,,, the better...

 

[desertgolddigger]

The "Darker",,,, the quartz,,,, the better... View attachment 2060599View attachment 2060600

RTR, so the white quartz has a lot less chance of having gold than say dirrty quartz. Too bad our claim has been picked over so much for over 100 years. There might be specimens like in the picture, but they are probably buried deep enough that no metal detector is going to find them, You'd just have to dig, and hope.

 

[RTR]

RTR, so the white quartz has a lot less chance of having gold than say dirrty quartz. Too bad our claim has been picked over so much for over 100 years. There might be specimens like in the picture, but they are probably buried deep enough that no metal detector is going to find them, You'd just have to dig, and hope.

Yeah but, what 'looks white' on the outside isn't always whats going on in the inside. My 2nd. pix above(quartz rock split in half w/a hammer) is the inside of what looked almost completely totally white quartz on the outside.The only way I found it was with the Falcon MD 20.

 

[Reed Lukens]

It really depends on your location, white, red, dark, yellow, the quartz color will constantly vary from deposit to deposit. You should be able to research your area and find out the colors of paying quartz variants there.

 

[desertgolddigger]

It really depends on your location, white, red, dark, yellow, the quartz color will constantly vary from deposit to deposit. You should be able to research your area and find out the colors of paying quartz variants there.

I found a paper written on the History of Mining in the Joshua Tree Area. It didn't mention a specific quartz for the mines mentioned. It's in PDF form, so I downloaded it for when I can read it completely, instead of the quick scan I did.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Today was my first day of only working with small amounts of rock ore. I went back to the type with the holes, where the Pyrites leached out, leaving those little craters.

My tools were the chain mill, 16, 50, 70 and 100 classifiers, and mini sluice, and of course the pan and gooseneck squirt bottle.

Of course I had to change the chains and screen on the Crusher. But that made an incredible difference in how well the rocks were crushed.

The first pans dealt with the crushed material, mesh 16 to 49. I got the biggest surprise of this foray into hard rock processing, 10 nice pieces weighing 0.025 gram. The mesh 50-69 only had 3 pieces, and the 70-99 mesh, about a dozen specks. But the mesh 100 and smaller, gave me a small line if the yellow stuff.

And what's funny is I had no problem panning any of the smaller stuff I ran through the mini sluice, and black sand magnet through, even with the little silvery specks and Pyrites. This leads me to the fact that on an earlier day, I was trying to pan Pyrites without not knowing what they were. Today, I ignored these little golden specks that seemed to be everywhere in the material, and just panned down to what stayed in the corner of the pan. At least I now understand how the Pyrites react in a pan.

I consider this a good day, though I'm sure southfork would consider this a near skunk if the results were from his material.

Will try another half dozen small rocks tomorrow. I'm sure today was pure luck, but hopefully I'll get another line of the fines.

 

[southfork]

No such thing as a skunk prospecting just a different day.

 

[desertgolddigger]

Happy Holidays to all. For myself, with family so distant, it's a lonely day. I will just stay busy.

Today I finally processed some ore from the other mineralized mine. Didn't find a thing, other than oodles of lead. So I'll be taking back what I toted home. Lead is toxic, and I don't want it on my property.

Thank goodness I was wearing my mask and wearing gloves

Anyway, that's two days with nothing after having that nice little bit of gold show up. And southfork, I do work on the skunk principle since the ore I bring home is all that's left from a myriad of miners picking over it. It's a rarity when I can say I actually got any gold from a rock.

EDITED: I did a little reading about gold and lead. I guess the old timers knew something when they mined this particular quarry. Apparently there can be a mixture of some gold in that lead I found. I just haven't got a clue as to how you separate the two without acids. Seems that's what the old timers did in those large vats. So I won't throw away that lead. It's really easy to pan. Maybe someone will be able to tell me what to do with it.

EDITED 2: Forget trying to recover gold from lead. Apparently you do need acids, and special equipment I don't have. And on top of it, it seems the gold in lead is very small. You'd have to get a lot to justify going to all the trouble using the acids, and expense of the special equipment to perform the process.

 

[JohnWhite]

Happy Holidays to all. For myself, with family so distant, it's a lonely day. I will just stay busy.

Today I finally processed some ore from the other mineralized mine. Didn't find a thing, other than oodles of lead. So I'll be taking back what I toted home. Lead is toxic, and I don't want it on my property.

Thank goodness I was wearing my mask and wearing gloves

Anyway, that's two days with nothing after having that nice little bit of gold show up. And southfork, I do work on the skunk principle since the ore I bring home is all that's left from a myriad of miners picking over it. It's a rarity when I can say I actually got any gold from a rock.

At least you can still get out and enjoy yourself while you are doing it…

I recently have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on top of all that ails me…When I go for walks it lowers my blood sugar but it causes my back to ache…In other words, I am damned if I do or damned if I don’t…

Oh how I miss prospecting…I only wish that I were 30 years younger…lol…oh well…if I make it another 10 years I will live my dream and retire in good old Mexico…Who knows? The way things are going there, I just might change my mind…Only time will tell…

Ed T

 

[desertgolddigger]

At least you can still get out and enjoy yourself while you are doing it…

I recently have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on top of all that ails me…When I go for walks it lowers my blood sugar but it causes my back to ache…In other words, I am damned if I do or damned if I don’t…

Oh how I miss prospecting…I only wish that I were 30 years younger…lol…oh well…if I make it another 10 years I will live my dream and retire in good old Mexico…Who knows? The way things are going there, I just might change my mind…Only time will tell…

Ed T

Sorry to hear about your health issues. You can do as much as your body will allow. Maybe you'll be able to reach your dream..

 

[JohnWhite]

Sorry to hear about your health issues. You can do as much as your body will allow. Maybe you'll be able to reach your dream..

I sure hope so desertgolddigger…I am still pretty depressed about my long time prospecting amigo…He is still in a vegetative state after what appears to have been a stroke…As I have mentioned earlier, he is currently not speaking…

Without him as a guide, I don’t think that I’ll be heading into those hills anytime soon…I have a hard enough time walking 3 miles nowadays…Oh well…I still have my memories…

Only God knows what is to come of el Tesoro de las eglesias de Santa Fe

Ed T

 

[desertgolddigger]

I'm thinking I may give up this crushing if rock.

The simple reason is, our club claim is basically a place for members to camp out, and dabble a day or so with their drywashers.

Also, based on what one member said, he himself thought the whole place had been picked over to the point that any significant gold is already gone.

And based on my experience placer mining, you need to move at least 10 full buckets of 1/4 inch classified material to get 0.050 gram of gold. Occasionally you run into a spot where an inexperienced placer miner blew material through their drywasher way too fast.

And the fact what I've found in rocks amounts to less than what I got in drywashing of very fine (smaller than 100 mesh) this year.

It's just not worth the effort, nor the expense.

I've learned a lot, but I think my mining days at our claim are nearly at an end. When you get zilch six times in a row, something is telling you you are spinning your wheels.

Anyone interested in some mining stuff, PM me. You'll need to pick the things up, as they are too bulky and heavy to ship.

 

[Assembler]

I'm thinking I may give up this crushing if rock.

The simple reason is, our club claim is basically a place for members to camp out, and dabble a day or so with their drywashers.

Also, based on what one member said, he himself thought the whole place had been picked over to the point that any significant gold is already gone.

And based on my experience placer mining, you need to move at least 10 full buckets of 1/4 inch classified material to get 0.050 gram of gold. Occasionally you run into a spot where an inexperienced placer miner blew material through their drywasher way too fast.

And the fact what I've found in rocks amounts to less than what I got in drywashing of very fine (smaller than 100 mesh) this year.

It's just not worth the effort, nor the expense.

I've learned a lot, but I think my mining days at our claim are nearly at an end. When you get zilch six times in a row, something is telling you you are spinning your wheels.

Anyone interested in some mining stuff, PM me. You'll need to pick the things up, as they are too bulky and heavy to ship.

It may be time to look outside of the claim area. Did you find any in the rocks dry washing?

Many club claims have seen better day's.