Got out a little today....................

Well I finally got out a little today.
Took a little test sluice I put together to do some quick sand checking with.
The beach is getting very blond but I was interested in an area above all that near the high tide line in the cobbles.
I got setup and found a spot that looked like it might be interesting and dug up about 2/3s of a 5 gallon bucket of material.
The whole affair only took me maybe 20 minutes to setup dig sand and run it.... I was very short on time but have been anxious to test my little sluice and theory and I finally felt like getting out a bit.
Now this was a very quick and dirty test .... The water is low, my sluice setup was not optimum, and I fed the material faster than I normally would had time permitted.
Anyway I didn't take any current pics of the beach but here is the sluice and the recovery from todays test.

The area I did the test in was up near the berm... The water level is very low, this is an old pic.

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Here is the little sluice. It is 8"x24" and I am using the 1/4" sawtooth mat in it.

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Here is the recovery... This from approx 3 gallons of sand, and run through the sluice way to fast.

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I think I will go back to do some more testing. Especially when i have a bit more time to do things properly.
Now for a small sample and only a few minutes from start to finish here are the results..... Damn tiny stuff.

There is still some fine impurities in the weight but I got ll the magnetics out before.

.34 grain.... So for .5 cubic foot of material that still wasn't taken from the stratus that I wanted i got .34 grain of gold.
I think the spot might actually have some potential... Still won't be quitting the day job though.....:laughing7:


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Did a little more cleaning out the impurities ......
I will weigh this up after it dries out but there should be about 3.3 gram +/- a little bit.

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Well here it is.......... I need to get out more so I can add to this.
3.77 grams.

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Some of it is so fine the static charge makes it stick to the vial......

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That by the way is it..... That is what I have collected so far from beach mining.

I don't get out very often but I really should. I need the exercise and a little gold at a time adds up over time.

I know my equipment works and is very good at catching the fine gold..... I just need to get at it a little more often.

After all, I need to get enough to pay for the equipment I have collected and there is no reason that can't be done..... Other than my laziness..:laughing7:

Maybe this weekend I will go back to where I made the recent test. It showed some promise .... Especially for this time of year.
 

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Thats some beautiful gold!
 

Thank's Shine.....

I did get out a little today, a couple hours and I will do the cleanup later.... Right now the big easy chair is calling my name...
I feel like I worked a full day. :blackbeard: I got to get out more or I'm not going to at all.

Anyway it was a beautiful day at the beach and I hope my idea about where the gold is hiding will be proven out.

Did about 6 buckets from the cobbles.... What a pain in the ass...... But the cobble acts like natural riffles and I am hoping this has proven out to be true. If it does prove out then summer beach mining could turn out OK.

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Well I did the clean up and now waiting for it to dry so I can weigh it..... LMAO.
From whats in the pan I guess about 1.2 grain..... Not impressed... But it was a beautiful day so it's not all bad.

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Well this was disappointing.......5+ buckets and less than the half bucket I skimmed off the surface last time.
.42 grain....
I did change 1 mat in my sluice from a section of deep V to a new square ribbed mat I found. I was a bit disappointed when it arrived because the ribs were not nearly as large as the images indicated. But that shouldn't have made that much of a difference.

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Still looks good in the pan and I do recognize how much work you did to recover it, JD. BTW, I was offshore from you on the Banks and it was a beautiful day there also w/very good fishing. I also had to hit the recliner when I got home! ha!
 

It can be very nice out at the banks, congrats on the good catch.
I fished out of Brookings and Florence back in the 80s..... Glad I did it.... Don't miss it...lol

We all know summer sucks for beach mining but I had to check it out.
 

Gorgeous scenery John and that gold is a nice bonus. I havent been to the ocean in a while. Im a little jealous, id like to get some deep breaths of that sweet air instead of the smoke im currently breathing
 

I'm sure many of you have heard that goldhog is getting ready to release sand mats. Here is Ray prepping the mats. He states that he is going to run some Oregon sand. So well see how it turns out. Curious if any of you are pondering the idea of purchase and if so would you please post your results here.
 

It is actually sand from Cape Disappointment, Washington. He keeps calling it Oregon sand probably because I sent it to him and I am from Oregon.
 

I will stick with my deep V, sawtooth, and cleangold mats... I had thought about putting corrugated roofing under a section of the deep V mat to give it some soft riffles a couple years ago..... Never got around to it though.

On a side note..............

Got nothing against a beer once in a while.... But.
Drinking and live broadcasting just doesn't mix to well.... Makes ya do stupid ****.
 

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Yeah I caught his slip too. I figured maybe he was just south of the cape on the Oregon side. Thats great you sent that to him, I saw the giant box when he unpacked it. What was postage on that giant box like that? I thought about sending some to the east coast?
 

Yeah I caught his slip too. I figured maybe he was just south of the cape on the Oregon side. Thats great you sent that to him, I saw the giant box when he unpacked it. What was postage on that giant box like that? I thought about sending some to the east coast?

I filled a couple of USPS flat rate boxes a year or so ago and shipped Cape Disappointment black sand from Portland to Tucson for testing. I think the rate was about $16 or thereabouts each for 12"x12"x6"(?") boxes and they weighed 20# or more apiece. They did not come in very good shape since they were so heavy and "shape shifting" but no leakage, packed the sand in garbage bags. UPS rate is probably less but you need to pack in substantial boxes or whatever.
 

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I will stick with my deep V, sawtooth, and cleangold mats... I had thought about putting corrugated roofing under a section of the deep V mat to give it some soft riffles a couple years ago..... Never got around to it though.

On a side note..............

Got nothing against a beer once in a while.... But.
Drinking and live broadcasting just doesn't mix to well.... Makes ya do stupid ****.

aren't you just a ray of sunshine. It is a terrible thing for a guy to have fun these days. I can't wait till I am old enough to be a crotchety old bugger that hates on everything people post here.
 

aren't you just a ray of sunshine. It is a terrible thing for a guy to have fun these days. I can't wait till I am old enough to be a crotchety old bugger that hates on everything people post here.

Like i said, I have nothing against having a beer or 2.... Just more appropriate places and ways of having fun.
But If you want to go live and make an ass of yourself, which seems very possible.... be my guest.
 

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Yeah I caught his slip too. I figured maybe he was just south of the cape on the Oregon side. Thats great you sent that to him, I saw the giant box when he unpacked it. What was postage on that giant box like that? I thought about sending some to the east coast?

I sent it in flat rate box, was like 45 pounds $18-$20, you can ship up to 70 lbs I think in that box. I was going to max out the box but my wife mailed it for me and she could not pick it up with a 3 rd bag in it.
 

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