Huge Calaverite/Telluride find.....

[patraney]

I have a friend that owns a gold mine in Colorado. Yesterday we were exploring and found a 60 foot high x 150 foot wide pile of Calaverite /Telluride. ...this stuff is rare...the old miners couldn't figure out how to get the gold out of it so they just piled it up.... My buddy is going to put on market soon... would anyone like some . .. let me know.....thanks.

 

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[diggingthe1]

I sure hope it assays out well for you or you can get good prices for specimins, you will be rich!!! I found a discard pile but it was too full of pyrite. Can you see the calaverite crystals?I would love to get a few small pieces, maybe we could trade give me a PM if you are ever in Victor Co or close by!

 

[against the wind]

How is the gold removed today, using our advances in tools and technology??

 

[patraney]

It can be smelted out......

 

[patraney]

Yes you can see the crystals.... these rocks are beautiful under scope.....the gold content will be high....

 

[Clay Diggins]

Calaverite from Colorado often has as much as 35% gold content. These specimen should be very heavy.

If you can give a source location and verified assay to collectors the specimen value would be well above the gold value.

If you just want the gold values put the ore in your fireplace/firepit and roast for a few hours. The gold will appear as droplets of virtually pure gold that seeps from the ore. No special technology needed.

Make sure you get a full fire assay (not XRF) from a certified lab before you sell or heat the ore. Fire assays cost around $50 from a certified lab. Internet pictures aren't the best way to judge minerals but what you have there could very well be Arsenopyrite (arsenic) or Galena (lead) both of which are far more common than tellurium or gold. Roasting Arsenopyrite could result in you, your cat, your neighbors and anyone passing by expiring from the poisonous fumes.

Calaverite has been mined and processed in Colorado since 1861. The miners from that time were not ignorant of the potential values of Tellurides or of the dangers of Arsenopyrite. You might consider that those miners discarded the ore you found because it was worthless or poisonous. Before you move on to selling or processing the ore a fire assay would be prudent.

Good luck on your project. When you get an assay let us know the results. If what you have are gold bearing tellurides there will be no problem finding interested buyers.

 

[ecmjamsit]

Here is some Cripple Creek ore. Top pic is calaverite from Anaconda gulch and probably came from the Mary McKinney mine. Pic below is some roasted Cripple Creek ore. The round blobs are melted gold that appear when the tellurium is roasted off. The blobs are still dark from impurities in the ore. You might be able to make out some of the yellow blobs. The calaverite crystals are quite small and longer than they are wide.

 

[patraney]

Thanks for the info..... the man that owns the mine is a Geologist from School of Mines.... He has shown me Galena and Arsenopyrite and I know the difference now as well....
The Ore is from the old Patch Mine in Central City. I will get assay soon and let you know.... thanks again.