Looking for Sulfides

[GoldReport]

Hello esteemed members of the board.

In my local area there are no commercial gold mines and never really have been. Through research, I came across an old State Geologist Report from the late 1800s. In it they mention that some gold was found alongside pyrite. At the time it was not of a high enough concentration that they were interested in it, but it has got me searching for this elusive deposit. I am located in the Northeast US where there is virtually no lode gold deposits to speak of. ( hardly any placer either )

I went out searching today to see if I could find this pyrite, I used a combination of the report I found with geologic maps to identify the units in question. The report describes the pyrite found at the contact of two distinct geologic units which only crop out in a few places that I have so far found. My first instinct is to locate places where streams have cut through this geologic contact and pan samples downstream of that. I would have done that today but underestimated how big of a drop I was facing and ran out of sunlight before I could find a good place in the stream where any material could build up. I was at the top of a series of short but steep water falls and only made it down about halfway before dusk started to set in.

The question I have for you all today: is there is a good way to locate sulfides/pyrite in the ground other than just visual examination?

The rock around here is quite mossy and full of lichen. I suppose I could take my wire brush and clean off any outcrops I suspect would be good but that seems inefficient and time consuming. While hiking today I saw samples on the ground with good iron staining (in a shale rock which doesn't seem quite normal to me) but seeing iron staining around here doesn't make me feel any better as there is considerable magnetite all over, I live within 5 miles of a handful of old workings.

Any tips?

I plan to keep searching but am not extremely confident for a couple reasons: around the time of this geologist report there were many scams of people finding gold so the information is unreliable at best, and if there was any decent gold to be found I think someone would have already done so given the lack of other gold deposits. I don't have a metal detector and it's not in the budget to buy one at the moment.

Will update as the hunt continues...
Thanks!

 

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[GoldReport]

Thats awesome!! You really MacGyver'd yourself a crusher! hahaha
I would love to do something like that, but I also know that after $200 in random materials, some bloody knuckles, and hours of frustration, it would result in me giving up and just purchasing a new unit.

But I agree, wait until ya find something worth it before spending the money.

Here's a picture of it. Cost me around 25 bucks since I had most of it laying around just needed some hardware.

 

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[GoldReport]

Roasting the ore will make it a lot easier to crush. I heat the rock in a crucible placed in a furnace for about ten minutes. When it starts turning red let it cool then give it a whack if it's not already in bits. I'm still experimenting with small samples heat and time but so far it simplifies the testing cool crush and pan good luck.

Do you think it would need an additional roast after its crushed? I might do exactly what you're saying it makes a lot of sense

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

View attachment 2181921

Here's a picture of it. Cost me around 25 bucks since I had most of it laying around just needed some hardware.

Do the bearings take a beating from the fines? Can you angle it a bit to get the stuff off the center?

 

[southfork]

Do you think it would need an additional roast after its crushed? I might do exactly what you're saying it makes a lot of sense

I have been experimenting with my different grinds, and it helps. Heat breaks it down and regrind makes good, powdered rock. But is your material worth the added cost we have been really lucky with the small gold. Some of the samples I've run in the furnace for ten minutes in a crucible and the quartz just crumbles. Makes it easy for the chain mill to pound to dust. Slow to pan but lots of small gold dust. Some of the gold coming out of the mill is encapsulated around other minerals and needs a good melt to help clean the gold up. We paid for our equipment with our first melt.

 

[GoldReport]

I have been experimenting with my different grinds, and it helps. Heat breaks it down and regrind makes good, powdered rock. But is your material worth the added cost we have been really lucky with the small gold. Some of the samples I've run in the furnace for ten minutes in a crucible and the quartz just crumbles. Makes it easy for the chain mill to pound to dust. Slow to pan but lots of small gold dust. Some of the gold coming out of the mill is encapsulated around other minerals and needs a good melt to help clean the gold up. We paid for our equipment with our first melt.

How hot do you run your furnace? I was thinking of just throwing the rock into a pot over a bonfire for a while. I don't know yet if my material is worth anything at all really yet 😅 But building a fire and just keeping it going while I do initial roasting, crush/grind, second roasting. Then pan the remainder

 

[GoldReport]

Do the bearings take a beating from the fines? Can you angle it a bit to get the stuff off the center?

I've got some rubber inside which so far appears to keep most of the dust off the grinder bearings. I'm not sure what you mean by angling it a bit? When crushing I usually just rock it back and forth so material is getting whacked all over in the crushing chamber.

 

[southfork]

How hot do you run your furnace? I was thinking of just throwing the rock into a pot over a bonfire for a while. I don't know yet if my material is worth anything at all really yet 😅 But building a fire and just keeping it going while I do initial roasting, crush/grind, second roasting. Then pan the remainder

I have no way of knowing what temps about ten minutes in a crucible or so. I keep checking until the sample is glowing red. Be careful trapped moisture can explode a little warmup then I proceed. A word of caution on roasting the grind too hot and melting will occur and then you need to regrind the blob lol. I have placed the sample directly into the furnace and have it fall apart makes it hard to retrieve. I now break it up if it doesn't fit in a crucible a big pan on top of a campfire or barbecue works ok.

 

[russau]

southfork I completely agree with your assessment on buy slow and use the $$ from the material you get to buy bigger and better equipment ! To many people (myself included ) keep buying equipment as they see it advertised and think they need it , BUT in reality they weren't ready for that investment ! and end up selling it all for a loss to some other lucky guy !