M-3 GoldenIrishmans Monsoon Mining Thread

Well we didn't get out to the research areas like we had planned yesterday. We ended up hitting the swap meet and spending a bit too much time there. IT wasn't a total loss for the mining department though. While wandering around, Jans' eye was caught by some items in one booth and while she was there checking them out, I happened to notice that there was a microscope kit there as well. I checked it out of course and found that while it wasn't big it had three objective lenses for choices of 100X - 450X - or 900X. The entire kit was there, slides, covers, various other microscope related stuff and there wasn't a scratch on any of it. SNAG!!!!! For $25 it was a deal I couldn't pass up.

When we got home, I went out to the processing area and grabbed a small sample of the black sands left in a pan. I used a "Suction tweaser" (aka pipette) to pull the sample. After mounting it up on the scope, I focused it in at 100X and the very first thing I saw was a little piece of gold that was invisible to the naked eye. Needless to say I've now got yet another tool in the gold hunting/processing arsenal that I have a feeling is going to be handy in helping me to determine when to stop processing those black sands! I think I'm going to give looking at a small chunk of amalgam a try next. Eventually I'd like to get a scope that I can use to do pictures with so I can post some of them here to share.
 

Well we finally got things settled back down around here and managed to get out to the new area I've been researching and get some samples. However the game was called due to a fast moving storm that hit the area and we were limited to getting only two buckets so far. Access is very good and we were able to drive right up to the area so I didn't have to haul materials very far at all. So now I've got 2 buckets of 1/2 classified materials sitting in the back of the truck that need to be run tomorrow if the weather allows for it.

This will be the first new samples that I'll be trying my new microscope out on. Once I get all the visible gold (if any) out, I'll be classifying the black sands and examining each size under the scope. The 100-70-50 meshes will be checked and then stored up until I have enough heavies from each size to warrant taking the time to crush them. Is it going to help? Not really sure yet. If nothing else it will be a learning experience at the very least.
 

Well the testing has been progressing but as it stands I'm not impressed with this first area so far. No visible gold so far but the examination of some of the sands under the microscope is showing some in the -100 range. Not enough so far to make me want to run out and file on this particular area. Looking at the samples with the scope is very reveling though. So far I've been able to identify Azurite, Citrine, Quartz and Garnets in the mix. Of course at -100 mesh I'm not going to get rich off the gemstones, but they're furthering my understanding of the geology of this area. I'd like to get a polarized light source for the scope. I've seen photomicrographs of crystals illuminated with polarized light and they're very cool looking. (might as well have some fun with this thing while I'm at it :tongue3: ) In time, I think I'll pick up a USB microscope so I can capture the images to the computer and share them with the forum.

On the way back from the area we are currently testing, we made a little side trip to another area I have my sights on to check access. We managed to find a BLM "road" that goes all the way from Golden Valley to the other area we're looking at and continues to the one we are in now. After double checking that it's open to entry, outside of the wilderness area and currently has no claims in it, we've decide to prospect this area next if the current area turns out to be a dud.
 

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I almost forgot here! Jan has been making great progress in learning the ropes. This last trip out she dug and classified her own buckets, ran them through the re-circ sluice (with just a little help on the setup) and then panned down the cons all on her own. She keeps going like this and I'll be able to retire soon! Just kidding dear!
 

Well examining the fine tailings (-70 and -100 mesh) through my microscope has shown me quite a bit. One of the first things I did was to re-clean my stash of magnetic sands. I managed to get a bit more non-magnetic stuff out of them and when I looked at them with the scope I found quite a bit of micro gold in the materials. This is leading me to rethink how I clean the magnetic portion out of my materials. A little more time and care are called for. I've still got to check the magnetic materials under the scope to see if I have any gold in them that got pulled up because it was coated.

Some might think that I'm becoming obsessive with getting all the gold out of my materials but that is not the case at all. I know that there is no way I'm going to get it all and that I have to know when to say that's enough. By trying new and different ways to process my materials and examining the tailings I can find a way to get the majority of the micro gold without using amalgamation like I've done for years now. My current line of thinking is telling me to crush everything to -100 mesh, run it over a Miller Table and let the rest of the gold go back to mother nature.

Examining the tailing materials through the scope is also showing me a lot of what is in the rocks up stream or up hill from the sample site. What I've really been enjoying is the learning of the geology and mineralogy of these areas in more detail. I've found several tiny pieces of gold that were still in the matrix in which they formed which helps to tell me what types of materials to look for upstream. Knowledge is power in this game of hide and seek we're all in and I'm becoming more knowledgeable all the time.
 

goldenIrishman said:
Well examining the fine tailings (-70 and -100 mesh) through my microscope has shown me quite a bit. One of the first things I did was to re-clean my stash of magnetic sands. I managed to get a bit more non-magnetic stuff out of them and when I looked at them with the scope I found quite a bit of micro gold in the materials. This is leading me to rethink how I clean the magnetic portion out of my materials. A little more time and care are called for. I've still got to check the magnetic materials under the scope to see if I have any gold in them that got pulled up because it was coated.
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Not sure one what quantity you are keeping but try the mortar and pestle method. dump some black sand in and beat the daylights out of it. flattening the gold and crushing the black sands to a smaller mesh size.
 

Actually guys... you're thinking a little small scale here. The plan is to pick up a portable cement mixer (Harbor Freight Special) and put a dozen or so 3" ball bearings in it with the sands. Swap out the mixing paddles for something a little smaller cause I don't think I'm going to need all the lift the full size would give. Plus I (as well as the neighbors) don't want to have to listen to the bearings hitting the bottom all night long. Maybe also coat it with spray foam on the outside to deaden the noise? I'll also make up a bolt on cover for the opening to keep the dust under control. We've got enough of it around here already as it is.

Mortar and pestle would take forever to get everything I've got to -100 and the rock tumbler will only hold about 3 pounds at a time. With the cement mixer I'll be able to put in about 30-35 pounds at a time, run it for say 48 hours and then classify the lot of it at one time. If it doesn't go through a 100 mesh screen then it goes back into the mixer for further crushing. I'd think that getting smashed between a couple of 3" bearings should flatten out any gold P.D.Q. Anything that makes it through the 100 mesh screen goes to the miller table.
 

Got an idea for ya Jeff, how about building an arrastra in your back yard then drive over to Oatman and snatch one of those donkeys to power it. All they do is wander the streets, eat tourist junk food and crap all over the place anyways.........Just kidding pal
 

LOL! You mean all those "Free Range" BLM agents? I think there's a couple of them that work for the EPA as well...

Actually, the BLM guys here in Mohave County seem to be pretty low key. I've never heard of them giving any of the miners a hard time. We also don't have any National Forrest in this county so there is no problems from/with the Forest Circus either. Mohave County has got to be one of the best places to prospect in the west. We've got excellent service at the County Recorders office, lots of open space and lots of gold if you're willing to think outside the box a bit. I'm still having a few minor problems adjusting to the desert way of prospecting but everyplace I've prospected in the past was different too.
 

Man I do so love being able to do research on the computer and have all my notes done up on spread sheets so they're all organized and easy to follow. I've come up with the following spread sheet in Excell as a way to track progress on areas of interest:

TOWNSHIP&RANGE / SECTION / MINERAL ENTRY Y-N / RECORDS CHECK / BOOTS ON GROUND / TESTING / STAKING / FILING DATE

Once an area of interest has been found I enter in the township and range followed by the quadrant. (1-36) Then I do a check on the Master Plat to see if it is open to claiming. If it is, I then check with the County Recorders Office to make sure of a couple things. Are there any claims in the quad? Where are they located within the quad(s) If no claims are found and any existing claims mapped out by their description on the filing(s)I enter the date the check was completed and I head out to the field to get boots on the ground. This is where the google earth images are really handy to find ways to get into an area. Once I get to the area (in one piece) I'll start testing to see if there is any gold on the site. I'll take 20 gallon samples from several locations and bring them back to the house to run in a controlled setting. These are down and dirty samples but I run them with care and examine everything with a fine toothed comb. If I find gold in these tests, then I'll go out and put up my monument and corner stakes so I've got 90 days to do more detailed testing. If the detailed tests (from 12-18 locations) prove out good, then I'll file a claim on the find. As detailed earlier int he thread, I'll be doing the paperwork with the county late in the afternoon and then heading to Phoenix the next morning to prevent anyone from trying to back file on me.

Since we're looking at getting several claims in different areas eventually having the computer to keep everything straight is great. As we find and file on more areas, keeping records is going to be important. All records will be duplicated on the laptop as well as backed up to thumb drives. For someone like me to be getting this organized isn't always easy because I have a habit of having several irons in the fire at the same time, all the time.
 

SCORE: Weather-3 GoldenIrishman-0

Why am I not surprised? Go and make plans to get out to the closest of the areas I just finished up doing the due diligence dance on to do some testing and sure enough the bottom falls out of the sky! With flash flooding taking out a lot of the roads between us and the test area and the high possibility of more rain this afternoon, I've pretty much been grounded for the time being. Managed to get the storm damage here at the homestead taken care of quickly this morning but I sure wish I had access to a Bobcat to re-do some of the poor earthwork they did on the lot here.

Still, after doing all the research on these areas, getting all my maps printed out and ready to go, I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day reading something other than a map or mining file of some type.
 

goldenIrishman said:
SCORE: Weather-3 GoldenIrishman-0

Why am I not surprised? Go and make plans to get out to the closest of the areas I just finished up doing the due diligence dance on to do some testing and sure enough the bottom falls out of the sky! With flash flooding taking out a lot of the roads between us and the test area and the high possibility of more rain this afternoon, I've pretty much been grounded for the time being. Managed to get the storm damage here at the homestead taken care of quickly this morning but I sure wish I had access to a Bobcat to re-do some of the poor earthwork they did on the lot here.

Still, after doing all the research on these areas, getting all my maps printed out and ready to go, I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day reading something other than a map or mining file of some type.
Click to expand...

With weather like that i think id spend my day napping....
 

Duckwalk said:
With weather like that i think id spend my day napping....
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Can't be napping Ducky! To much to do around here even when it's raining. The last storm showed us that the grade of the lot here is going to need some modification in the worst way. That being that I'm going to need to do some serious "terra-forming" to direct the rain water from the neighbors place away from a direct course towards our house. :o :o We ended up with a small lake that was getting to close to the front door for comfort. We even called the company that did the grading to inform them of the problem and they're more than willing to re-do it for a price. What happened to customer satisfaction? When I ran my company, if a customer had a problem I never charged them to make it right....
 

FIRST TEST SHIRTS

Got the first shirts done up today and I think they came out pretty good. I did these up n "Safety Yellow" since I don't want to give any poor sighted hunters an excuse. If they miss seeing us in these then they're blind!

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Pocket of shirts

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Logo back

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Attitude version of shirt

I'm also doing some up in "Safety Orange" and Jan has requested some in "Safety PINK". Granted there's not much hunting going on in the areas we work, but I want to make sure that we are easy to see. The camera on my phone doesn't do the brightness of the colors justice. Ya pretty much have to wear sunglasses at all time while they're on your back.... All in all not bad for homemade if I do say so myself!!!
 

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We ended up with a small lake that was getting to close to the front door

Time to throw out the Bobber, with night crawler, and a Beer. :occasion14:
 

Sorry Hefty but that lake isn't stocked (yet).

Managed to get out to the first site on my "Hit List" for a couple of hours today. After taking a stroll around the area, I found a spot that I could back right up the wash to do some sampling. The sides of the wash were pretty much vertical on one side and showed layer upon layer of rocks. I pulled out 4 buckets worth that I classified to 1/4" in short time and Jan dug a three bucket sample from next to some rocks in the bed of the wash. (She did cheat though and only classified to 1/2")

Got back to the house and we were greeted by the four footed fur kids who all acted like we'd been gone for weeks! Backed into the processing area and unloaded the buckets and I even managed to get one of them run through the sluice. I had just finished up running the materials and the sun decided to call it a day on me. I pretty much panned the cons from the first bucket down by braille (still need to get the electrical and lights run out there) and when I brought the pan into the house there was some gold in it. Not much but I run my samples in the order they were dug so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the take is better as I get into the deeper stuff.

If the weather holds, I'll run the rest of my sample tomorrow and hope to be able to give a good report.
 

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