Placer Claim Mined Out?

[desertgolddigger]

I belong to a local club that owns a claim. This club has had this claim for many years, and acquired it after the old timers had mined it previously, and others after they commercial outfits closed up.
I walked quite a bit of the 160 acre claim, and noted that just about every wash had been worked. Most of the surface nuggets has also been detected by those with gold detectors. In other words, this place has been picked over and over and over.
But I m a stubborn type of person, and I figured, just watching how people ram their puffer and blower drywashers, that some gold was just being blown through them. maybe not much, but some small stuff that never got a chance to settle behind the riffles.
I know many of you would never go to the effort of digging for three to four hours through the tailings in these washes. Again, I'm a bit stubborn, and anyway, I just wanted to have some fun locally, instead of driving 300 miles roundtrip to something that gives a little more for less effort.
I've spent the last three weeks, digging a few times a week along about 30 yards of wash, and have recovered just about a gram of gold. That might not seem like much, but I have only dug up 5 grams, not counting this one gram in almost 20 years out here drywashing in the desert of southern California.
As you would know, things always seem to go wrong. My gas powered blower motor decided it was time for the repair shop, and haven't heard from the shop in two weeks. So I purchased a WORX WG521 corded electric leaf blower to use with my Royal Large drywasher. I'm using a portable generator to provide the power. And it actually is working better than with my old gas powered blower. I have to run the blower on the lowest speed, or I just blow everything through the riffles. Results are very good, as I am getting gold specks so small that I will have to use the Blue bowl in order to recover them.
I'm not only getting a little gold, I'm having some fun, and I am getting a good workout. I've lost 10 pounds since I started. So things are going well.
I'm still digging test holes around the old time hard rock mines in the hope I will find where the gold has drifted downhill below these mines. So far just a couple specks here and there. I figure I just have to move laterally one way or the other before I get something better Of course, I' don't really know if the old timers stripped the hillsides. Even if they have, they apparently aren't as thorough as I am. I hope that I may be lucky and find a larger piece of gold that the old timers, previous placer miners, and detectorists have missed.
Hope everyone is having as much fun as I have been having.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[desertgolddigger]

I still haven't done the retort. Things just keep happening. Anyway, I've decided to just go ahead and do the full 20 grams of amalgam that I have. Will need to flatten it out so it heats over a flatter surface. Hopefully the mercury will be able to escape more easily with the larger surface area.

On another front, I'm finally not roasting when outside, so I'm working on version two of my gold shaker table. I've come to the conclusion that using linear rails just won't work. It doesn't allow me to make easy adjustments, as I have to completely dismantle things due to not a lot of working space. I'm going to try a flexible material like Jim in Idaho and Orophilia do.

Will also use the three adjustment legs Jim in Idaho sent me. I can now do that as I removed the huge/super heavy table, and replaced it with a platform half that height. I think the new setup will allow me to sit, and spoon material onto the table, versus my having to add that material at shoulder height. I'm repurposing the huge table into a workbench for my patio..

On another note, I am going back to searching our claim for possible gold ore deposits, now that it is getting cooler. I had discovered some gold on a slope in three locations, but couldn't pursue them because of the summer heat. If there are some deposits, they'll be on fairly steep slopes. As far as I can tell, there's not ever been any digging up that high. There's a few interesting rock outcrops I need to dig around.

Will also be going back to another location I found gold at. The grainy rock I found the gold in that had huge amounts of iron in them don't interest me. The egg shape rocks, I'm calling bolides look like something spewed from a super hot vent. I'd like to see if there is a old vent, and if it is filled with good material, or just more iron rich grainy material.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[southfork]

I still haven't done the retort. Things just keep happening. Anyway, I've decided to just go ahead and do the full 20 grams of amalgam that I have. Will need to flatten it out so it heats over a flatter surface. Hopefully the mercury will be able to escape more easily with the larger surface area.

On another front, I'm finally not roasting when outside, so I'm working on version two of my gold shaker table. I've come to the conclusion that using linear rails just won't work. It doesn't allow me to make easy adjustments, as I have to completely dismantle things due to not a lot of working space. I'm going to try a flexible material like Jim in Idaho and Orophilia do.

Will also use the three adjustment legs Jim in Idaho sent me. I can now do that as I removed the huge/super heavy table, and replaced it with a platform half that height. I think the new setup will allow me to sit, and spoon material onto the table, versus my having to add that material at shoulder height. I'm repurposing the huge table into a workbench for my patio..

On another note, I am going back to searching our claim for possible gold ore deposits, now that it is getting cooler. I had discovered some gold on a slope in three locations, but couldn't pursue them because of the summer heat. If there are some deposits, they'll be on fairly steep slopes. As far as I can tell, there's not ever been any digging up that high. There's a few interesting rock outcrops I need to dig around.

Will also be going back to another location I found gold at. The grainy rock I found the gold in that had huge amounts of iron in them don't interest me. The egg shape rocks, I'm calling bolides look like something spewed from a super hot vent. I'd like to see if there is a old vent, and if it is filled with good material, or just more iron rich grainy material.

The amalgam will flatten with heat the retort will take care of that. Happy Mining