Prospecting/LDM hunting/stoners

[sgtfda]

Roy what's great about the Gold Well the vortex holes suck the gold in and holds it there. No carpet to clog up and easy clean out. When I did my black sand test I went through a bucket of black sand trying to clog the vortex holes I put the black sand in fast. If I did that with my carpet unit It would clog up instantly and I'd lose the fine gold. It would blow out. Another problem I had with the carpet unit is the fine gold gets trapped in the carpet and you can't get it out unless you burn the carpet and run the ashes later. Those days are gone thank god. My hope for this thread is a exchange of tips and tricks to help the Dutch hunter without prospecting experience learn some prospecting methods that work and can be used on a lost mine hunt.

 

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[sgtfda]

there is a club member that hit almost 7 lbs of gold in one hole , but its hush hush .

Well I hope he sells me some for the club raffle. All the mines are shutting down. That can't meet their expenses at 1300 a oz.

 

[Somero]

sgtfda

Great thread idea

I'll admit, I usually put a small sample in an empty water bottle to pan out when I get home, unfortunately my panning skills are a bit rusty and it's a pain to get down to see any color. Black sand, the joy and curse of panning Could I give you a couple small samples to run through that fancy doohickey?

 

[sgtfda]

You sure can. You going to Dons Camp I will be there. I can bring a pan and I would be happy to teach you panning as others have done for me. Ill give you some hints on what type material to sample for the best results. First in most washes where you get a fast short flow of flood water during a heavy rain the gold will be in the first 5" from the top. The fast water moves the gold along and it settles with the heavy stuff and will be a bit hard packed. Stay away from loose sand that may or may not have some black sand streaks in it. If you find a spot with a very thick layer of black sand dig down below it a few inches looking for a heavy pebble like layer. If there is gold it will be in this layer not in the black sand.

 

[Cubfan64]

You sure can. You going to Dons Camp I will be there. I would be happy to teach you panning as others have done for me. Ill give you some hints on what type material to sample for the best results.

You can add me to your list of willing students Frank - there's not a lot of gold to be found in NH, and most of it's pretty fine, but I've wanted to get out and try a few of the gold bearing rivers north of me for a few years, but never really knew what I was doing . See you Friday and Saturday

 

[Somero]

Thanks sgtfda, looking forward to any advice from a pro.

 

[sgtfda]

I'll bring a tub and extra water with some pans and stuff. Before you use your machines you do test panning. If you don't how would you know your not digging a empty hole. If you do buy a pan get a blue one. You can see the black sand better and separate it from the gold in the final panning stage. Some to bring your dirt we will pan it

 

[Springfield]

... My hope for this thread is a exchange of tips and tricks to help the Dutch hunter without prospecting experience learn some prospecting methods that work and can be used on a lost mine hunt.

Excellent reasoning - a tried and true strategy in past days. I presume that in the past 120 years the Superstition drainages were swarmed over by experienced prospectors looking for color possibly related to a LDM. It's tough trying to trace fine gold - I wonder if any reasonable float was/is being found in those hills?

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Oro, each of those dimples work independently and certainly can collect the Gold, but I would be happier if they were offset rows, not having the small cavities in line. I rather imagine that the rate of water flow would be critical for max recovery.

Up at the Colorados, I used the jig that you mentioned right off of the mill discharge - collected nuggets also, but you need to clean up often -- then cycloned the liquid feed either back to the mill for regrinding or on to the floatation system, then to the table with a simple piece of plastic over the First 1/3 of the table, starting at the incoming feed, to force any fines under the surface. almost total recovery.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Sgt, you have missed the cheapest and best mine / lode 'prospecting' tool available, A simple geo chemical kit. You can cover an entire mt in just a few minutes, then home in on any indications. Cheap also.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[sgtfda]

Had one of those kits when I was a kid. Almost burned my self up with the acid

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

True sgt, you have to watch the chemicals, but the kit does work..

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. speaking of being careless, I was hit with both Cyanide and Arsenic poisoning. No, I didn't die despite Oro's belief, it is just that I needed a bath when we met in Az. Had been on the road for two days.

Incidentally I had to cure myself of the Arsenic poisoning which I did with something that all propectors need 2-5000 daily of Vit "C". A tremendous Chelating agent for all heavy metals, including Mercury..

As for the Cyanide, I have become highly sensitized to it, I can now smell an open container of Cyanide to 20 meters easily, a sickly sweet smell to me. I can't stay around older cyanide operations any more, too uncomfortable.

 

[Cubfan64]

True sgt, you have to watch the chemicals, but the kit does work..

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. speaking of being careless, I was hit with both Cyanide and Arsenic poisoning. No, I didn't die despite Oro's belief, it is just that I needed a bath when we met in Az. Had been on the road for two days.

Incidentally I had to cure myself of the Arsenic poisoning which I did with something that all propectors need 2-5000 daily of Vit "C". A tremendous Chelating agent for all heavy metals, including Mercury..

As for the Cyanide, I have become highly sensitized to it, I can now smell an open container of Cyanide to 20 meters easily, a sickly sweet smell to me. I can't stay around older cyanide operations any more, too uncomfortable.

A number of years ago I worked with an older chemist who used to work for a company that did some precious metals electroplating in New Jersey. He used to tell me that he and the other old guys who worked in the plant could estimate the cyanide concentration of the plating bath by "taste test." I'm not exactly the most safety conscious chemist in the world, but that takes even bigger balls than I have .

All the years I've spent around organic solvents and chemicals makes it darn near impossible for me to smell anything - tried smelling sodium cyanide once, and although I could sort of "taste it" if you know what I mean, I couldn't smell a thing. On the other hand, I can no longer do any furniture refinishing using methylene chloride based stripper (the GOOD stuff) as it causes my hands and face to swell up and a rash to develop very quickly. All the years of doing methylene chloride extractions caused me to become sensitive to it.

Incidently, I'd be VERY wary of drinking any water located anywhere near an old mine working! Boiling or those purifying filters are generally not going to take out some of the really bad stuff that could still be found there.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

Incidently, I'd be VERY wary of drinking any water located anywhere near an old mine working! Boiling or those purifying filters are generally not going to take out some of the really bad stuff that could still be found there.

as in Clarkdale or superior?
I fear the damage I have done just washing in this gunk...

 

[roadrunner]

You sure can. You going to Dons Camp I will be there. I can bring a pan and I would be happy to teach you panning as others have done for me. Ill give you some hints on what type material to sample for the best results. First in most washes where you get a fast short flow of flood water during a heavy rain the gold will be in the first 5" from the top. The fast water moves the gold along and it settles with the heavy stuff and will be a bit hard packed. Stay away from loose sand that may or may not have some black sand streaks in it. If you find a spot with a very thick layer of black sand dig down below it a few inches looking for a heavy pebble like layer. If there is gold it will be in this layer not in the black sand.

Like this sand? These are from a wash I was at last week.
Panned them out, then used my miller table,nothing. Went down 3-6 inches, but only behind or under boulders, or a spot of rocks that looked like riffles.

The last pic of the pan has a quarter stuck in it. That is from 1 small bag of dirt. Maybe a shovel full. A small army folding shovel. I think that is my 7 inch test pan.

 

[sgtfda]

Roadrunner. The sand location is bad you need a spot with more rocks and pebble size heavy's where you dig a little to get the dirt loose I've not had much luck in loose sand with the black sand streaks. Unless you hit a spot with black sand inches or feet thick. Then you dig down to the pebble layer and test that For your clean out you have way too much in that pan. About 2 tablespoons at a time to get any gold out of the black sand. Sampling is different. You dump a load in the pan and work it down fast to see if anything is there. With concentrates you use a little material and go slow. Two different things. When I joined my club the Gpap I watched to see who was getting the gold. I then had them teach me their secrets. As the club treasurer I buy their gold for the club. One hand washes the other. I knew I had it down when I found one of my teachers digging in a spot I located. You see he was looking for the same signs I was and did not know I was there a week before him. He said look at the gold I'm getting. Ah yea your in my spot.

 

[sgtfda]

Like this sand? These are from a wash I was at last week.
Panned them out, then used my miller table,nothing. Went down 3-6 inches, but only behind or under boulders, or a spot of rocks that looked like riffles.
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=886852"/> <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=886853"/> <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=886854"/>
The last pic of the pan has a quarter stuck in it. That is from 1 small bag of dirt. Maybe a shovel full. A small army folding shovel. I think that is my 7 inch test pan.

In the first photo with the big rock you might find something on the sides of the big rock not front and back. You can see the water flow Chanel as it goes around the rock then turns in just like the bend in a river. Right at the bend gold would drop. If there was some in that location. But you also want to see some pebble size heavy's in the spot

 

[sgtfda]

Another spot to look at for testing is were a small runoff comes off a hill and hits the wash. Right where it hits the wash gold may be in the first 6" inches of the surface of that area.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks Sg.
If I go back out to the area I will take a pic of where I am gathering other samples, in the pebbles, ect and post a pic.
So the sides of rocks are better and not behind them.
Or should I check behind them also.
I believe on here,and a book or 2, and a video or 2 it was said behind rocks as they act like a riffle.

What time is your class on Saturday. I will bring a little test sample.

 

[sgtfda]

It's hard to see from a picture gold follows the water flow and drops with the heavy's. or where water flow slows down. Look at Lynx Creek. The gold moves around here today and over there tomorrow in the same type gravel. There is no hard rule. That's why you test. I'm not having a class. I'll set up a table next to my tent trailer with a panning container and someone asks ill show them. I'm not hard to find I'm the only normal looking one there. Ill have Old school Raybans on and will be sucking on a unlit stogie. You see i was not breast fed as a child. I park my tent trailer on the bottom and my 95 4runner has a high jack on the roof.