PurpleGolds Gold Prospecting Journal

[triple d]

One problem Ive found with the smaller bgts. Check the trap and make sure there a lot of material in it. If there just a small amount in the trap the angle is too steep. And can lose gold. Again trial and error.

 

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[PurpleGold]

Classifying to less than 1/4 inch to feed a bazooka is NOT a good idea. The fluid bed works best filled with a range of material from 1/4 inch down. If it's full of all finer material, you start losing fine gold

I always appreciate the advice. This totally makes sense. I checked the trap a few times and early on it was kind of clearing out and the pipes were the top. I adjusted the Bazooka and I did shovel an unclassified load in and it seemed to help keep it fuller. I'm still learning and getting better. Mostly thanks to all you guys. I feel like when I'm out digging for gold the fever throws my logic out the window.

Digging deeper in Colorado creeks is often not productive. In many places the first 6, 8 or 12 inches is the best gold. Often it depends on the layer you are in. Cache Creek and the Ark River below it, look for the orangish layer. Platte River is often the grey-to-black layer. Sample the layer with a pan; if the gold appears, shovel the layer's material into your Bazooka.

Thanks I will totally be looking for those layers now. I've been poking around wildly nilly.

Deeper at Arapahoe bar can be quite good though...just to keep you sampling!

I guess I'll keep poking around. I think I do need to take a step back and actually prospect. I'm just too excited to run material through the Bazooka and get to some color.

One problem Ive found with the smaller bgts. Check the trap and make sure there a lot of material in it. If there just a small amount in the trap the angle is too steep. And can lose gold. Again trial and error.

Thanks and I agree. My trap was clearing out to where the pipes were at the top of the material in the bed. I'm going to really get that trap filling loosely in that sweet spot from now on.

 

[arizau]

So I went out again yesterday due to my prior days disappointment and well I'm disappointed again. I dug deeper in the same spot to test the depth as I was thinking maybe I skimmed over it on the prior day. I spent about 4 hours and processed about the same amount. I did classify gown to 1/8" again as I like how clean and easy it is to feed. My total take was .06g
Here's a shot of my +30 mesh .
View attachment 1283643

I really need to get my classifying steps down. I really make a mess in the kitchen and splash water everywhere. I'm using the 5 gal bucket size classifiers. I'm using 20, 30, 50, 70 and 100 size mesh. Anyone have any advice on how you classify your cons at home?

View attachment 1283644

So little...

View attachment 1283645

Dry your concentrates before you classify!.............Concentrates are much easier to classify when dry since there is no water resistance (I assume you are submerging the screens), banking, etc. and thus the material spreads out better on the screen when agitating. No water mess and a broom to clean up spills.

Depending on how many times you clean out while using a bazooka you will only have a few cups of material and a ride on the bbq grill (or in the oven if Mama allows) in a shallow pan will speed up the drying process.* I just sun dry mine and it usually only takes a few hours.

*Who knows, it may even crack some of the black sands that some on this and other forums are proponents of.

 

[PurpleGold]

That's an interesting suggestion that I hadn't even considered. I'm usually in too big of a rush to see the Au. I just might try it. Another quality I need to practice is patience. I really just need to slow everything down, except for water and unclassified material through the BGT of course.

Arizau, what do you mean by saying "crack the black sands?"

 

[arizau]

That's an interesting suggestion that I hadn't even considered. I'm usually in too big of a rush to see the Au. I just might try it. Another quality I need to practice is patience. I really just need to slow everything down, except for water and unclassified material through the BGT of course.

Arizau, what do you mean by saying "crack the black sands?"

Some say to save black sands, heat to high temp and dump into water to perhaps heat fracture the sands and liberate gold. My comment was half in jest. I am not convinced of the worth of the concept though some people are.

 

[KevinInColorado]

...and some say drying your cons is a bad idea since small gold can stick to other particles and escape from you!

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Deeper at Arapahoe bar can be quite good though...just to keep you sampling!

Yep, gold is where you find it, so _sample_ that deeper material and see what you have, just like KevinInColorado says.

 

[arizau]

...and some say drying your cons is a bad idea since small gold can stick to other particles and escape from you!

And conversely, without maximum agitation (remember water inhibits swift particle movement) and even particle distribution across the screen smaller particles can be inhibited from reaching the bottom of the material on the screen when classifying. This usually occurs when the screens are overloaded or the material banks up. This, by the way, happens with dry cons too so do not overload the screens. Sticky material is more likely in stream panned cons or from an improperly set up conventional sluice where silt and clay particles (both of those in quantity make the glue) are more likely to be included in the cons. I would think that a bazooka would cleanse and eject most of that type of material and produce "clean" cons.

 

[PurpleGold]

Some say to save black sands, heat to high temp and dump into water to perhaps heat fracture the sands and liberate gold. My comment was half in jest. I am not convinced of the worth of the concept though some people are.

I've been saving my black sand for the past year only because I suck compared to most prospectors on here and I know there is flour gold in there that I lacked the skill or knowledge to extract. I've never heard of this technique but you've given me something to look into. I was planning on eventually just classifying all my black sands and panning it with my improved skills.

And conversely, without maximum agitation (remember water inhibits swift particle movement) and even particle distribution across the screen smaller particles can be inhibited from reaching the bottom of the material on the screen when classifying. This usually occurs when the screens are overloaded or the material banks up. This, by the way, happens with dry cons too so do not overload the screens. Sticky material is more likely in stream panned cons or from an improperly set up conventional sluice where silt and clay particles (both of those in quantity make the glue) are more likely to be included in the cons. I would think that a bazooka would cleanse and eject most of that type of material and produce "clean" cons.

I like how this has opened a discussion where there are two different schools of thought. I have a scientific mind that is governed by the laws of physics. Sometimes I feel my own logic pigeon holes myself into closed minded thinking. Discussing things like this on TNet about my favorite hobby opens my mind to other possibilities and procedures. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint on this. I may experiment with both wet and dry classifying in the future. The dry classifying though seems like it could be bad for flour gold. Due to the specific gravity of gold and how it behaves in water to me feels like it would keep the gold low and steady. Once the flour gold is dry I would think that it would become less stable so to speak and possibly get blown around by a sneeze or a gust of wind. That's just my initial thought though and I've learned that I don't know anything until I try it and see it.

 

[triple d]

I have found that even after running. Material thought a sluice the larger classified material. Will hold onto gold. I dry it on some thing flat. And the fine material left after I paw thought it. Will find a few specks of gold. Kind of found this by accident.Looking for gems.

 

[PurpleGold]

Here's a shot of all my black sand with a vial of almost a half ounce of gold for size comparison.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey Purp! Good to see you out there today! Is that half ounce gold that you have found?!

 

[PurpleGold]

Hey Purp! Good to see you out there today! Is that half ounce gold that you have found?!

It was rad seeing you work Grizz. I wish I could say I found all that. Most of it has been collected here and there from purchases and bags of pay dirt. My total so far that I have cleaned up for 2016 is a measly .27g. Two cleanups from this weekend are in the near future.

 

[PurpleGold]

PurpleGold's Gold Prospecting Journal

I have set a goal for myself. I would like to pull 6 grams of gold from the ground in 2016. So far I'm at .27g so there is a long way to go.

I got out to A Bar both Saturday and Sunday this weekend and I feel spiritually rejuvenated. I had the pleasure of meeting GrizzlyGremlin who can easily be called a seasoned prospector. Grizz has a knowledge of both gold behavior and moving dirt that is impressive. I look forward to learning more from him.

Saturday I spent a few hours poking around on the south bar and running some orange layer just above black layer (decomposing organics) material for about an hour.

On Sunday I got out with my girlfriend and found a virgin spot down stream from Grizz. We each found a few colors in our pan so off we went. She found and panned the biggest flake I saw of the day. We had a system going where one of us would dig and the other would be loading the Bazooka. Two buckets were constantly being rotated. We spent about 4.5 hours running. The water level dropped which made hand clearing of the Bazooka more involved. We just kept loading it. I hope I have time tonight for the two clean outs.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Nice dam!! Show us the gold

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Nice! I can get my wife to go to the river with me but havent been able to put her to work. I know i just need to get her to do it once and she'll be hooked..or at least thats the dream lol AND you got out to the river 2 days in a row! I envy you. Thanks for sharing man, it will be fun to see you reach those 6 grams.

 

[PurpleGold]

Nice! I can get my wife to go to the river with me but havent been able to put her to work. I know i just need to get her to do it once and she'll be hooked..or at least thats the dream lol AND you got out to the river 2 days in a row! I envy you. Thanks for sharing man, it will be fun to see you reach those 6 grams.

I feel very lucky.

 

[PurpleGold]

Last night I took down my 4x4 Gorilla Grow Tent that I had setup in my basement. I'm making room for a cons cleanup station. I think I may even be able to use my drain table as a nice bench to put a panning tub on. It will catch spills and drain them right into a bucket. I will be making a Home Depot stop today for a big panning wash tub. The little one I've been using is just a bit too small.

 

[PurpleGold]

My little collection of pans keeps growing...

 

[PurpleGold]

Cleaned my Saturday 3-12-16 cons and panned them last night. My total weight is .07g for about 2 hours at A Bar shoveling into buckets then running straight into the Bazooka.


The tub I bought from Home Depot leaked. It's a good thing I had it on my drain table. A separate bucket caught every drop. I'm going to return it and look into some large wash tub.



I'm hoping to have time tonight to clean out my Sunday cons from A Bar.