Sampling question

[BigHoles]

Just wondering how people go about sampling in dry areas?

I'm located in Vic, Aus & often find that the only way to get effective recovery with the clayey soil locally is to run it through a cement mixer or spend 20 minutes jumping up and down on the pile to break down the lumps.

Not particularly practical for sampling but as it stands the other options are to carry enough water to puddle & wash samples or drag all my samples to the nearest water supply. There's usually one nearish (1-3 km), which works sort of alright but keeping track of what came from where can be a bit of a challenge, especially if I'm doing a lot of sampling.

Just hoping for some better ideas for sampling on site than dancing a jig on the pile or trying to drag a cement mixer (or a hundred or so litres of water) everywhere.

 

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[arizau]

Just wondering how people go about sampling in dry areas?

I'm located in Vic, Aus & often find that the only way to get effective recovery with the clayey soil locally is to run it through a cement mixer or spend 20 minutes jumping up and down on the pile to break down the lumps.

Not particularly practical for sampling but as it stands the other options are to carry enough water to puddle & wash samples or drag all my samples to the nearest water supply. There's usually one nearish (1-3 km), which works sort of alright but keeping track of what came from where can be a bit of a challenge, especially if I'm doing a lot of sampling.

Just hoping for some better ideas for sampling on site than dancing a jig on the pile or trying to drag a cement mixer (or a hundred or so litres of water) everywhere.

Google "DIY hand rock crusher". Those may be too small but use your imagination. Maybe a bucket attached to a piece of plywood to stabilize it. Fill the bottom with clay lumps then, while standing, pound them to dust or whatever. You can probably use a wooden pole with a broad flat bottom object attached. Maybe cement the pole in a steel can....run a couple nails through the pole and leave both ends exposed so pole can't loosen and pull out of the cement.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[russau]

Back in the day I'd dry pan when I'd be doing my sampling and THEN when I'd find a prospect that got results , I'd bring in the big guns to do my extracting !