vasquez109
Greenie
Just come back from a weekend away with the missus, and we went to Dolaucothi Gold Mines i South Wales, UK on the Saturday. Whilst there, we did the Roman tour where they took us up the hill and explained about all the Roman workings there and we got to go into the mine itself.
The tour guide said that basically, the gold that comes from Dolaucothi is very very fine almost like dust. But some alluvial gold can be found in the Cothi river. She went on to say that the Romans looked for the quartz veins within the rock, and that the best of these are 'a dirty quartz' which has all iron and heavy impurities in it. She showed us a sample of it and the quartz did in fact look 'rusty' with all sorts going on in it. This apparently is the rich ore that contains the gold.
Later on, we did a bit of gold panning which was fun. They put little bits of iron pyrite in so kids can have a go at finding little bits of gold! We were told though, that as the troughs are filled with water from a mountain stream, microscopic gold does get washed down into the troughs. After doing some panning, the missus was better at it than I was!
After getting rid of the pyrite, we were able to find really small gold. So small it was virtually like a dust. Too small to get out of the pan or separate from the black heavies mixed with it.
Is it possible to remove this small gold from the black stuff? Also, after leaving I was bursting for a pee and had to stop in a lay-by after we'd sat in the car after closing time to eat our picnic. In the lay-by were quite a few of these dirty quartz rocks, just like the ones the guide showed us.
They are now in the back of my car, do I grind these down then pan them? Or do I do something else to them?
So many questions, so sorry!
David.
The tour guide said that basically, the gold that comes from Dolaucothi is very very fine almost like dust. But some alluvial gold can be found in the Cothi river. She went on to say that the Romans looked for the quartz veins within the rock, and that the best of these are 'a dirty quartz' which has all iron and heavy impurities in it. She showed us a sample of it and the quartz did in fact look 'rusty' with all sorts going on in it. This apparently is the rich ore that contains the gold.
Later on, we did a bit of gold panning which was fun. They put little bits of iron pyrite in so kids can have a go at finding little bits of gold! We were told though, that as the troughs are filled with water from a mountain stream, microscopic gold does get washed down into the troughs. After doing some panning, the missus was better at it than I was!
After getting rid of the pyrite, we were able to find really small gold. So small it was virtually like a dust. Too small to get out of the pan or separate from the black heavies mixed with it.
Is it possible to remove this small gold from the black stuff? Also, after leaving I was bursting for a pee and had to stop in a lay-by after we'd sat in the car after closing time to eat our picnic. In the lay-by were quite a few of these dirty quartz rocks, just like the ones the guide showed us.
They are now in the back of my car, do I grind these down then pan them? Or do I do something else to them?
So many questions, so sorry!
David.
Upvote
0
