# What have we been doing lately?



## Nugget (Jun 9, 2022)

I think it would be interesting to find out what everyone has been doing lately. Who knows you may find a mate doing the same things and can get together.
I'm thinking, have you been out prospecting? Did you find anything?
Maybe camping with the family and forgetting the world. Are you a musician? Going to a great bit of theatre? A motorcycle adventure? 

I'm partial to long drives in the country, so that's what I've been doing on a weekend when I have time.

How about you?


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## 4metals (Jun 9, 2022)

I’m partial to woodworking so I’m in the process of making a desk out of quartersawn white oak I cut from my woods, dragged out with my quad, sawed with a neighbors band saw, and dried in a solar wood kiln. The desktop is a 3” thick slab of walnut that is two and a half years into a 3 year drying before I can sand and finish it. 
I always wanted a nice work desk and now that I’m finishing up my working career I felt it was time to have one.


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## Shark (Jun 9, 2022)

Short story… learning to walk again.


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## 4metals (Jun 9, 2022)

Shark said:


> Short story… learning to walk again.


A bit more detail…….. at 60 years old you should be buzzin’ about.


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## Shark (Jun 9, 2022)

Some blockages in my legs got really bad. Got to where I could only walk 40 to 50 feet then had to sit for 20-30 minutes or so. Then get up and go again. I have always had low blood pressure and a low heart rate and now as I get older it just keeps be annoying.


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## 4metals (Jun 9, 2022)

That’s too bad, you’re too young to let that get you down. 
I am lucky enough to have been able to install an endless pool in my house and, especially since the beginning of covid, I swim a half mile a day. Makes a big difference. No impact yet great exercise. 
Good luck.


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## Ohiogoldfever (Jun 9, 2022)

We’ve been in Maine. Beautiful place. Too many people though. (Acadia) Ready to be home with my dog.


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## Shark (Jun 9, 2022)

I had a bad stroke 6-7 years ago and all this is ongoing side effects. Some of it is posted on the forum someplace. I have had heart surgery, both carotids cleaned out, and two stints and throat surgery that failed, back then. I now have 3 stints, and had two ballon jobs now I am getting around pretty good again. Trying to build a ball mill now, need a new motor as I just burnt the last one I had on hand up.


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## orvi (Jun 9, 2022)

As you mentioned prospecting, not really now, but two weeks ago, we checked our good spot in one very small stream and hit it with highbanker. Result was very satisfying - 1,05g of gold, mostly in nice chunky bits. Gold in that stream is a lot above average size for my country. Grid is 1x1 mm. So I am happy 

Recently, I only could mine gold in lab with beakers... So I started to process some scrap that I acquired. Old DIP ceramic ICs gave me very nice recovery, despite I firstly dented the beaker and spilled whole 3/4 liter of gold AR into the fumehood when transfering the beaker. Ten seconds when you do not have it above catchpan... Apparently, compared to the usual yield 18-20g/kg, I lost just less than 1/5 of the gold. But cleanup/scavenging took 3 hours


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## orvi (Jun 9, 2022)

I hope you will be fine soon


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## Ohiogoldfever (Jun 9, 2022)

Shark said:


> I had a bad stroke 6-7 years ago and all this is ongoing side effects. Some of it is posted on the forum someplace. I have had heart surgery, both carotids cleaned out, and two stints and throat surgery that failed, back then. I now have 3 stints, and had two ballon jobs now I am getting around pretty good again. Trying to build a ball mill now, need a new motor as I just burnt the last one I had on hand up.



Sorry to hear of your trouble. Hope all clears up well enough for you to get around a bit better.


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## Shark (Jun 9, 2022)

Thanks, I’m still kicking. I still run 1-2 pounds of gold filled every week or so. Finally got that caught up. I have about 4 pounds of sterling I need to do something with. Then the ball mill needs finishing as it can be used for a AR reactor as well. I have about 20 more pounds of gold plated jewelry to finish up yet. The wife’s birthday was the seventh. Today is the son’s birthday as well as our anniversary. Always something good to do.


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## goldshark (Jun 10, 2022)

Blasting a house foundation tomorrow. If I can push the button and hold onto a video, and my dog at the same time, I will post a video tomorrow. Also, just waiting for the snow to melt up high so I can get back to core drilling on my claim.


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## GoIdman (Jun 10, 2022)

I`m buying some building material to redo the roof on our holiday house, also the yard needs levelling so i have to call someone to do that. Also i need to finish my furnace and grinding machine.... Lot to do before holiday kicks in...


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## AlaskaLes (Jun 10, 2022)

We're down to the last 11 days of absolute mayhem before the real work kicks off.

Beginning in September of last year, it's been nonstop permitting and engineering/designing all of the equipment and processes for our first season of opening up our new hard rock mine. 

The last 2 months of 10 and 12 hour days fabricating the machines are wearing me down, but I'm beyond excited and can't wait to dive in.

Overwhelming, Challenging, Intimidating, Exciting...

I have a very real understanding of what it takes to eat an elephant...one bite at a time.
Not sure I'll get Everything done, but we'll be up and running soon and we'll figure the rest out as we go.

Yee-Haw!!


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## AlaskaLes (Jun 10, 2022)

Tiny addendum to the last post.
I spoke with DNR this morning and the guy was great. He was heading out in the field and stopped long enough to dig up our file and tracked down a supervisor for our last critical signature. 
We have our 5 year mining permit!! 
I'm enjoying a very tasty, very dark beer and celebrating a HUGE hurdle that we have just cleared.
Cheers guys!
Tomorrow, it's back to the Ball Mill that I'm fabricating.


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## goldshark (Jun 13, 2022)

Just curious why you took my video down?


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## Nugget (Jun 21, 2022)

@Shark - I hope you can get better.


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## JackShiznit (Jun 22, 2022)

I've been doing my rounds of honey do's haha


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## Jado (Nov 24, 2022)

Sorry I’ve been absent lately. The economy hasn’t been kind to me lately and I’m delivering food 60+ hrs/week just to pay bills while I clean up 9 bankrupt corporations. 

To the question, I’m mainly a deep woods person. Hunting, Fishing, Panning… Anything to leave pavement behind. If I’m on pavement though I better be on something under 500lbs with over 70HP.

Side note, the website refreshes on iOS and kicks me out in the middle of writing.


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## FrugalRefiner (Nov 24, 2022)

goldshark said:


> Just curious why you took my video down?


goldshark, I don't remember seeing your post before. What video got taken down?

Dave


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## Yggdrasil (Nov 25, 2022)

Jado said:


> Sorry I’ve been absent lately. The economy hasn’t been kind to me lately and I’m delivering food 60+ hrs/week just to pay bills while I clean up 9 bankrupt corporations.
> 
> To the question, I’m mainly a deep woods person. Hunting, Fishing, Panning… Anything to leave pavement behind. If I’m on pavement though I better be on something under 500lbs with over 70HP.
> 
> Side note, the website refreshes on iOS and kicks me out in the middle of writing.


That might be a device or net specific thing.
I'm on iOS 15 and Win10 no problems like that.
Safari as Browser?


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## Ohiogoldfever (Nov 25, 2022)

I’ve been building a garage addition. One man garages take a while.


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## Alondro (Nov 25, 2022)

Prospecting, and FINDING little gold flakes in central NJ. It's very little, but I've refined my panning technique to the point where not a single 'fly poop' gets past me. Closing in on the best spot in an old glacial meltwater channel. Going downhill bit by bit to find the spots where the water slowed and dropped the most bits. After that spot, there are probably dozens of other similar channels all along the moraine, which is MILES long. Also a number of larger creeks cut through it, which I might check out too if I can find a gravel bed in any of them.

Aside from that, doing minor landscaping work, stripping electronics, and so forth.


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## Rreyes097 (Nov 25, 2022)

Shark said:


> Some blockages in my legs got really bad. Got to where I could only walk 40 to 50 feet then had to sit for 20-30 minutes or so. Then get up and go again. I have always had low blood pressure and a low heart rate and now as I get older it just keeps be annoying.


Blood clots? Sorry don't mean to be nosey.


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## AlaskaLes (Nov 25, 2022)

Sitting here enjoying my coffee...
Later today, I'm going to visit my neighbors with a 4" dredge. They bought it used a few years back and the intended claim purchase fell through. It's a Keene and appears to be in good shape. She showed it to me a month ago and asked if I was interested. We're not sure if the 4' or a 6" will be a better fit for our claims. 

Along with the hardrock exploration we cranked up at 3200 ft this past season, we also have about 1700yds of creek running through the 480 acres. We snuck away from the hard work of hardrock for a few days on the creek and found several Very good spots on the creek that demand a closer look. 

After much thought we decided to offer the couple an opportunity to put the dredge into use and get some adventure and maybe a nice poke of gold. Today, we'll be looking it over and writing up a list of mods and tune-ups for them. This will include a hot water unit , since the water is running less than 40F all season. 

Next Spring, we'll be doing some serious sampling. They'll be playing a few days a week and we'll be working it during the bulk of the week. I am excited by the possibilities. The valley below us has historically produced over 170,000 oz of gold (that was reported). The hardrock has barely been touched and the creek has never been worked. Considering the quartz float that has made it to the creek and the small gold that we found in several places that hasn't worked it's way down to the bottom yet. I think we've got really good odds of success with the dredging option.
Now I just need to get a thick wetsuit, a regulator and a full face mask.

It's gonna be a long wait till the snow melts...lol.


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## goldshark (Nov 25, 2022)

FrugalRefiner said:


> goldshark, I don't remember seeing your post before. What video got taken down?
> 
> Dave


Hi Dave, I am a blasting contractor, I put up a video of a blast I did. After I read the forum rules, I learned we don't mention, or use the term "explosives", on this forum. I am totally legit, with all state and federal licensing requirements.But, I understand.


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## Lou (Nov 25, 2022)

goldshark said:


> Hi Dave, I am a blasting contractor, I put up a video of a blast I did. After I read the forum rules, I learned we don't mention, or use the term "explosives", on this forum. I am totally legit, with all state and federal licensing requirements.But, I understand.


We would prefer not to talk about making them. 

99.999999% of energetics are used safely but we don’t want people making fulminates or metal nitrides out of precious metals.


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## goldshark (Nov 26, 2022)

I totally understand, still wondering why the video was taken down.


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## malphorian1973 (Nov 26, 2022)

Ohiogoldfever said:


> I’ve been building a garage addition. One man garages take a while.


Very nice my friend! Nothing like that little extra room!


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## kurtak (Nov 26, 2022)

goldshark said:


> After I read the forum rules, I learned we don't mention, or use the term "explosives", on this forum.


I believe that rule only applies to --- we *do NOT *discuss &/or teach people on this forum how to *intentionally* make explosives - such discussion will result in your *being banned !!!*

Or as Lou said


Lou said:


> We would prefer not to talk about *making them.*




On the other hand - in refining - there is a very real potential to inadvertently or unintentionally make explosive compounds (some VERY explosive) such as metal fulminates nitrides or acetylides

Therefore - as a matter of safety concerns - we have had many discussions on how those explosive compounds are inadvertently or unintentionally made & therefore how to avoid making them

There has also been discussion here on the forum of members "working" with explosives as part of their work/job such as to bust LARGE boulders in placer mining - drill/blast for hard rock mining - drill/blast bed rock for logging road construction &/or blowing LARGE stumps for logging road construction - all of which I have done & have posted about in discussions on this forum about this kind of work

What is *absolutely forbidden* on this forum is giving explicit instruction on how to make explosive compounds &/or how to make explosive devices --- that will most certainly get you banned


goldshark said:


> still wondering why the video was taken down.


So IMO - I don't really understand why your video would have been taken down as it sounds like its just a - "this is my job" video & not a "how to make" video

Personally - as a pyro nut myself - I would love to see that video - especially if its a video in your mining work/operations (or even a building demo) 

Wish I had some videos of blowing stuff up when I was working log road building & mining  crazy fun stuff

Edit to add; - with all that said - is there any reason goldshark can't re-post his video --- I would certainly like to see it

Kurt


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## Yggdrasil (Nov 26, 2022)

I for one, have not seen it nor heard any reasons for the video been taken down.
Was there any notification given when it was “purged”?


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## FrugalRefiner (Nov 26, 2022)

goldshark, I've just looked through the moderators logs, and I don't see any indication that any video was ever removed.

I checked starting with June 10, when you said you were doing the foundation blasting, and if you were able you'd post a video the next day. I don't see that you ever made that post, and there's no record of it being edited or removed (all things that we can see in the mod logs).

When the forum switched to the new software a year ago, I was excited to see it allowed posting videos directly to the forum. I struggled for weeks trying to get it to work. Even though I was posting in accepted formats, and the file size was within the correct range, it just wouldn't work for me. I tried many different settings in my video editing software, and finally found one that worked for me.

I'm wondering if you thought you had posted it, but for some reason the software didn't accept it?

The easiest way to include a video is to post it to youtube, then include a link in a new post. For help, see: Tips for Navigating and Posting on the Forum.

Dave


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## Shark (Nov 26, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Blood clots? Sorry don't mean to be nosey.


Plaque build up. More correctly calcium build up. Combined with low blood pressure and a high heart rate, it causes all sorts of problems.


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## war_child (Nov 26, 2022)

It was a good summer/fall for us here. We got a lot done and had a lot of fun. Most recently, my family had the opportunity, through our church, to help handing out turkeys and all the fixn's for Thanksgiving dinners. My oldest played on both offensive and defensive lines for his 7th grade team this year. He liked it and says he will play next year & he intends to try out for the high school team when he is a freshman. That would be nice because our house backs up to the high school property and we could walk to the stadium to see him play home games. We go see as many varsity games as we can, though I think my 2 little ones are only interested in the concessions stand and the half time show. Dakota did really well in the playoffs this year, and it was a treat to cheer them on.

We had a blast searching out parks and carnivals this summer. We were even able to make it to the air show at Selfridge ANG base. The boys were arguing over who would be a better ball-turret gunner. I love those B-17's!

HV/AC work was very slow, but thankfully I had a lot of opportunity to pour concrete on the side this year. I got to help pour the main floor at a skate park, and was able to remove and replace the garage, driveway, porch, patio and walkways for my sister & brother-in-law. I even got to enlarge my buddy's driveway so he could have more room to shoot some hoops.

All in all, I have to say, it was an enjoyable year!

Happy Holidays All!
mike


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## AlaskaLes (Nov 26, 2022)

Goldshark,
You should repost the video, I'm sure a bunch of us would enjoy watching that.


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## goldshark (Nov 27, 2022)

Here it is again, enjoy,925 lbs. Blast is 150 behind drill, so looks small.
View attachment IMG_0059.MOV


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## eaglekeeper (Nov 27, 2022)

goldshark said:


> Here it is again, enjoy,925 lbs. Blast is 150 behind drill, so looks small.
> View attachment 53328



Awesome..

Oh that sound you can never forget..... perfectly timed... you exactly matched an A-10 gun run.


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## Jado (Nov 27, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> That might be a device or net specific thing.
> I'm on iOS 15 and Win10 no problems like that.
> Safari as Browser?


iOS 14.8, iPhone SE2, Safari
Waiting on a stable update to 16, my SE (old phone) is doing horrible ad-related things on 16.1.1


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## AlaskaLes (Nov 27, 2022)

Goldshark,
Thanks for re posting that. It did sound a lot like The Vulcan Cannon.
How many yards would you guess was moved/broken by that 1000lbs of explosives?


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## goldshark (Nov 28, 2022)

I usually load these residential shots at .85 pound per cubic yard. Calculated breakage minimum would be 1,088 cubic yards, but always get over break of about 5 ft. at perimeter, ( 120 linear feet), so 120 L x 12 D x 5 W divided by 27 = 266 additional cu/yds., for a total of1,354 actual displaced rock.


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## goldshark (Nov 28, 2022)

For scale, the boulder to the lower right ,rolling into the trees was 4 ft. in diameter.


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## war_child (Nov 28, 2022)

eaglekeeper said:


> Awesome..
> 
> Oh that sound you can never forget..... perfectly timed... you exactly matched an A-10 gun run.



Warthog tree removal?? Sounds awesome. I think I know how I'm going to get rid of my overgrown weeping cherry now. I'll need a real crack-shot though, it's growing close to the corner of my house.


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## goldshark (Nov 29, 2022)

Where do you live?


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## Lou (Nov 29, 2022)

Really cool goldshark. Would love to learn how to do your job!


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