# Blue Clay



## eaglewings35

Hey Guys and Gals,
I have a friend in Canada that has found a true "Honeyhole" He has found a place that has Blue Clay, which we suspect is decomposing bedrock. Mixed in this clay is gold. We have found places on the internet that sugest that the blue clay has a high concentration of silver.
My question is.... how do I process this clay to get the silver, which is suspended (not in solid form)out? My friend is sending me some on a regular basis for me to work. 
Any suggestions?


----------



## glondor

Is it Petrolia blue clay? Makes an incredible environmental barrier for excavation work, I have seen it in place around hand dug oil wells, and the oil has not penetrated 2 mm in 150 years. I capped a dozen of these wells for a large oil company about 10 years ago. I used to have it brought in to Toronto by the truck load to seal excavation walls before bentonite barriers were available. Interesting to hear about the silver. I think I will investigate.


----------



## Harold_V

eaglewings35 said:


> Hey Guys and Gals,
> I have a friend in Canada that has found a true "Honeyhole" He has found a place that has Blue Clay, which we suspect is decomposing bedrock. Mixed in this clay is gold. We have found places on the internet that sugest that the blue clay has a high concentration of silver.
> My question is.... how do I process this clay to get the silver, which is suspended (not in solid form)out? My friend is sending me some on a regular basis for me to work.
> Any suggestions?


My question is -----what does the assay reveal?

No assay? 

Why the hell are you talking about recovering something that may not be there (and likely isn't)?

One does not set out to recover values unless they are known to exist. Even then, you must have a functional plan, which may or may not be easy to determine. Processing ores isn't something that's easy in most cases. 

Get an assay, so you know what you face. 

Harold


----------



## glondor

Of course Harold see's right to the heart of the matter. There is no other course of action if you approach the clay with a professional mind. Find out what is really there before going on a wild goose chase. Nothing else matters. If there really is silver, you can determine a course of action once you prove the material rich enough to work with. The amount may be too small to attempt.


----------



## seawolf

Contact Rick the Rockman or Reno Chris both do placer and other gold work. Rick can do an assay for you at a modest price and give you information on the best recovery method if there is enought to work with.
Mark


----------



## eaglewings35

Yes, you are all right. I wasn't jumping the gun, I was just trying to figure out how to work it because I don't have alot of money for an assay. How much is the typical assay?


----------



## dtectr

eaglewings35 said:


> Yes, you are all right. I wasn't jumping the gun, I was just trying to figure out how to work it because I don't have alot of money for an assay. How much is the typical assay?


go to Rockman's profile page - links to his site & other very informative ones, as well. Contact him directly - he'll be very upfront with you regarding pricing, & etc.


----------



## Harold_V

eaglewings35 said:


> Yes, you are all right. I wasn't jumping the gun, I was just trying to figure out how to work it because I don't have alot of money for an assay. How much is the typical assay?


Bad logic. Very, very bad logic. You don't have enough money for an assay, but you have more than enough money to waste on a project that (potentially----and probably) has no value? 
You have to come to terms with something, here. Just because dirt has a particular color does not guarantee it has value. The chance that a person will find a deposit that is commercially viable is not good. The easy gold and silver has already been found, for the most part. What remains generally requires monumental operations, typically working with very low grade deposits. Yes, there are exceptions. Is your luck running good? Is this one of them? An assay will make that determination. 

From your comments, I get the idea that you think that because a brown dog is known to bite a person, all brown dogs bite people. That's simply not true. If you are struggling now, to make ends meet, I strongly advise against wasting any money on a project that most likely will fail. Even if the material in question has values within, it may be well beyond your ability to achieve an economical extraction. You would be best served to have a clue what potential is at your disposal, so you can then make informed decisions. Get an assay, or find a different hobby. 

Harold


----------



## eaglewings35

Harold,
I appreciate your honesty and input. There's a misunderstanding here, and it is my fault. My friend in Canada is sending me samples purely as a friend. This spot that has the blue clay, is on his land and he has made arrangements to mine it.
I am strictly a bystander wishing him the best in his endeavors. I was wanting to know how to work it so I could work my samples, and get a little bit of gold and silver, hopefully. And you are correct, with these samples it would not make much sense to have an assay done, especially when all I am getting is "Samples". Any ideas how to work these samples?


----------



## Harold_V

I'm afraid you're missing the point. Please don't get the impression I'm trying to throw a wet blanket on your endeavor, as that's not the case. 

What I've tried to allude to is that unless you know there is something of value present, and in what quantity, you really don't have a sense of direction. I'll create a scenario that may help you understand my position. 

Because you've been told that the color is an indicator of values, you pursue a process that may lead to the end you desire, to wit, you recover the (assumed) values. Here's what's wrong with that idea. 

Without an assay, you're already handicapped because you don't know what you're looking for, nor how much. If you achieve success to some degree, were you successful in extracting everything, or did you get a trace of what is available, and could do better with a slight modification of your process? Unless you know what you're working with, you'll have no idea where you stand in regards to the potential. 

I'm speaking from experience in this regard. I processed an ore that was drop dead wonderful. Assayed over 300 ounces/ton in gold alone. Didn't have a lot, but it was very important that I crack the code, so to speak, of how to extract the values. I began the process with a head assay, so I'd know what I could expect. I then paid for assays as I processed the ore, so I'd have an idea of what was happening in the way of extraction. Only when I knew the values were extracted did I stop paying for assays. Assays are not a luxury, they are mandatory. 

How you go about extracting the values, assuming you have them, will dictate your degree of success. You may quickly discover that anything you'd like to try won't work----that's the way it goes with complex compounds. I am unable to give guidance in that regard, as I'm not a chemist, nor do I understand the complexities of extraction from ores. I had that one experience, and, due to my diligence, I happened to land on the proper process, albeit as a second attempt. Had I trusted my first results, and didn't have an assay to verify what I had done, I would have left behind over 95% of the values. That's how poorly my first attempt was at extraction. 

So then, if you hope to achieve any degree of success, you must have an assay. If the deposit is being processed by others, someone, somewhere, already knows the potential. If your friend doesn't have that information at his disposal, and if your friend is, in any way, shoveling money towards the supposed process, he most likely is being taken for one hell of a ride by those that are very slick at separating people from their money. 

Hard fact-----mining corporations often invest millions of dollars in core drilling so they have a firm understanding of the deposit they face. They may spend that money without recovering a dime, before they start production. You likely understand why. Better you spend a million learning what must be done, than spending ten million on something that won't work. 

I would encourage you to play with this material ONLY if you have some proof of its content. The reason I say this is because you may choose a process that might be very successful, assuming you have values present. If you fail to produce values, and you have no clue about the content of the ore, how will you know where the problem lies? Was it the process? Was it the ore?

Harold


----------



## Smack

Nice explanation Harold.


----------



## Harold_V

Smack said:
 

> Nice explanation Harold.


Thank you! 

It's called common sense. 

I refined for more than 20 years. I encountered several self acclaimed prospectors that would have benefitted greatly from that advice. Most of them are blinded by what they want to see, not what they see. To that end, they chase ghosts, then can't understand why they haven't succeeded.

For the record---in all my years of refining, I never, once, processed anything from a prospector that was worth the invested effort. *NEVER!* The gold ore of which I speak was purchased (most likely under the table) from a mine known to produce high grade gold and silver ore. 

I related a tale some time ago that parallels this one, and the ending was sad. Three men worked a claim for a few summer months, resulting in one man dying from a heart attack, being too remotely located to receive necessary care. For their efforts, the team of three produced something like five or six ounces of gold. 

I was introduced to one of the survivors when he came to me for help in recovering the values they had accumulated. When I inquired of him what the head assay revealed, he looked at me with blank eyes----didn't have a clue what I was talking about. When I enlightened him with what would have been a wise beginning to his venture, he responded by telling me that they could see gold, so there was no need for an assay. 

Three men, working three months, producing less than six ounces of gold, when gold was selling for less than $400/ounce?

Can you see what's wrong with this picture? Their purpose was to make money, not kill time. Those six ounces of gold came at a very high price, at least as far as I'm concerned. 

Harold


----------



## eaglewings35

Harold, I completely understand what you are saying. It makes perfect sense. Thanks, you have a really good way of getting your point across.


----------



## butcher

my mind tells me more miners went broke with gold than got rich from it.


----------



## manorman

Since your just playing with samples boil them with a few drops of liquid soap and let it dry crush them and try panning the remining solids, or you might try one of the commericail produts from a minning store like clay begone.
Mike


----------



## eaglewings35

Thanks Mike, I will do that.


----------



## qst42know

As I understand it, silver doesn't "pan". It's not likely to be found in a metallic state, but as a chemical compound. Gold content may also be to fine to pan.

Be smart. Get the assay.


----------



## manorman

Native silver can be panned just like gold, it might be very fine but will be heavier than slit and fine sand or clay, silver can be in many states in nature often with lead and copper deposits.
if i get a chance to open the safe i will post some pictrues of some i have panned.
MIke


----------



## eaglewings35

Awesome, thanks manorman. I look forward to seeing your pics.


----------



## shadybear

Have you given any thought to just heating it up to say 2000 deg and see what happens,
could be fun.


----------



## qst42know

shadybear said:


> Have you given any thought to just heating it up to say 2000 deg and see what happens,
> could be fun.



A clay brick would likely be the result. Make a vase or ashtray?


----------



## eaglewings35

Shadybear, I like your idea. I agree that could be very interesting.


----------



## manorman

4 grams of native silver i panned last year.
Mike


----------



## eaglewings35

Thats something new for me. I have never seen raw silver. Did that come out of Texas?


----------



## qst42know

I don't believe that is the form of silver that is normally found. Certainly not from Canadian glacial ground blue clays. But cool nun the less.


----------



## butcher

I have seen black powder silver when panning.


----------



## Dr. Poe

Since I just joined the forum a couple of days ago, I'm kinda late in answering your problem.
You should learn how to fire assay your prospects yourself. Use the pro assayers only after you have beads or buttons from your own. The pro assay report is needed to find financing for your project. Angel investors won't take your word for it. As far as "Blue clay" is concerned; read up on the history of the Comstock Lode. The heavy, blue sands and clays clogged their sluices and was a real pain until someone decided to fire assay some of the concentrates. The concentrates averaged 3000 oz's of silver per ton and up to 3 oz's of gold. Elsewhere, in Missouri, a blue clay was discovered that was linerite (I'm sure i spelled it wrong) A lead/Silver/copper mineral that contained up to 20% silver and traces of gold. I personally believe that the "Lost Dutchman"s mine never existed, but was the result of using blue/black earth to surround the Dutchman's camp fires.
I have also noticed (over the decades) that natural "Horn Silver" turns blue in strong light prior to turning black. I hope this has helped you. Dr. Poe


----------



## eaglewings35

Thanks Dr. Poe. I appreciate all the input !!!


----------



## eeTHr

Dr. Poe said:


> I personally believe that the "Lost Dutchman"s mine never existed, but was the result of using blue/black earth to surround the Dutchman's camp fires.
> 
> Dr. Poe





Doc---

Your hypothesis about the Lost Dutchman Mine is interesting.

There are currently existing samples, allegedly of the Dutchman's ore, which are a pinkish quartz, with visable gold strands.

It sounds like you may be on to something of importance, to both prospectors as well as treasure hunters.

Would you expand on the premise for your blue/black earth theory?


----------



## Dr. Poe

OK. I'll elaborate: All metals when granulated pass through a variety of colors until black. Gold especially.
Gold yellow, golden brown, dark brown, reddish brown, reddish purple (mauve), dark blue, and finally black.
Colloidal gold suspended in glass is at first colorless until it's annealed. Then the colors appear differing according to the particle size and quantity of gold. When a gold salt is fused with an oxidizing glass, it dissolves forming colorless ions.
If any base metals are present, the gold precipitates colloidally and forms the colors gold, brown, red, mauve, blue as the particle sizes decrease. I once helped dig a septic line. The 'poop' tube which had deep ridges had a thin line of blue which
was so heavy that it appeared to be almost painted on to it. Cuppellation proved it to be gold. I told a friend about this and he told his boss at the water treatment plant. The next year the water treatment plant (sewage) had installed a gold recovery unit. I'm very familiar with the calderas of Arizona. The Superstition mountain ores of gold are usually orange , reddish brown, white or black. Green, blue, bluish green usually occur when copper and silver predominate.
As far as quartz speckled with yellow gold spots or streaks go, pick up a piece of quartz almost anywhere in Arizona (even in the cities) and a low powered microscope will reveal the gold. Before technology was advanced enough to leach gold economically, the huge tailings piles were sold as if plain gravel to the state and municipalities like Phoenix and Mesa. When this became well known, The BLM ruled that any "rock hound" may pick up and keep a limited amount. I think that it was 250 pounds a year and that fossils were included. 
The Dutchman found nuggets which is extremely rare even in Arizona. I sometimes visualize his camp fire surrounded by
gold ore dripping carbon reduced krenerite as gold droplets into his fire. Then come morning, the Dutchman panning or willowing his ashes. I'm Dr. Poe, geochemist


----------



## philddreamer

Dr. Poe, very interesting & thank you!

Phil


----------



## eaglewings35

Doc, that is quite interesting !!! It actually explains alot. It is great to have someone added to our group that has some experience and expertise. Welcome !!!


----------



## eeTHr

Yes! Very informative! Thank you for the detailed explanations.


----------



## sawmill

It is a known fact that the so called Dutchman was a
known high grader,and was fired from the Vulture Mine
for stealing high grade ore. His stash of gold matched 
the ore from the Vulture.

I doubt that his campfires got hot enough to melt any
gold. For one thing several people spent lots of time trying
to follow him,plus the place had some unfriendly Natives.
Not exactly the place to be building big camp fires,if you
are being watched,and followed.Smoke in the desert can
travel a long way,and big flames are easy to see. If he was
as crafty as claimed,I would bet if he did have a campfire,
it would have been small. 

I can't feature anyone digging blue clay to build a fire ring
when there is plenty rocks. Plus camping on blue clay ain't
the brightest idea either.


----------



## eeTHr

sawmill---

That is an old story about the Dutchman highgrading. I don't remember the specifics, but some people had the remaining ore analysed by "experts" (I think it was a University), and it didn't come close to matching any other mining operation in the areas around where Jacob Waltz was known to live.

A Google search would likely bring up the specifics about how the testing took place.


----------



## sawmill

eeTHer

I suggest that you do some research too.
There is known specimen gold from the Vulture mine,that has
been certified. It is a pretty rose quartz with lumps and strings
of gold. Pretty much like you described in your above post.

Contrary to some ideas,there really was a Jacob Waltz,and
there is still public records ,and documents on file. There is
no records that document any testing ,or any real proof that
he even had any real gold at his time of death other than a
few samples in a candle box. These could have came from
any where. He also prospected in La Paz Az,California and
Georgia. For some reason his famous mine wasn't even a
big deal,until after his death,and his so called caretaker 
started selling maps at $7.00 a piece. 

There is proof that he did prospect,and had claims in the
general area as the Vulture,and other places. Why would
an experienced miner and prospector,not bother to claim
a rich mine? My guess would be that he never found one.
Personally I wouldn't waste time looking for something that
is mostly made up from BS stories and fake maps. :lol:


----------



## Ocean

Dr. Poe said:
"I once helped dig a septic line. The 'poop' tube which had deep ridges had a thin line of blue which
was so heavy that it appeared to be almost painted on to it. Cuppellation proved it to be gold. I told a friend about this and he told his boss at the water treatment plant. The next year the water treatment plant (sewage) had installed a gold recovery unit."

Please tell us more about this. How would the gold end up concentrated in sewerage lines? 

Thank you


----------



## notch

Ocean said:


> Dr. Poe said:
> "I once helped dig a septic line. The 'poop' tube which had deep ridges had a thin line of blue which
> was so heavy that it appeared to be almost painted on to it. Cuppellation proved it to be gold. I told a friend about this and he told his boss at the water treatment plant. The next year the water treatment plant (sewage) had installed a gold recovery unit."
> 
> Please tell us more about this. How would the gold end up concentrated in sewerage lines?
> 
> Thank you



If you wear a Gold Ring, every time you wash your hands, a tiny bit of Gold goes into the sewers. In India, people pan the sewers in jewelry manufacturing areas and make a living from the Gold they find. Sewers tend to be a strongly reducing environment with lots of H2S. Any Gold Salts from corrosion or Metal Finishing operations would likely precipitate out and settle in the Sewer Pipes.


----------



## eeTHr

sawmill said:


> eeTHer
> 
> I suggest that you do some research too.
> There is known specimen gold from the Vulture mine,that has
> been certified. It is a pretty rose quartz with lumps and strings
> of gold. Pretty much like you described in your above post.




There are treasure hunting forums which contain much documentation of what you posted. Some of the documentation has proven to be falsified, too.

There are many legends and stories about Jake, and some are contradictory. Some of the originators have even confessed to fabricating their stories---some from long ago, and even some more recent.

I'm aware of everything you posted, except for the samples from the Vulture. Can you give a link to the documentation on that?

I'm not sure if this is really on-topic here, so maybe you should PM it.

Thanks!


----------



## Barren Realms 007

> Dr. Poe said:
> "I once helped dig a septic line. The 'poop' tube which had deep ridges had a thin line of blue which
> was so heavy that it appeared to be almost painted on to it. Cuppellation proved it to be gold. I told a friend about this and he told his boss at the water treatment plant. The next year the water treatment plant (sewage) had installed a gold recovery unit."






Ocean said:


> Please tell us more about this. How would the gold end up concentrated in sewerage lines?
> 
> Thank you







notch said:


> If you wear a Gold Ring, every time you wash your hands, a tiny bit of Gold goes into the sewers. In India, people pan the sewers in jewelry manufacturing areas and make a living from the Gold they find. Sewers tend to be a strongly reducing environment with lots of H2S. Any Gold Salts from corrosion or Metal Finishing operations would likely precipitate out and settle in the Sewer Pipes.




What you proably dug was a sewer line and the pipe you describe sounds like cement sewer pipe. A septic line would be in conjunction with a septic tank. It would generaly be the line from the building structure to the septic tank. The line leaving the tank are known as leach lines if installed as a leach field. Generaly concrete lines have not been installed in the last 30 years to much of a degree if any. 

The concrete pipe should be acidic by nature and can also possibly produce small amounts of electrical current and can also conduct electricty. If I remember correctly in the National Electrical code book it is allowed or required ( I don't remember the exact wording ) to run a ground wire from the concrete building pad to the building structure for grounding purposes, in a discussion during the last refresher class it was determined that this was because the commitee considered the concrete as an electrical ground conductor. 

Now put these properties of concrete, electrical current, and varrying soil conditions around our planet in the ground and almost anything is possible I would guess. 

Around here we just call the grey mud "GUMBO", it in itself is acidic by nature as well and as far as I know holds no PM's of any quantity except what has flowed down the Missippi River over the centuries before it changed course before the last major earth quake. 

But to say that the City installed the gold recovery unit because of the grey mud you found or delt with would be highly unlikely because the mud you described should be on the outside of the pipe not the inside of the pipe. 

The City would recover more gold, silver and other metals from rings, watches and chains run thru and chopped up by garbage disposal's, sewage pump's and city's lift station pump's than from what would be washed off during the cleaning of your hands. 

Now if PM refineries are located in the city that might be a different story. But in the average small city I would say it would not be justified. But if you throw in the possability that your city runs it's rain water run off thru the treatment facility then you have to add the possible PM's from auto cat's and other items dropped and lost on the streets to deal with. This is a lot of material to process and I really don't think the cost versus recovery would be justified.

IMHO


----------



## Harold_V

On the subject of gold from sewage, it's nothing new. Here's an aritcle, one of many that are available for perusal. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/01/30/us-gold-sewage-odd-idUSTRE50T56120090130

Similar findings came from silicon valley, in California. 

Harold


----------



## qst42know

Even Hoke back in her day, mentioned a janitor mining the sewers beneath jewelery factories in New York.


----------



## Ocean

Hmmmm, very interesting...

So, it seems best results would occur in places like Silicon Valley and other places where precious metals are processed and used.

A question for anyone in the know, 

Does the sludge from any/every municipal treatment system contain enough PMs to warrant processing?

edited for spelling


----------



## Ocean

anyone got any idea on my question above?


----------



## notch

Ocean said:


> anyone got any idea on my question above?



Perhaps you could Produce a 'Dirty Jobs" segment.

Just find the Treatment plant that handles the effluent from that area and buy up their composted sludge.


----------



## Harold_V

Ocean said:


> anyone got any idea on my question above?


Strictly speculation------I expect that the expense of extracting values from sewage sludge to exceed the value of the recovered metals, with rare exception. The volume of values accumulated in sewage, without industrial contributions, would be limited to the insignificant wear of jewelry and dental appliances, so the content would be quite low in most cases. 

Harold


----------



## sawmill

I don't think you would have to worry about claim jumpers! :roll:


----------



## Harold_V

sawmill said:


> I don't think you would have to worry about claim jumpers! :roll:


Certainly not me! :lol: 

Harold


----------



## Ocean

Hardee HAr HAr!


----------



## Dr. Poe

The gold that I found in the sewage line indeed came from a septic tank entrance. This house was too far from the sewage line to connect to it. As far as where the gold originated, the eating of vegetables would be my first choice. However, when I was mixing some hydroquinone with some city tap water in Mesa, Arizona, gold precipitated as a colloidal suspension. The city water (I'm not talking about the irrigation water) , that the city drinking water contained 1/600,000 parts gold. Everyone in Mesa, Arizona either buys their drinking water or passes it through an activated carbon filter. No, you can't make a profit from refining feces. But, if you are processing sewage anyway, you'll have an eventual accumulation. Dr. Poe


----------



## bluestone

qst42know said:


> I don't believe that is the form of silver that is normally found. Certainly not from Canadian glacial ground blue clays. But cool nun the less.


manorman, how do you know it is silver not pyrite :?. i have panned what i think is silver, other than a assay, which i have done on the clay , how do i know it is silver, not pyrate.


----------



## slickdogg

I know this is off topic but i have to say this, i have been reading everything i come across on this forum i spend around 2 hours daily reading both old and new posts. This is truly a wonderful group of people here, however my favorite topics to read are when Harold posts or replies to a post, you....you sir are wize with wisdom and tell it like it is, even if the truth may hurt at times.


----------



## Harold_V

slickdogg said:


> I know this is off topic but i have to say this, i have been reading everything i come across on this forum i spend around 2 hours daily reading both old and new posts. This is truly a wonderful group of people here, however my favorite topics to read are when Harold posts or replies to a post, you....you sir are wize with wisdom and tell it like it is, even if the truth may hurt at times.


Speaking one's mind isn't always the smartest thing to do, but I have a little trouble blowing smoke up anyone's skirt. 

Those that have come to know me through my posts probably understand that I speak with their best interest in mind, especially when my comments are not what they may hope to read. 

Thanks for the kind words! 8) 

Harold


----------



## bluestone

manorman said:


> 4 grams of native silver i panned last year.
> Mike




hello eaglewing, i just clued in, have a look at manorman's silver. this is what the panned sample looks like from the blue hole above the road. {next sample}


----------



## eaglewings35

WOW, that is too cool !!! I am amazed.


----------



## Photobacterium

Can you use Stannous Chloride in a situation like this to get some information about the clay category ore sample ?

For example, if it assayed 1 ounce of gold per ton - would that sometimes show up in a stannous test ?

So if you do a Stannous test, and it turns purple, you have a strong qualitative indicator for the presence of gold.


Perhaps not fail-safe - if you do a Stannous test, and it doesn't turn purple - can it still have gold in it, just not detected by Stannous ?


----------



## Richard36

Sorry, but this looks like spray painted soil to me. 
Look closely and see if you can spot what I'm seeing.


----------



## butcher

It does look like something has stained the soil and rock as both have this color, also looks to me to have freshly broken and buried trees (look like cedar I remember in Kentucky), possible recent hill erosion or flooding, the rock is rounded in this soil like made from rolling down a river or creek, is it a seasonal creek? It is hard to gather much from a picture.


----------



## Dr. Poe

It does look like linerite silver ore to me. $677 a ton is good. Test it for gold, copper and lead. :| 
Dr. Poe


----------



## bluestone

Richard36 said:


> Sorry, but this looks like spray painted soil to me.
> Look closely and see if you can spot what I'm seeing.
> 
> View attachment 3


good one , took the whole cann to paint this. kidden
seriously now. 
here is a close up for you to look for the paint. doh
dr poe , the gold test we did with the silver test came out "au 2.18 gpt" .
we have a sample of the hard pann from 300 feet down the hill ready for testing. we will test for all metals but look at what we panned out of it. see second picture.
yes its in a seasonal creek, in a 20 year old clear cut.


----------



## FlyingEagleLode

Is the blue clay in placer material or lode form.
If its lode type and part of the North west chain of volcano's its, kalonite clay (decomposed feldspar) probably hydrothermal.
Do a basic fire assay that will let you know.


----------



## bluestone

i would say its load form, i have done a fire assay. what should i look at in the assay.


----------



## FlyingEagleLode

Dig and do some test pits so how big the deposit is and sample each one.
The safest way know days is to trench it or pit avoid tunneling a adit if you can.
You probably have a galena mine lead and silver.
Do a fire assay on the clay with no solids screen it really fine.
If there are no values in the clay it self, you know to just break it down with water and extract the silver.
Beware find out what your mine is running I have seen arsenic crystals people thought where silver.
I have seen the blue clay here in Oregon but I have known people to pull good gold out of it.


----------



## ayeyou

bluestone said:


> i would say its load form, i have done a fire assay. what should i look at in the assay.


Its hard to say what to look for not knowing what type of assay you had.If you had a simple gold fire assay like below then it is pretty self explanetory. If you had a full spectragraphic assay then it getrs confusing to decipher without looking at it. Try to post it and we will help you interpret it.


----------



## bluestone

this is the clay with no solids, we mixed it with water and let the heavys settel then we had it tested.


----------



## bluestone

here is the quantitative phase analysis on #1


----------



## FlyingEagleLode

The first say 10 feet in should be the oxidation zone.
This zone may hold silver chloride and the silver solid black.
Do some test leaching in small 5 gallon buckets see what work best for your ore.
You will have to roast the ore to drive of sulfides do this in a very well ventilated area.
Do not do this any where near homes or where the smoke can harm some one or yourself.
I have seen the old timbers run the roasting ovens and turn the trees black from arsenic.
But they are a commercial operation not a small scale.


----------



## kentucky blue

hello, my dad and i were drilling in ky when we hit this stickey b lue clay in several diffrent locations . I always wondered if this Blue mud may have somthing in it? I know I need an assay, but is it possible that gold, silver. and possibly jewels can be presrnt here in ky? Some areas the mud was more than 20' thick, what do you think?


----------



## butcher

Kentucky Blue,

Hello, I grew up in Kentucky as a kid, & sure miss home.

I cannot give you an answer, I do not remember anyone mining for gold there, and I do not know of much any mining besides for coal, do remember a couple of oil wells an ole friend of mine helped drill, maybe check the history to see if any gold was found in the area.

I know they did discover gold down in Georgia, after general Jackson ran the Cherokee Indians off their homes and farms into Georgia, after the gold discovery in Georgia the removed the Cherokee again, that is when federal troops marched many thousands of people, men, women, and children to their death on the trail of tears to reservations in Oklahoma.

By the way the Cherokee mixed early with the whites, they also helped the US gain its independence and win the revolutionary war, and many of these people are our ancestors.

There was a portion of the Cherokee that wanted to keep the old way’s they did not mix with whites at that time, when Jackson stated the Indian removals they hid in the mountains later they mixed with whites, this is why most of us from the hills of Kentucky have Cherokee in our blood, many of the older generation denied it, as they were teased and taunted and looked down on if the were half blood.

Welcome to the forum, sorry I cannot answer your question and I wandered off topic, hope you find the gold.


----------



## manorman

bluestone said:


> qst42know said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't believe that is the form of silver that is normally found. Certainly not from Canadian glacial ground blue clays. But cool nun the less.
> 
> 
> 
> manorman, how do you know it is silver not pyrite :?. i have panned what i think is silver, other than a assay, which i have done on the clay , how do i know it is silver, not pyrate.
Click to expand...


Pyrite wll shatter when struck with a hammer, the silver you can hammer flat.
The silver i have came from placer deposits in my quest for gold, not from blue clay, but i have seen some native silver recovered from a blue clay puddling operation.
If you want to see nice native silver go to Treasurenet and follow a user named Jim Hemmingway in the Gold prospecting and Canada Forum, some real nice finds inculding a nice 101 pound nugget on his FEB 09 post.


----------



## goldmember2

I'm in BC with a blue clay layer that so far we believe is directly on top of bedrock. We're about 25' deep in overburden to the blue clay layer and another 4-5' to bedrock below this. Bedrock is under water at this location. We're hoping to expose the old traditional channel in our explorations. The Chinese before me were ground sluicing this bench when time stopped their progress. I started where they left off, still looking for the original channel of this gold creek. We will know more as we expose a bit more in this Bench deposit with lowest workings still under water. Above the blue clay is another layer of approx. 3' thick more reddish and oxidized. Larger gold in this layer than in the blue. We're working above the blue clay layer which appears to be about 4' thickness where we are now, because recovery is easier. The blue clay needs special attention to recovery especially because much of the gold is ultra-fine and the clay will easily clog up your riffle system if it's not watched and controlled and your fines will simply pass over your packed riffles; once your riffles are clay packed, they need manual cleaning because the hydraulic power needed to loosen the packed clay behind your riffles will also scour any gold out of there. Red clay layer processes easily; the blue clay layer comes apart with a bit of work and at this location is largely angular fractured material, with some evidence of stream or glacial wear/travel typical to this drainage, tightly cemented together with a blue sticky clay. We suspect a trommel will do the trick so we will process this material later. I think the bottom line is that if you're looking for gold and dealing with easy home recovery, then you don't need an assay to know if you're ground is good. Be patient and pan your sample out....pan into another pan or bucket if you're concerned about your panning experience and do it twice or as many times as necessary. If you can't 'SEE' the results, move on. A 1/2 bucket test of my blue clay showed about 30 colors all<100 mesh, but also one 1 cm picker. Assay results can be 'loaded' and may not be representative....a 'catch' sample of concentrate of my blue clay run from a half 5 gallon pail returned 95 ozs / ton Au, but that was in a concentrate form so this is 'indicative' there's gold there and the material appears to concentrate well, but it certainly is not representative of bank run values which are lower. Last year we 'guessed' we produce about 1 oz for every 30 - 35 yards processed. This year so far slightly less recovery per yard, but still 'in the black'. Ran red for years!!!!!


----------



## TreasuredReTreasured

Hay eaglewing35, I have found blue clay like you talked about I have had an assay on it over 4700oz silver per ton 7oz gold, I will post pictures, and thank you guys for the info on boiling and adding the soap


----------



## TreasuredReTreasured

More pics of my blue clay


----------



## TreasuredReTreasured

Blue clay


----------



## eaglewings35

Hey Treasured !!! That looks exactly like what I had. I didnt know enough to work it properly, and I ended up wasting my samples. I told my friend just to keep it, I didnt know how to work it.

I would try again, but I dont know if he is still working on it or not.


----------

