# Documented Gold Bearing Telluride/Oxide Ores



## DarkspARCS

Auriferrous ores contain Silicate, Vanadate, Sulfate, Nitrate, Phosphate, Carbonate, Hydrate, and Arsenate compounds as secondary inclusions. Common Telluride ores are:

Calaverite - can assay from 20- 70% gold and it is easy to recover
Hessite - Resembles Petzite. Usually about 60% silver
Petzite - A telluride that is mostly silver. Silver content is usually twice that of gold.
Sylvanite - A telluride of gold and silver. It can assay as high as 20% gold
Altaite - telluride of silver/gold
Nagyagite - Gold Lead Antimony Iron Telluride
Kostovite - Copper Gold Telluride
Krennerite - Silver Gold Telluride
Muthmannite - Gold Telluride
Stutzite - Gold Telluride
Tellurium - Gold Telluride
Kaolinite - Gold Telluride

One thing to remember about Telluride ores is that they're sulfide ores. These ores contain such common minerals as Selenite, gypsum, arsenopyrite, flourite, and calcite. Sulfide ores form below watertable levels.

Contined below...

This has been an attempt to supply some form of support for the wonderful effort put into the creation of this forum. I'm hoping Richard 'the Rock Man' will come help make this post what it was designed to be, a location where folks can find identifyers for the ores they work with.


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## DarkspARCS

Cont...

There are also Oxide ores that will contain gold. These ores usually consist of Copper and Ferrous elements that are well oxidized, which means the color of the ore gives it away... yellow to red and black rock containing iron and manganese, and azure blue to blue-green to dark green rock containing copper. Rock containing both red and blue-green elements are especially desireable because that usually will reveal a secret inclusion element that was the binding factor creating such rich ores: Mercury!

Mercury is a known amalgam of gold.

Auriferrous oxide ores contain Silicate, Vanadate, Sulfate, Nitrate, Phosphate, Carbonate, Hydrate, and Arsenate compounds, which form such common minerals as hemetite, cinnabar, pyrite, garnet, chalcopyrite, galena, and quartz. Oxide ores form above water table levels.

Common Auriferrous Oxide ores are:

Azurite - An oxide of copper 
Malachite - An oxide of copper
Cerussite - An oxide of lead
Siderite - An oxide of Iron and manganese
limonite - An oxide of iron and manganese
Goethite - An oxide of iron and manganese
Chlorargyrite/Cerargyrite - A silver chloride 

There are a plethara of other ore types associated with these minerals, I however believe that these are the main ones to start with. From what I've noticed is that over the years people who discovered ore slightly differed from the norm registered a new mineral compound or thier special blend. 

Pretty soon I'll have to amend this to include the richest PGM telluride ever found, called DarkspARCSite... :twisted: 




Information on these ores can be obtained from the following websites:

http://www.goldmetallurgy.com
http://www.webmineral.com/
http://www.mindat.org/

This has been an attempt to supply some form of support for the wonderful effort put into the creation of this forum. I'm hoping Richard 'the Rock Man' will come help make this post what it was designed to be, a location where folks can find identifyers for the ores they work with.


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## butcher

DarkspARCS, good job thanks, I hope to learn more of this someday, but chemistry has got me in a tangled web now.


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## DarkspARCS

It's been a priviledge to research this and post the results for the benefit of this forum. It's intended to expand so that info on ore types can be made readily available for those who seek it.

there are other mineral types I havent yet touched upon that are beginning to expiriance increased values as methods are developed to work them. One example of this is Chrysacolla, another rich copper ore:




I discovered this beautiful specimen of Chrysacolla Christmas Day (yesterday) In one of the mines I'm cataloguing for it's ore depoites, of which so far I've discovered, sampled, imaged, and catalogued 10 separate instances:

Azurite, Malachite, Kaolinite, Asenopyrite, cinnabar, chrysacolla, turquoise, hematite, galena, and lead.










This next image represents an ore type not found on Mindat...




This may very well earn the title 'DarkspARCSite' once a broad spectrum analysis is done! :twisted:


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## DarkspARCS

I'll post some of the image catalogue of one of the old 1800's mines I'm currently filing a claim on. This mine has both tellurides as well as auriferrous oxides comingled with cinnabar. 

Obviously the mid and upper levels possesses the oxides while some of the mid ad the lower levels possesses tellurides...

First, the mid and upper level - auriferrous oxides and copper carbonates:

Auriferrous oxide ore with cinnabar



Auriferrous oxide ore with cinnabar



Auriferrous oxide ore with cinnabar



copper carbonate ore (chrysacolla, azurite, malachite)



Auriferrous oxide and copper carbonate ore with cinnabar


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## DarkspARCS

Here are some specimens from the deposites shown above:

Turquoise



Azurite



Azurite, malachite turquoise



Cinnabar



Chrysacolla


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## DarkspARCS

Next are the telluride ores found in the lower regions of the mine. The majority of whatwill be shown is known as a PolyMetallic Replacement Deposite. This content rich ore not only contains pm/pgm, but also copper,zinc, lead, iron, and arsenic.

Kaolinite with arsenopyrite, PolyMetallic intrusions



PollyMetallic intrusions in Kaolinite



Kaolinite with arsenopyrite



Kaolinite with arsenopyrite, silver, galena



silver, galena viens in Kaolinite


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## shaftsinkerawc

Great looking photo's and specimens.


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## Richard36

DarkspARCS said:


> This has been an attempt to supply some form of support for the wonderful effort put into the creation of this forum. I'm hoping Richard 'the Rock Man' will come help make this post what it was designed to be, a location where folks can find identifiers for the ores they work with.



Thanks DarkspARCKS,

Below is a copy and paste of several of my more detailed posts covering essential 
"Need to Know" information regarding prospecting for Hardrock, and Placer deposits.

I did my best to put them together in a way that flows together, 
and fully conveys the thought, and info I was attempting to post.

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By reading the landscape it is possible to locate enriched areas of economic minerals.

These enriched areas are always in a zone that has gone through some grade of Hydrothermal alteration, Which is the process of magmatic gasses mixing with the water present within the melt to create acidic solutions that dissolve all metallic, and nonmetallic minerals at depth, and redeposit them close to the surface by precipitating out from solution as the pressure and temperature decreases. Oxides form toward the end of the cooling cycle, and sulfides form early while water is still present.

Minerals are scattered diversely throughout the crust of the Earth due to continental drift, and the resulting sea floor spreading, which in turn creates uplift and mountain building where oceanic plates collide with continental plates.

The subducted soil and rock with its metallic and non metallic elements are compressed, then melt due to extreme heat generated by compression. This mineral rich melt is a water rich melt from subducted sea floor material, which differentiates into magma plumes with various chemical formulas, and accessory minerals, which in turn are dissolved by the water reacting with the various gasses within the melt to produce acidic solutions that dissolve the metallic, and non metallic elements from within the melt. 

This solution rises upward and deposits it's mineral load within the cracks, crevices, and spaces between mineral grains within the overlying rock strata as the pressure and temperature decrease, as well as in accordance with each minerals solubility, and solidification temperature. Sulfides below the water table, and oxides above the water table.

This process being what creates mineral deposits, for any area to have anything worth mining, it has to have a zone that has had some sort of volcanic activity. Not necessarily an explosive type as in MT. St. Hellens, or a passive type as those found in Hawaii, but some sort of magmatic upwelling below the crust had to take place to supply the heat, and gasses necessary for acidic solutions to have formed, and striped the melt of values, as well as the overlying rock, and redeposited its mineral load close to the surface.

What metallic and non metallic minerals are em-placed is just a matter of the luck of the draw. Rock types of any given region have a lot to do with what metallic, and non metallic minerals will be found.

There is such a thing as "Rock Type and Metal Associations".
I have listed a few in my various posts.

Such as Granitic rocks,
Granite, Monzonite, Diorite, Syenite, Granophyre, Tonalite, Carbonatite, and Skarn for Gold, Silver, Copper, Antimony, Bismuth, Tin, Lead, and Zinc.

Compressed and metamorphosed Basaltic sea floor for 
Peridotite, Dunite, and Serpentine (Serpentinite) for Platinum.

Indicator minerals to look for will be those that have a melting point + or - 500F of the melting point of gold, if hunting gold, or of platinum, if you are hunting Pt.

With that being said,
Stream drainage patterns are directly related to the underlying rock of any given region, and reflect the type of geologic activity that took place there in the distant past.

I will focus on one.
That pattern is the "Dendritic Stream/River Drainage Pattern".

These river drainage patterns are associated with compression created by foliation in the mountain building process, as is the case with the Cascade and Rocky Mountain Ranges.

These ranges were created by Uplift, and Compression as the Continental Plate slid over the Oceanic Plate. This process generates great heat at depth which melts all material Subducted as it gets close to the Upper Mantle.

This Crustal Material is a wet material full of water.

This water is converted to steam, which then combines with the gasses within the melt to create various acids that dissolve all minerals within the melting Crustal Material, and the overlying rock as it makes its way to the surface, which redeposits its mineral load as it makes its way upward as stated earlier.

This Meteoric Water is also necessary for the magma to differentiate into the various Rock Types, Which are the Host Rock(S) for the various minerals, some of which are magmatic, forming within the melt itself, while others form from Hydrothermal solutions Created by the presence of water within the melt.

I will focus on those minerals created by Hydrothermal solutions.

These minerals are often associated with Granitic Rocks, and differentiation products thereof, because the intruding magma supplies the heat, and the water necessary for overlying enriched deposits to have formed.

These Granitic Rocks are often associated with Dendritic Stream Drainage Patterns, and therefore can be found simply by looking at a Topographic Map of the area that you intend to prospect.

Pick areas with a Dendritic Drainage Pattern, and you will be in the correct zone to find Economically Feasible Deposits of Metallic, and Non-metallic Minerals.


Dendritic Drainage Pattern areas are also the areas to prospect for Placer Deposits of Native Gold, and Platinum.

Not just Hard Rock Ores.

For simplicity, I will refer to Gold only, 
but the same rules apply to prospecting for Placer Deposits of Platinum.

The ores containing Native Gold erode due to weathering, and as the encasing rock breaks down, it produces Elluvial Placer Deposits (Bench Placer). These deposits form on the slopes of hillsides where a depression or wide level spot occurs downslope of the eroding In Situ (In Place) Hard Rock Deposit from which the gold is eroding from.

Gold that works its way down slope to an area that is wide and flat produces an area known as an Alluvial Placer.

Dessert Areas are places where this type of deposit can be found, as well as areas that are predominantly Dry, whether hot or cold. They are most common in mild temperate areas with moderate rainfall that washes the gold down slope concentrating it in wide shallow depressions that fill with sediment washed into it by Runoff Water created by rainstorms.

The GoldFields of Ca. are a prime example of these two types of deposits.

From this point, whether or not Elluvial Deposits, and/or Alluvial Deposits form, if a Hard Rock source of Gold exists up-slope, the Gold is washed into Watersheds (Runoff Water Drainage Systems), where it forms Stream or River Placers.

The following is an explanation on how to work these deposits.

When working gravel bars,

Concentrate on those on the inside of a bend in a river.
Bends at an angle of 45 - 75 degrees are the most productive.
Of these types of bends, the ones flowing over bedrock, or over compacted clay, or clay and gravel Conglomerate are the best types of underlying ground for holding, and concentrating particles & nuggets of Gold, Silver, Platinum, and native Copper.

Look for Quartz, Agates, and other silicate minerals, as well as Tire weights, fishing sinkers, nails, wire, Buckshot, etc. mixed in with the black sand within these bends.

They are prime indicators that conditions are correct for precious metals to have been concentrated there.

Sluice, pan, or dredge from the surface down in these areas. If you wish to dig, then do so, but make sure that you work all gravel from about 14 inches above the "Hardpan" (Rock or Clay soil River or stream bottom).

Dig out Whirl Holes (Pot Holes) in the Bedrock Bottoms of Stream Beds.
Pan, Sluice, or Dredge the material out of these depressions.
This material will often contain fine gold, and nuggets, if Coarse Gold can be found in the region being prospected.

Cracks, and Crevices are a good place to look for Gold as well.
Dig, Break Open, Scratch or Scrape out the sediment from these, and pan it.

Cracks, and Crevices Parallel to the flow of water are the best to look in, as they seem to catch more Gold than Cracks, and Crevices that cross the flow of water.

I have never found any that cross the flow of water at an angle, but would like to. The down stream 1/3 of a crevice like that would contain concentrated values that fell into it, then agitated along the bottom of the Crack, or Crevice until it reached the down stream end, and lodged there.

RootWadds from Grass, and other Vegetation growing on Bedrock is also prime material to Break Apart, then Pan, Or Sluice.

Areas that widen out within a flow of water where the sand gravel, and rocks are dropped out, and concentrate, are good places to Pan, Sluice, or Dredge as well.

In these areas, keep a lookout for stretches of ground that have an abundance of tumbled somewhat round rocks above the current water flow. These areas are places where water once flowed, and are now exposed chunks of ancient river channel.

This material can be screened, then Panned, Sluiced, High-banked, or Dry-washed.

After you have panned, sluiced, high-banked or dry-washed your Pay-dirt,
You will be left with an abundance of Black Sand and mostly fine Gold, unless you are really lucky, (and some people are).

The best method that I know of for recovering your Gold from the Black Sand would be to put your sand into a Rock Tumbler, or a modified concrete mixer with steel balls and a small amount of mercury. Turn the unit on, and let it operate until all the sand has been crushed flour fine to recover all the visible fine gold, as well as any encapsulated gold bound up in solid solution with the black sand into the mercury.

Once the sand has been crushed flour fine, carefully pour off the water. The remaining sand can be ran through a "Blue Bowl", "Spiral Concentrator", such as a "Gold Wheel", or carefully panned in order to recover your mercury.

Place a piece of cotton, or filter paper inside a 500cc or larger syringe, then carefully pour your mercury into the syringe, then replace the plunger and depress it, forcing the free mercury out through the tip into a container.

The "Gold Amalgam" will be left inside the syringe against the cotton, or filter paper. Carefully Remove the cotton or filter paper with the gold, and place it into a Pyrex dish, and cover with a solution of one prt nitric acid, and 4 prts water. 

Place the dish on a hot plate from an electric coffee maker, and let gently heat up. 
The remaining mercury will go into solution, and the gold will remain. 

Place a coffee filter in a plastic funnel, and then place the funnel into a glass dish in order to support it , and act as a resivior for the solution containing the mercury. 

Pour the solution from the dish with the gold into the funnel, and let filter. 
Rinse the dish with some extra water to make sure that all the gold has been removed from the dish, and is now into the filter. 

Spritz the filter and gold with clean water to remove any remaining nitric solution containing mercury, and let drip, as well as sit until dry.

Once dry, The filter and gold can be melted with Borax to produce a single mass of gold.

Place a piece of copper plate into the nitric solution, and let sit overnight. The mercury will drop out of solution as free mercury within the solution, with some adhering to the copper plate, which can be scraped off, and the solution filtered to recover the rest.

There are 3 minerals that make up the bulk of all black sands. 
Magnetite Fe Fe2 O4, Hematite Fe2 O3, and Ilmenite Fe Ti O3. 

Magnetite & Hematite form during the magmatic stage as well as during hydrothermal, and metamorphic processes. Ilmenite forms during the magmatic stage, as well as during metamorphic processes.

Magnetite is associated with Andradite Garnet, Epidote, and Apatite. 
It sometimes contains small amounts of Manganese, Nickel, Chromium, Titanium, Vanadium and Phosphorus. 

It is a common constituent in many igneous rocks, 
including Diorite, Gabbro, Monzonite, and Nepheline Syenite. 

It occurs more specifically associated with Hedenbergite and Andradite in Hornfels; 
With Almandine, Talc, and Andradite in Talc Schist; 
With Calcite, Andradite, and Chlorite in Skarn; 
and with Barite, & Fluorite in Hydrothermal Replacement Deposits.

Hematite occurs with Biotite, Albite, and Barite in Carbonatites; 
with Diopside & Epidote in Hornfels; 
With Quartz & Siderite in Mesothermal & Epithermal veins; 
with Fluorite, Barite and Calcite in Lode and Disseminated Replacement Deposits.

Ilmenite occurs with Magnetite, Labradorite, and Hornblende in Gabbro. 
Also occurs in Pegmatites, Nepheline Syenites, Gneiss, Chlorite Schist, and Diorite.

The reason that Gold is associated with these minerals is that they have mutual emplacement as minerals created by hydrothermal processes within fractures of overlying rock that has been intruded by magma, usually of Granitic composition. 

Ground Water at great temperature and pressure mixes with Sulfur and Chlorine from the magma to produce solutions that dissolve all minerals, even Quartz, if Fluorine is present within the gasses that mix with the water. 

As this super heated solution makes its way toward the surface through cracks, fractures, and spaces between the grains of overlying rock, the solution begins to cool, and pressure is relieved. 

As this begins to happen, the dissolved minerals begin to drop out of solution by depositing on the cooler surface of the surrounding rock through which this solution is flowing. 

Deposition takes place in accordance to each minerals solidifying temperature, 
and solubility within the solution. 

This is the process that produces Mesothermal, and Epithermal vein systems, which in turn are the same vein systems that we all strive to find when hunting Gold, Silver, and other economically valuable concentrations of metallic ores. 

To put all this in a simple statement, the process that creates concentrations of Gold and Silver is the same process that creates the black sand minerals, and that is why they often contain Precious Metals. They formed together at the same time, from the same solution, in the same place. 

The following is a list of Precious metal Ores, and their Chemical Formulas.

Acanthite ............................. Ag2S,
Calaverite ............................ AuTe2,
Sylvanite ............................. AuAgTe4,
Pyrargyrite ........................... Ag3SbS3,
Proustite ............................. Ag3AsS3,
Chlorargyrite (cerargyrite) ......... AgCl,
Polybasite ............................ (Ag,Cu)16Sb2S11,
Boleite ................................ Pb9Ag3Cu8Cl21(OH)16*H2O,
Moschellandsbergite ................. Ag2Hg3,
Allargentum .......................... Ag1-xSbx,
Dyserasite ............................ Ag3Sb,
Hessite ................................ Ag2Te,
Aguilarite ..............................Ag4SeS,
Argyrodite ............................. Ag8GeS6,
Stromeyerite .......................... AgCuS,
Jalpaite ................................ Ag3CuS2,
Freibergite ............................ (Ag,Cu,Fe)12(Sb,As)4S13,
Sternbergite ........................... Ag2FeS3,
Argentopyrite .......................... Ag2FeS3,
Miargyrite .............................. AgSbS2,
Nagyagite ............................... Pb5Au(Te,Sb)4S5-8,
Krennerite .............................. AuTe2,
Aurostibite ............................. AuSb2,
Xanthoconite ........................... Ag3AsS3,
Pyrostilpnite ............................ Ag3SbS3,
Samsonite .............................. Ag4MnSb2S6,
Pearceite ............................... Ag16As2S11,
Andorite ................................ PbAgSb3S6,
Stephanite .............................. Ag5SbS4,
Freieslebenite .......................... AgPbSbS3,
Diaphorite .............................. Pb2Ag3Sb3S3,
Iodargyrite ............................. AgI,
Sperrylite ............................... PtAs2,
Geversite ............................... Pt(Sb,Bi)2,
Insizwaite ............................... Pt(Bi,Sb)2,
Laurite .................................. RuS2,
Erlichmanite ........................... OsS2,
Gaotaiite ............................... Ir3Te8,
Mayingite .............................. IrBiTe

Here's a site where the above minerals can be looked at.
http://www.fabreminerals.com/fine-mineral-specimens.php

All high grade mineral specimens can be sold there.
The prices asked on specimens for sale by mineral collectors will shock you.


Metallic Ores produce various Colors as they oxidize, 
and therefore stain the Host Rock(s) that contain them.
These stains are called Gossans.

The following is a list of the various Gossan Colors.

Yellows, Browns, Maroons, and Reds = ... Various Iron Oxides.
Black = ........................................ Manganese Oxides.
Green = ....................................... Nickel
Greens and Blues = ........................... Copper Sulfides, Oxides, Carbonates, Etc.
Bright Yellow = ................................ Molybdenum
Waxy Green = ................................. Native Silver, or Silver Chloride.
Oranges and Yellows = ....................... Arsenic
Pinks and Purples = ........................... Cobalt

The following is a list of Rock Types, and Metal Associations.

Granite = ........................... Gold and Silver.
Olivine Gabbro = ................... Platinum, Chromium, Nickel, Cobalt and Iron.
Dunite = ............................. Platinum and Chromium.
Peridotite/Peridotite Dunite = ... Nickel, Chromite, and Platinum.
Serpentinite = ...................... Platinum

The Following is a list of Gemstone, and Rock Type Associations.

Almandine = ......... Diorite, Hornfels, and Schist.
Andradite = .......... Granite Pegmatites, Carbonates, Hornfels, and Skarn.
Grossular = .......... Skarn, Marble, and Hornfels
Pyrope = .............. Peridote Dunite, and Gabbro.
Spessartine = ........ Granite Pegmatites, and Blue Schist.
Uvarovite = .......... Serpentinite, and Peridote Dunite.
Corundum = .......... Syenite, Nepheline Syenite Pegmatite, Hornfels, and Gneiss.
Beryl = ................ Granite Pegmatites, and Schist.
Tourmaline = ......... Granite Pegmatites, and Schist.
Spinel = ............... Hornfels, Marble, and Gabbro.
Topaz = ............... Granite pegmatites.
Zircon = ............... Granite Pegmatites, Diorite, Nepheline Syenite, and Carbonatite.

The following reactions take place with high grade ore.

Aqua regia (Neutralized) + Stanous Chloride = Purple to Black for Au. [Relevant to gold content]
--------------------------------------------------- = Yellow for Pt.
--------------------------------------------------- = Blue-Green for Pd.
---------------------------- + Potassium Iodide = Red Solution for Pt.
---------------------------- + Potassium Iodide = Black Solution for Pd.
---------------------------- + Acetone or Ethanol = Black precipitate for Rh.

Nitric acid + Hydrochloric Acid = A white precipitate of Silver Chloride.

Hydrochloric Acid = Orange Solution, + Nitric Acid = Black Precipitate for Ru.
(Precipitate redissolves quickly unless the HCL has been neutralized.)


Here is a listing of the books that I have in my library.

Recovery and Refining of Precious Metals.
By C.W. Ammen
ISBN 0-412-72060-4
Deep Rock Resources Inc.
P.O. Box 3258
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5L 4J1 http://www.deeprock.ca


How To Smelt Your Gold & Silver
By Hank Chapman Jr.
Mineral Recovery Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 400
Wells, NV. 89835

Here are some books I suggest that you, and others get to study with, as well as look up and read in concerning anything that I have posted about "Minerals and Geology".

National Audubon Society
Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals. To order by phone, (800) - 733 - 3000
ISBN 0-394-50269-8

Simon & Schuster's guide to
Rocks and Minerals http://www.SimonSays.com
ISBN 0-671-24417-5

Dorling Kindersley Handbooks
Rocks and minerals http://www.dk.com
ISBN 1-56458-061-x

REBO PRODUCTIONS
Minerals Encyclopaedia http://www.rebo-publishers.com [email protected]
ISBN 184 0134 046
ISBN 1-84053-163-0

David & Charles
Minerals & Gemstones of the World
ISBN 0-7153-0197-7

I hope that these books help.

Here are a couple of books that I recommend for those wishing to process "Black Sands".
Good information, and well worth reading for those who intend to do this.

Simplified Black Sand Recovery
By Clark Sable
Hulette Mining Company
P.O. Box 364
Reseda, CA. 91337

How to Process your Black Sand Concentrates
By Vern H. Ballantyne
ISBN 1-877700-07-X
Mountain Publications
P.O. Box 8008, Suite 252
Gloucester, MA. 01931

I hope that these books help, and they should.
I have used the methods described within them.

For those wishing to get a full understanding of "Structural Geology" of the landscape of any given region, I recommend the following books.

The Field Guide To Geology
By David Lambert and The Diagram Group
ISBN 0-8160-3823-6
Checkmark Books
An imprint of Facts On File, Inc.
132 West 31st Street
New York, NY. 10001 http://www.factsonfile.com

Discover Nature in the Rocks
By Rebeca Lawton, Diana Lawton, and Susan Panttaja
ISBN 0-8117-2720-3
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA. 17055

WINDOWS INTO THE EARTH
The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
By Robert B. Smith and Lee J. Siegel
ISBN 0-19-510597-4
Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. 10016 http://www.oup.com

INTERPRETING THE LANDSCAPE
Recent and Ongoing Geology of Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks
By John M. Good and Kenneth L. Pierce
ISBN 0-931895-45-6
Grand Teton Natural Histroy Association in cooperation with The National Park Service

The Quaternary and Pliocene Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field of Wyoming, Idao, and Montana
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 729-G
By Robert L. Christiansen
ISBN 0-607-95346-2
USGS Information Services
P.O. Box 25286
Denver, CO. 80225 http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/prof-paper/pp1623/
1-888-ASK-USGS http://www.usgs.gov/

Roadside Geology of the Yellowstone Country
By William J. Fritz
ISBN 0-87842-170-X
Mountain Press Publishing Co.
P.O. Box 2399
Missoula, MT. 59806 .... Phone # 406-728-1900 ...1-800-234-5308 http://www.mountain-press.com [email protected]

The following are various other books within my library that I figured might be of interest.

Gold Diggers Atlas
By Robert Neil Johnson
Cy Johnson & Son
Box 288 - 435 N. Roop Street
Susanville, CA. 96130

GOLD! GOLD!
By Joseph F. Petralia
ISBN 0-88839-118-8
Hancock House Publishers
1431 Harrison Avenue, Box X-1
Blaine, WA. 98231 ... Phone # (206) - 354 - 6953

Sam Radding's Book of Plans -volumes 1 & 2
By Sam Radding
Sam Radding / Butterknife Publishing
6104 Adams Ave.
San Diego, CA. 92115 ... Phone # (619) - 582 - 0722

Western Gem Hunters Atlas
By H. Cyril Johson
Cy Johnson & Son
Box 288 - 435 N. Roop Street
Susanville, CA. 96130

N.W. Gem Fields and Ghost Town Atlas
By Robert Neil Johnson
Cy Johnson & Son
Box 288 - 435 N. Roop Street
Susanville, CA. 96130

Gem Trails of Oregon
By James R. Mitchell
ISBN 0-935182-99-3
Gem Guides Book Company
315 Cloverleaf Drive, Suite F
Baldwin Park, CA. 91706

Hoffmans Rockhound Guide
By Charles Hoffman
ISBN 0-936738-00-6
WEBB RESEARCH GROUP PUBLISHERS
P.O. Box 314
Medford, OR. 97501 ... http://sharplink.com/pnwbnooks

Standard Catalog of Gem Values
By Anna M. Miller & John Sinkankas
ISBN 0-945005-16-4
Geoscience Press, Inc.
Tucson, AZ.

The Nature Companions Rocks, Fossils, and Dinosaurs
Rocks and Fossils section by Arthur B. Busbey 3rd, Robert R. Coenraads, David Roots, Paul Willis
Dinosaurs section By Christopher A. Brochu, John Long, Colin McHenry, John D. Scanlon, Paul Wills
ISBN 1 877019 02-X
Fog City Press
814 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA. 94133


I hope that these books, as well as the above post helps everyone to find something interesting, and valuable.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## DarkspARCS

Thank you Richard !

That priceless information should be considered by all who take an interest in mining for ores as the bible of pm/pgm ore location, identification, and diversification!

I know I do... and like I mentioned earlier, there are such vast amounts of variable factors that go into the geothermal creation of pm/pgm ores that literally hundreds of sub catagories related to the ores mentioned here exist - so much so that it would take a site like Mindat to catalogue them for you.

Thank God for Mindat lol!...

Here's the way in:




let's get crackin' on that ore!


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## DarkspARCS

This is the Final Frontier in my mine survey...




:shock: :twisted: 

While the verticle descent looks ominous, I possess safety gear that will make accessing this deep lower region available. A good 100' NYLON rope, a 'safety harness' and retractable clutch based system is the right way to survey an existing mine.

Couple that with a rope and bucket to raise and lower materials with will keep hands free to climb the ladder. A good lighting system on top and bottom scale locations is appropriate as well. I use Coleman propane lanterns in my endeavors, on top of Maglite and headlamp systems. Good lighting is a key element in safety, and is basically the only way to identify what your working with underground (doh - lol).

A special note to add here on pre existing mine construction...

This mine was most active in the late 1800's early 1900's - making the exising construction within this mine over 100 years old ! This poses a problem regarding the integrity of the materials used in construction fabication of every aspect of the verticl shaft support system put in place... That is if the original owner was sloppy and haphazard regarding safety, which in the case of this mine they were not!

If you refer back to the image above there are several things I'd like to point out in this man's construction techniques that EVERYONE venturing into a mine shaft, whether horizontal or verticle, MUST be familiar with.

First is the materials he used. the wood in his construction is creasote saturated pine and oak. Creasote coating not only preserves timber but - more importantly - prevents bugs and rodents from burrowing into or eating the wood, which damages material integrity.

Second is the consruction techniques he used in manufacturing the shaft systems. Looking at the walls, it's obvious they considered cave-in threats to the shaft so they built shoring to support the walls. The ladder construction isn't just nailed together wood; the verticle rails were notched to accomodate the horizontal foot board. The actual entrance to the SHAFTHOUSE possesses a moveble crossbrace enabling ladder access, and finally - he built an actual SHAFTHOUSE supporting the entire construction!

So... soon I will venture down, past the watertable levels, and into the bedrock where the fact this shaft was created and securely built shows the promise of gold and silver awaits!


----------



## Richard36

DarkspARCS said:


> Thank you Richard !
> 
> That priceless information should be considered by all who take an interest in mining for ores as the bible of pm/pgm ore location, identification, and diversification!



You're welcome DarkspARCKS.
Given time, I'll add more to what I just posted.
What I posted does cover the essential, "Need to Know" info., 
and will lead you into reasonably "High Grade Hot Spots".

All that is necessary is to follow the instructions that I have given, 
and to know what to look for.

Check out the photos in my "Ore Bin" thread, as well as "GoldBug University", and you will see several photos of what to be looking for when you go out prospecting in the regions with Dendritic Drainage Patterns. 

I have simplified the process as much as I know how with 15 plus years of research, and made my knowledge available to all. I gave everyone exactly what I would have liked to have received from someone else way back then, but never met anyone with that level of knowledge, so I went looking for it, and found it, though it took several years to gain it.

Everyone here just got the "need to know' knowledge in the time it took to read my last post.
It took me 15 plus years to get it.

Read it, memorize it, put it to use, and post photos of what is found following my instructions, and that will be payment enough for what it took me so long to learn.

Further questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome, and appreciated.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## shaftsinkerawc

Don't forget an air sampling system for flammable gasses as well as oxygen deprived or poisonous air.


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## DarkspARCS

shaftsinkerawc said:


> Don't forget an air sampling system for flammable gasses as well as oxygen deprived or poisonous air.


 :!: 

Your life saving contribution has granted you the :!: from me for today  

I think I'll develope some sort of rewards system where I can phyically give folks some object of personal gratitude for actions they've performed that leads to not only assiting me but assists others too.

Honestly, I did not consider that very important factor in planning for this venture, which as someone who is OSHA 30 certified you would have thought would have remembered that! I mean really: just because I'm delving lower than the SULFIDE layer doesn't mean that sometime in that 100 year time frame water didn't seep in and create a hydrogen sulfide chamber - right?! :shock: Carbon Dioxide pit? :shock: Carbon Monoxide tomb? :shock: 

It looks like I'll be paying a visit to the S.C.U.B.A. gear rental shop for a single canister Self Contained Breathing Apparatus! Time to shave off the beard lol...

Thanks for posting!


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## shaftsinkerawc

Also Methane gas I believe from decomposing timbers?


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## Richard36

In Hardrock mines, Carbon Dioxide, and Carbon Monoxide are the gasses that I would be concerned about, with little fear of Methane, or Hydrogen Sulfide, at least in the mines from around here.

From what little I know of Organic Chemistry, Methane and Hydrogen Sulfide are products produced from the decomposition of organic materials, and structurally sound hardrock mines have little, if any organics to decay, thus producing those gasses.

Methane is a light gas, and will rise above the breathing zone in most cases. It is most dangerous as an explosion hazard due to walking into an area with it with an open flame.

Hydrogen Sulfide stinks, and is the gas that gives rotten eggs it's smell, so it should be able to be detected long before you walk into a pocket of it in lethal concentration.

Hardrock mines of Sulfide, Oxide, Halide, and Phosphate ores are a lot different from Coal mines, where toxic and explosive gasses are a constant concern.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## shaftsinkerawc

From the pictures posted, I saw organic ladders and roof & wall supports. Also doesn't hydrogen sulfide dull the senses, if you go into it in small amounts and then get into a heavy zone you may not detect it. As to the methane gas, lots of areas in a mine that will trap and hold both heavy and light gasses.


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## DarkspARCS

shaftsinkerawc said:


> From the pictures posted, I saw organic ladders and roof & wall supports. Also doesn't hydrogen sulfide dull the senses, if you go into it in small amounts and then get into a heavy zone you may not detect it. As to the methane gas, lots of areas in a mine that will trap and hold both heavy and light gasses.



Well that's the thing... ALL of the timbers used in this mine have been Preserved with creasote. I have yet to see my first decomposing timber, which includes the timbers used at the mine enterance! If you'll notice too, not even the tin sheetmetal used in the shafthouse is corroded.

All the same, I do use propane lanterns, which produce small amounts of CO - used enough times that CO will fall to that lower level and accumulate. I'll need to investigate the three verticle shafts that sit above this mine to see if any can be used to open a vent up into this mine where fresh air can be pumped into it ...


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## DarkspARCS

Well, The survey is complete.

The large verticle shaft I discussed really played a whimsical joke on me... as the lower level connects with a loction previously visited.

LOTS of azurite loctions! will be delving into those with the hopes that somewhere in there a pocket of blue CRYSTALS will emerge! :twisted:




I also figured out a solution that resolved the hazardous atmosphere's issue, which was actually simple enough! lol... As I mentioned, I use Coleman propane lanterns...

FIRE was the answer to both atmospheric hazards! as if flammable, the lantern would immediately ignite it, versus if oxygen deficient the lantern would 'die' from oxygen depleation.

So I tied my lantern to rope and lowered it down and left it dangle for about 5 minutes. No firey flare, and the lantern stayed lit... crisis resolved.


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## Oz

Richard,

Have you ever seen a gas explosion? I am not a miner nor caver so I am unsure what the risk and likelihood is as to flammable gas pockets heavier than air being present. But off the top of my head, if you think it likely enough that you are compelled to test, I would think that lowering a match (although effective) into a suspect area may not be the safest approach.


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## DarkspARCS

Oz said:


> Richard,
> 
> Have you ever seen a gas explosion? I am not a miner nor caver so I am unsure what the risk and likelihood is as to flammable gas pockets heavier than air being present. But off the top of my head, if you think it likely enough that you are compelled to test, I would think that lowering a match (although effective) into a suspect area may not be the safest approach.



Greetz OZ... Short answer: yes, I've worked in several petrochemical refineries, two of which I survived explosions from. @ ExxonMobile a LPG blowout that then ignited from an arc welder's spark, killing 16 men instantly. @ Arco a HydoCracker reaction that threw a 1/2 ton turbine a mile away (other side of the refinery, lol)... with a resulting combustion of surrounding materials that lasted 4 days! :shock: 

Those incidents involved complex engineering you just won't find relevant in this enviroment. This environment will not produce exploding elements due to one simple factor - the absence of density, thus an absence of locomotive force. Without that, the calculated response to my introduction of an ignition source to a normal yet flammable atmosphere will thus be a quiet flare that will trace out the element until exhustion extinguishes the flame.

With my use of fire I've successfuly verified the habitability of a lower region atmosphere by either observing negative reaction or corrective introduction.


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## shaftsinkerawc

Not trying to be argumentative, just want people to be aware of the hazards. I somewhat accept your lantern theory for the explosion hazzard except the point where a flare as you call it might creep through a crack to a more explosive pocket. They use battery lights to avoid igniting any flamables as well as carry a gas/oxygen monitor in mines for a safety reason. Second a atmosphere may not be explosive or oxygen deficient and still have a deadly concentration of a lethal gas. Be Safe.


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## DarkspARCS

I do accept your concern as, yes, variables dictate outcomes like fate guides our every move. 

There comes a time in people's understandings of things however, where they discover that while the above statement holds vast and inevitable truths for most, they themselves discover a personal ability to control variables involving circumstances surrounding an interest of thiers that others would observe as prodagenic in nature. 

Perhaps this intuition holds true for me, where my trust in it has had to be cultivated in order for it to finally work for me at opportune times.

After all... mankind used toxic naptha saturated torches as an underground light source for thousands of years, which evidently worked just fine for them. It wasn't until the 21st century that mankind developed technologies that in theory and personal perspective has improved our quality of life.

Safety in everything we do as a species takes literal time to ponder it, and I'll be amongst the first to commend thoughtful contemplation that leads to a safer action. It's the ability to pause and take time to do this that has been the true factor behind our improved quality in life.

My decision to cause the possible flare of any flammable atmospheres on the lower level from where I was standing was indeed a thoughtful decision on my behalf in that:

1. Flammable gas is naturally heavier than air, and as such any flare up originating from that lower level would stay on that level.

2. by depleating any pocket(s) of flammable gas a vacuum effect would initate a slight movement of breathable atmosphere to fill the depleation gap created, thus attracting a renewal of air into the mine via the mine entrance.

So as can be understood, my safety concern was indeed a process that not only invoked intelligent reason, but also a reliance upon personal understandings.

Safety First!!


----------



## Ocean

Interesting post.

It is not very often I find words that I have never seen nor heard.

What is prodagenic?


----------



## Platdigger

Not sure whay he had mind, but, what I came up with was "highly acidic".


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## Oz

Ocean said:


> It is not very often I find words that I have never seen nor heard. What is prodagenic?


I believe he meant pragmatic. 



DarkspARKS,

While you have put together a post using words that compel one to believe it is coming from one of a fine formal education, it is obvious that such verbiage is awkward for you. In other words, I am unimpressed with fancy words when they do not fit the facts. Do not get me wrong, I believe in the proper choice of words when they give added detail or clarity, but not when used to only impress with no added benefit as to understanding. Personally I felt upon reading your post that you were trying to obfuscate the lack of facts in your opinion in order to defend your position. 

Getting to the point. You can take whatever risks you want personally, that is your right. But when you post on this forum a procedure or process recommending it for others to follow, you will find that if others here feel you have erred in judgment we will give our opinions to the contrary. My previous comments as to your procedure were to not only to look out for “your” safety, but to caution others that may choose to follow in your footsteps.

Let us get back to what you said. 



DarkspARCS said:


> Honestly, I did not consider that very important factor in planning for this venture, which as someone who is OSHA 30 certified you would have thought would have remembered that! I mean really: just because I'm delving lower than the SULFIDE layer doesn't mean that sometime in that 100 year time frame water didn't seep in and create a hydrogen sulfide chamber - right?! :shock: Carbon Dioxide pit? :shock: Carbon Monoxide tomb? :shock:


Hydrogen sulfide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide “Hydrogen sulfide is slightly heavier than air; a mixture of H2S and air is explosive”.

Carbon dioxide, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide not a serious risk unless you wish to breath O2. But you may wish to consider its mining use “In enhanced coal bed methane recovery, carbon dioxide is pumped into the coal seam to displace methane”. 

Carbon monoxide, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide is slightly heavier than air (still air in a cave anyone) “During World War II, a gas mixture including carbon monoxide was used to keep motor vehicles running in parts of the world where gasoline and diesel fuel was scarce”. That sounds like it could possibly detonate.



DarkspARCS said:


> 1. Flammable gas is naturally heavier than air, and as such any flare up originating from that lower level would stay on that level.


Not true. You may get "just" a flare, but you may also get a detonation. Not a good thing even under normal circumstances, let alone in an old mine with you standing over the hole holding a rope. How many tons of rock do you think were over your head?

You had also mentioned a LPG gas explosion in your past (damn glad it did not kill or cripple you), since you were in the petrochemical refining industry you should obviously know where propane comes from. Propane itself in a refined state is heavier than air and very explosive. Some of its raw constituents are heavier than air as well, and very explosive. 

Again, take whatever risks you wish. But if you put your methods forward on this forum as the best way to proceed, expect others to hold you to task if they disagree with your risk assessments. 

My “personal” #1 priority here is to keep people safe. Helping people recover precious metals is secondary.

As always I welcome constructive criticism. I would also ask for your indulgence if I have been less than articulate in my reply due to my lack of a formal education.


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## Harold_V

DarkspARCS said:


> 1. Flammable gas is naturally heavier than air, and as such any flare up originating from that lower level would stay on that level.


Not true. Gas that we commonly refer to as "natural gas" (primarily methane) is lighter than air. That fact may not be pertinent, but we strive for truth on this forum. 

Harold


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## DarkspARCS

This is the point at where most people pop off and grow indignant at the threefold assault against my vocabulary, my reasoning, and my intelligence.
:x  

I don't see a need to, as alot that has been said was directed at extreme case in point mater that would need variables set to evolutionry proportions just to create the scenarios argued.

If you strive for truth on this forum (which I fully agree with) that's excellant, I appaude your efforts. The truth still remains that FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, MANKIND USED FIRE TO LIGHT HIS PATH UNDER GROUND... and nobody was blown up (at least from hard rock mining. If somehow a petrochemical pocket became exposed I'm sure all involved found out soon enough).

You don't have to take my word, please look it up yourself.

If you don't personally grasp a command of the English language, don't act even more ignorant by trying to troll this thread. "Prodagenic" has it's ROOT from the word prodigal, from which the word prodigy is derived from as well.

Grow up - ask questions if you don't understand. Furthermore, you don't have to agree with me, and can even give me helpful advice which I will either absorb or discard.

But please refrain from the mockery. And if my decisions stray from the mainstream of acceptance, try to not put me in the 'shiney metal box' - as I haven't, nor will attempt to, do that to any of you.

Pertaining to errors I made regarding facts, I appologize or my mistakes. At 42 years of age and with an educated backgound I still find I sometimes just can't get it right... but that's the nature of being imperfect.


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## Ocean

DarkspARCS said:


> This is the point at where most people pop off and grow indignant at the threefold assault against my vocabulary, my reasoning, and my intelligence.
> 
> I don't see a need to, as alot that has been said was directed at extreme case in point mater that would need variables set to evolutionry proportions just to create the scenarios argued.
> 
> If you don't personally grasp a command of the English language, don't act even more ignorant by trying to troll this thread. "Prodogenic" has it's ROOT from the word prodigal, from which the word prodogy is derived from as well.
> 
> Grow up - ask questions if you don't understand. Furthermore, you don't have to agree with me, and can even give me helpful advice which I will either absorb or discard.
> 
> But please refrain from the mockery. It's not becomming of a gentleman.



Thanks for the clarification on "prodogenic".

I was simply looking to learn.

Oh, you misspelled "prodigy". :lol:


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## DarkspARCS

I did not! :roll: 

Thanks, fixed it.

lol, reading back on my perturbed post I said the words 'grow up'... While I might at times say things out of anger, I still refuse to grow up... how can I expect others to lol...



> Second a atmosphere may not be explosive or oxygen deficient and still have a deadly concentration of a lethal gas. Be Safe.



Arg! I'm defeated... somebody put a sheet over me!

That's a good point to make. Once I get my first troy ounce made I'll need to invest in alot of gear to make things more safe with this venture. Being a tradesman who hasn't done much underground work, I find myself having to discover new sources of income due to the fact that I've been unemployed now for 8 months. Discovering this mine appears to be the key to that end, thus if self reliance is the way to go in my life at this time then I'll have to spend money I currently don't have to attempt making this happen.


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## butcher

burning flames in mines you may deplete oxygen and create deadly gases that were not there. mining has many dangers, and old abandoned mines can be death traps, be careful and do not take safety lightly, most men who died from accident never saw the danger comming thinking they were safe (too late for them to learn better?). some gases were hard to detect in mines untill they found a dead man. birds were good detectors, they died first so men could get fresh air.


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## DarkspARCS

I remember the birds lol, poor lil scapegoats.


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## DarkspARCS

Well I finally found the U.S.G.S. Document published in 1915 that reports the production statistics as well as WHAT was being mined.

The report as it reads states all the detaiIs of the mine:

The primary ore body mined is known as PlumbJarosite, a high grade PolyMetallic Replace Ore type that contains Gold, Zinc, Iron, Lead, Silver, and Paladium:

Here is what it looks like:




Here is the article snippet from 1915:














Continued...


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## DarkspARCS

Are these reports right?! I mean the figures they're making claims on are astonomical!


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## Ocean

Well, that's exciting!


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## Richard36

That's some hot ore if those numbers stay that high.
Wow. That pretty much says it all for me.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## aussco999

DarkspARCS:

The ore assays are probably correct, but the rest of the mine info may be slightly skewed. I realize the info you’ve posted has been taken out of context and there may be some other pertinent info in the USGS document, but with this info alone, I wouldn’t recommend quitting your day job just yet.

I see a few Red Flags in the documentation;

From a hard-rock mining aspect, it would be very difficult to efficiently extract even high grade minerals from a 3/4” vein, without a high percentage of dilution. The document stated (from what I could read) that only 2 shipments of ore, an aggregate of about 1 ton, was sent out to the smelters. Even with the high assay results, that small of amount shipped indicates mining difficulties. There’s always a way to get a job done, but some of them get real expensive.

Another important item is the assay report itself. Keeping in mind the assay numbers are based on oz/ton of that 3/4” vein only. Unless I’m reading it wrong, it looks like they needed to mine out 100’s of tons of surrounding country rock to accumulate just 1 ton of the plumbojarosite mineral. Now days, that means a lot of serious up-front mining expenses.

Also, there was some wording in the document about the vein pinching out in the lower levels. And, with the limited info on the mineral plumbojarosite, like specific gravity and hardness, how would you even concentrate it beyond hand cobbing by color? Maybe that explains the small 1 ton shipment?

I don’t think extracting the precious metals from the ore would be that difficult (they smelted it), as much as the problems you would encounter with just mining the ore. If you decide to go ahead with this project, I would still recommend you keep one hand on your wallet and have a jaundice eye until you knew a lot more about it.

Good luck, :mrgreen: 

John


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## Richard36

It's good to be skeptical, it's another to be stupid.
This ore obviously contains "High Values" in the Copper Ore itself.

The common Copper Ore will contain Gold and Silver in reasonably high concentration.
That being said, it should be sold as copper ore with whatever percentage of gold and silver it contains per ton of material.

This stuff qualifies as a Tri-Metal Ore, (3 metals) possibly even Quad-Metal Ore, (4 metals) 
and therefore could easily be sold as such.

That is the direction that I will go with this when I receive samples to send off to my market contact and see what I can accomplish as far as finding a market for DarkspARCS Ore.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## DarkspARCS

Hey, thanks for bringing that point out aussco999, I didn't catch that part.

Aside from this report, which obviously was created near the begining phase of the mine's operation, several passages and two sink shafts are present today, and the detailed passages provided by the graphic the report furnishes are much longer in length as they exist today.

From what I've observed it was the sinking of that second shaft that opened this mine up, as it exposes a wall to wall kaolinite deposite quite loaded with skarn inclusions coupled with a rediculously overintruded deposite of multilayered polymetallic replacement deposite in the jarosite mineral family oozing with palladium, platinum, iridium, osmiridium, gold, silver, zinc, copper, iron, arsenic, molybdenum, silicon, lead, aluminum, titanium, and traces of uranium.

When I state rediculously overintruded, you now know what I mean lol.


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## aussco999

Rock Man Rick:

After reading your post above I thought it best to let a few days pass before responding. Mostly because even now, I’m still not sure if you were calling me stupid, my earlier post was stupid, or both. So, I’ll take it at face value and presume you meant both. And, now that you’ve broached the subject of stupidity (apparently it’s OK to do so on this forum as no one has stepped forward to reprimanded you for that transgression), then maybe we should do a Reality Check so we will all get a better understanding of stupidity.

RC #1: Because you’re not a graduate or licensed geologist, that means I couldn’t hire a person with your limited skills on any of my commercial mining projects beyond the level of a geologist’s helper (a gopher), or only as a common laborer because of your limited knowledge of most mining procedures.

RC #2: Because you’re not a certified assayer, your services are of little value in the mining industry. Even most in-house assays are overseen by a certified assayer so as to be of real value for the mine owners/stockholders. Also, in the real world, no one will loan you any serious money on a mining project without repeatable certified assays. Lots and lots of them.

RC #3: Nowhere in the posted mining report by the professional geologist for the U.S.G.S does it show this mine contained “High Values” of copper ore. People in the mining business know that a couple of high value base metal assays are of little importance if they are not backed up with high volume tonnage. When you are getting paid a few $/lbs. for a concentrate versus $1K+/ounce, you have to move a lot more material. Mining 101.

RC #4: Your statement about “common copper ores containing reasonable gold and silver concentration” is also erroneous. Most copper ores contain only trace amounts of precious metals. What makes the large copper producing companies also the largest gold producing companies is volume, as in 1000’s of tons/day. Precious metals are often recovered in the copper SXEW process as a sludge, or after acid heap leaching a copper ore, then converting to a cyanide leach to recover the precious metals. (See Magma Copper)

RC #5: Most all ores of value can contain some form of bi, tri, quad or more metal/semi metals combinations (that’s why they’re called minerals), but they don't always exist in an economical recoverable form. Knowing that info is a key to running a profitable mining project, and that’s what separates the professionals from the amateurs.

RC #6: I asked my current mining project geologist (with over 32 years of field experience), to review and comment on the posted U.S.G.S. mining info and your recommendations. Because this is a family orientated forum, the only response from him that I can post is the words “hobbyist, at best”. I’m not going to repeat his honest, but less than congenial other comments.

After reviewing just a few Reality Check items, you might want to curtail your diarrhea of the mouth problem when addressing someone you know absolutely nothing about with your “Want-a-be” attitude. It would be a huge waste of my valuable time to continue pointing out your lack of mining knowledge while you’re busy blowing smoke up someone’s back side with your “wild-eye drivel” and expensive misinformation.

Also, so you’ll know, I’ve never been impressed with anyone posting several pages of plagiarized internet/book info on mining, along some mineral photos thrown in and calling it their work. I’m a big believer of; if you haven’t actually done the hands-on procedure, operated the equipment or have not been down in the hole, then you can’t claim any of the credit.

With almost three decades in the “hands-on” mining business, I’m real thick skinned with very little bothering me these days, but that doesn’t mean I’ll take a load of crap from fools. I don’t believe my earlier post was even directed toward you and why you felt compiled to respond in that rude and boastful manner, speaks of your real character. I’m not in the habit of calling people stupid, but if push comes to shove, I’ve no qualms about making them look that away.

It’s your call. What do you want to do?

John


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## Richard36

Listen up John, and listen well,

I wasn't calling you stupid, but then maybe I was, the ore is of good grade material.

When it comes to rocks, minerals, and vein environments,
I know more than you ever will, lets get that straight right now since hostilities have arose. 
You obviously lack the ability to identify minerals, which is needed in order to determine by sight alone that the mineralization of the pockets in the photos posted meet "Prudent Man Rule".

I saw several pockets that I know for fact contain mine-able ore.
To ignore them would be Stupid.

The fact that this ore formed in close proximity to a "High Value Vein", is a good indicator that the "Run of Mine" Copper Ore will contain reasonably high concentrations of Precious Metals as well.

If my advise is that damn worthless to you, go away, shut up, and quit asking me and others here questions, nuff said and end of subject.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".


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## DarkspARCS

aussco999... yikes!

hey bud, you might be all that and you may not. I'm not here to ascertain that, directly at least. I can see where a mind with too much distraction could view Richard's post as reading a certain way. Someone who makes room for all possibilites however would have had the UNDERSTANDING and FORESIGHT to personaly understand that Richard was referring to how stupid a person would be to take one single 3/4" vein of high grade ore and yell, "I found the motherload!"

Your referral to the snippet found in the USGS report made it seem like that's what he and I are doing, and understandably so because you more than likely didn't read the other thread related to the discussion that covers more detail about what's really going on with this mine, nor are you privy to the ongoing PM's he and I have been involved with either, which provide further details.

You can find more info from that other thread here:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=7842&start=20

That USGS Report was from 1915. the mine I'm referring to stopped operating in 2004 with what appears to be the death of the sole owner operator... which makes sense when one discovers why. Since 1915 this mine closed and reopened then closed and reopened again, to have it reclaimed by BLM due to the mine operator's death and no inheritor. There's another factor I never disclosed about this mine that plays a role in its developement: it was never again opened up under it's original title, but instead part of a broad reaching gravel mining claim that secretly mined it as 'ornamental rock' ... lol, a damn wise move on that company's part, shielding it from intense I.R.S. auditing. The gravel mining claim was renewed under a different person/ company later on who narrowed the claim's bounaries because they didn't know about the mine's true nature, because nothing was reported on it... so there it sat since 2004... still possessing the high grade deposites and free for adventurers to visit.

I guess I'm the first one to have ventured into this mine who knew what they were looking at lol, who knows... All I know is that it's unowned (usually a good indicator of mine ownership are the posted NO TRESPASSING signs mine owners are required to post), unreported, and available to claim, which my patent pending paperwork has already been sent in on.

So calm down aussie... nobody's calling you stupid lol...

I'm about to update the thread I posted the link to with some new info that's gonna make some things start hopping for getting the needed capitol to improve it and begin larger operations - I hope at least....


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## Harold_V

*You guys knock it off. If you're going to carry on like this, take it off the board. *

Harold


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## DarkspARCS

Awe man, now ya done made Harold gouchy!... :lol:


----------



## Ocean

DarkspARCS said:


> Awe man, now ya done made Harold gouchy!... :lol:



Gouchy, huh?

That sounds painful!


----------



## Harold_V

DarkspARCS said:


> Awe man, now ya done made Harold gouchy!... :lol:


You likely mean me--the guy that's not smiling? 

Be very careful in picking the words you choose to post---for if I take offense---you're gone. 

I take a dim view of those that think themselves clever, yet they can't behave, or think that showing how macho they are is going to prove a point. That doesn't fly with me. We have a reputation of quality of this board---a reputation I intend to uphold, and I do that by making sure things like this don't escalate. Get the picture? 

I fully expect that there's going to be times when people don't get along. That's fine---no one can get along with everyone----but when you guys take your problems to the board, you've crossed the line. Settle such disputes off the board, or if you must, use the PM feature. Keep things polite----otherwise I'm encouraged to chop off a few heads. Sets a good example for those that prefer to remain on the board. 

Harold


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

Harold_V said:


> We have a reputation of quality of this board---a reputation I intend to uphold, and I do that by making sure things like this don't escalate. Keep things polite----otherwise I'm encouraged to chop off a few heads. Sets a good example for those that prefer to remain on the board.
> 
> Harold



8) 

I appreciate this board for how it is run. Some conversations can get light-hearted, perhaps a little less than serious... on occasion. However, I agree whole-heartedly with Harold, this is one of the few forums online where I know I can come, get some very handy information, toss out some ideas or thoughts, etc. without having to deal with reading through pages of people blasting each other.

A little poke here and there (grammar.. or a gentle reminder of safety, things like that) is one thing, but when it gets personal and uncomfortable for the other people, then the situation has crossed the line. I'm glad we have people like Harold and Lazersteve and GSP, etc. to keep things in check. 

There's enough information on here to keep one busy for a very long time. Try not to clutter it up with the bickering on top of it. :roll:


----------



## DarkspARCS

well Harold, I think this forum is great as well, and that keeping order and arbitrarily intervening in disputes on these boards is commendable. Fairness and truth seem to be the object of these forums, so please allow me to - in all fairness, tell the truth.

I'm not the one who formatted wording in my post that another individual interperated the wrong way and subsiquently began posting insults. I'm not the one who took another member's words the wrong way and started posting insults.

I am, however the one who chose to address the situation and tactfully explained what the intended meaning of the 'offesive' wording was to the individual who took it wrong and then updated the OP with new information.

When you came onboard yelling, I tried to lighten things by cracking a joke or two.

There's no need or reason to address any hostilities towards me. If you feel otherwise let me know, I'm willing to listen to what it is you feel I did wrong...


----------



## Harold_V

DarkspARCS said:


> There's no need or reason to address any hostilities towards me. If you feel otherwise let me know, I'm willing to listen to what it is you feel I did wrong...


My purpose in intervening in ANY dispute is to keep this board operating without distractions. I am not the least bit interested in your observations, nor your excuses. What I am interested in is having my say, and the board IMMEDIATELY returning to operation without rancor. That includes you, or anyone, not continuing on a coarse that is disruptive. Any attempt at escalation is considered grounds for disciplinary action. 

Please note that my preferred method of operation is to ban anyone that offers resistance in any way, shape or form. If you find you enjoy having the privilege (that's what it is---it is not an entitlement, do keep that in mind), I advise you act accordingly. 

On this forum, I suggest you look upon moderators as a traffic cop that has the power of a judge. In doing so, learn to comply with mandates set forth. None of us try to be unreasonable, but if you, or anyone on the forum, thinks they can come here and raise hell or otherwise fail to comply with rules of common decency, you (they) are sadly mistaken. This forum will not be dragged down to the obnoxious level of other fora. There is no room for acrimony.

If you are not pleased with my method of operation, you are free to contact the owner of the site, Noxx, and ask for my removal.

Harold


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## DarkspARCS

Thanks for your reply Harold. No, I believe your methods in moderating this forum are great, I can determine that you have a great deal of wisdom when dealing with a situation, and a broad span of workable knowledge that individuals sincerly applying what they learn here can benefit from. I know that your knowlede in this field has assisted in educating me, and that your experiece will greatly enhance my ability to ultimately extract my first manifestations of the pm/ pgm materials I'm working with.

I didn't mean any disrespect to you, nor attempted anything of the sort towards anyone within these forums, as a mater of rule personally. Some folks however seem inclined to take offense however, no mater what the case may be, so maturity in that regard must be excersized. I find that to be true in all forums actually.

Camaraderie upon any forum, including this one, is a desired effect when interacting with one's peers and I sometimes like to jibe to get a snicker here and there to get folks in a happy frame of mind, It is in no way to be construed as hell raising but instead something to hold onto my chair with because the return reply might make me, as well as othes, fall out of it laughing, something that's needed more and more as this frustrating world grows more complex. I should hope that you would understand that now, about myself, so that any future misunderstanding about me or my intentions can be diverted, to be replaced by trust in my sincerity in common goodness and desire to assist where I'm able.

I choose my words accordingly, out of a desire not to offend, but instead recommend a better method, whether it be by myself or from others, especially from those like yourself who hold the keys of success.


----------



## Ocean

Harold_V said:


> not continuing on a coarse that is disruptive.



Disrupting Harold's serenity can be a coarse course to take. :shock:


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## DarkspARCS

Ocean said:


> Harold_V said:
> 
> 
> 
> not continuing on a coarse that is disruptive.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Disrupting Harold's serenity can be a coarse course to take. :shock:
Click to expand...


That's why zen comes highly recommended... *hears gong* *bows*....

"Confusius say:" Sometime fortune cookie missing paper insert. Therefore listening to way cookie crumble will enlighten one's path."

*hears gong* *bows*...


----------



## Harold_V

Ocean said:


> Harold_V said:
> 
> 
> 
> not continuing on a coarse that is disruptive.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Disrupting Harold's serenity can be a coarse course to take. :shock:
Click to expand...

Chuckle!

Very good! (coarse course)

H


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

:mrgreen:


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## goldsilverpro

If I remember right, in a month, Anaconda Copper recovered about 3,000 oz of gold and 30,000 oz of silver from the 30,000,000 pounds of copper they produced. They had 2400, 400 gal tanks in their cellhouse located in Butte, MT. For the gold, that's about .0007%. Not much except in huge quantities.


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## DarkspARCS

goldsilverpro said:


> If I remember right, in a month, Anaconda Copper recovered about 3,000 oz of gold and 30,000 oz of silver from the 30,000,000 pounds of copper they produced. They had 2400, 400 gal tanks in their cellhouse located in Butte, MT. For the gold, that's about .0007%. Not much except in huge quantities.




*folds hands* *rests cheek on hands* *looks up* "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH......" *sigh*

Oh what I could do with that much gold right now... lol. pulling such a small figure from 30 million pounds of copper in one month is just insane, a million pound process per day must have had three trained shifts producing around the clock. If they had more than one accomodation that facilitated processing I can see that happening lol. three shifts, four facilities, three man crews, 250 thousand pounds per facility per day.

Did Anaconda have some bills to pay? lmao...


----------



## goldsilverpro

I'm pretty sure my numbers are very close. I spent a week in the Anaconda cellhouse, but it's been about 30 years, so I could be off a bit. I do know for sure that the Au & Ag numbers are right. Anaconda was in the copper business and not the PM business. The PMs were sort of a bonus. With a million gallons of electrolytic cells, I think they were producing about 1 pound of Cu/gallon/day.


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## DarkspARCS

well here's my belated update to this post... a year and a half later! :lol: 

In mid 2010, the patent on this group of claims was officially recognized as no longer existing, and the BLM quickly moved in and reset thier boundary marker with the same year stamped upon it... with the BLM then sending a letter in july of 2010 to the new claim's stake owners demanding that they "fix the hazards on thier claim"... which they responded to by hiring a contractor to go in and seal off the 4 vertical and 1 horizontal mine shafts, which was done in june of 2011...  I showed up shortly thereafter to observe track hoe tread tracks everywhere, with the notable absence of my mine tunnel observed...

I didn't give up!... I went to the County Recorder's office, Surveyor's office, and pulled master files from the BLM in Reno on the original claim, to try to determine wtf was going on... and I learned a secret... which was confirmed by the local BLM field office head geologist, who is the ONLY ONE in charge of operational approvals... which he then stated that if I chose to file a claim over the top of the existing claim, which showed no development, he'd fast track any certifications and operational plans I chose to submit to him... then revealed that if a dispute arose over my claim and that which existed, case law was already established where the courts awarded the validity of the disputed claim to the party that showed active development of it...

:twisted: MUHUHUHWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!

Fear, was the only thing stopping me from establishing this claim... who in their right mind, after all, would risk being charged with a felonious act, done against a multi million dollar corporation? Well... I guess I got balls... but it was my wife who told me to do it, it was meant to be mine!

I looked at her, and kissed her... but it wasn't easy for me to make the move, that is until she got sick... wow man, I don't know how i'm going to survive this... while in the hospital, which she was admitted to for being diagnosed as being in late stage 4 with pancreatic cancer, she once again told me to keep living, to make my dream a reality, and open the claim on this mine... for her... on May the 25th, 2012 my beautiful, loving wife died.




Right now, I'm crying really hard... I'll continue this later.


----------



## Oz

I am truly sorry for your loss Richard.

Please do finish your story when you can.


----------



## Irons2

Better check for Mercury vapor. All that Cinnabar is bound to produce some.


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## DarkspARCS

Well, to continue, which I'm just going to include a brief conclusion to this, I was told by everyone around me to follow through with doing the things necessary in establishing the claim, BECAUSE IT WAS MY DYING WIFE'S FINAL WISH FOR ME...

So I set out, marked out the ~exact~ layout I wanted to claim (which overlaps two of the original claims, IG 16 and 59, lol) which contains the five buried vertical shafts and the horizontal shaft (which is the one I've documented on these forums), set my Monument of Location using a ~capped~ 10 foot 3" white pvc pipe (its gotta be the biggest marker in the entire district lol), and placed the name of this claim's new name on it in bold black letters on it, which is the name I filed the Notice of Location on June 1st, 2012...

the CATHERINE mine...

With this claim, my wife lives on, and she will have the ability to take care of me (another wish she expressed, which was not granted in the manner she and I wanted) once the gold, silver, copper... and palladium start making themselves manifest with the processing needed to pull these metals out of the 22 metal matrix this polymetallic replacement deposit possesses. I placed a wooden post near the entrance of the horizontal tunnel, which I used a 17 lb. breaker bar and shovel on and reopened two weeks later (yes, I lived in my car and manually reopened this opening, lol, which took two weeks to do), which has a tribute to my wife written on it which states:

"DEDICATED TO MY LOVING WIFE CATHERINE, WHO DIED MAY 25, 2012. MY SOUL HAS CRIED EVERY DAY SINCE"

And here are the reasons why I exhaustively did that hard work...


----------



## DarkspARCS

This specimen turned some heads, because the only documented specimens of native silver crystals for Nevada came from the Carlin region, in northern Nevada... heh, not any more! Now I've put Goodsprings, and my name, in the history books for having native silver crystals, found in southern Nevada! Here are some more specimens:







Here are a few more reasons...




I'm not even sure this particular ore has nomenclature assigned to it yet. It has a kaolinite base, with pyritic inclusions and such, but clearly has coloration banding not seen by myself before. An investigation into this will take place when I have more time...

and those with a keen eye know what this is:




:twisted:


----------



## DarkspARCS

And now, the proof in the pudding...




Chalcopyrite/ Arsenopyrite, Tested under an XRF spectrology at 1.5 ounces Au per ton. I don't have an ore body picture for this location yet because it came from the tailings of the vertical shaft that's 50' away from my horizontal shaft. One of the first order of businesses I need to accomplish is connect with these vertical locations from within the main tunnel, which is what I reopened. My speculation on what will be found in the process is exciting, to say the least!




PlumboJarosite, Tested under multiple XRF spectrology exams at 1 to 3 ounces Au per ton. Ore body picture:




As this image shows, the plumbojarosite ore body connects with the main kaolinite ore body, with a clearly defined boundary. this ore body is roughly 200ft. long before returning to another kaolinitic ore body. It's depth so far is undetermined, however what has been revealed is quite extensive, and speculation on this ore body is that it is huge, and most probably is what forms the hardened Chalcopyrite/ Arsenopyrite ore body, which a vertical winze will have to be constructed to prove. here are more images of this ore body:


----------



## DarkspARCS

Kaolinite w/ pyritic inclusions. This ore was tested under an XRF spectrology at 1 ounce Au per ton. there are two kaolinitic ore bodies within this mine. here is the fore body:




This shot is from the roof of the 45 degree descent to the lower mine level, which cuts through the first kaolinite ore body. as can be clearly seen dark veins of metallic material are embedded everywhere, with the kaolinite being completely impregnated with pyrritic inclusions, as seen here:




Here is the aft body, where the lower tunnel ends:







As can be seen, the tunnel end is ~not~ the end of the ore, lol. I can't even begin to speculate on this massive ore body.


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## DarkspARCS

oooooooo..... pretty! I would classify this as an iron ore, which tested under XRF spectrology at roughly 1 ounce Au per ton. At 30% iron, this rock is hard as steel... lol... The vein is roughly 4 ft. thick, and wasn't even worked! :shock: There are several locations in this mine just like this, where the tunnel cuts right across a rich dark red vein and just keeps going, ignoring the colors.... which I truly find interesting, as my spectrogram said too... heh! :twisted: 

There are some, however, that have green layers that follow its contour, which identically follows the pattern described in the 1915 USGS report on the platinum/ palladium bearing ore locations being discovered in this region in which ASTRONOMICAL pm numbers were being reported (like 235 ounces Au per ton). I haven't been able to do any more tests because my money is now depleated. I don't know what I'm going to do now... I NEED VENTURE CAPITAL! But... so far, no offers, just scammers and con artists. here's some pictures showing these locations:




A little blurred, but the colors are unmistakable.




The black is some one's location marker. obviously, they were interested in this too...


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## DarkspARCS

Azurite Malachite. This is a principle ore of copper and is also classified as a precious gemstone... again, no spectrograms. so far I've collected approx. 60 pounds of this gemstone/ ore, which I've industriously cleaned, and packed into sealed boxes. Here are some images from the ore body:













When looking at these images, understand that this particular rock and its host rock are soft, with the host rock actually turning into powder, which literally coats everything with dust. here is what the rock looks like once the dirt has been cleaned off of it...


----------



## DarkspARCS




----------



## Ocean

Those azurite specimens are beautiful!

They may have more value in that state than refined, but I am no expert.

January and February have some large markets in the Southwest for specimen sales.

I forget the name of one of them, but the other is the Tucson show.


----------



## DarkspARCS

Other locations of interest:
















As you can plainly see, this mine is rich. As I've plainly told everyone here, I'm dead broke. This is what my wife wanted me to pursue, which in a few more days, Sept. 1st to be exact, I'll be filing the Certificate of Location on this mine, along with the required mine map, with the County Recorder and the BLM - a $300.00 expense, and last of what I've had saved. After that I must work on completing a Plan of operation, then filing that with the BLM (ANOTHER expense...) and wait 4 to 6 months for them and the F*ING EPA to physically go and visit the location, measure my claim parameters, do environmental studies, test the ore to verify it's validity, assign the mine a tax number (like your SS#, or an EIN#), then, ~IF~ approved issue my "new" mine it's BLM certification number, which document will show me as the operator.

JESUS...

WHEN THE %^$& DO I GET THE OPPORTUNITY THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE, AND MAKE SOME DAMN MONEY ON IT?!

*sigh*


----------



## goldaa

I usto have some claims in oceola nevada and had to give them up because of a stroke an 6 bypasses. mining verry hard work and processing a lot of ore verry labor intensive. If you can mine the ore and have some company process it for you. that would be good if you could find one trustworthy to process it with out ripping you off. verry nice specimens good luck. Brandt


----------



## DarkspARCS

Ocean said:


> Those azurite specimens are beautiful!
> 
> They may have more value in that state than refined, but I am no expert.
> 
> January and February have some large markets in the Southwest for specimen sales.
> 
> I forget the name of one of them, but the other is the Tucson show.



I agree with your astute understanding on the worth of this mine Ocean, I've posted requests for valuation on this material with Mindat twice now, being told that this was colored rock and not gem quality material. Here's one valuation:

"Seem to be just coatings rather than lapidary-usable masses."

Does this look like I'm holding a coated rock to you?




That's utter BS, and what's more I'm thinking that these folks posting valuations on the Mindat site have interests with the damned major mineral clearing houses... I'm going to post direct on the gemology website instead of mindat, and see if these discreditors pop up with the same horse and pony show...


----------



## DarkspARCS

The big thing about this mine is it's unusual geologic formation. the materials within this location makes it seem you've walked directly into the rainbow, when it comes to the colors and sparkly things the rocks bear... which it seems no mater which type of rock I get a spectrogram on, they all come back with at least 1 ounce Au per ton. Take this ore for example:




Looks like maxwellhouse instant coffee, is a spounge-like material that came as mud from one of iron vein locations, and reads as having 1.5 ounces Au per ton! It seems to me that if I strip mined this damned location there'd be little waste rock lmao!


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## g_axelsson

DarkspARCS said:


> ... which it seems no mater which type of rock I get a spectrogram on, they all come back with at least 1 ounce Au per ton.


At first it sounds good, but 1 ounce per ton is circa 30 grams per ton or 30 parts per million or 0.003%. That would be okay until you take into account the error in the XRF process. I have never heard of that high precision in XRF before and I would be afraid that the readings is just a systematic error. Before I would invest any more in a mining venture I would at least test some of the samples with a more exact method to verify that the readings isn't just an error.

I wish you well and good luck, but I advise you to test a few samples in another lab that is working with ores and that can do a quantitative analysis not based on XRF.

Btw, I think you should reconsider your opinion of the people on http://www.mindat.org, that is an international forum just like this with a lot of well informed people who will tell you the truth. To just ignore them and saying 


> That's utter BS, and what's more I'm thinking that these folks posting valuations on the Mindat site have interests with the damned major mineral clearing houses... I'm going to post direct on the gemology website instead of mindat, and see if these discreditors pop up with the same horse and pony show...


is a grave mistake. Your specimens are nice and could probably be sold to collectors but I don't think they are gem quality and the arguments you got on mindat were only sincere. I don't see any wrong in them. Why not put some of that material up on ebay and see what you get for it.

/Göran, amateur geologist and amateur gold refiner. Member of both mindat and goldrefiningforum but allergic to horses and ponies. :mrgreen:


----------



## butcher

g_axelsson,

Sorry to hear about your allergy to horse's and ponies them and donkeys are such wonderful animals.
I would still have them, but they cost me too much gold to feed them.
My daughter still thinks it worth it to feed them so she has them now, but she likes them more than she likes gold.


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## g_axelsson

No problem, I couldn't get them into the elevator anyhow...
... and I don't want them to eat all my gold. :mrgreen: 

/Göran


----------



## butcher

g_axelsson;

That is so funny gave me a good laugh.

Almost as funny as the time I had a small mule I was trying to break to pull logs and pull a cart.

Rosey was the mules name; she would take off running every time I would yell get up.
Well when trying to train her, she would get away from me and I had to chase her around for hours all over the field, until I would give up, later I would eventually catch her when she wanted her biscuit treat.

I had the bright idea one time to tie the rope around my waist so she would not get away, well I yelled get up, she took off running, there I went following behind her just as fast, bouncing all over the field, as she dragged me behind, my body being dragged behind her, scared her even more, and she kept running away from me, but there I was following her bouncing around in the cloud of dust, after that I limped around on a cane for several weeks trying to heal and learn from my stupid mistakes.

I finally got her trained to pull logs when logging and to pull a small cart, but could never get her to not take off running when she first started pulling, (she would slow down to a walking pace after she got the log or cart started.

She was also small enough to fit in your elevator and would probably follow you home for biscuits.


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## g_axelsson

Butcher, your stories reminds me of my grandpa that always talked about his horses he used on the farm. He was also really attached to them but they are powerful animals and it could easily get dangerous. I guess that is part of the charm.

... but we are going a bit off topic. I was wondering what the precision of an XRF is, is it possible to analyze precious metal ores with concentrations in the ppm range?
The only XRF equipment I've seen is in electron microscopes and I think the precision on those units were around 0.5%, not enough for quantitative analysis of ores. But technology advances, so how far has state of the art advanced today?

Browsing various offers on eBay I found one unit (EDX3000 XRF) that cited 0.05-0.1% precision, but that is still 500-1000 gram per metric ton, way too high for analyzing most gold ores.

/Göran


----------



## butcher

I believe the old tried and true ways are the best, the fire assay.

I cannot see how some machine looking at the surface could tell you anything useful, beside's there is some possiblity of values in the ore.


----------



## herbbartley

Darksparks, I couldn't agree more about doing some fire assays. It seems that the XRF is wasting money that you don't have. Why don't you high grade some of that ore and process it yourself? If you can find the part with 200+ozs. per ton you could probably grubstake yourself. If you are really in some good stuff just smelt it. You will end up with a salable product.
Didn't you say you have turquoise? That is worth quite a bit as well.


----------



## DarkspARCS

*UPDATE*

Thanks for all the great feedback. As should be expected I discovered the flaws with XRF reporting, so I went looking for assayers... hmm... where'd they be? (tumble weeds and whistling wind...)

Then I met a Spaniard who tells me his dad was the Chief Metallurgist for a defunct local mining outfit... After meeting with him I'm impressed. 40 years exp... and he wants to play for free! :shock: 

First we reviewed ore samples under the microscope... the views were absolutely amazing, I wish I had a way to get pictures of them. He showed me the free gold as separate from all the pyrites, hematite and galena... even showed me free silver in mass quantity...

Since then we've run the mill on 5 different ores, each producing astronomical numbers regards pm/ pgm values (haven't determined the breakdown on value identification yet, he wanted to first see if that particular ore had values). Refractory polymetallic sulphides are a real trick to figure out... but after several failures this guy finally cracked the codes...










One iron matte ore had a suprise in it that I discovered during crushing:




interesting...  

I have some great images of clean electrum colored buttons but they're not on my computer yet. More to follow!


----------



## DarkspARCS

Here's the production assay results... 100 grams of ore was ground to 800 mesh, then submerged in a 20% nitric/ distilled water solution in a beaker and heated to 350 degrees on a hotplate and allowed to react for two hours, stirring every now and again with a plastic spoon. Lixivant was allowed to cool over night.

Next day Baking Soda was gradually introduced into the lixivant to bring the ph down to 3, upon such time powdered zinc used to precipitate values. powders were filtered and wrapped in lead foil, then cupelled in a furnace at 1089 degrees for 1 hour...

values are calculated in oz. per ton by the milligram...







=) as you can plainly see... what dropped out of the ore the most were pgms!... :twisted: 

Sperrylite!




I'll leave the guessing the weight of that first test and the opt it suggests to you heh...


----------



## g_axelsson

If you have a lot of tellurium in the ore it will also be valuable. It is used for cheap solar cells.

There were a new mine opened close to where I live (the Kankberg mine), it's a gold copper mine basically but it also contains tellurium minerals, it added 10% to the world tellurium production in one go. 8) 

Göran


----------



## DarkspARCS

haven't tested for tellurium, however there's some locations that have tested positive via xrf for tantalum, titanium, niobium, and yittrium, not to mention the chronic killers strontium, uranium, and thorium... that being outside the known heavy metal toxins lead, arsenic, and mercury.

This location is like a candy shop guarded by the grim reaper. I've been visiting this location for 4 yeas now and even now am drafting up operational plans to submit to the BLM... But being involved in handling the materials is going to require a lot of health and safety checks and balances, not to mention what the EPA is going to demand operationally to protect the enviroment.

My idea is to set up an in situ leaching op that will leave the materials under ground, with a lixivant well being constructed that can be tapped from and safely transported to mill... =)


----------



## DarkspARCS

Ran tests on the Galena...




As before - tested 100g sample crushed to 1000 mesh using 20% nitric diluted with deionized water, boiled on a hot plate for 3 hours. let cool and settle over night. neutralized with soda, added 20% hcl until solution was a green color... didn't take much... then watched lead and silver chlorides formulate. filtered white powders, ran them through boiling water and then filtered solution through coffee filter... LOTS of powders... and, oh yeah! having eliminated the lead chlorides with boiling water, as well as being outside during filtration... Guess what color the filtrate changed from being white into?




Tadaaaaaaa! tomorrow I'll weigh the powders and see what kinda button it'll fire into. then the process to determine PGMs begins..

EDIT: OOPS! I just remembered that Silver Chloride is explosive... looks like it goes back into water and Ammonia Hydroxide used to convert to metal... heh. I'll weigh the silver then lol


----------



## DarkspARCS

I was reading on the pgm forum a thread on Palladium and what it looked like dissolved in nitric, and I'll be damned if the description given of a cherry orange solution didn't fit the description of my revised test of the plumbojarosite ore! I didn't have my camera with me yesterday (I wish I could have gotten pictures of it now!), but utilizing the same methods of testing what was in that case an ore that was first ROASTED without salting, shocked while still hot with muriatic acid...




which during reaction floated a bright silvery metallic substance as well as a dull silvery metallic substance (as the picture above shows) that I allowed to migrate back into the solution as it cooled over night, washed with water, dried, annealed in the furnace to drive off chlorides (which in turn also smoked profusely... leaving behind a light yellow powdery substrate on the furnace door that I know contained high gold and silver values, as has been documented) then took ore into 20% nitric diluted with deionized water and heated on hot plate for 4 hours...

for the first two hours of heating there was no reaction to the grey powdery solution, which I stirred from time to time. suddenly the solution began to fizz, and it turned from a clear greyish to an opaque carmel colored lixivant! Allowing the reaction to finish, lixivant was let cool over night. Next morning I was looking at a lixivant that had separated into two liquid layers, on top of the insoluables. The top liquid layer was a bright, clear cherry orange solution, with the bottom liquid layer consisting of some sort of heavier precipitant opaque and a light orange in color...

I proceeded to filter off the lixivant, then separated the two types after they settled. the heavier opaque fluid actually is a powder of some kind, as I filtered it and have dried it. I made some Stannous Chloride, I plan on taking it over to the lab to test the lixivant.


----------



## g_axelsson

DarkspARCS said:


> EDIT: OOPS! I just remembered that Silver Chloride is explosive... looks like it goes back into water and Ammonia Hydroxide used to convert to metal... heh. I'll weigh the silver then lol


I think you got that backwards. Silver chloride is stable, extremely stable and never explodes. It is if an ammonical silver solution dries up that you can form an explosive silver compound. You should take it back to silver chloride again with hydrochloric acid.
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=944

Göran


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## DarkspARCS

Hmmm... ok, thanks for that. wow, guess my distractions are getting the best of me....


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## FrugalRefiner

As Göran said, silver chloride is completely safe and stable. The reason we don't let it dry out is that it complicates the conversion to metalic silver. Just keep it in an airtight container with a bit of water on it until you're ready to convert it.

Dave


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## DarkspARCS

FrugalRefiner said:


> As Göran said, silver chloride is completely safe and stable. The reason we don't let it dry out is that it complicates the conversion to metalic silver. Just keep it in an airtight container with a bit of water on it until you're ready to convert it.
> 
> Dave



Hi Dave. Quick question: if the powder was left in the filter and allowed to dry, but still had the liquid it was filtered from (yes, the filtration was done but I left, my metallurgist in charge, who had to make an emergency trip to the hospital leaving the filtrate and solution sit where they were) could the dried out powders be reconstituted for later or has this issue caused the silver chloride to become doodoo chloride, end of story?


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## FrugalRefiner

When silver chloride dries it forms a crystal structure. It can still be converted to metallic silver, but you'll want to crush the powder as fine as you can before you start the process. The finer the better. 

Dave


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## DarkspARCS

:shock: 

Those buttons weren't pgm... they were silver with traces of gold and pgm... yep, I am definitely a n00b, thatz fer damn sure. I mean I should have realized that just nitric acid alone doesn't dissolve gold or pgm. I'd have to say however that 20 oz of silver per ton is pretty good, right?

We just fired the insoluable materials in the furnace yesterday... I feel like a Master Doink ... der! After firing the insoluables from three of the ore tests three beautiful bright silver colored buttons resulted. No... there's no silver in these buttons! :twisted: 

Interestingly, there wasn't any gold colors either, however I'm sure it's alloyed... the big news is that these buttons were huge! Remember, 100 gram tests, with each resulting milligram of pm/ pgm = oz. per ton. I'm going to the lab early to take pictures, and weigh the buttons. Stay tuned!


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## DarkspARCS

Here's what the insoluables looked like...




:shock:

My metallurgist actually informed me that there seemed to be a great deal of lead still involved with these fired samples...




So he re cupelled the 32.5 gram sample and it produced this:




In consideration of the OPT ratio this result still isn't too shabby at 18 mg. where 1 mg. = 1 oz. per ton. Because this result was pulled from the insoluables this button represents the gold/ pgm values.

I'm not convinced however... if you'll notice the discoloration of the cupel I believe a larger percentage of the pm/ pgm went into the cupel. Can anyone else here who's run ore assays tell me if my suspicions are correct?


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## DarkspARCS

Greetings Fellow enthusiasts....

I know I haven't posted here in quite a long time...

I must at this time state that I have come to a complete halt on this for well over 8 months due to several rather severe set backs that have all but crippled me in my endeavor to pursue this course.

First.. the metallurgist I was working with attempted to allocate the location for himself, as well as began intentionally falsifying his results - I won't go into to much detail about that. When I confronted him on the issue I decided to walk away before I assaulted the man. When I attempted to later reclaim the materials, My furnace, lab ware and what not he refused to allow me to collect them.

I'm not going to get involved with that sort of confrontation.

From there everything else has fallen apart... But I know what I'm seeing, I believe in what I've witnessed... and can say that if pursued this location is worth looking at. I've provided the imagery.... those professionals out there who have seen the ore can only know that even within the imagery itself the values are there waiting to be worked with.

22 different metals all wrapped up into several poly metallic replacement ore deposits of undetermined scope. Best general estimate - 20 thousand tons, which is not including the unworked tailings...

I am posting one of the XRF readings I've done to show just one lower quality sample I tested...




These are sperrylite cubes I pulled from the surface of these tailings which have been exposed to weathering for well over 60 years




The only reason why they are still sharp sided cubes and not part of the rusted soil of these tailings is because they indeed are Sperrylite - ArsenoPlatinum Pyrite... PLATINUM DOES NOT WEATHER!!!

I have viewed samples I've pulled of the Chalcopyrite matrix, Plumbojarosite matrix, as well as the Kaolinite matrix under a microscope - and have seen the Free gold...

Chalcopyrite



This is an attempt by myself to get a metallurgically savvy - mineralogically adept - confidentially and morally scrupulous - as well as legally competent individual interested in seriously reviewing the data I have been able to collect on this particular location to physically invest in some time testing specific ore samples here at my home, as well as reviewing all of the legal as well as both County, USGS, as well as BLM paperwork I've accumulated to PLEASE meet with me face to face over this....

This - In My Honest Opinion - is something I know, once fully investigated by you, will be worth your time alone

IF by any chance there is anyone who is interested and has the ability to commute here I implore you to please contact me at [email protected]

Thank you


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## Rvirgin

hello can you please tell me what that rock is i have a rock same color i have been looking all over the web for something similar youre pic is the first one ive seen . the rock i have very very heavy shinny metallic purple color turns platinum color and has gold spots all over i porsted a pic today


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## DarkspARCS

I appologize for not seeing your post. I have nit reviewed your picture of the mineral in question however the way you describe it it sounds like you have a specimen of chalcopyrite.

Hope that helps =)


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