washington state gold ore

I am unfamiliar with Saprolite. neither could I find it in any of my books to read about it. Quartz, of course is created by magmatic differentiation in subduction zones associated with mountain building. Water within the melt is important for the creation of quartz, and that is why quartz often contains gold, and other metals. The water at great pressure and temp. combines with sulfur, and chlorine which dissolves all the minerals at depth. This water migrates to the surface through cracks, fractures, and microscopic spaces within the overlying rock(s). As the water cools, it deposits the minerals onto the cooler rock surfaces in accordance with each minerals solubility, and solidifying temp. When infilling cracks and fractures, the vein system formed is called a "Stockwork Vein System", and when fine to microscopic gold infills spaces through out the rock of a massive area, It it is referred to as a Desseminated hydrothermal load environment. A note of importance here, Sulfides form below the water table, and Oxides form above the water table. As for Schists, What type of Schist? (Chlorite, Mica, Albite, Greenstone, etc.) Each type of Schist has its own Geologic occurance, and associations. I need to know what type to be able to give you any useful info. I hope that what I have wrote so far has been of interest, and of use to you, as well as all who read it. Maybe I should start a new thread entitled "Ask the Rock Man", lol! Sincerely; Rick...

Richard, I would like to ask a question about an outcropping I found up here in Northern Canada. The physical size and shape of the outcrop is as follows:
Seven (7) horizontal benches all about 3-400 yds. long. The first (lowest) bench is approx. 12-15 ft. high, then runs back to the second bench at about 6-8 ft. high and back to the third about 5-6 ft. high and so on untilt he 7th bench at about 3 ft. high.
I have prospected for about 15 years now but am NOT a geologist, so don't know all the terms you have been using.
Under the microscope, the sample looks like an agglomeration of crystals (sorry for the layman's terms) With black (unknown) and white (quartz) crystals mixed.
I sampled from the darkest area (also wet) at the time. The samples were sent to an assay lab for Gold, Platinum and Pd.
Results were sample # 1 = <5 ppb Au, 10 ppb Pt 20 ppb Pd
Sample # 2 = 25 ppb Au, 20 ppb PT and 20 ppb Pd

Would you say I am wasting my time taking more samples ??
Thanks, Bob

Richard36 said:

I am unfamiliar with Saprolite. neither could I find it in any of my books to read about it. Quartz, of course is created by magmatic differentiation in subduction zones associated with mountain building. Water within the melt is important for the creation of quartz, and that is why quartz often contains gold, and other metals. The water at great pressure and temp. combines with sulfur, and chlorine which dissolves all the minerals at depth. This water migrates to the surface through cracks, fractures, and microscopic spaces within the overlying rock(s). As the water cools, it deposits the minerals onto the cooler rock surfaces in accordance with each minerals solubility, and solidifying temp. When infilling cracks and fractures, the vein system formed is called a "Stockwork Vein System", and when fine to microscopic gold infills spaces through out the rock of a massive area, It it is referred to as a Desseminated hydrothermal load environment. A note of importance here, Sulfides form below the water table, and Oxides form above the water table. As for Schists, What type of Schist? (Chlorite, Mica, Albite, Greenstone, etc.) Each type of Schist has its own Geologic occurance, and associations. I need to know what type to be able to give you any useful info. I hope that what I have wrote so far has been of interest, and of use to you, as well as all who read it. Maybe I should start a new thread entitled "Ask the Rock Man", lol! Sincerely; Rick...

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Very informative Rick.
I really like you are of expertise.

bobinpasask said:

Results were sample # 1 = <5 ppb Au, 10 ppb Pt 20 ppb Pd
Sample # 2 = 25 ppb Au, 20 ppb PT and 20 ppb Pd

Would you say I am wasting my time taking more samples ??
Thanks, Bob

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I am not sure of the conversion mathematics on parts per billion to oz per ton. But personally, I do not even raise an eyebrow unless the material I assay contains at least 1/4 oz per ton Gold. The reason being the cost involved with the extraction, transporting the run of mine material, the crushing, separating the ore minerals from the gaunge (tailings/worthless rock), prepping the concentrated ore minerals, leaching or amalgamation to recover the gold from the ore minerals, and finally refining the gold itself. If you have all the equipment needed, and you are sure that any ton, or yard of ore extracted will produce enough valuable metals to pay for the steps involved to get to refined metal in hand, or concentrated ore minerals that can be shipped to a smelter that is willing to buy them, then by all means, proceed. If in doubt, proceed slowly, and with ample investigation. I have made the mistake that you are trying to avoid. It can be rather expensive, even on a small miner level. Some where on this forum I saw the mathematics for calculating ppb to oz per tn. I failed to write the equation down. If anyone knows where that is at, I would appreciate being told where to look, or a cut & paste of that equation made to a new post here. It would be of help to me, and to Bob. As for the black crystals in quartz, I will have to look that up. Black crystals in quartz could be good! Could be bad too, might cause you to glow in the dark! lol! Uraninite, Pitchblende, and a few other Uranium minerals are black, and form in quartz veins associated with Granite. They could just as easily contain tin, titainium, niobium, tantalum, thallium, or thorium. Thallium and thorium are radioactive. There are other metals that those black crystals could contain, but the metals that I listed are the most likely. What are the crystals shape, and how many sides do they have? That information would help me out allot, short of seeing a photo. Anyway, I hope that this has been of help to you. Sincerely; Rick...

Palladium said:

Very informative Rick.
I really like you are of expertise.

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Thanks Palladium. I like to talk rocks. I hope that it shows. lol!

Well, one part per million is aproxamately 1 gram per ton. Therefore one part per billion is aprox. one miligram per ton.
In other words 1000 ppb would be one ppm.

To be exact, one ppm would be one gram per metric ton.
One ppb would be one miligram per "metric" ton.
Hope this helps.

Rick,
Saprolite is not a particular type of rock. It simply means rock formations that are highly weathered and decayed.
This is what made it so conducive to hydrualic operations by the 29ers.
The schists around here are mostly mica and hornblende.

I have found a "spot" that I believe to be on a fault as the granite intrusive stops at the creek and, there is no sign of it on the other side. The strike and dip indicate that it should have carried on across to the other side of the creek.

As of yet, I have not found a geology map to support my theory.

On my next trip up there, I intend to investigate it further.

Mark

markqf1 said:

Rick,
Saprolite is not a particular type of rock. It simply means rock formations that are highly weathered and decayed.
This is what made it so conducive to hydrualic operations by the 29ers.
The schists around here are mostly mica and hornblende. Mark

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Thanks for the info on Saprolite. Mica Schists are prime regions to look for Garnets, especially Pyrope, Almandine, and Andradite, as well as Rhodolite, (a mix of Pyrope and Almandine in its chemical composition). Hornblende Schist in contact, or association with Granite, Greenstone, Diorite, or Gabbro would be prime ground to search for gold. Gold should be available as native element, as well as invisible complexes bound up in Sulfides, and Oxides. Black sand from such regions will usually contain gold alloyed to the surface of the magnetic, and non magnetic portions. It often takes a 10 power magnifying glass in bright sunlight against a blue background to see the yellow metallic sheen of the gold.

markqf1 said:

Rick,
I have found a "spot" that I believe to be on a fault as the granite intrusive stops at the creek and, there is no sign of it on the other side. The strike and dip indicate that it should have carried on across to the other side of the creek.As of yet, I have not found a geology map to support my theory.
Mark

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It might be a fault, it may well also be the eroded surface of a Granite intrusion. If it is an intrusion into existing overlying rock, the contact point with the surrounding rock should show signs of melting, and mixing of the two types together. If it is clearly different with no signs of melting, or high heat at the contact, then it most likely is a fault showing an uplifted chunk of Granite. There are other possible options depending on what the other surrounding rock types are. If you know what the other rock types are in association with the Granite, I could probably give you more info. Without a photo of the contact, this is the best that I can do to help out. I hope that what I have wrote has been helpful, and of use to you, as well as others.
Sincerely; Rick...

Platdigger said:

Well, one part per million is aproxamately 1 gram per ton. Therefore one part per billion is aprox. one miligram per ton.
In other words 1000 ppb would be one ppm.

To be exact, one ppm would be one gram per metric ton.
One ppb would be one miligram per "metric" ton.
Hope this helps.

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Thanks, Yes this helps out allot.

bobinpasask said:

Richard, I would like to ask a question about an outcropping I found up here in Northern Canada. The samples were sent to an assay lab for Gold, Platinum and Pd.
Results were sample # 1 = <5 ppb Au, 10 ppb Pt 20 ppb Pd
Sample # 2 = 25 ppb Au, 20 ppb PT and 20 ppb Pd
Would you say I am wasting my time taking more samples ??
Thanks, Bob

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So, if my math is correct,
Sample #1 contains 5 mg Au,10 mg Pt, & 20 mg Pd per metric ton.
Sample #2 contains 25 mg Au, 20 mg Pt, & 20 mg Pd per metric ton.

If this is the quantity that you could expect to recover per metric ton of ore, then yes, you are wasting your time. If the bead recovered contained that many milligrams of each of those metals, as in a standard fire assay, it is a different story entirely because each milligram of recovered metal is equal to 1 oz per ton. I hope that this has been of some help. Sincerely; Rick...

Thanks Rick,
Next chance I get, I will snap a couple of photos for your veiwing pleasure.

Mark

markqf1 said:

Thanks Rick,
Next chance I get, I will snap a couple of photos for your veiwing pleasure.
Mark

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Thanks. I look forward to seeing them. Questions and comments from others are welcome.

Rick,
There is a post for you under "The rock man".
I've noticed that this forum is not geared toward prospecting and ore analysis.
But it sure has alot of experts on refining.

What a bargain!

Mark

markqf1 said:

Rick,
There is a post for you under "The rock man".
I've noticed that this forum is not geared toward prospecting and ore analysis.
But it sure has alot of experts on refining.

What a bargain!

Mark

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I agree, and that's a new thread topic that I'll start soon. ("Ask the Rock Man").
If you have a rock, mineral, or geology related question, make a post. I will reply.
I look forward to answering questions from those who post them.
Sincerely; Rick...

Thanks Rick for your discussion. The black crystals are many-sided and contain 6, 8 and 10 sides and are intermingled with the clear quartz. The sides are sharp and angular suggesteing (I think) formation in place rather than rounded edges as might be found in a sedimentary deposit. ??

There was a forest fire through here two years ago and the outcrop is easily followed now that I have found it. I will attempt to investigate on strike and see if there are any better locations with, perhaps, darker outcrops. I will also take along the scintillometer this time to see if any radioactivity.

thanks again,
Bob

bobinpasask said:

Thanks Rick for your discussion. The black crystals are many-sided and contain 6, 8 and 10 sides and are intermingled with the clear quartz. The sides are sharp and angular suggesteing (I think) formation in place rather than rounded edges as might be found in a sedimentary deposit. ??
thanks again, Bob

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Thanks, and you are welcome. I am enjoying being able to answer questions from those who have them. I am confused as to what mineral those black crystals are. They should all have the same number of sides (crystal faces). Since you gave me multiple numbers, speculation would not even be accurate. If you could post a photo, that would take all the guess work out of it for me. A clear picture showing the crystal structure would be sweet. Identification would be fairly simple then. The sharp sides are indicative of weathering out of an "In Place" (In Sittu) deposit. You are correct, if the sides were worn, they would have became so by tumbling in some waterway, and thereby have the surface, and edges abraded rough, and round. Wind and sand can abrade rocks, and minerals in a similar way, but usually not in a uniform manner, whereas tumbling in water with sand can, and will.

Make sure that you take that scintillometer with you so that you can check for radiation when you go back. Collect any rock fragments with crystals showing good crystal shape & structure. There are allot of mineral collectors around that would be willing to buy good specimins. You could make a post to ask questions, trade, or sell them at http://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=302 Sorry that I could not be of more assistance to you. I hope to receive a few more questions soon. Sincerely; Rick...

I also found ore with gold and silver and ? pretty new at this just wondering how to have it processed? found it in eastern washington I know some guys who process it using hydrochloric acid nitric acid and t10 to the second power what is that ?. also don't know just how sketchy these guys are. not that it matters I can always get more have myself about 80-100 lbs of ore out of an old mine

Hey what if it assays at about 80percent metals when ground to fine dust at 330lbs of

biggdogg said:

Hey what if it assays at about 80percent metals when ground to fine dust at 330lbs of

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Sorry that it has taken so long to reply, I have been away from my computer for awhile.

The first thing that you should do is have that ore checked out to see what metals it contains. It may well contain one or more metals that would make it valuable for their content, with gold and, or silver as byproducts. You would do well to have some lab perform a spectrographic analysis on it, or a chemical analysis to determine what metals are within it. Spectrographic is best, but chemical will work, and is alot cheaper. I can do the chemical analysis. If interested, send me a PM.

biggdogg said:

I also found ore with gold and silver and ? I know some guys who process it using hydrochloric acid nitric acid and t10 to the second power what is that ?.

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This is a recovery process that utilizes aqua regia, to which some type of carbon compound is added that is suposed to strip the gold from solution by causing the gold in solution to bond to it, thus causing the gold to precipitate out as a nearly pure metalic dust bonded to the carbon precipitant. I am sceptical about how well it works. I have never tried this product. ( T10 precipitant ) The aqua regia must be neutralized before adding the T10, or the gold will be be redissolved by the aqua regia. Anyway, I am not convinced of the effectivness of this method. Further more, the silver would be lost to the tailings during filteration due to reaction with the chlorine producing insolubale silver chloride. The silver could be recovered from the tailings with Ammonium hydroxide, filtering the solution, then adding more muriatic, or hydrochloric acid to the ammonium hydroxide to cause the silver to reprecipitate out as a white powder, (silver chloride). This precipitate could then be placed in a glass dish with sulfuric acid and aluminum foil to convert the silver chloride to a gray powder known a cement silver. This product can then be smelted to produce metalic silver, and then further refined with the methods found elsewhere on this forum.

My suggestion is to use some method to seperate the ore minerals from the gaunge matierial, thus concentrating the portion containing the values, then smelt them to lead as in a scorification assay, then use the scorification process to convert the bulk of the lead to lead oxide, (litharge). Once the lead has been reduced to 1/5 of its original volume, it can be disolved in aqua regia and the precious metals recovered from that solution with the aqua regia method, which can be found elsewhere on this forum.

Hopefully your ore is of high grade. If not, you may well spend more than the recovered precious metals are worth. Just a word of caution. I hope that this has been of some help to you.

Sincerely; Rick.

Welcome back Rock Man.

Palladium said:

Welcome back Rock Man.

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Thanks for the welcome back.

I look forward to answering any and all rock and mineral related questions. It has been a few months since I was here. I am surprised that I have had as few questions as I had. Anyway, I am back, and eager to chat, so ask away people. no question is to small or insignifigant. The only stupid question is the one not asked.

Keep your eyes open for those soft (3 on Mohs scale of hardness, and can be scratched with a piece of copper wire)[though sometimes they can be as hard as 5 and require a knife blade to scratch them, and in this case they will feel quite heavy as well.] reddish brown rocks, such as cinnabar and ollitic ironstone.
They can assay out as high as 30 oz per ton gold!

I bet that gets some attention! lol!

Anyway, it is good to be back. I hope to answer some questions soon. General chat is welcome as well.

Sincerely; Rick.

Good to see you back rockman,
last time up in the hills I did collect some high Iron ore, oxidized by exposure, very heavy, and Iron so high it looks like rust, also has alot of pyrite, something I did notice about this is there was a silvery gray crystal layers and would fracture at these layers, the gray crystal does not show any sign of oxidation or corrosion even where exposed to elements,
with rainy season just starting havent got the old cement ball mill going yet, but will powder some and see what I can come up with,
I can test for copper silver gold and the platinum group's, but would have to do some homework to check for other metals higher in series, even if this is rich in anything besides the more precious I don't think I'll go through all the goverments red tape etc..to persue it, but would be fun and educational to figure out what's in that ore, I am here in southern oregon and as you know a very good and historical mining area, Josephine creek is just on the other side of the $8 mountain from my property, where gold was first discovered in southern oregon, the creek and county named after the young girl Josephine one of oregons first settlers.