"GoldBug University". Ore photo's, tips, hints, etc.

[Richard36]

More Photo's.

 

[Richard36]

Placer Prospecting.

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

Gold that works its way down slope to an area that is wide and flat produces an area known as an Aluvial 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 Eluvial Deposits, and/or Aluvial Deposits form, if a Hard Rock source of Gold exists upslope, 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 nuggetts, 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 Parralell 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 aggitated along the bottom of the Crack, or Crevice untill it reached the down stream end, and lodged there.

RootWadds from Grass, and other Vegatation 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 streatches of ground that have an abundance of tummbled somewhat round rocks above the current water flow. These areas are places where water once flowed, and are now exposed chuncks of ancient river channell.

This material can be screened, then Panned, Sluiced, HighBanked, or Drywashed.

After you have panned, sluiced, highbanked or drywashed your Paydirt,
You will be left with an abundance of Black Sand and mostly fine Gold, unless you are realy 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 untill 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 Concentrater", 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 coffe 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 untill 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 adhereing to the copper plate, which can be scraped off, and the solution filtered to recover the rest.

I hope that this has been of some help to you and others.
Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome, and appreciated.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Richard36]

Here are a few links that I thought were worth checking out, and reading.

http://www.minelinks.com/alluvial/deposits.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00461/site.htm

http://www.mdpub.com/prospecting/index.html

http://www.gorpstew.com/archives/4524


Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Richard36]

Here is a link to a Mineral Marketplace where you can list your ore for sale, as well as view photos of various ores.
All ores are for sale here, short of Uranium, and Thorium.
Of all the ore's, Iron seems to have the Highest demand, with China being the largest consumer.
Antimony, Bismuth, Manganese, and a few others seem to be in high demand as well.
Precious metal ores are bought and sold here, but the more common base metals have the highest demand.
That is something to think about, and consider when you are out prospecting.
Base Metal ores with a concentration of 15% to 20% of whatever metal the ore contains seem to have a constant market value of anywhere from $200 to $900 a ton. For a simple volume to weight ratio, a Yard (A 3ft by 3ft box full) of 3/4 minus Basalt gravel will weigh 2600 lbs. Finer grinds, and concentrates will weigh even more per yard.

Anyway, here is the link. http://importer.alibaba.com/buy_leads/cid/904c1p/Ore.html
I hope that it helps you to be able to sell the ores that you find.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[aflacglobal]

You know looking thru the listing rick I started to remember something in the back of my mind. You’re knowledgeable on the distribution of minerals within the crust of the earth. Not only minerals, but resources such as oil, Nat gas and methane. Has any one read about the frozen methane deposits on the ocean floor? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051107083255.htm
Amazing resource. Your next big monopoly. There are all kinds of natural resources that are exclusive to certain geographic regions of the earth. If you just happen to find yourself in a region without a resource then you’re screwed. Can anybody answer where the uranium for the first nuclear bomb came from and the story behind it ?

Anyway Rick can you explain this distribution a little better maybe ?

 

[Richard36]

You know looking thru the listing rick I started to remember something in the back of my mind. You’re knowledgeable on the distribution of minerals within the crust of the earth. Not only minerals, but resources such as oil, Nat gas and methane. There are all kinds of natural resources that are exclusive to certain geographic regions of the earth. If you just happen to find yourself in a region without a resource then you’re screwed. Can anybody answer where the uranium for the first nuclear bomb came from and the story behind it ?

Anyway Rick can you explain this distribution a little better maybe ?

Hello aflacglobal,

You ask some good questions. I like it.

Minerals are scattered diversely throughout the crust of the Earth due to continental drift, and the resulting sea floor speading, 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 maggma 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 Hawii, but some sort of maggmatic 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 emplaced is just a matter of the luck of the draw.
Rock types of any given region have alot 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 varrious 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 for Platinum.

I have read much about the Methane Hydrate deposits on the sea floor.
For those unaware, it is a Geologic bomb waiting for a chance to go off.
I have read about the deposits off our East Coast.
10,500 years ago several of those deposits violently erupted in a massive cloud of methane gas, which was dumped into our Atmosphere. Methane is a very serious Greenhouse gas, it makes Carbon Dioxide seem rather insignifigant in comparison.
In short, it is one hell of a heat trapping gas. This gas release is what caused the melt down of the ice from the last Ice Age, and created the rare stable zone in our climate that the Earth has enjoyed for the last 10,000 years.
As the oceans warm, this frozen methane sublimates to a gas, rises into the atmosphere, and further warms the planet, causing more Glacial melt, sea levels to rise, more methane hydrate melt, and a runaway green house effect, at least untill evaporation, and condensation reach a state of homeostasis, where at such point, the climate will stabilize, though much warmer, and with very different weather patterns.

I do not want to get into a speach concerning Global Warming, but I am qualified to speak on that subject as well.
Some is man made, but just as much is natural, and it is the natural sources that are extremely scary.

Oil, Gas, and Coal are produced by Peat Boggs,and Algae rich waters that have been covered over, and compressed, thereby cooking them in an oxygen deficient environment, and reducing them to carbon as in coal. This process also produces Petroleum, and Methane by driving off the liqiud Hydrocarbons within these plants. These organic materials are covered further by maggma flows, which cooks the organic matter, driving out the voltile liquid constituents of the matter covered and cooked. These voltile gasses must be contained by a solidified, or some what solidified maggma as the organic matter is being cooked so that the hydrocarbons are not gassed off to the atmosphere, but trapped so that they condense into a liquid, as in oil. Methane remains a gas, and most commonly is found in pockets over deposits of oil formed in pockets of porous material surounded by impervious rock. Faulting, and folding of crustal material produces traps of organic material that can be compressed, heated, and thereby disstilled into Methane, and oil as well. The Traps in the Middle East are of this varriety.

I do not know for sure where the Uranium was mined exactly, but it was mined somewhere here in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. The western states are the only areas that contain mineable concentrations of Uranium.
The metal extracted was used in a proto type reactor in which bricks containing Uranium were stacked into a square with dowl rod holes throughout it for Graphite control rods to absorb some of the Neutrons so that the fission reaction could be controlled. This reactor was called "The Manhattan Project".

After successfully demonstrating that fission could be accomplished, the Uranium was extracted from those bricks, and refined, seperating the more explosive U 235 isotope from the less explosive U 238 isotope.
This material was used to produce the "Fat Man", and "Little Boy" bombs that were used on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
"Little Boy" used the "Gun System" of Detonation, and "Fat Man" used the "Implossion System" of Detonation.
That is probably all I should say about that. Might have some Fedaral Agency Freak out.
If I say much more, They will.

Anyway, thanks for the questions.
I hope that I have answered them.

Further Questions, Comments, and Suggestions are Welcome, and Appreciated.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[allanwcoty]

Just got through reading a book with some references to gas explosions from the 1900's drift miners here in Alaska. Going down through frozen muck, some 100' thick, they would pick into a pocket of gas and many were killed when their hard hat candle lamps ignited the gas. Some shafts burned for hours before being depleted of gas. Only to have another pocket found at a later date.

 

[aflacglobal]

Einstein and the atomic bomb

'Politics is for the moment. An equation is for eternity.'
In 1905 Einstein had published his revolutionary equation showing that matter and energy were equivalent and interconvertible. There was much speculation by scientists on how that atomic power might be released, and, once released, sustained (by what is called a 'chain reaction', on which ordinary fuels and explosives rely). During the 1920s and 1930s many physicists struggled with the problem. Einstein was right: science was international. American, Australian, British, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, New Zealand, Russian, Swiss and Yugoslav scientists between them made the various research breakthroughs needed to show that an atom of uranium could be split by a neutron beam and would readily produce a chain reaction - thus releasing enormous amounts of energy. It only remained to put it to the test.

The Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard tried hard to stop publication of the news (which broke in January 1939) that atomic fission was possible: he was afraid that Germany might try to make an atomic bomb if it knew. But the principle that scientific information should be shared was a matter of pride; it was released.

Then news came that Germany had forbidden exports of uranium ore from Czechoslovakia (which it had recently invaded). Szilard panicked: Germany must be making a bomb already. The only other stocks of good uranium were in Belgium - they had to be protected, thought Szilard, from falling into German hands. He went to America to get help from Einstein: Einstein was someone people would listen to. Szilard remembered that visit well: 'The possibility of a chain reaction in uranium hadn't occurred to him, but as soon as I began to tell him about it he saw what the consequences might be.' A letter, signed by Einstein, was sent to the American president, Franklin Roosevelt.

It began: 'Some recent work leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary quick action....This new phenomenon would also lead to the production of bombs, and it is conceivable that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may be constructed....Some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut in Berlin.' Roosevelt replied: 'I found this data of such import that I have convened a board to investigate.'

Apart from a second letter written when the advisory board seemed to be dragging their feet, Einstein took no other part in the UK/US study of uranium fission or in the USA's Manhattan Project which created the first atomic bombs. In fact, before Szilard's visit Einstein had not been convinced that nuclear fission was likely, at least in his lifetime; he was reported to have likened it to 'shooting birds in the dark in a country where there are few birds'. His response to Szilard's news was prompted by different belief: that if 'the enemies of mankind' were developing an atomic bomb, the only deterrent was for America to make one first. 'If I had known that the Germans would not succeed in constructing the bomb, I would never have lifted a finger.'

Einstein also believed that the USA would treat the discovery with respect and would resist actually using the bomb. He was not the sort of cynical realist who would foresee that America's atomic research would now be managed by the military. (When it was found that Germany had no bomb, someone said, 'That's wonderful; we won't have to use ours'. A US army officer retorted, 'Of course you understand that if we have such a weapon we are going to use it'.)

In April 1945 Leo Szilard came to Einstein again, this time to share his deep fear that the USA would start an atomic arms race. Once again Einstein wrote to the President, enclosing a strong warning (written by Szilard) against using the atomic bomb. But the letter was still unopened on Roosevelt's desk when he died. The new president, Harry Truman, was too busy taking office to be accessible, though the scientists tried hard to get through.

In a letter to the New York Times in 1945, Einstein quoted recent words of Franklin Roosevelt: 'We are faced with the pre-eminent fact that if civilisation is to survive we must cultivate the science of human relationship - the ability of peoples of all kinds to live together and work together in the same world, at peace.' Well, Einstein continued, 'we have learned, and paid an awful price to learn, that living and working together can be done in one way only - under law. Unless it prevails, and unless by common struggle we are capable of new ways of thinking, mankind is doomed.'

 

[Richard36]

Thanks for the posts.

Methane deposits are quite a hazard for underground miners in a region where it exists.
Nuclear technology is also quite lethal, when used as a weapon.

If anyone has any questions, post them and I will reply.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[gorfman6154]

Can anybody answer where the uranium for the first nuclear bomb came from and the story behind it ?

Aflac, the ore came from a Canadian company called Eldorado, which operated the Great Bear Lake Mine.

Here is a link about the history and timeline of the Canadian Uranium. :arrow:

http://www.ccnr.org/uranium_events.html

Gorfman

 

[Richard36]

Can anybody answer where the uranium for the first nuclear bomb came from and the story behind it ?

Aflac, the ore came from a Canadian company called Eldorado, which operated the Great Bear Lake Mine.

Here is a link about the history and timeline of the Canadian Uranium. :arrow:

http://www.ccnr.org/uranium_events.html

Gorfman

Thanks.

I did not know for sure where the metal was mined.
I thought that it was mined here in the western U.S.

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[manorman]

To see larger pictures you can go to your tool bar ( top right hand side of your browser ) and click on page then click on zoom, and that will enable you to see up to 400% larger pictures, thanks for the great post Rock Man.
Mike

 

[Richard36]

To see larger pictures you can go to your tool bar ( top right hand side of your browser ) and click on page then click on zoom, and that will enable you to see up to 400% larger pictures, thanks for the great post Rock Man.
Mike

Thanks Mike.

I hope that the photos are helpful.
Here are a few other photos of commercial grade ore, not just mineral collection grade samples.



Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Richard36]

More Photos.

 

[Richard36]

More Photos.

 

[Richard36]

More Photos.

 

[Palladium]

That's why he's the rock man.

Good pics Rick.

 

[Richard36]

More Photos.

 

[Richard36]

More Photos.

 

[Richard36]

That's why he's the rock man.

Good pics Rick.

Thanks.

I hope that these photos have helped to make you, and others aware of what to be looking for while out prospecting.
There are allot of ores out there for metals aside from Gold, Silver, and the PT Group.
I will add more Photos as they become available.

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 help you and others to find something interesting, and valuable.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".