High grade gold ore in difficult location.

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Why cant you get the coal fire hot enough use the same principals as a blacksmiths forge. Intermittently blow air through with bellows or a fan. The finer the coal is divided the easier it is. It should reach almost 2000c.
 
im1badpup1 said:
Why cant you get the coal fire hot enough use the same principals as a blacksmiths forge. Intermittently blow air through with bellows or a fan. The finer the coal is divided the easier it is. It should reach almost 2000c.

Ever been around a coal fired blacksmith forge? They stink! Literally . . . the burning coal smells like hell! At least to me.

I always used a propane furnace when doing my blacksmithing. I will admit, though, a coal fire will get hotter than the propane. :D

No need to worry about any sound giving your location away. Your "bad guys" will just follow your smell! :shock:

James
 
Why not stick to the basics? Tried and true, simple methods.

Get a mule. . . :!: :idea: :!:

It will help to haul your equipment in and then use it to power a simple, weighted mechanical drop hammer. Crush your ore like the old ones did. Keep your mule fed and watered and it will probably not make a lot of noise. Don't get a donkey - too noisy.

Dress like a local indigent native. If someone sees you, your mule is part of your disguise.

You said to brainstorm . . .I am. And I'm not kidding.

Simplicity and elegance always . . . :D

James
 
Thanks for the ideas. A modern mule is a dirt motorbike.

Are you describing a mortar mill, cosmetal ?. I've seen some locations abandoned by the english 200 years ago, using those, near old British Guyana. You can maybe crush 3 tons per day, if that.

I'm not worried about people 'seeing me'. I'm nearly invisible for the last mile, and very hard to see for 5 miles. And there's nobody around looking.

The fresnel would have to be about 40-50 square meters to catch enough solar power. This idea is archived for now. Not feasible at the moment.
 
This is to give you an idea of what the virgin terrain looks like. Snapshots from video by an acquaintance of mine doing some sight seeing. My site is dozens of miles away. This particular vertical drop is about 900 meters. I can't wait to get back in there. :shock:
 

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More: Jimmie landed / crashed on this mountain, and survived. Very nostalgic and romantic, if you ask me. So much pre-cambrian rock... :G
 

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Platdigger said:
At least now we know what part of the world you are talking about.
The place is breathtaking. Paradise lost. Stunning. I posted the approximate location in the first page:
"Jimmie Angel (Angel Falls named after he landed on the wrong mountain of gold), spent most of his adventuring life here, before I was born, looking for "the river of gold". Many stories, some true, some myth, but tons of gold on the ground. I'll leave the lesser minerals for others."
 
First off congrats on having the gumption for even prospecting in such a harsh and dangerous environment. Hats off to you for brainstorming ways to get it done. Safety first if you have a wife, kids, family etc..but if not then I would feel a little more like taking some extra chances for a large deposit like that, that's for sure.

I'm a mechanical placer miner and I often mine alone or just with one laborer and we are around Grizzly bear quite often. We have one local big boar that hangs around our camp. To me that feels pretty dangerous and it's always in the back of my mind. But in comparison to where you are it seems trivial in comparison lol.

You say you are blasting when there are storms. How often is there thunder storms that allow you to blast and if so you would have to have your blast holes all drilled ahead of time and explosives in place to time the blasting with the storms etc. Is that what you are doing? Can you give some kind of an idea of what the terrain is like where you are trying to set up your processing area? If you can grind the ore down could you use a dry wash sluice to separate the free gold from the ground ore? You would still need electric power of some sort though for a blower for the dry washer.

How much ore do you want to crush/grind down, process in a day? Not sure if where you are you can dig yourself a little hidden semi sound proof work area but if you are you could dig yourself an L shaped tunnel into the side of a cliff as long as it's stable enough. If you work on the inside of the L around the corner, not much of the noise you make will exit that L shaped tunnel cause the sound waves will more hit the other wall and stay in the tunnel. It will dissipate and be a very muffled sound on the outside of it. And if you can hang some heavy cloth or burlap or whatever over the exit hole then that too will dampen the sounds. It's a bit involved but just a thought.
If the ore was very rich and you didn't need to grind down a lot of it in a day there are also 18 volt hand held ore crushers available but you would first have to pound down bigger chunks into smaller pieces. Time consuming but it takes up very little space and you could do it underneath some stuff to make it quiet. If your trying to do a vast amount in a day then it won't work though. Again though you would need a little generator to power things with batteries go dead etc.

I own a Whites Gold Master detector and it works well for finding pretty small nuggets. I use it to go over my trommel tailings once and a while and to go over new layers I'm cutting in my pay layers in the cut to see if there are any larger nuggets. It won't detect as deep as a very expensive Minelab but for $900 CND it was a very good investment. It will also cancel out hot rocks and cold stones if you set it up to ground you are working.

Are the locals or the government not interested in getting at the gold in the area you are at or is it an unknown gold producing spot to them?
 
You say you are blasting when there are storms. How often is there thunder storms that allow you to blast and if so you would have to have your blast holes all drilled ahead of time and explosives in place to time the blasting with the storms etc. Is that what you are doing? In the raining season there are storms every day, often in the afternoon or evening. All holes drilled ahead of time, and charges in place, linked with primacord. I just wait for the storm to arm the electric blasting cap, and when the thunder hits, bang. The placer site is away from the current vein site, which I think is not the main vein, in the vein site I mainly cut rock with little noise and small charges. In the placer I 'soften' the spots with bigger charges.

Can you give some kind of an idea of what the terrain is like where you are trying to set up your processing area? If you can grind the ore down could you use a dry wash sluice to separate the free gold from the ground ore? You would still need electric power of some sort though for a blower for the dry washer. The placer is like an old river beach. The vein site is in inclined terrain. Dry or wet I need power of some type. Doing this by hand is good exercise, but slow. The best solution so far, would still have me bringing fuel to the site regularly, which would be time spent not mining.

How much ore do you want to crush/grind down, process in a day? Not sure if where you are you can dig yourself a little hidden semi sound proof work area but if you are you could dig yourself an L shaped tunnel into the side of a cliff as long as it's stable enough. If you work on the inside of the L around the corner, not much of the noise you make will exit that L shaped tunnel cause the sound waves will more hit the other wall and stay in the tunnel. It will dissipate and be a very muffled sound on the outside of it. And if you can hang some heavy cloth or burlap or whatever over the exit hole then that too will dampen the sounds. It's a bit involved but just a thought. Good ideas. If I can do 1 T per hour, I'll achieve my goals. Easier said than done for a single person.

If the ore was very rich and you didn't need to grind down a lot of it in a day there are also 18 volt hand held ore crushers available but you would first have to pound down bigger chunks into smaller pieces. Time consuming but it takes up very little space and you could do it underneath some stuff to make it quiet. If your trying to do a vast amount in a day then it won't work though. Again though you would need a little generator to power things with batteries go dead etc.Summarizes well the current situation. Sledge hammer and mortar, now.

I own a Whites Gold Master detector and it works well for finding pretty small nuggets. I use it to go over my trommel tailings once and a while and to go over new layers I'm cutting in my pay layers in the cut to see if there are any larger nuggets. It won't detect as deep as a very expensive Minelab but for $900 CND it was a very good investment. It will also cancel out hot rocks and cold stones if you set it up to ground you are working.Thanks. I'm going to scan the whole placer surface, and mark the best spots. I'm thinking also that a cheaper unit will do the job. I have no experience with detectors, so spending smart and small for now.

Are the locals or the government not interested in getting at the gold in the area you are at or is it an unknown gold producing spot to them?I always enjoy a good joke. :lol: This is another universe. Hard to believe what happens even if you come and live here. Nowhere else, in history, a small band of criminals, have plundered and destroyed a country in this scale.

Edit to add: Your situation with bears / (boar?) looks more immediately dangerous to me than mine. Maybe you could run a trip wire with an alarm around your working area, or just hunt the most offending ones. I can't imagine panning with a bear breathing down my neck!. :?. Luckily there are no big dangerous critters in my surroundings.

Edit 2: This thread will probably read extremely adventurous, glamorous, exotic, and enticing, to the newcomers. The harsh reality is that 99.9% of the time prospecting and mining this location, or any other, involves shoveling dirt, hammering rocks, lifting heavy bags, sieving and panning. Hardly what any sensible person would consider glamorous, or an "easy job". You have to really love it to persist.
 
The placer is like an old river beach. The vein site is in inclined terrain. Dry or wet I need power of some type. Doing this by hand is good exercise, but slow. The best solution so far, would still have me bringing fuel to the site regularly, which would be time spent not mining.
You had mentioned that you had no steady water so if a traditional water ran sluice wouldn't work, then a dry wash sluice may be able to separate your free gold from the ground ore pretty effectively. If you can ignore this guys non sense with the voice and props he shows how the dry washer works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oinXbQnoyY

Summarizes well the current situation. Sledge hammer and mortar, now. Are you familiar with a Falcon MD20? It could help you find concentrations in the ore vein nicely. I have used one a lot and love it. This video also shows the gal using an 18 volt ore pulverizer. It's a bit of a step up from mortal/pestal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n26_pXViY3g

Thanks. I'm going to scan the whole placer surface, and mark the best spots. I'm thinking also that a cheaper unit will do the job. I have no experience with detectors, so spending smart and small for now.The Whites Gold Master also shows and allows you to track black sands which a lot of time can increase your chances of locating how the placer gold is running in an old river channel. Another good gold detector is the Gold Bug II but it isn't as good as the Whites GMT in hot rocks/soil conditions.

Your situation with bears / (boar?) looks more immediately dangerous to me than mine. Maybe you could run a trip wire with an alarm around your working area, or just hunt the most offending ones. I can't imagine panning with a bear breathing down my neck!. :?. Luckily there are no big dangerous critters in my surroundings. "boar" is just the name for male bear. Not like boar like a pig type boar. The big male Grizzly are very territorial over other Grizzlies so the one that is around my claim has probably been there a long time and he knows he runs the area cause he keeps his distance from me and my neighbor mining even though he comes close enough so we see him. He chased a Moose through my claim in 2016. And the claim is being logged so I'll be able to see in all directions for a far distance next season so it will make it a lot safer for having any unexpected run ins with him.

This thread will probably read extremely adventurous, glamorous, exotic, and enticing, to the newcomers. The harsh reality is that 99.9% of the time prospecting and mining this location, or any other, involves shoveling dirt, hammering rocks, lifting heavy bags, sieving and panning. Hardly what any sensible person would consider glamorous, or an "easy job". You have to really love it to persist. Lol yup I have friends that want to come up to the claim cause they think the mining is glamorous etc but they don't see the long hours and hard work, and how being in a remote area away from everything quickly takes the glamour out of the equation.
 
Thought this prospecting tool may be useful for you so I uploaded a video I made in 2016 of what it's like using the Falcon MD 20 on gold bearing ore. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skeOEpcVjXo&feature=youtu.be
 
Thanks a lot for the links and tips Platdigger and Placerpaul.
Placerpaul: You mention you often work alone or at most with one helper. How do you move the dirt from the selected cut to the wash plant?. This is my biggest challenge, to process more I have to move and clean/sieve more before any sluice, jig, or other.
 
cuchugold said:
Thanks a lot for the links and tips Platdigger and Placerpaul.
Placerpaul: You mention you often work alone or at most with one helper. How do you move the dirt from the selected cut to the wash plant?. This is my biggest challenge, to process more I have to move and clean/sieve more before any sluice, jig, or other.
I have a crawler dumper called a Morooka for moving pay gravel around and a conveyor that moves tailings away from the trommel. I've got two years left on my exploration permit then if the ground proves up to pay well enough I'll increase the permit to a production mining permit where I can process more material. At that point I would increase the size of my equipment to either a dump truck or a larger Volvo type earth mover.
 
Thanks Paul. So I guess there is not enough water for hydraulic mining or it is against some enviromental law?
 
cuchugold said:
Thanks Paul. So I guess there is not enough water for hydraulic mining or it is against some enviromental law?
Yes we are not allowed to hydraulic mine in the Cariboo area in BC. The old timers did in the old days in some areas though. The government is getting more and more strict with water usage here in BC. Most of us mining in the Cariboo area are using recirculating settling ponds where we re use the water going through our wash plants. I have a lot of clay and silt on my claim so I have a shallow trench connecting the two ponds. The water from the trommel sluice goes into one pond where it has some time to settle and that pond is connected via a shallow water trench that flows to the other pond that I pump out from. If the water levels drop after awhile I top them up from water from the creek.
The clay silt is so bad in some areas that miners need to use an anionic flocculant to help dissipate the silt particles. The silt can clog up a sluice run pretty badly.
 
Thanks a lot Paul. I guess each location has its limitations, and we all have to play the cards we are dealt, and make the most of what we have in front.
 
Back from the site after using the metal detector. It just works!. Record haul in record time. I met with the kid that recommended the metal detector, and gave him $500. I explained him what I wanted to do, crushing rocks, milling, gravity recovery, melting rock, fuel supply to the mine, etc, etc, etc. He looked at me point blank and said: Why don't you crush the whole mountain with dynamite and use the metal detector on the rubble?. I looked at him, and said: I'd need a ton of dynamite. He said: Aren't you the explosives guy?.

Sometimes it's so simple. We are all wired to think complex, when simple is best. Every time I meet with this kid, I come out way smarter... :)
 
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