washington state gold ore

[Richard36]

Thanks for the reply butcher.

Those silvery gray crystals are well worth having assayed. They might only be a variety of iron pyrite, but not likely, but even if they are, they will most likely contain some amount of gold and silver. What you are describing sounds alot like Sylvanite, (AgAuTe4 ) a silver gold telluride. The other possibilities are Argentite-Acanthite, ( Ag2S ) a silver sulfide, Glaucodot (Co, Fe)AsS, a cobalt iron arsenic sulfide, Skutterudite, (CoAs2-3) a cobalt arsenide. If it contains Cobalt, that is a strategic metal, and is worth looking into. If it contains enough to cause nitric acid to turn pink, you have a high grade cobalt ore, and is definitely worth mining. If it turns sulfuric acid red, it contains tellurium, and is worth mining for the its tellurium content as well as the gold and silver that it would contain.

I am familiar with southern Oregon, and the Chetco is prime dredging ground. Too bad most of the gold is in the wilderness area, Though most of the drainage in that area does contain placer gold. All mineralized rock in that area should be well scrutinized. Just because you can not see the gold does not mean it is not there. Mineralized rock from that region will more often than not contain invisible micron gold bound up in solid solution within the sulfides, and or oxide minerals found there. Another point of interest is chrome ridge. It gets its name from its Chromite content, and is the largest Chromium deposit in the U.S. Uvarovite garnet, Chrome diopside, and Alexandrite can be found there as well.

Thanks for the post. I hope to hear back from you, and good luck.
I look forward to reading and responding to further posts from you and others soon.

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[Irons]

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

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...

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

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

1 PPM = 1 gram per Metric ton. (1000 kilos) 1000 PPB=1 PPM

 

[Richard36]

1 PPM = 1 gram per Metric ton. (1000 kilos) 1000 PPB=1 PPM

Thanks Irons.
That is the equation I was refering to, and is much appreciated.

I look forward to further rock and mineral related questions from those reading this thread.
general chat is welcome and appreciated as well.

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[Richard36]

I just posted some photos under "The Rock Man".
Three are of that "Red Ore" that can have as much as 30 oz per ton Gold.

Enjoy!

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[g_axelsson]

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,

Hi Butcher!

I would suggest that you learn a few basic tools of testing in the field. One of the easiest test is to use an unglazed porcelain (or china) fuse. With it you can make a streak test, rub it against the unknown mineral and check the color of the streak. Most sulphides and oxides creates a black or gray streak in contrary to most silicates that gives a white streak.

The silvery crystals you describe sounds to me to be a silicate, possibly muscovite. Any sulphide would have been affected by weathering processes and should have shown some sort of change on the exposed areas. Do a streak test and tell us the color.

The next test to do is a hardness test. For example to see the difference between chalcopyrite and pyrite you only need to scratch it with an iron nail. Pyrite is quite hard while chalcopyrite is softer.

Just as in refining, don't run around blindly. There are a number of easy field tests you can do. Hardness, streak test, magnetic test, fracture, luster, cleavage, crystal form, color (but this is not very good), and so on. For more on this topic read wikipedias article on Physical properties of minerals.

/Göran

 

[dick b]

Thanks. Interesting article to read.
dickb

 

[butcher]

Thanks Goran, I am quite familiar with the pyritic and chalcopirte ore in my area, the china plate information will help me to run less blind, I can use help to identify ore, there are so many different types, some I do recognize, any help in this field is appreciated.

 

[qst42know]

The bottom of a spot plate is unglazed porcelain, and the top side is useful as well. :lol:

 

[Richard36]

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,

Any sulphide would have been affected by weathering processes and should have shown some sort of change on the exposed areas.

Hello g_axelsson.

In most cases, yes you are correct, but not all sulfides react readily with the Atmosphere. I know this to be a fact. There are plenty of places around here up "Quartzville Creek" that have sulfides that have been exposed to the atmosphere for thousands of years, and they are still shiny showing little if any oxidation. Most do decompose slowly, but not all. Probably has alot to do with the "Accessory Metals" bound up within them in solid solution. ("Accessory Metals" are metals not linked to the "Chemical Composition" of the mineral itself, but are within it, such as "Gold" is not part of the "Chemical Formula" for "Iron Pyrite", but is often found within it).

Aside from dissagreeing on this point, everything else you said is spot on.
As you said, it might not be a sulfide at all.
If not, it would be a variety of mica, as you have said, and would therefore explain the ease of cleavage along that mineral seam.

My guesses were based on what I thought might be being described.

If Butcher could post a photo, chances are that I could identify the mineral in question.

Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[butcher]

Goran thanks again, rereading what you wrote, I noticed you said pyrite was hard and chalcopyrite was soft, in my area I find the opposite, here pyrite is so soft some types my thumb nail will crush, and some of the high copper chalcopyrite from mines I have worked was so hard a hammer has a time cracking it, also the fine pyrite can float almost and the chalcopyrite is much denser, was this a typo? and that link you posted was very helpful thanks.

one problem with book pictures of ore for me is that they either show a purer form of the mineral or rock, and in the field they usually are not that pure, and book pictures show one rock that may have a certain color and up in the hills this type may have several differing colors.

one way I found out about sulfide's years ago, I was trying to break up some chalcopyrite from an abandoned mine, and trying to find out what was in this old mine , why these men dug so far into this mountain? for years I would get crushed rock from there and pan it but couldn't find anything worth digging for, that far into a mountain, especially so far from the nearest road and back when wagons and mules were probably all these men had, and this ore would have to have been hauled some 30 t0 40 miles by wagons to a stamp mill to be processed and in those days those wagon roads, would have had to have been much worse than todays 4 wheel drive roads through these very steep mountains, these men would not have gone to this trouble for a worthless rock, well after years It dawned on me they were mining an ore that could not be panned and I probably could not see the mineral in this rock, done a study on mining and so I began to crush,and was going to try to leach it I had the idea to see if heat would make this hard rock crush easier, so I got out my torch and started to torch this rock to test this theory , to my surprise it did not shatter as many rocks do, it started to melt like glass, and gave off this familiar smell of sulfuric acid, what the heck is this? I questioned myself, so I looked for an answer, thats when I found out that most rocks were actually made from acids or bases, and this one was chalcopyrite, and when I leached this rock it is very high in copper, some gold, but my understanding of the leaching process was not so good at that time, so I probably did not get all I could from that ore, but it was a great expierience, and I did I did learn alot, since then I have studied alot, and from all of the knowledgeable people on this forum I have learned so much, and would really like to learn as much as possible about these rocks and minerals,and about refining, for me its not as important to get rich, if my family has a roof, and bread for supper, and the bills paid, I am happy, for me its to learn, (coarse it don't hurt when I put a little button in the poke for the day I can't put bread on the table), and with all of you guys so willing to share what you have learned I am gratful, for me, we can never learn it all, and when we quit learning, we are dying, or brain dead zombies. and when we think we know it all, we might as well become brain dead zombies. these newbies to the forum afraid to ask questions why? we all on this forum probably have learned just as much from the newbi, as we have from the profesional refiners on the forum, they ask many good questions, and when they get their answers we all learn. these newbies also have expierience of things we have not, I feel none of us are smarter than the other we just all have different expieriences in life, well of coarse there are a very few stupid people, but they would not be interested with all us for long. they would be brain dead zombies, thanks fellers for making this forum so GREAT.

Well I am like you were Rick about posting pictures, only I am also a computer dummy, I will TRY and get some picture inside the my computer, and post them. Rock Man I think I speak for many reader's when I say great to have you share your learning with us,

 

[Richard36]

one problem with book pictures of ore for me is that they either show a purer form of the mineral or rock, and in the field they usually are not that pure, and book pictures show one rock that may have a certain color and up in the hills this type may have several differing colors.

Thanks for the reply Butcher.

That is a problem that I had back when I started out around 15 yrs ago, and got serious about prospecting.
Most "Rock and Mineral Books" are composed of photos taken from Private, as well as a few public collections.
As collectors, most strive to get samples that are as pristine as possible, and that does not help the novice all that well.

I suggest going to a few "Rock & Mineral Shows".
You will be able to look at, and handle various mineral samples there, as well as purchase specimins to add to your own collection of "Ore Minerals", and practice "Mineral Identification Tests" with them.

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 will TRY and get some picture inside the my computer, and post them.
Rock Man I think I speak for many reader's when I say great to have you share your learning with us,

Thanks for the compliment.
Happy that I could, and can help.
I will be looking forward to seeing those photos.

Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Sincerely; Rick.

 

[CHARLIE GREENLER]

Hay Rock Man how much is a complete assay????????The material is Rhodite (rhodium ore).MANGANES,NICKLE,IRON,MOLEBDONITE,COPPER,CHROME,GALLIUM,IRRIDIUM,PLATNUM,GOLD,OSMIUM,PALLADIUM,RHODIUM,RHENIUM,RUBIDIUM,AND RARE EARTHS.I can drive the material to you .Do you have an ICP OR A HANDHELD EX-RAY SPECTOMETER.How do you assay? It is a complex ore !!!!!!!A freind of mine just had a 5600 pounder processed .(over 80 ounces of rhodium after it shot for 45 ounces)!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Charlie

 

[Richard36]

It sounds like you pretty much already know close to what all you need to know.
If you desire precise percentages of all those metals, send a sample to "Reed Labs",
and have a sample ran through a spectroscope.

That would be an honest suggestion from me.

Sure, I'll assay it for it's gold and silver content, but not the PGM's.
I can also test it to determine what other metals are within it,
but what you seek is different from that.

Check out reed labs, unless your desire is simply to check the results that you have against what I can recover and test for the presence of.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[kjavanb123]

Hi,

I know this is an old post but my experiment today is related to PGMs in river beds from ophiolite and dunite zones as was nentioned by Rick.

I picked ~200 grams of soil from dried river bed that at the source where all these grayish mountains and chromite ore mines.

Here is what screened sand prior to blue bowl process;


This is the sand after 20 mintues in blue bowl water was removed by a syringe;


Here is a shot of band of soil that black sand has accumlated;


Here is the black sand under the loupe 40 times bigger; notice the difference in color compare to serpantitie or dunite soils,


And


I think next step would be collecting more samples from upper river closer to the mine, concentrate them and pan the black sand follow by lead smelting to find out what possible PGMs it might contain.

Thanks forum for this much information.

Regards
Kj

 

[Paul goldbugg]

The rock man commeth! ( laugh! ) I am surprised that no one has took me up on my offer to extend my hand in comradery to all those on this forum. Rocks and minerals were my thing long before I became a prospector and assayer. Ask me some questions people.

Hi Rock man
I have been prospecting a old forgotten mining area that never had more than prospects for cu,au,ag, metals. The only thing i ever found in my pan
Was a small piece of platinum. The record books say they had 2.5 opt au in one vein arsenopyrite. I have ore that has assayed 10gpt au 13opt ag was the lowest one so far. When i found it i had (recommended) action mining do 2 assays that came back crazy high amounts of au and up to 60 opt ag.
The book says metamorphic series of schist, conglomerate, quartzite, and greenstone cut by veins of quarts. There is a guy from Idaho that look at it but he ended up shafting me. Never got to see one assay from the samples he took but he said there were pgms. I know nothing about PGMs really not even a good prospector but this old digs found me. Love to talk to you about it.

Paul

 

[Paul goldbugg]

Hi Rock man
I have been prospecting a old forgotten mining area that never had more than prospects for cu,au,ag, metals. The only thing i ever found in my pan
Was a small piece of platinum. The record books say they had 2.5 opt au in one vein arsenopyrite. I have ore that has assayed 10gpt au 13opt ag was the lowest one so far. When i found it i had (recommended) action mining do 2 assays that came back crazy high amounts of au and up to 60 opt ag.
The book says metamorphic series of schist, conglomerate, quartzite, and greenstone cut by veins of quarts. There is a guy from Idaho that look at it but he ended up shafting me. Never got to see one assay from the samples he took but he said there were pgms. I know nothing about PGMs really not even a good prospector but this old digs found me. Love to talk to you about it.

Paul