Mines, Panning Gold and Historical Exploring

[glenn kangiser]

We had a bit of rain so I am hitting the prospecting pretty hard right now --

Found a bit of gold yesterday but it is a lot of work.  Not enough to pay for gas yet though.

[MountainDon]

This is going to follow the pattern of most of the '49ers. The only folks making money are the equipment sellers, etc.     Just put a high enough price tag on the recreational value you are receiving and you can rationalize the expenses that way, no problem. 

[glenn kangiser]

Through the recreational value, everything is paid for -- and while I'm not a health nut, I really get a workout doing this.  Fortunately Suzy is willing to stand guard in case the marijuana growers decide to show up and want their water back. 



I am not as bad as some regarding equipment expenditures.  A friend gave me a sluice off a dredge so I made the top part out of corrugated metal and left over screen.  A few dollars worth of PVC made the spray bars.  Mike loaned me a pump to try out, which I will probably trade work for later.  It is a little Tenaka 1" 2 cycle with a quiet muffler.  Pumps 1900 gph and will build up to about 50 psi -stated 114 feet of head.  I used less than 1 gallon of gas in 8 hours and only needed to run at medium high throttle.. 

Yep... I worked 8 hours for this little three dollars or so worth of gold, but it was fun.  The picture is a bit deceiving.  There is only a good pinch of gold there in the close up, but it is pretty nice looking.



It is really interesting to do the same thing the 49ers were doing when this land was settled.  Sped up greatly because of the gold rush.  Yes -- it's true that the merchants made more than most of the 49ers.

[MountainDon]

The important thing is the 'fun' factor. It's worth a whole lot.

The '49ers weren't doing it for fun.

Such a change of priorities. 

So Suzy's one of the four. How old now and how are the others?

[glenn kangiser]

Puppy shots killed her brother and gave her seizures occasionally for a while.  She has one brother and one sister left.  Shots got 2 brothers out of 5 total.

Sassy kept the others and takes them back and forth between here and our other place when she goes to work.  They all seem to be doing well now and can create quite a path of destruction when they are all together.  Hopefully they will get over it pretty soon.  Suzy is pretty good almost all of the time .  I'm more of a dictator than
Sassy is but these are very hard headed pups.  Suzy is just getting to mind well enough that she gets to go prospecting. 

They are pretty good little dogs, but sometimes they have a bit too much energy.   As they learn what is allowed and what isn't they are more enjoyable.  They are about 7.5 months now.

[glenn kangiser]

While the 49er's and a couple mini rushes found the easy stuff, it is still out there but you have to look where they didn't to find anything.  It's a bit of work but, like you said...the fun ...the thrill of the hunt, makes it worth it.  What better reward could there be for a little success after a lot of hard work, than finding a bit of gold?

[MountainDon]

At the end of a day of hard 4-wheeling all I can hope for is that nothing broke.    But it's still very much fun.

[glenn kangiser]

I get that too-- the place I go is a hard 4 wheel drive road -- I don't think a 2 wd PU would make it out of there without weight in the back.  Sometimes I wonder if I will -- Jeep still runs a bit rough but hasn't stopped yet.

[glenn kangiser]

Jeep's been running pretty well lately after fixing a cracked trans cooler line.  I'm glad I was only about 10 miles from a store with fluid and a place by the road to fix it.  I cut a extra long hose and put it over the crack.  4 quarts of fluid and I was back in business.

If I had gone down to the mine, I would have been walking out and hitchhiking.

I have gone high tech.  Found plans on line for a mini trommel.  I call it a rotary high banker as there are no restrictions on high bankers.  We'll see how far that goes.  Likely they will not want to check me out where I go anyway as it is quite a drive in.



It is powered by an old drill motor I had but was afraid to use.  It is so big it would tear the arms off two guys and still not stop.  A welding inspector friend sold it to me for $40 a few years ago.  It has a #3 Morse Taper and 10 gear pinion that raised boats at a dry dock.  The end shaft was 1 1/4" solid steel with a groove so I reground the groove to fit a V belt.  The drill low speed was 165 RPM so with the ground in pulley and going around the 8 1/2" rotary screen, I achieved a speed of 24 RPM.  Target speed per the plan was 20 to 30 RPM, so it was perfect.  The designer used chains and had problems with lockups when rocks got in them.  With the belt drive it is totally safe.  The belt works as a clutch if a rock gets stuck.  It will not break the 1" PVC spray bar and would not tear your arm off either.  Simply roll it backward - even with the motor running - clear the jam and let go.  No way to get hurt on it but still it rotates the rocks and washes them fine if there are no jams.



Slots are cut in the spray bar with a 1/16" thick metal abrasive blade giving me a double row water spray the length of the screen.  Large rocks are washed and pass straight through and small dirt, sand , rocks and gold  under 3/8 pass through the screen and go through the sluice then out the end of the sluice.  Troughs are made from 8" stove pipe - a 1' and 2' piece.  Thanks to Bill Fletcher for the free plan.

http://www.infowest.com/personal/w/wfletcher/prospecting.html

[MountainDon]

Having a break down like that could earn you the cowbell award on one of our club runs. 

Lot's of stuff there on that link. 

Trommel looks cool. Let us know when you break even. 

I guess you have to haul that in and out all the time. How much weight?

[glenn kangiser]

I don't think it weighs over 75 lbs.  The hopper comes off and the spray bar comes off so it fits right behind the back seat of the Cherokee.

I now have about 3 pinches of gold.  Probably a couple dollars a pinch? I'm probably dreaming but it is fun.  I have stayed out until 10 pm shoveling and got home about 11:30 after loading up.  I have a headlight and drop light to run off the generator.  I'm getting a smaller generator.  That is what is heavy now -- Lincoln 3000 watt welder generator - 200 lbs?

Boy was I glad I didn't 4 wheel down to the mine.  What does the cow bell award entail? hmm

I also have a small electric sump pump to pump into a storage tank on site, and the Tenaka 2 cycle pump for the trommel.  Buckets and screens and a plastic cleanout tub -- cords - hoses -- pick - shovel - it's a load and hence why I like to work a long day when I get going.

[MountainDon]

The first time I read the last post my weary mind interpreted that as 3 ounces of gold.  I thought "whoa!" and starting thinking I'd better plan a trip to gold country. Then I read it again and put the plans on hold.

How much power do you need out of the generator?

The cowbell is awarded to the hapless member who has a simple mishap on the trail, or road to the trail, and does not have the spares to effect a repair, temporary or permanent. It's also awarded for doing something amazingly stupid. Once earned it must be worn on the vehicle in an obvious position, and free to swing and rattle as you negotiate the bumps.

Once in your possession the only way to get rid of it is to be on a trail ride when somebody else experiences a qualifying event. I have possession right now. 

How did I earn it? We stopped for lunch in the middle of what we call Tank Trap, a trail through a seldom wet stream bed. It's extremely rocky, nothing but rocks for a half mile or so.    After lunch I experienced brain fade and somehow inexplicably managed to get myself high centered.     I backed over a rock, it slipped and/or rolled a little and I found myself just about perfectly balanced to where not even one wheel could get a grip on any of the loose rubble. Not even with both F & R lockers engaged. Sat there liker a bobblehead.    A two foot pull with a strap had me underway again.

Wanna go on a ride?

[MountainDon]

Forgot the picture I went outside in the cold and dark to take...

[glenn kangiser]

1500 watts would do me.  Mike has one that will do 2000 and is reasonably small.

I ran the inverter first time but the battery - spare lasted only about 4 hours then I had to run the jeep for a while to recharge -- long while.

I made it to the store under my own power - low gear part time - taking it easy.  At least I had tools and made the repair alongside the road.  No tow truck necessary.

Yeah -- only 3 pinches.  Ounces would be nice.

Nice bell by the way. 

[Sassy]

   good story, MtnDon!   

[glenn kangiser]

Well...Suzy and I couldn't wait to get back out prospecting again.  I loaded the car with food, sleeping bag - pad- tarp etc -- made modifications to the trommel, picked up the new generator, gas everything.

I got to the hardware store for a couple more items - single burner propane stove, and a steel gold pan -- I figured I could cook in it to if needed.  I also brought a spare small microwave.  It worked great off the generator.  Had a couple corn dogs and Ramen - cup of noodles.  A steel gold pan needs to be burned on a fire to work properly anyway, so cooking could be good as long as I burn all of the grease out of it.  I got to the store and found my back electric window wouldn't go down.  No problem -- the safety switch wasn't working and no way in from the inside as the Jeep was fully loaded.  I knew it was the switch as I had bypassed it because it was broke and not stocked here.  I put slip in connectors but one was a bit loose.  I tightened it , but the other one came out.  No worries.  This is a miner Jeep.  I took my thin blade cut off saw and cut out a nice little door on the outside - hinged at the top-- redid the wires and it now works great -- just have to be sure to do it at the back to close so I don't break the window.  No problem.

I shoveled for a good 8 hours and was burned out so we made a bed in the back of the jeep.  My feet were wet so I pulled the sleeping bag over me on the pad in the back of the jeep.  Suzy jumped in on top and nailed the bag down to the back of my legs by laying on it.  I couldn't pull enough and she wasn't giving so I finally unzipped it and got coverage that way. 

The night was rather warm and overcast.  The spring peepers were sounding nice and I finally went to sleep...until the rain started.  Drops hit me on the feet and we had to get up -- pan out the gold we had and put everything away.  With the smaller generator it was pretty easy - tons of junk but it packed in the Cherokee quite well.  We 4 wheeled it out of there -- got home -- had a bite and started an nice warm fire.  Still a good day.

[glenn kangiser]

Here's a little video of the trommel working.  I put it on high speed today -- works better but hangs up rocks a bit more. 

[MountainDon]

Saw a piece on the news tonight about a resurgence in gold prospecting and potential mining in AZ. Near Rye and also in the Quartzite mountains. They had video of club hobby prospectors actually finding small nuggets. Happy guys. 

[glenn kangiser]

I have noticed that the media is pushing for another gold rush everywhere.  Article on the gold forum also.  I think they will get everybody to stock up and invest in gold then call a national emergency and use the old law to rip it all off from us. 

That one is from no where else except the inside of my head.

On another note-- Suzy and I just returned from another day of prospecting -- rather short as I was making a small dredge this morning for the little seasonal creek I'm near at the mine area.

We didn't get much color so I grabbed a pick hammer and shovel, rousted a sleepy Suzy out of the Cherokee seat and went to check out the other partly closed mine shaft.



A bit of shoveling and the hole was large enough for a troglodyte to enter.



Suzy went ahead and checked for monsters. 



Inside looking out.  This one was not especially stable -- slabs hanging from the roof made me decide to cut the exploration short, besides I didn't see anything of interest there.

[glenn kangiser]

I put some Oxalic acid in my little gold specimen bottles about a week ago.  It is the same thing as Timberwash -- Saver Systems I think.  I didn't know where I would find any then read that on the gold forum -- went out and looked in the trailer and -- sure enough I bought 2 gallons a few years ago.  Now it's really shiny.

See -- it pays to keep junk around.

[glenn kangiser]

Found a little gold in the last couple days since the snow is stopped and melting but Suzy beat me.  We were at the mine and she found herself a pair of sunglasses. 

[MountainDon]

  dawg

[glenn kangiser]

See that little trommel above for washing the rocks and sand and getting the gold out of it?

Now imagine that little trommel on steroids.



A friend gave me one.  While I don't care for the design, when I can pick something like this up for barter, I do it.  Modifications can be done.

[glenn kangiser]

BTW, I found silver the other day.

How do you tell if it's silver you ask?

Easy.  It comes in the shape of spoons and a fork and has the manufacturer's name on it.  Only silver plate and most of it was gone.  Silver plate was generally put on at the rate of 1 ounce to the square foot of surface area I read.

I traced 2 of them back and found they were made in 1915.  Other similar but no date on the net.

[Redoverfarm]

Oxalic acid.  Good to remove dark water marks from furniture as well.