Mines, Panning Gold and Historical Exploring

[glenn kangiser]

Took our friends to the mining museum here in town today.  We have the California State Mineral Exhibit here in town and there is a mining mill model.  This is a number one rated mineral museum - if you ever get the chance to drop by.

Here is a little - rather poor video I took of it running today.



http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=588

[glenn kangiser]

Went with a friend today to some property owned by his SIL's family.  He got permission, so we drove the jeep to the top of the mountain, wandered around the old mine digs and found a straight vertical shaft about 23 foot or so deep.  

After we tired of metal detecting - found a couple old pick parts - nails etc, I got the urge to see what was down the shaft.  I tied a 20 foot chain to a tree then lowered myself into the shaft while hanging onto the chain like some sort of big dumb monkey.

About 10 feet down was a small horizontal tunnel about 4 feet or so deep.  I went in there and checked out the vein- nothing real exciting.  So - back to climbing the chain down to the bottom.  One tunnel about 8 feet to the right -- One to the left -- went about 20 feet or so.  Tossed in a few rocks to check for rattle snakes etc then slid into the hole -- gathered a few samples  and back out.  

Climbed the chain back to the 10 foot level -- took a rest on the ledge then climbed the rest of the way to the top.  Nothing significant but it was interesting to see if the old fat man could get out of the shaft.  I'm glad it wasn't much deeper.  This was about a mile from the above museum.

[PEG688]

We got a kick outta that Glenn , yer sorta nuts eh   Anyway Enny and I both got a good laugh outta you climbing the chain. Makes the drive around the lake seem normal  

Be careful out there eh Buddy ,  you'd be hard to replace around the board

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks PEG.  Having met me, you are one of the few who know I drag my knuckles when I walk, eh?

I was kinda wishing I had something better than just a chain but Keith, my buddy from down the road was at the top and there was a come-along in the jeep in case he had to hoist me out of there.

I had my little - one or three LED headlight on and it was really fun going into the drift at the bottom to try to find some good ore samples.  I was probably in there 20 minutes digging around. :-/

The way back up the chain was the most interesting.  Pulling myself up with just my arms and trying to get whatever toe or knee hold I could on the side without falling off and ending up at the bottom really made me hold on tight to the chain.  There were no real good steps or ledges other than the drift at 10'.  There may have been about 6 one to 2 inch toe holds up the face of the shaft the chain was on.  Safety devices? Aw - come on - it was only 23' to the bottom.

Maybe I should take a crash course in rock climbing.

[glenn kangiser]

Explored some mines this weekend but the most fun was finding a bit of gold on our own property and learning a bit more about the extraction process so I could get the gold out of sulfate ore.  (Pyrite Crystals in quartz).

So yes - pyrite is fools gold but it would be a bigger fool who would throw it away.  The gold appears in and on the pyrite or can be deposited along side it.  Pyrite in quartz indicates that metals are settling out in that area also-- pure white quartz usually has no significant gold but gold bearing quartz can be right next to it.

I found this paper on recovery of gold in sulfite ores
http://66.113.204.26/mining/minproc/gold-in-pyrite.htm so tried a roasting experiment.  Guess what. hmm - It worked. 

I crushed it, panned out the pyrite then roasted it in a stainless pan to drive off the sulfur.  Here's a pix of part of the result. 



The little yellow specs in the black - look hard - there has to be enough there to buy a toothpick or something.

[MountainDon]

I found some gold today as well.  Unfortunately it had been deposited by my dentist some 20 years ago and came loose while eating a chicken sandwich.    Tooth 17 I believe. No doubt it's worth more than what you found. 

[glenn kangiser]

No doubt cost more too.  Ouch.

[MountainDon]

Almost makes you want to try some JB's weld. 

[glenn kangiser]

I have considered stuff like that.  Unfortunately they will probably need to drill and grind and all that scary stuff.

[MountainDon]

Put some of those other deleted, no longer available, scary/shocked smilies here ..... 

(Edit: Per your request - 2 small ones added to the popup, so you can express your feeling about going to the dentist--Glenn)     

G'nite

Nothing hurts. 

[glenn kangiser]

We went prospecting a bit today.  Had a pretty good trip finding several mines on an old road I have been thinking about trying with the Jeep for a while.

Sassy and I went into a very nice old drift - mostly dry with a little spring inside.



Nice clear water was flowing out of a crack in the wall.  Gold and other minerals are often found near water. 



They had done a pretty good job of cleaning this one out but I found a few nice samples along with some copper bearing ore that appeared to have gold with it.

[Sassy]

The mine was pretty neat - branched out to 3 tunnels - I only went to the end of the one tunnel - probably about 100-150 ft in & then went out to find my son to tell him about it.  He found some other mines across another ravine & up the mountain.  Really cool place.  Would have looked in the mine more, but only had a little flashlight that kept going out & then Glenn was always pointing out the "neat looking spiders" 

We found a couple small areas where someone had been digging down to the bedrock nearby the mine.  My son dug some of the dirt up on the edge of the dig & panned it out - found several little pieces of gold - he was pretty excited - has been exploring & prospecting for gold this past year.  It was getting late so Glenn dug up a big bucket to bring home. 

It really is amazing how the 49er gold miners & those later on were able to explore the terrain - lots of just about straight up & down mountains, deep ravines, pretty rugged...  the mine we explored must have been picked mostly, all hard rock - they were really determined. 

[MountainDon]

Looks like fun! Also appears to be chilly.

I think you need to buy new flashlights, a couple per person, if you're going to go exploring things like that.

[glenn kangiser]

Sassy forgot her flashlight - or I didn't remind her.  I had 2 but invited her along so gave her one, as this was an easy access very safe mine compared to some I've been in.  It was almost handicap accessible.    Sometimes I take my Ryobi light but forgot it on this trip.

It was warm in the mine compared to outside.  Probably not quite 60 but it felt like it. 

This mine was nearly all horizontal - in the drifts we explored -- I think I had one to go, but it was getting late.  I'll get better prepared for next time -- more lights.  I have a nice headlamp with 1 or 3 leds or flashlight bulb. We hadn't planned on finding more mines but made an unscheduled exploration stop. 

[Sassy]

Glenn came home tonight after working down in the valley & asked me if I was ready to go spend the night in the mine - it wouldn't matter if it was dark - we'd bring plenty of lights & a couple coats & we could explore all we wanted to     I told him I might have done it but since he showed me all the huge spiders... 

[desdawg]

Looks pretty neat to find stuff like that. If there had been any gold minimg around here I might give it a whirl but I am in the wrong part of the state. LOL. I have enough on my plate.

[glenn kangiser]

Run up to Jerome, desdawg-- the Gold King Mine and interesting copper mining area/tourist trap, Verde Valley, Montezuma's Castle, Montezuma's Well -- lots of cool stuff to take your time and separate you from your money.

[desdawg]

I know there was a lot of mining here in AZ, just not close to home. I like the idea of being able to roll the quad or the bike out the door and just take off without having to load and haul them somewhere. I keep the quad garaged in the mountains and the bike garaged here in the desert. Neither are street legal at this point. But wherever I am I have something to ride which makes me happy.

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like fun desdawg.

I'm getting ready to build a small trommel - for in the back of the Cherokee I think.  I found a placer gold place I want to check out.  gotta gather junk together.

Free trommel plans.  http://www.geocities.com/fletcher1/plans.html

[desdawg]

I enjoy projects like that. Make something usable out of stuff I have laying around. I haven't done one of those lately.

[glenn kangiser]

Had the neighbor with me Saturday and Sam, the Wonder Dog.  She loves it when I come by and is ready to jump into the Jeep and go mining.  She looks a bit intimidating here with the glowing eyes.



Don, I picked up a couple more good flashlights-- a tripod light with 1 3 or 6 leds turned on and holds 3, 6 or 9 batteries - Stanley I think, and a 3 watt Maglight mini led light w/focused beam that I wear on my belt.  It is worth the extra money but hard to turn loose of the cash when you first think of it.  Intense white light - 2 AA's.

[MountainDon]

Eyes that glow in the dark could be intimidating if you don't know who's making them.

I love Maglites, have a few AA's and an assortment of D's (2X, 3X, and a 5X)

[Redoverfarm]

Glenn with all those batteries I think I would make a trip to Sams and get rechargable batteries.  And from the sound of it you had better get a couple of packs.

[MountainDon]

Rechargeable batteries are nice. BUT, there is a thing or two I don't like about them. [1] it always seems the hours of use are less and [2] they have a quicker drop off than alkaline. That is, they go from giving full brightness useful light to nothing very quickly. Mind you the same can be said about LED flashlights and I do love them. They give very little warning that they're going to quit. But then they give many more hours of service. I guess that's what spares (lights and batteries) are for.

Oh! [3] NICads lose too much charge sitting there to be practical as emergency lights. And Li-Ion cost a bundle.  What's a guy to do?

I've never tried NiCads with an LED light. Anyone? Does the NiCads lower voltage have any problem effect?

[glenn kangiser]

I have thought about rechargeables, but I'm not always the most organized person in the world and I'm sure I would find myself with dead batteries too often.  So - it's mass purchasing for me - hopefully at some kind of a deal.

Do it Best alkalines are made by a major battery manufacturer so are sometimes a pretty good deal.