I wonder when it is time to buy a small track-hoe? posted by wdrob

[CSJournals-migration]

I had mentioned a while back in a thread about gold that I was tempted to do a bit of digging in an old creek bed back in the woods on my property and focus on an old small waterfall.

 

I finally got around to it with a shovel, metal detector, 5 gallon bucket, and my water hose back at the house. Brought some good looking dirt out, by bucket, and worked it with a pan using the grand kids little swimming pool. I did this on 5 different occasions and on each I would only dig up one, and sometimes two, five gallon buckets full of dirt. Just depended on how bad my shoulders were hurting that particular day.

 

So after the above efforts I have yielded from this small, old dried up creek bed, about 50 or so miles from Dahlonega, Ga. 4.8 grams of small nuggets and flakes pictured here.

 

I wonder if this would be below average, average, or well above average for the dirt in this region, or any region for that matter?

 

I think if I go back out there and keep finding some I might have to think about getting serious and buying an old used track-hoe and get busy.

 

Anyone have some good examples of gold they have been able to mine on their property?

 

See more journals by wdrob

[wdrob]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack Robinson]

Hey, I dropped some gold flakes in and around a river bed near Dahlonega, Ga while I was cliff diving from a water fall. When you get more, just send it back my way.

 

All kidding aside, seems to me, IMHO, you may have a good pot of gold heading your way. I suggest and I am only going by those television, "hunting for gold," type shows on the discovery channels that you do five tests sites, take an average and then focus on the best of the five, at first.

 

Your buckets of dirt produced some good sized flakes. Great find and have fun on your Gold hunting adventures. Just watch out for those nasty claim jumpers.

[The Fielding Collection]

Looks like a nice haul for 30 or 40 gal of dirt. I don't know about investing in a track hoe but I sure would stake my claim at you county court house and keep the location as private as possible. Is your honey hole close enough to your home that you could set up a wrench and sled that would hold 6 or 8 buckets at a time to save your back and shoulders? you could get 30 buckets up to the house in no time. Congrats on your find and I hope to hear about 4 or 5 pounds found next time.

Happy Collecting and may God Bless....Mike

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

Gold in the ground is usually measured by: grams of gold per tonne of rock. (g/t)

 

(Note that this is the metric "tonne" = 2,204 pounds, not the standard ton = 2,000 pounds)

 

So, for example, if there is an average of 5 g/t of gold in the ground, you'd have to process a tonne of rock or dirt to recover 5 grams, on average.

 

Companies that mine gold will assay the rock and dirt before digging to maximize their efforts and will often report their findings to investors. (Large-scale gold mining isn't cheap. So most projects need more than one investor.) And because Georgia has a good history of gold mining, you should be able to pretty good information on what others have found previously and compare that with your findings.

 

I would start looking at the USGS. Then check out any public companies that have done any previous assaying.

 

However...and this is a big however...gold is an elusive metal. Your next-door neighbor could be pulling 30 g/t AU out of the ground and you could have nothing. So you really want to find previous information specific to your property. But as you can imagine, that's not always available.

 

Nevertheless, let's say that a 5-gallon bucket of dirt weighs 40 pounds. Five full bucket is 200 pounds from which you recovered ~5 grams. So right now you're averaging about 55 g/t AU. And in general, I would say that is pretty spectacular.

 

I would say, keep the exact location a closely guarded secret and continue with what you're doing. If your findings are consistent, I strongly would recommend hiring a geologist for consultation. I mean, the chances are sort of unlikely, but there is always a possibility that you could be literally sitting on a gold mine.

 

If the gold is there, and you own the property and mineral rights, and spin the property into a publicly-traded shell company which you own the majority of the shares, promote the company, sell the shares, you'll never have to work another day in your life.

 

All that said, however, you have to remember that most gold projects are never mined for one reason or another. Environmental regulations and local politics often put the kibosh on larger mining operations in the United States. I just don't want to get your hopes up, because there have been countless individuals who have gone completely broke looking for the yellow metal.

 

But if you do hit pay-dirt and are able to convert the property in a mining operation, don't forget the guy who pointed you in that direction. :) :)

[Merlin8*]

That much gold from 5 buckets of dirt off your own property I would say is significant. Laws for mining private property are different than on public land. Holding title to the mineral rights on your private property is the key, a title search would be a good idea just to make sure you have the mineral rights and not the previous or other owner and to check on the status of the creek. If the creek is designated a seasonal creek or dry water course that can make a difference in what is allowed by your State or requirements for reclamation of the creek. State laws also apply for safety and enviromental requirements on private land that might influence what type of claim would be best, patented versus unpatented, hard rock or placer operations etc. The BLM an agency thats part of the US dept of the Interior maintains a database called LR2000 that contains all public land mining claims in the US and their local office would have alot of info on claims in your area and other info that may be of interest in your situation.

 

Best of luck,

 

Merlin8*

 

[wdrob]

Wow!

 

I did not think those nuggets were anything considerable. If you look in one of the pictures you can see the flakes that I found and when compared to the 'nuggets' they really aren't that big. None the less the weight is accurate. I got a few of these empty bottles from a friend that polishes rocks and buys bags of dirt from somewhere around here.

 

I own the land, mineral rights, water rights, etc... everything. Although the zoning here is Agriculture and Preservation there is a commercial sand pit just right down the road from me but I have never heard anything of them finding gold but then again, I never see many trucks going in and out of there, come to think of it for it to supposedly be a sand pit.

 

Well now I am slightly motivated. On the days when I did get more than one 5 gallon bucket was when I actually found a nugget and some flakes. I had to dig down pretty deep to get into some quartz and other rocks. I just brought the bucket out with my lawn tractor and wagon. Now it is summer and too grown up back there for my lawn tractor.

 

I am going to have to study Mr.Smith's calculations. I just chose to dig at the base of a old small waterfall since I saw them on TV in Alaska calling the base of a waterfall a 'Honey Hole' ... I would have settled for a Templeton Reid gold coin much closer and in my yard.

 

Merlin .. Maybe that sand pit is actually listed as a mining operation. I will have to check that out.

 

 

 

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

Yeah the bottom of an old waterfall is a great place to look. Also, you definitely want to look on the inside bends of rivers or streams....or dried up rivers/streams. Like this:

 

One key thing you're looking for when panning is black sand. The black sand is a mix of materials that usually contains hematite and/or magnatite. The hematite/magnatite and gold are much heavier than other material that gets washed down a river and they settle in the same places.

 

I am not a trained geologist. But I have done a lot of gold panning and prospecting. What you've got there is called placer gold.

 

Other types of gold occurrences require expensive and messy processing. The rock on the left is from a lode gold deposit just north of a very small town in Mexico called Yécora in Sonora. You can see very small specks of gold on the quartz. The one on the right is from a Carlin-type deposit where the gold (and other minerals) are disseminated into the rock. This rock is also from Mexico on the southern most tip of Baja between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas. Both of these deposits would be considered very high grade.

[wheat'swheats]

In the state of Georgia water and mineral rights go with the titled owner of the land

[wdrob]

Maybe if I find some more gold, enough to strike some coins, I can get Daniel Carr over here and we can make some Counterfeits ... um ... Fantasy Pieces .... or is that Copies.

 

 

[CaptBrian]

I can tell you right now, you need a mouthpiece. I offer my services to you free of charge. Here is the way you do it for your new safety deposit box you found.

 

SHH H H H H H h h h h h h h h h etc. !

 

You wanna start a gold rush or something in your back yard?

 

Make it fun, and let the fun pay for your fun. Is that clear? I hope so .

 

In the movie, 'The Dirty Dozen', Bronson played one of the prisoners. He was in jail for shooting a soldier who was going over the hill with the medical supplies. The boss (Lee Marvin), while interviewing him said, "You only did one thing wrong, you let some one see you do it."

 

I say, play this close to your chest. Get info from government sources, stay legal and don't blab it all over the place. The walls have ears and there are bozos everywhere.

 

Sounds like you have a winner. Just don't dig in your pocket to chase the rainbow. Use the rainbow to pay for your digging.

Capt. Brian

(I call myself, 'the lost navigator', so what do I know?

Really great. Good luck and most of all HAVE FUN!

[wdrob]

 

You wanna start a gold rush or something in your back yard?

 

Make it fun, and let the fun pay for your fun. Is that clear? I hope so .Good luck and most of all HAVE FUN!

 

Hahahaha!

 

I got it.

 

Well I have decided to postpone the track-hoe for now but I have scaled my operation up a bit. I should be receiving this in the mail sometime next week.

 

 

I think this is the perfect solution for me at this time. I am also going to be joining a prospecting club locally that leases quite a bit of acreage of quality gold bearing mining areas in Dahlonega, Ga. My wife is getting very excited as well.

 

Family fun! What more can you ask for?

 

 

[RWB]

Where's the water pump?

[wdrob]

It is in the tub, hanging on the inside, works off of a 12 volt DC supply and used as either a recirculating system (like the picture) or you can put the pump in a creek or river if working near a water source. Can be ran off a water hose too, come to think of it.

 

Got one of these coming too. This is a cleanup sluice. Greatly reduces the amount of work not having to pan the concentrate.

 

 

 

 

[RWB]

If you don't find gold, you can re-purpose it as a fish tank.

[wdrob]

If you don't find gold, you can re-purpose it as a fish tank.

 

Hahaha!

 

Always the thinker Roger.

 

 

If it turns out to be just a fluke here, my wife and I are planning on joining a local weekend gold mining group that has leased properties that produce. I am gearing up on my metal detector supplies and accessories as well.

 

Maybe one day I will find something with that metal detector besides a nail.

 

 

[RWB]

Sounds like fun! Enjoy yourself!

 

I found a nail without a special metal detector -- my right front tire.

[Ugakoivet]

I live close by and have a small 2.5 inch dredge and a hooka dice rebreather if you want some help. I have found about 2oz of gold around Ellijay Ga. Not a lot but fun to do!

 

Let me know

[wdrob]

Are you by chance a member of that Week End Gold Miners Prospecting Club?

 

I spoke with a couple of guys that turned me on to that web site and was curious and my wife and I were thinking about joining.

 

I don't have any active streams, rivers, lakes, etc.. on my property. It is a dry creek bed. I will have that sluice soon and see what comes from it.

 

I have been reading and learning quite a bit from this bedrockdreams blog. Seems to be oriented more for gold out west but the principal theories seem to be the same in most situations regardless.

 

I agree, fun to do. (thumbs u

 

 

[Ugakoivet]

No but I have also looked into that prospector club. Looks like it would be fun, I work full time with 2 small children so no major time for it now. Maybe in a few years when they are 8-10 years old! Good luck...

[wdrob]

I found a great site for displaying all prospect, active, and past producing mines in Georgia, and any other state for that matter.

 

You can place any type of mineral, gas, oil, etc... and download the kml file and bring it up in google earth.

 

There are a few placer prospect mines closer to me than I would have thought.

 

Here Is The Link for the USGS Mineral Resource Data System

 

 

Give that a test drive!

 

 

[wdrob]

 

Here is a shot of the gold mines, closed, open, and prospecting placer mines that are active.

 

Look at that huge belt right through Dahlonega and surrounding areas.