2023...

[Mackka]

Are the blue circles mine shafts Phil?

 

[Moneybox]

Are the blue circles mine shafts Phil?

This is what I get when I hit one of those busy patches on the map unless I zoom in.



Yes they are all mines of some kind although some are not identified. Everything was gold because that was the main attraction here. It's very handy for getting coordinates to an old patch but most of the detectable gold has gone. Some of these areas like the pearling patch had surface gold that they just picked up. The blue dot on my lease is a waste dump and that's what I'm processing with Tonka, Grizzly and Goldilocks. The entire block has been worked but it's not recorded on the maps.

 

[Mackka]

Thanks Phil and I see your home is built on a couple of mines and is that why your brother was able to pan gold off the front driveway?

 

[Moneybox]

Thanks Phil and I see your home is built on a couple of mines and is that why your brother was able to pan gold off the front driveway?

I haven't identified any actual mines on our little ¼ acre block. The late Aboriginal neighbour told me that when he was a kid and it rained his parents would send all the kids out to pick up gold from the slopes down from the house. Our house is right on top of the knob.

 

[Jaros]

Now what do you do on a rainy day??

 

[Mackka]

I haven't identified any actual mines on our little ¼ acre block. The late Aboriginal neighbour told me that when he was a kid and it rained his parents would send all the kids out to pick up gold from the slopes down from the house. Our house is right on top of the knob.

I have been told by some folks in Inverell NSW that when they were kids they would go out into the paddocks that had just been plowed to search for coloured glass like stones to use in their slingshots. Wonder where all those Sapphires ended up.

 

[Moneybox]

Now what do you do on a rainy day??

Jaros, I'm sure there'll still be gold there but the nails and bits of metal would drive you mad. The EMI is pretty bad as well. Behind our house there's a dunny lane and a 1/3 acre block. We've been trying for three years to buy it. The dunny lane has been approved to be removed but the shire here is slow at doing anything. If we can get the lane then we can buy the 1/3 acre crown land of which we have first option but it's all a drawn out process. Then you'll see Tonka taking a scrape to remove the metallic junk and we'll be out there swinging a couple of DD coils

 

[Moneybox]

Stingray, take a look at this one.



You smarter people probably realized that my furnace was way too big to ever be a gold furnace for the amount of gold that I find



That meant that I had go back to the drawing board

View attachment Furnace V2.mp4

I'm pretty happy with the results so far

 

[Mackka]

Simple answer Phil is Find More Gold.

 

[Moneybox]

The first furnace got refractory cement but I ran out so this little one had to have perlite and plaster.



While the plaster was setting I knocked up some tongs.



Tomorrow I'll trim the excess cement and it might even get a coat of paint

 

[Moneybox]

I've had too long playing around with these furnaces, it's time to turn up the heat



I made a pair of pouring tongs to fit the new crucibles.



Then I made a little plinth to stand them on so they wouldn't be directly in the firing line.



That raised the little crucible to where I could easily lift it in and out.



I measured out 25g of gold in sand. I'm no longer removing the last of the black sand because it comes out easily in the melt. I decided to use one of the old crucibles for the trial run.



I've found that if I wet the borax down it doesn't blow away as soon as the flame hits it.

View attachment First melt.mp4

My ears are ringing a bit, I should have had ear plugs in.



We'll rescue a bit more gold from the flux later.

 

[Mackka]

Great result from fantastic inventive ingenuity. very nice Moneybox. Mackka

 

[Stingray]

That looks perfect, well done!

 

[authere]

Hi Phil,

With your new furnace you could make yourself some Nordic Gold..makes an interesting read, could also be used for pouring replica gold nuggets which would give you a copy of the biggin before you sold the real nuggy...also for coin making

Ron

 

[Qlden]

Hi Phil,
Did you ever see the Davsgold thread where he makes his gold smelting furnace from a Hebel block?
Unfortunately I had already ordered and paid ($700) to buy one from Reeds before seeing his post….

 

[Moneybox]

Hi Phil,

With your new furnace you could make yourself some Nordic Gold..makes an interesting read, could also be used for pouring replica gold nuggets which would give you a copy of the biggin before you sold the real nuggy...also for coin making

Ron

Yes I watched a video on this the other day. Quite a complicated mix of metals but I have a few scraps of AB2 Aluminium Bronze that are offcuts from some castings I had made years ago, in fact I have some of those castings left in Capel that'll never get used for their intended purpose so I could make nuggets from those. Perhaps not as bright as Nordic Gold but still doesn't corrode. I bought some silicone casting solution for that job too and it should be hiding in the shed somewhere

Now there is just one little problem.... I've sold all the big nuggets

 

[Moneybox]

Hi Phil,
Did you ever see the Davsgold thread where he makes his gold smelting furnace from a Hebel block?
Unfortunately I had already ordered and paid ($700) to buy one from Reeds before seeing his post….

No I don't think so but I'll take a look. I have a few of those blocks that Mrs M bought me when I got the refractory cement, ceramic blanket and crucibles. I've just bought some lime and sodium silicate that should form a coating superior to anything I have at present. I watched a video yesterday where the guy tested it at over 4000°F. I stuffed up on the perlite and plaster mix because it was meant to have silica sand and I simply forgot so I intend to coat it before I destroy it.

 

[user 7268]

A mob of camels on the road Phil, them buggers have no road sense?

Yep speed humps in the true sense

 

[Moneybox]

Yesterday we got to a point with the rock garden where I can give it a rest for a while.



I'm sure she'll want irrigation but that can wait for the moment.



I was about to slip out to the minesite when Mrs M went off to work but I thought I'd better check my worklist on the whiteboard



This little task has been there so long it was fading away but I see that she's chalked it in again so I decided I'd better at least make a start. I spotted this Gidgee tree the other day. It has fallen sometime during the recent storms so it was a good opportunity to get my hands on a chunk of hardwood without cutting a tree down.



I was told it was hard but I didn't realize how hard. Fortunately it's still green because it'll only get harder as it dries out. I was on the forth chainsaw battery by the time I loaded it in the van so I didn't even bother with the battery powered plane. I was hoping to saw it into a plank but the saw is simply too small so I'll just have to whittle it down

 

[Moneybox]

Unfortunately these gidgee trees don't grow straight like a spotted gum or an iron bark.



So by the time I get a nice square bit of timber it's getting quite small.



Hopefully I'll get enough for the task or I'll be back looking for another fallen tree. There are a couple more but they look very hard and dry.