Gold bearing quartz

[Galena]

Hi guys, I'm new to prospecting and just wondering if anybody has knowledge to gold in quartz.
I have a lot of quartz veins sticking out of the ground , but it's a lot of dull grey veins and sometimes dark grey shiny spots in it.
I've been told it's Galena,( hence my username).
Some quartz has had sulfur colors in it when broken open but no visible gold.Crushing to dust and small particles and then panning has not shown anything. How do I find out if there is any microscopic gold dust?
Also I know that there is gold on my property as I find people poaching bags of rocks on my trail cam.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dwt]

try gridding and bag up your samples head off to your nearest essay lab and for a fee they should be able to give you some idea as to what minerals are in the quartz 8)

 

[Galena]

Thank dwt,
Il try that as soon as I get the quartz to a fine powder,
Il have to roll up my sleeves and start crushing,
Cheers
Galena.

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Galena,

I have a similar issue. I believe you don't crush them up before sending them off but send them of in rock form to ensure they can trace the correct minerals and amount in the rock. And ensure the rock is large enough size for more precise results.

I am trying to find out where and how much the assaying will cost.

I have several different types of rock I would like to get assayed.

How are you crushing them?

I am still needing to find an easier way - I tried with sledge hammer in a soft plastic container but most of the shiny stuff gets stuck to the bottom of the soft plastic bucket

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

Oh, also, silver can usually be found with gold. And I have read rusty quartz is a good indicator although the gold could well be inbetween the quartz and the host rock. Do you know what the rock associated with the quartz is?

White bullz quartz can host gold as well as it does in California

Merry

 

[loamer]

Not all quartz will have gold - in fact the odds are very small and dependent on where you are. Quartz is simply an indicator and where there is eluvial gold, there will be quartz close by - not the other was around. There are numerous quartz reefs still showing in Victoria which are absolute duffers - no gold, in fact you can walk across many gullies with quartz runs that are gold barren. The coloured quartz - rose etc, is also an indicator that the quartz was subject to mineralisation which is a positive indicator but still no guarantee.

 

[Beagleboy]

Thank dwt,
Il try that as soon as I get the quartz to a fine powder,
Il have to roll up my sleeves and start crushing,
Cheers
Galena.

Hi Galena,

You need something like this to crush your rocks. I had this made for $80 and the craw bar was $70. Bit safer than sledge hammer.

 

[merryeclipse]

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1151/1392196305_image.jpg

Thank dwt,
Il try that as soon as I get the quartz to a fine powder,
Il have to roll up my sleeves and start crushing,
Cheers
Galena.

Hi Galena,

You need something like this to crush your rocks. I had this made for $80 and the craw bar was $70. Bit safer than sledge hammer.

Hi Beagleboy,

Thank you for the pic. What is the base made from?

Merry

 

[Galena]

Hi Merry,
Ok I'll keep the rocks as I pick them out of the ground,for the essay.
I'm interested in who you find to essay your rocks.
At the moment I'm crushing them at home in my camp oven,lol with a sledge hammer. On a tarp so I don't miss the bits that fly out.
I will probably order one of those pots that Beagle boy has to make life easier.

I'm finding rocks with red and yellow in them so I'm pretty close, just can't pin point the gold bearing veins in amongs the overgrowth on the mountain.The mountain had alluvial gold found on it before , but the question is where?
The rock looks like slate ,it's all over the place down in the gullys and creeks.
Enzo

 

[Beagleboy]

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1151/1392196305_image.jpg

Thank dwt,
Il try that as soon as I get the quartz to a fine powder,
Il have to roll up my sleeves and start crushing,
Cheers
Galena.

Hi Galena,

You need something like this to crush your rocks. I had this made for $80 and the craw bar was $70. Bit safer than sledge hammer.

Hi Beagleboy,

Thank you for the pic. What is the base made from?

Merry

It's all solid steel. The dolly pot is great. Just use craw bar with flat end to smash the rocks.

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Enzo,

Here is a post I did today with rock samples. Hope it helps.

It looks like there has been panning in the creek in the past although has not been gone through for some time. I have done quite a bit of research but still yet to find placer gold. I am still figuring out my detector

I haven't had anything assayed as yet as there is a cost and there are so many different types of rocks out here so need to get the best samples of the best areas.

Also, some hot rocks do contain gold I have read, so I keep the hot rocks to the side I find my hot rocks are iron ore and my magnets stick to them with ease.

I just really need a good, contained base to crush in. I have a crowbar, didn't even think about using one until I saw that pic so much learning to do.

I found that googling and reading the way the old timers would identify areas very useful.

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

Oops, need to add link to post sorry https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4789

Also, do you have geological maps of the area that you can use in google earth? And also maps of found gold in the area? These are invaluable as you can find out the exact rock types, if mines with the same rock type from the same era exist close by etc. They can will also show you where fault lines are which always is a promising sign. Luckily I have a major fault through our area, one side quartz rich, the other two sides tuff/shale/siltstone rich and intrusive volcanic rocks respectively.

I found these by googling 'geology map area' where area is the name of you area/suburb/town. Or gold mine maps, but there are links to maps on this site on the main forums page I believe.

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

It's all solid steel. The dolly pot is great. Just use craw bar with flat end to smash the rocks.

Sweet, thank you! I shall put my trusty husband on the project of making me one

 

[trashmagnet]

there is a test you can buy and do at home for micro gold or gold bearing ore.
I can't remember the name, but you crush your sample and put this solution in the dust, then you put this paper strip in the solution take it out and burn the strip of paper, if the paper turns purple when burnt it means you have gold in your sample.
you then get an assay to see how many gpt it goes.
it saves you wasting money getting barren samples assayed.
someone else may be able to help with the name of the test or google "home test for au"
regards tm

 

[Galena]

Hi Merry,
Yeah I found an excellent map on the Mineral deposit maps site, I think it was.
They have maps for all of NSW showing previous mine sites and what minerals are found in that area ,as we'll as fault lines.
It shows a fault line only place but I yet have investigate that area.
Il give the link a go as we'll , thanks,

 

[merryeclipse]

You're right trashmagnet, there is also one in the US that you add the liquid to the ground up material and if it goes purple it means there is gold and there is enough of it to be of economic value.

I would have to find the site again.

I am looking for tests that can test for silver, platinum, iron etc and amounts as well as I get a lot of red staining in the creek beds and want to know if there is enough iron or other minerals to see if it is valuable.

Merry

 

[Galena]

Hi trashmagnet,
That would be easier and cheaper ,
Thanks il look into the test kit

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Merry,
Yeah I found an excellent map on the Mineral deposit maps site, I think it was.
They have maps for all of NSW showing previous mine sites and what minerals are found in that area ,as we'll as fault lines.
It shows a fault line only place but I yet have investigate that area.
Il give the link a go as we'll , thanks,

I will have to look at the mineral deposit site you mentioned, that will prob help me out more. I have got the rock types etc and fault lines although I am not a geologist so don't know what all of it means, wish I did!

The geo map made it easier to find the fault lines, I have a few, but they were a bit off and the rock types don't all match to where the map says. I am trying to draw it all out, a bit hard with over 1000 acres.........very very happy I have a four wheeler! Just have to be careful up those slopes as I flipped it the other day. All my sample rocks went flying down the hill.

 

[Galena]

Wow 1000 acres is huge, be carefully out there with the four wheeler.
Lol I'm the same, I carry as much as I can in two buckets down gully's in goat country and frequently land on my back side with all the samples going every where,
I might take less samples next time,

 

[Galena]

Oh I forgot mention, the maps get overlaid on google earth if you have it installed on your computer, it's pretty cool.