Loaming for Gold information and questions

[trenchfighter]

oh? well, thats not so hard, i do that allready lol!

 

[thedigger]

Village do you use a lens or a microscope to determine whether the fine colors are sharp ?

 

[Village]

Mate the way my eyes are going , the bottom of two coke bottles is almost in order, loupe and a black light mainly, they even have a great little one on ebay now that has both white and black light built into it for about $20, the vision not to bad, not B & L quality, but close enough for field work. Microscope, never thats for the lab rats, once it gets beyond a loupe, let those that live in cages earn their keep.

 

[Hare_Twigga]

You have to be very good at panning before you go loaming. Loam gold is harder to pan than alluvial gold. It floats around in the pan more because of it's rough texture and often has quartz still attached. I use a Dino-Lite USB Microscope to check there's no alluvial mixed in with the loams.

 

[Village]

Ok Wal

Not going to pave a yellow brick road for you, but I will put you in the area.

 

[thedigger]

Hi Village
Well suppose you are right I am a lab rat,I like the microscope,I use a small green dish for looking at my samples,which are ore from mine heaps which I dolly and the put through a 50 mesh sieve several times,to see if anything goes,if things look OK I use my small jaw crusher which has 2 rollers under jaw,and it ends up fine,and then I can put it through a small ball mill made from 9kg gas bottle

 

[Village]

What vintage is that, gives us a better look, did you make it? You have me interested. I have been considering a smaller crusher to go at the end of the trommel on the test trailer, but non of the commercial ones are floating my boat at the moment.

 

[Village]

Oh thedigger

By the way no of fence meant by the lab rat, my daughter is a metallurgist for bhp, I just refer to her as that cause, cause I prefer to work in ounces and she works in ppb( parts per billion),

 

[WalnLiz]

Ok Wal

Not going to pave a yellow brick road for you, but I will put you in the area. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1900/1390079406_mongarlowe.jpg

Thanks for that info Village. I know of its potential very well as i Dredged that river for over a decade in the 70's with a 6" dredge, and purchased my first new car with the first weeks dredging proceeds. I still highbank a certain section of the river on private property, but the river has been closed to prospecting by the land holders for a lot of years, and only a very few , lucky enough to know owners, can access it.

Good luck to anybody trying to stake a mining claim in that region.....even if you're one of the "Big Players".....EL, yehh....Claim?????

Cheers Wal.

 

[thedigger]

No problems with that comment.

I build the machine 25 years ago,and it has worked great,only thing is that I have attend to a bit wear and tear on the jaws.The motor blows a bit smoke to start with apart from that it works great

 

[trenchfighter]

my daughter is a metallurgist for bhp,

Hmm she'd make a good prospect for a gold digger!!
ahhhh i crack me up....

 

[thedigger]

Perhaps this might be of interest

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-P...351?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20de22c60f

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-6...337?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ced97569

 

[Village]

She is single trench fighter, strawberry blonde 24 years old, metallurgist, good job six figures cadetship out of uni, financial secure. Bloody works on a mine site, buggered if Iknow what the issue is

 

[penfooey]

Hi all - follow link - written 1934 re Old Hand's Hints on Loaming.....I just love this old stuff

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/84198039

 

[WalnLiz]

Thanks for the link Pen....agree with all he says,

Cheers Wal.

 

[slowflow]

Mate the way my eyes are going , the bottom of two coke bottles is almost in order, loupe and a black light mainly, they even have a great little one on ebay now that has both white and black light built into it for about $20, the vision not to bad, not B & L quality, but close enough for field work. Microscope, never thats for the lab rats, once it gets beyond a loupe, let those that live in cages earn their keep.

After reading this, I started looking & stumbler across this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Belomo-S...-high-quality-optical-glass-NEW-/180913722487. Just over twice the price (about 45 depending on exchange) but the belomo brand gets good reviews. Other places up to $175

http://www.belomo.by/en/catalog/opt...ya_podlinnosti_cennih_bumag/lupa_spektralnaya.

Next task is to learn how to use it. I'm sure there will be some fine stuff in the black sand that can't be seen.

 

[Hare_Twigga]

They look great! I always just carry a cheap triplet in the field. Always check the gravel left in your pan when loaming and getting good colour.

 

[thedigger]

I'm sure there will be some fine stuff in the black sand that can't be seen.

How True

 

[Prospector B]

Village,

In your experience with a sample distance of 100m what is the likelihood of missing a small lode? I'm new to this and to me 100m is a long way apart, though necessary when covering distances of 500m or more. Is there anything else you would be looking for in your pan or sample apart from gold which may indicate you are getting close?

For example:
Scenario 1
I were to take two samples 100m apart and find nothing then I would not investigate further.
Scenario 2
In the same area I were to take three samples 50m apart and only find gold in the middle sample I would then continue looking around this middle sample.

In scenario 1 I miss the gold, in 2 I find it. Does this happen or am I missing something obvious?

BTW thanks for sharing your knowledge, most appreciated!

 

[Hare_Twigga]

That would definitely happen especially in steep country.