Sluicing old workings

[Mick C]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and would like some info. I'm interested in getting a sluice but was wondering how they would go with old workings material as opposed to river material? Also what type of sluice would be suited for this type of material?
Mick

 

[backcreek]

Hay Mick,
Welcome to the forum.
You would need to sample pan the area you want to sluice to get an idea if it's worth setting up a highbanker.
If the material is tailings it it may not be worth your while, you won't know until you test pan it.
Just a word of warning though, in some of the historic gold fields the diggings are heritage listed and you are not permitted to disturb them so you may want to do some homework first.

Cheers
Mick

 

[MJB]

Hi Mick C,

Backcreek has given you some good advice re heritage listed gold fields.

If you can dig then it may be worth your while trying a dry blower instead of a sluice. No water required and can be used on top of a mountain if need be. They are a good way to sample mullock heaps and can produce good chunky gold in the right areas.

Good luck

 

[Ben78]

I've washed heaps of old hard rock mine mullock, plenty of fine gold in it.

 

[Mick C]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The mullock heaps are on private property so theres no problem with heritage sites etc. I'm new to the whole prospecting thing so I have a lot of learning to do. I will test pan some samples and see how I go.
Mick

 

[G0lddigg@]

hey Mick C,

Ive had great success running tailing's through a drywasher, often it depends on the size/grade of rocks for example when benching a deposit they old fellas would knock off as much dirt as they could on the larger rocks then stack them in a pile whilst getting down to the wash. The reality is these larger rocks where potentially once on the bottom of a a creek before the gully was formed so after sitting in a pile for 100+ years through rain and wind they will release the gold that was stuck in the mud and pores of the quartz. additionally the gas trapped inside of quartz will pop and explode/com bust and gold will be released.

PS. i'm yet to find a tailing pile that has not been worth screening a pan or dirt from. its hard work but generally worth a little color.

good luck mate and if you can do some research on the area so you know what type of gold they had

 

[Mick C]

Hi GOlddigg@

The mullock heaps are on my dads property and he had a visit several years ago from the granddaughter of the original owner. She said that apparently the area was fairly rich with gold. As far as I know they were all underground mines. A lot of the mullock heap material is made up of a yellow soft clay, would this material be worth panning? I will have to do some research on the different methods ie drywasher as im totally new to this.
Mick

 

[Mick C]

Also what is a recommended pan to buy
Thanks
Mick

 

[G0lddigg@]

Mick sounds like these heaps are possibly capped mines? is there any white clay about..... i think i'd need some photos before i could offer more advice either way it never hurts to take a sieve and get a bucket full of material.

get one just of the clay and stick it in a bucket with a drill and pain mixer and smash it up, run the hose for a while at the end you'll probably only have a handful of stuff to pan out.

that's the fun of the hobby mate its the thrill of the chase.
pan wise its personal choice but if i was buying a someone i'd go with the Garrett super sluice and the 10" as well. the super sluice is great because all sieves fit inside it so you can stack two of them and classify into your pan then throw that in a bucket.

minerden sell them http://www.minersden.com.au/garrett-15-super-sluice-gold-pan/

if you want something cheaper the blue keene pans off ebay are great as well $15

 

[Hunting the yellow]

you could try a turbo pan they are great for test panning and easy to use

 

[G0lddigg@]

pfft! you can have my turbo pan ... cant imagine a worse pan to learn with

At least its aussie owners thought