planthelper Posted May 21, 2012 hi! if i go for a lil walk, from my house, i sometimes pan for gold, in the creeks around. i often meet snakes, and at times they scare me for a bit, but i love snakes. and snakes never stopped me from enjoying the australian bush, in nature, i feel safe. so after doging the snakes i find my gold here it is: 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
watertrade Posted May 21, 2012 cool, gold. how much gold is that?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heretic Posted May 21, 2012 The mine that operated in your area was truly phenomenal in its output of gold and other metals . I believe that it may have been the largest mine in Australia at one time . I think they used cyanide to recover the gold from the crushed ore . I'm wondering if the creeks have survived , and contain live eco - systems nowadays ? I have long wanted to go prospecting with a pan in that area , but have never done so . Hoping that you strike it rich !!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted May 21, 2012 I had to give up being a gold-digger, I fell prey to too many cougars. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted May 21, 2012 Love the show Gold Rush Alaska. Always dreamt about being a gold-digger. Does that count? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted May 21, 2012 U can make a mini sluce box u can set up in a flowing stream, dump soil in for a while then wash out the miners moss. Just google utube sluce box, they make dry and wet ones. hi! if i go for a lil walk, from my house, i sometimes pan for gold, in the creeks around. i often meet snakes, and at times they scare me for a bit, but i love snakes. and snakes never stopped me from enjoying the australian bush, in nature, i feel safe. so after doging the snakes i find my gold here it is: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coquero Posted May 21, 2012 gday planthelper! great work... I do a bit of panning and detecting myself... how many pans was that concentrated from? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted May 21, 2012 Fun and rewarding, but make sure you have a Miners Right so when you find that huge nugget, the government can't take it off you. ( bit more to it than that, but you should look into that if you haven't already .I am not sure of the rules in your state). At first I thought the image in the opening post was a petri dish , lol. Good luck plant helper, have fun. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted May 21, 2012 Prospectors permit cost $12/yr in Tas. Good for alluvial , but if you are cracking into rock you need a lease. I pan a little, not as much as I would like. Problem is I end up losing the flecks, and then finding them and losing them again.... I can never get it all into 1 vial.. Have panned a a hell of a lot of osmiridium over the years. Many interesting things can be found in alluvial deposits, saphires are a popular gemstone that we have chased for fun. Have a few but they are not "massive rocks", easy to overlook when in the raw state. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted May 21, 2012 U can make a mini sluce box u can set up in a flowing stream, dump soil in for a while then wash out the miners moss. Just google utube sluce box, they make dry and wet ones. sometime i use a sluice box, but mostly i just use black plastic and line some parts of the creek with it. even the black plastic catches a lot of gold, and has the advantage of having no weight. gday planthelper! great work... I do a bit of panning and detecting myself... how many pans was that concentrated from? maybe a 100 pans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted May 21, 2012 I pan a little, not as much as I would like. Problem is I end up losing the flecks, and then finding them and losing them again.... I can never get it all into 1 vial.. grade it through a stack of gold sieves and then pan the contents of each sieve separately. This is a bit more time consuming so you can do it when you get home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted May 22, 2012 grade it through a stack of gold sieves and then pan the contents of each sieve separately. This is a bit more time consuming so you can do it when you get home. yes, use a sieve. but if you lack skill with the pan, than just save all your tailings, and re work them, to see if you lost gold. one doesn't lose much gold in a pan, the gold will saty at the bottom, if you handle the pan well. what i do is, i empty my pan down to say, ~10%, and than re fill with fresh alluvial gravel. than, after refilling for say 5 or 10 times, i pan it till i see the gold. your above post reads to me like, you suggest, panning aswell the material contained in the sieves, but there is no need for this. i sieve only once, but multiple sieving would help to reduce the material which needs to be panned a lot. the only way how you lose gold specks, happens if you have clay in the wash (gold sticks to clay). if you have a lot of clay, you have to puddle a lot. if your gold is so fine, that it floats, than add some detergent, into the water. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted May 22, 2012 yes that sounds spot on, but if someone was have trouble using the pan for the finishing step (like waterboy) then he could try putting it through a couple of those ultra fine mesh sieves first then pan each grade very carefully. It may help him a little but good pan skills are enough. I got a stack of lab sieves about 12 years ago, worth $130 each back then and I got 10 of them! They are so useful for so many different things, especially gold. One of the mines I worked at essentially used giant sieves and wind tunnels to separate the ore from the gravel based on the difference in density. Centrifuges are awesome technology, try rig up a solar panel to a dyson centrifuge vacuum cleaner, a few little adjustments and hey presto, you're pumping out bricks like a pro lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) One of the mines I worked at essentially used giant sieves and wind tunnels to separate the ore from the gravel based on the difference in density. Centrifuges are awesome technology, try rig up a solar panel to a dyson centrifuge vacuum cleaner, a few little adjustments and hey presto, you're pumping out bricks like a pro lol. wau, you are talking modern dry blowing! what i would like, is a big venturi. Edited May 22, 2012 by planthelper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) lol... Halycon ... my issue is not panning it down (have good technique), but losing the material in 1001 containers in the workshop/ute/backpack..... Its not a lot of gold in each container so not stressed- however if I finally get it all together it may impress me (one vial). On the subject of pans, I am now favouring a plastic one these days with only ridges on one quarter of the pan edge. Had to change the technique a little but I like it more and more. Definately the shit for the heavier nodules of osmiridium EDIT - if you have a good source, and serious a sluice is the way to go to process a lot of alluvium Sieving only sorts to size, not density of the material (hence why the blowing in addition works). Sluicing/panning works on the density principle. Edited May 22, 2012 by waterboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
saguaro Posted May 22, 2012 I had to give up being a gold-digger, I fell prey to too many cougars. beat me to it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nabraxas Posted May 23, 2012 when i first visited Australia in 1990 on a trip to the Victorian town ov Eldorado, we passed a guy panning in the river that runs near the road. We pulled over to see what his story was. He was using a sluce & working his way downstream. When you looked upstream you could see all the piles ov river sand where he'd been working his way down. He said it was his only source ov income & he usually made about an ounce a day. We gave it a go & panned the stuff down to flecks ov gold & some black rock stuff. If i remember correctly he used to mix mercury w/the flakes & bake it in a hollowed out potato to get a nugget. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
