A few good files! (Some DIY’s too!

Sometimes I get pretty busy, but I do what I can to get files posted and uploaded, etc, so bear with me!    Also, if you have something you may be looking for, just ask and I will see what I have.    I have general stuff as well as some advanced stuff, like Ormes and such with gold and silver, and the platinum sisters. etc.

Also wanted to give a blurb about our sale on crushers.  Ten percent  off for a short time, hand crushers as well as our impact mills.

Anyhow,  let’s get this party started!

1891 Getting Gold.doc   Extensive book (130 pages!) first published in 1891 by J.C. Johnson, deals with mostly stamp mills but has a lot of info on methods of finding ores, concentrating, crushing, processing, etc.

Black sands highbanker tips.doc Tips on using a highbanker. Would also work in regards to things like recirculating sluices, etc. 4 pages.

California gold region 6.doc   Info on 6 of the gold regions of California. 14 pages

diy-shaker table.pdf   11 pages, including pictures to build a mini hand crank shaker table. says it will to “micron gold” like 150 mesh and finer.

gold spiral build kit.pdf  Build your own gold spiral! 8 pages with diagrams. Some parts you will need to purchase, some you can make, some you can scrounge!

Next small batch of Mining Files!

It’s been a couple weeks, but I actually was able to get away for a couple days and explore and prospect etc.  It’s been a LONG time since I was able to get away.  I have not had a chance to check out the stuff I collected.  Have to crush it down and sample it.  I DO need a better pair of trail boots though.  The best would be something with heavy tread on the soles, and best if they are high enough to support the ankles.   I was wearing my shop boots.  Good for the shop, bad for the trails!   Going up was fine, coming back down my foot slid on the gravel slope and I took a bit of a spill.  Just a cut elbow.  Could have been worse.  I could have broke something and had to be air lifted out of their!  So, never assume (like I did) that everything is A-Ok.  As a prepper may say “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best”.

This weeks files are as follows:

azsignifdeposits.xls  Significant Excel file on the top 115 mining deposits in Arizona. Chart expands greatly to the right. Includes Production, post production, tonnage, reserves, type of rock, type of ores, etc.

How to Mine and Prospect for Placer Gold.doc  19 pages by J.M. West. All about placer mining and deposits, sampling,etc. Bureau of Mines publication, Information Circular 8517.

gold equipment.docx  11 pages on concentrating equipment. Charts show which method (of 25 different methods) would work best for the mesh size of gold you are working with.

How to Build and Operate a Miller Table.pdf 24 pages, “How To” on building your own Miller Table for cleaning up fine concentrates, By Gary Weishaupt. A nice design, and if you have the time it’s well worth the efforts

So there you have it this time around!  Hope everyone can find something useful in their education on Mining and Prospecting.  If you ever find a file that is not linking up, available, or just plain missing or not working after download, let me know at gary@crazycrusher.com and I’ll see what I can do for you to fix it.

Also, I would appreciate Social Media likes, such as Facebook,  Twitter, linkedin etc.

PART 2: THE “MINI-SERIES” OF THE MINING FILES BLOG!

Here are the other 5 files for the series called “Basement Chemistry”,  by Dr. A.K. Williams, Ph.D, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

I personally was able to get out and kick some rocks the other day looking for a viable claim.   I crushed some samples with my Crazycrusher and instead of doing a field text, I put each crushed sample in it’s one baggie, marked it with a sharpie marker with a number, and made note of that number in my little pocket notepad, along with the GPS coordinance and a couple of pictures of the area just in case!  Maybe it’s overkill but should I find something running in a very profitable percentage, I don’t want to be one of those who “can’t find the lost ledge” ever.

I have a pretty good lab set up to test for many metals and minerals, not just gold (or silver).  Who knows, maybe I will come across a new lode of copper in a small output that could be worth much more.  I am not able to actually mine it as the cost of a lode claim is very expensive for paperwork.  But there is nothing wrong with leasing it (or selling the claim) to a large company who has the equipment.

So, without further fanfare,  here is the rest of the story….

Melting and Smelting.doc  Quick 2 pages. The difference between the two, and what you need to know to be successful at it.  More of a precursor.

Rules of Solubility.doc  Short and Sweet!  2 Pages.  What will dissolve in which acid and what won’t. Pretty much a “must have” in the Lab!

Super Clorox.doc  2 pages, making a “super clorox” as a reducing agent.

Using Mercury.doc  6 pages. All about Mercury, how to use it, how to make charged mercury, and just a great how to article!

Weights and Measures.doc   3 pages. Good info! Learn why labs use the metric system, conversions, etc. I use the metric system 90 percent of the time in the lab, and sometimes
in the shop. I find it easier to measure something at 85mm than xx/64th’s when building the Goldquest 1400 impact mills.  It’s just quicker at times.

So there you have it.  Good luck and stay up wind!

The “Mini-Series” of the Mining Files blog!

Some of you have undoubtedly already read what I am going to post.   There are 10 sections  this new post, but I am only going to post the first five this week, and the other 5 next week.  They are called “Basement Chemistry”,  by Dr. A.K. Williams, Ph.D, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

If you already read them, perhaps it’s time to revisit them!  I tend to get more out of the 2nd read.  Kind of like seeing a movie you already saw, and you “catch” things you missed in the first viewing!

Basement Chemistry is just that.   Fairly easy to read, not all that technical mumbo jumbo, and learn how chemicals react with other things in a tried and true fashion.  I have stripped all the junk out from HTML code and made simple to read (or print) DOC file formats.

Oh, and BTW,  Since these are educational or How To files, but all have to deal with Processing stuff in the long run, I will post the full series under Section 4: Processing.

Plenty of reading to keep you busy for the week. 🙂

So without further ado…

Acids and Bases.doc  A 6 page file on the different types of acids and bases, what you need them for, different chemical reactions, etc.  Good to know!

Assaying and Smelting.doc    A 9 page file explains different types of assays and how to do them.  Also explains about fluxes and smelting the gold dore bar or prill.  Explains about how to do a field assay.  (That is, if you have something to crush the rock down quickly!)

Black Sand.doc  A 5 page file, goes in to “black sand” and why people lose values by tossing it out without crushing and assaying samples.  Many never heard of Tellurides.  This file goes in to the different kinds, and some can hold 20 to 40 percent gold or silver by weight.  If it’s in the bottom of the pan, and non magnetic, best keep it!

Colorimetric Assay of Gold.doc  11 pages.  As the name says.. and more on “assay” , quantitative and Qualitative analysis of assay materials, using things like spectrograph and methods of different chemicals to get different colors of the liquids to tell you what you may have there, and hopefully the quantity and quality of the sample.

Filtering.doc  6 pages.  You would not think someone could write 6 pages about filters, but when you have literally hundreds of types of filters, and each with their own function and properties, well it’s not a good day if you use something too porous or too dense.

Happy Hunting!

A Word about that Liquid Metal – Mercury

I think Mercury gets a bad rap at times.  It appears in NATURE and is not “man made”.  even if there were no humans on Earth, Mercury would still exist and the ores (Cinnabar) would break down, decompose and release mercury in to the rivers and streams, but we are told it is due to those awful nasty people.  the dredgers and miners.

Fact is, most people tend to be afraid of the sight of Mercury as if it were a big hairy tarantula. I’ve used Mercury for the past 35 years and have not had one single incident where I had to call in the “haz-mat” team!   There was a local incident a few years back.  A kid brought a few drops of mercury to class.  I assume he dropped it, or a drop.  The school was locked down, clean clothing was rushed in for every student, the buses were “sterilized” and talk about overkill with a knee jerk reaction.

I have had a “bb” sized ball of clean merc sitting in an open container in my outdoor area (I live in a rural setting) IN the sun, IN the desert for 3 years!  Day in and day out.  When it is 120 out in the shade, it’s 150 or so in the sun.  Did that thing every “vaporize”?  Nope.  Still was the same size 3 years ago.

People think it’s illegal to have, but it’s not, and it is not illegal to ship.  You can not ship Mercury via air, since Mercury eats aluminum and most all airplanes are aluminum.  They get shipped in cast iron flasks at 76 lbs units.  Smaller amounts are sent in plastic bottles.

I’m not saying Mercury is not dangerous, but since they put it in Vaccines and ointments It must be good, right?  You can get a lot of Mercury from eating too much fish.

But there is a good thing!   CILANTRO.  Also knows as Coriander or Chinese Parsley.  Eating just 400mg a day of Cilantro will increase the chelating of heavy metals from tissues and cells, such as Mercury, Lead, Aluminum, etc.

O.k, on to the new files uploaded!

Nevada_Mining_Districts.pdf A very extensive book (1998, 329 pgs) that goes in to great detail on all the mining districts in Nevada.  Mines, maps and  stats, etc

Mohave placer locations.doc  A short list of the better locations for placer prospecting in Mohave County Arizona.

anthills.pdf  Let the ants do the digging for you!   Short article explaining how and why of it all.

6 new mining related files for you!

It takes time to do all this.  Pick the files and upload them in their proper folders, edit the html files on the web,  make sure the links work, and write the blog with descriptions, so I hope that you all are enjoying what I can have time to post in between my posts.  I try to pick something for everyone whether you are a pro or a novice any any area of prospecting, mining, treasure hunting, etc.

So here goes!

intro_metal_detectors.pdf An introduction to metal detectors, 8 pgs, by Charles Garrett

oredump.pdf 3 pgs, digging through the old ore dumps looking for good stuff!

placerclaims.pdf 56 pgs Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology 2002. Every thing you need to know about staking a placer claim (In Nevada at least)

AZ gold placers.pdf Arizona Gold placer primary locations, 65 pgs (reprinted 1981)

Leaching-Gold-and-Silver-Ores.pdf  A comprehensive book on methods of leaching gold and silver ores. 281 pgs, C.H. Aaron (1881 original print.

silver.pdf Extraction of Silver, 10 pgs, 1895, revised 1939

So there is this weeks list!  I haven’t posted anything as yet in section 5, (topo and historical maps) so maybe next listing with have them.  Some are large but love them!  Since I’ve been out west most of my life most of them deal with the south west, more so in Arizona.

Four new mining related files uploaded for you

Hi all!  I often wonder how many people walk past a virtual “gold mine” on their way to their favorite spot on a river.   It takes a LONG time for gold to be replaced in a river after a couple hundred years of overworking the rivers.    Unless someone can find that rare virgin river, or newly exposed bedrock in a stream it will be hard to break even.   Gold comes from above via good old gravity!   Keep and eye out for the elusive outcrop.

Of course, there are those who just stub their toe on a rock and it turns out to be rich ore!   For others (like me for example)  have to look and look and look.   Crush rock here, crush rock there, and hope I find “something” of interest.

I hope you find something of interest in this next 4 files available for you!

Links to today’s files:

FLOAT GOLD.doc is a file that briefly tells you what to look for, and how to trace the float gold back to its source, the vein or outcrop.

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mineral zones.doc is a file explaining what to look for (other than rocks) to find mineral zones by looking at what is growing there, and tips on using Google Earth to browse for interesting zones, washes, etc to work on.

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vinegar and salt method.doc  is a method of cleaning up black sands to see if there is gold in it.  Interesting how the gold picks up natural mercury, and the mercury picks up other metals that oxides, hiding the gold.

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mining.pdf a book length file called “Anatomy of a Mine, from Prospecting to Production”, produced by various government agencies.  76 pages with illustrations, about 825kb in size. Even if you are not into hard rock mining, you can educate yourself in terminology and keep up with conversations like a pro!

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Files are placed at the bottom of each list.  I should place them at the top of the list to be easily found once there are a lot of files in the directory.

If you find a link that does not work, or a file that does not open or any problem viewing, let me know!

Comments?