Colorado -- Crushed & Panned Some Ore Samples -- 22 Jan 2017

Hey Gold Adventurers...

I got a little bored yesterday before the NFL games started.....in all this High Kolorado ice & snow here at 8,500 feet elevation...

So, I decided to get my hand powered mortar & pestle and crush up some of the ore samples and some of the iron pyrite I have in the garage in buckets and in a jar, that I got up Low Pass Gulch.....several years back.......and pan it out...

I crushed up maybe 3 small pieces or ore.  Got only a few little tiny pieces of gold. Very hard work, very hard green rock with pyrite in it.... chips and pieces fly in all directions, even with tall sides on that mortar.

Also, I crushed up about three 1/4 cup scoops of iron pyrite and tiny ore chunks.....got a little better free mill gold in every pan.  The dark chunks with the gold are lead, from a burned down old time stamp mill footing area.  So, no idea it the free mill gold was attached to the iron pyrite, in the iron pyrite, in the little ore chunks or maybe just some gold I missed in my original panning of my cons from the 5 times I went to that stamp mill footing area, dug and sluiced dirt.

Several years back I went 5 times, sluiced maybe 10 to 12 2 1/2 gal pails of "dirt" per trip and got about 1 gram per trip, for 5 grams total of nice, iron stained, crystalline free mill gold the miners lost back in the day.  I "mined the miners".....  Ha.  

My previous Trip Report is here.  Let's you see the insane amounts of iron pyrite, nails, lead and ore samples I collected:  https://c17a.forumotion.com/t47-colorado-low-pass-gulch-hardrock-mining

Here's two pics of the gold I got in 4 very small pans of crushed ore/pyrite:




So, there's my January gold to date.  Ha.   SO, not enough to make the Hoffman's happy, for sure.......BUT............it will be fun to eventually crush/pan those 2 buckets of ore and 5-pound jar of iron pyrite and see what I end up with.  

Randy   C-17A  

P.S. Always remember the old miner's adage: "Gold rides an iron horse". Look for rusty red iron staining associated with quartz, look for iron pyrite (a sulfide of iron) in rock, look for reddish staining in layering/outcroppings that could indicate iron rich & gold rich Limonite, etc.

Well its enough to make my gold fix for this morning!

Russ,

Ha. Well.................besides blow & shovel snow....what else do I have to do?

Once I get my pneumatic hand held air hammer crusher built, going, we'll see what other gold I can "squeeze" out of that ore and pyrite!

Randy C-17A

I have one of those bits for my air hammer that looks like a meat tenderizer. BUT Ive NEVER used it and don't think I ever will!

Russ,

The one I need will simply look like a flat, round cylinder on the end, so I can crush the ore down to dust/powder..........in a flat bottomed steel bowl.

Randy C-17A

Randy let me know what brand air hammer you have and Ill see if I have a bit like your wanting. If I do ill give it to you!

Nice looking gold, but hand-crushing is a lot of work. I wondered what happened to those sample you got several years back. I'll be looking for more pictures one you get the pneumatic hammer involved.

Russ,

russau wrote:I have one of those bits for my air hammer that looks like a meat tenderizer. BUT Ive NEVER used it and don't think I ever will!

What does your air hammer bits look like?

Can you post me several pics here so I can see the design, size, shape, etc?

I have the new Harbor Freight air hammer, but no "hammer" tool devised yet...

TIA.

Randy C-17A

Randy Ill try to get a pic up loaded today. AND Ill see if itll fit into a H.F. air hammer. I have 2 different brands.

Russ,

Thanks!

My HFT air hammer takes all the "standard" shank/size bits/tools... .401 shank chistles and tools.

http://www.harborfreight.com/medium-barrel-air-impact-hammer-69866.html

Randy C-17A

Then you want that size bush hammer bit.

Looks like a meat tenderizer on a rod.

Dickb

Dickb,

Got one? Can you post a picture?

All I can seem to find so far are various chisels and cutters.......no flat faced hammer bits...

Randy C-17A

R

Randy here is two pics of my rotary hammer bit . and No it wont fit into a HF air hammer.  I got this at a auction with a box of tools. I think it works on a Hilti rotary hammer.

Russ,

Thanks for trying...

I could always grind the points down a little, but the shank/shaft is a big NO GO.

Oh well... I'll keep looking.

Randy C-17A

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pc-Smoothing-Pneumatic-Air-Hammer-Pneumatic-Bit-/162399061135?hash=item25cfbd048f:g:WWwAAOSwTuJYpq~b

On ebay, but your air hammer may be too small to do a good job crushing rock. The ones I have are like Russ's or bigger that use a larger air hammer, on a Trailer air compressor. They are used to rough up concrete to get a better bond with a second pour of concrete.
Dickb

Dickb,

Thanks for the lead to eBay...

I should have thought of looking there. I ended up buying a set of 3 hammers with a spring too for only $19.99.

I am not looking to create my own stamp mill, just play with some ore samples I have in a bucket in my garage. My cast iron mortar and pestle work, but is way too slow and too much work for anything more than a small sample.

I'll let "you all" know one day how it went, or didn't.

Randy C-17A

Hey everyone...

Got back from a month in Kalifornia.................catching up.

While I was gone, my ordr thina for some air hammer bits with a flat face for metal hammering came in!

It was a 3-piece set with a new spring too for only $19.99.

Got a light snow falling and only 29F outside right now, so may try to get around to trying out my HFT air hammer with these Chi-Com bits and see IF I can successfully pulverize and pan our some ore samples I have had in a bucket in my garage for 2 years now...

Just MIGHT get a little free mill gold from the Granite, Colorado area......if I am lucky. Ha.

Wish me luck in the near future.

Randy C-17A