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Many many many gold! How many? Many.
Zot
Posts: 825 ✭✭✭
Hey pcgs69, how about a gold count contest?
Ok, ok… I'm cheating, big time
There will be no gold rings here, as it’s this summer’s gold prospecting trip!
I dug and sluiced for a week.
The state-of-the art, computer controlled Gold Extraction Apparatus
…but it’s getting the job done. Always nice to see some gold in the pan
This is some seriously sticky stuff, a major pain to both dig and sluice.
I got stuck many times when I sank up to my knees in mud. I ended up digging quite deep too (way deeper and bigger hole than you see here), which caused some challenges with water seeping into the hole too.
Took me a good half hour each morning to get rid of the water, and then managing it throughout the day.
There was some distance between source material and sluice.
I was pushing wheelbarrows in my sleep for quite some time afterwards.. I estimate about 250 loads in total
Some interesting rocks
And then the good stuff!
The two best nuggets:
“large” and “medium” sized stuff:
Fine gold:
The grand total is 8.2 grams, most of which is (very) fine gold.
Ok, ok… I'm cheating, big time
There will be no gold rings here, as it’s this summer’s gold prospecting trip!
I dug and sluiced for a week.
The state-of-the art, computer controlled Gold Extraction Apparatus
…but it’s getting the job done. Always nice to see some gold in the pan
This is some seriously sticky stuff, a major pain to both dig and sluice.
I got stuck many times when I sank up to my knees in mud. I ended up digging quite deep too (way deeper and bigger hole than you see here), which caused some challenges with water seeping into the hole too.
Took me a good half hour each morning to get rid of the water, and then managing it throughout the day.
There was some distance between source material and sluice.
I was pushing wheelbarrows in my sleep for quite some time afterwards.. I estimate about 250 loads in total
Some interesting rocks
And then the good stuff!
The two best nuggets:
“large” and “medium” sized stuff:
Fine gold:
The grand total is 8.2 grams, most of which is (very) fine gold.
Minelab: GPX 5000, Excalibur II, Explorer SE. White's: MXT, PI Pro
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Comments
bob
The last rock picture appears to have a reddish inclusion... is that garnet??
Yes, it is (all the darker patches on that rock are) , and that's the exact reason why it's "interesting".
I got a chuckle from "could be just the picture I guess", as it was surprisingly tricky to get the red color to show in the first place!
I've rarely found rocks with garnet inclusions in them, mainly just small pieces that end up in the sluice along with other heavies
While not exactly financially rewarding, I think it would be a fun way to pass time
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Sounds pretty rewarding though. Better than many days/weeks I've had detecting.
I bet you I can find that much gold if I ground up my rings and put them in vials too. Did you get a six-pack of abs doing all that lifting?
Sounds pretty rewarding though. Better than many days/weeks I've had detecting.
....but those would be 10/14k shards!
This gold is exceptionally high purity by the way, about 98%.
As for the six-pack: Nah. More like a slightly flatter "1-pack"
The exercise element is a nice side benefit though. Seems like the hills aren't quite that steep at the end of a trip compared to the first day.
It's funny how this stuff keeps pulling you in.
Towards the end of each trip it's always "This is nuts! I never want to see a shovel again in my life!", only to turn into "Dang, can't wait to go back!" a bit later
I hear you on the "never doing this again," but quickly changing your thoughts. When I was in England detecting, I thought, "man, screw this. All you find are pieces of lead and buttons, with the occasional worn-slick hammered coin or other relic." Now, 6 months later, I'm thinking, "man, I'd really love to go back and do it again. So much history there."
With all the stuff going on in Europe right now, I'll be a bit hesitant to fly into Heathrow, since I was in England when the Brussels thing happened.