Back packable dry washer.

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Jim Hatt

Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by Jim Hatt »

I've been thinking the same thing djui, but at 2 Oz per ton. We would have a hard time paying for the gas it took to get there. :D
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castle
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Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by castle »

Jim Hatt wrote:OK, I think I see it now. If that's it. It doesn't look like it's too difficult to get to. I think you will probably find someone to clean it out for you. I cropped the maps down so so they do not show what part of the mountains it is in, or what major highways lead into it. If you want me to post a large area photo let me know, but for now I will leave it up to you to tell anyone interested how to get to the area on the map.

Image
It's hard to say from the size of the map, but I would suspect you're close. It's a legaly held mining claim so it's location isn't to big a secret. I hope to be in California about mid September if anyone would like to check it out.
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Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by castle »

djui5 wrote:Wish it was in AZ, I'd take this up in a heart beat. I gotta portable dry-washer that runs off a gas vac-pac I built, and a 4x4.
Where in AZ are you?
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Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by castle »

Jim Hatt wrote:I've been thinking the same thing djui, but at 2 Oz per ton. We would have a hard time paying for the gas it took to get there. :D
At $948 an ounce it wouldn't take much.
Jim Hatt

Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by Jim Hatt »

That should be close enough for anyone interested to know what kind of terrain it is in. It would be a nice deal for someone that lives close to it.
Jim Hatt

Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by Jim Hatt »

castle wrote: At $948 an ounce it wouldn't take much.
You have to consider castle, that drywashers aren't very efficient. Especially when dealing with fine gold, and do not process a lot of material in a day. It could take a long time to pull an Ounce of gold out it. And then... The $948.00 per ounce is for 24K gold, 99.999 % pure. It does not come out of the ground that way.

But it could still be an attractive offer to some that lives closer. No telling what might be uncovered in the process of cleaning it out either?

I have a friend whose Mother and Father cleaned out the floor of an old mine that was running about 8 Oz/Ton when it was in operation, and they getting an Ounce or more out of every 5 gallon bucket load. But they had water close by and were wet panning it. The gold particles were so small that a drywasher with a blower on it would have blown it all away.
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Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by djui5 »

castle wrote: Where in AZ are you?

Suburb of Phoenix :) Apache Junction, specifically. Same place as Jim. He is right about the tonnage and price, but there are a lot of factors to include there. If there is a vein the ounces to ton could jump a lot. Plus you could get a portable crusher/processing set up for relatively cheap if there is enough ore to mine. Just need gas and a generator or something. Friend of mine has a somewhat small ore crusher on a trailer. It's cool. You could always work a really rich vein by hand and make a serious profit. BTW, where did your samples come from in the mine that assayed 2ozs a ton? If they came from the floor then it's possible this is a very rich mine that was abandoned a long time ago. Same goes if the ore was taken from the dump pile. If the ore came from the vein then it's high grade but will require larger equipment to operate at a profit. That equipment has to be either loaned or purchased, which can get costly and kill all benefits. Plus you got the state breathing down your neck about safety if you report the findings. That'll kill a budget faster than anything :lol:
Jim Hatt

Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by Jim Hatt »

I don't think he was offering to let anyone work the mine djui. The way I read it, his offer was only for the loose material on the floor.
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castle
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Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by castle »

Oh contrar Mr Jim. I've been talking to someone for the last number of years who wants to work it, but never has the finances. I'm to a point now that I'd be willing to talk to anyone what would like to work it.

The samples were taken in an orderly manner from the vain itself. As I remember they were mostly from top dead center every few feet from the end of the tunnel back. There is quite an ore pile, but I didn't take samples from it. The vein is also exposed above the tunnel in two spots and there is a secondary tunnel, that I don't go in, above the main tunnel. There is a cable system from a head stall to the canyon floor. Only one cable is up now, I restreached it after some one cut them for what ever reason.
Jim Hatt

Re: Back packable dry washer.

Post by Jim Hatt »

This is where we started right?
castle wrote:Not sure if a back packable dry washer exists, but if they do, I have a hard rock claim with about 120" of tunnel that I'd let someone work the floor with.
How did we get from working the floor to working the vein?

I've been thinking that if the only way to get a drywasher in, is by backpacking it. It would be pretty difficult to haul any hard rock mining equipment in there.

Do you have any idea of how much work and expense, it is to get One Ton of hard rock material out of a vein, crush it, and separate the gold from it?

Working the loose material on the floor might prove to be profitable if you could get enough water back in there to wet-process it, or move enough of it to where there is water available.

The cable system you describe, means someone probably had a Dam built in the bottom of the canyon, to catch and store run off from the rains, for wet processing the material.

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