Rock Crusher being used to process Mine Tailings in Yuma, AZ
Prospecting Gold Mine Tailings can be a excellent way to recover gold that the old timers missed. But its not always easy to know which tailings will be worth the effort so Sampling can be the key. I link to this sampling article for mindset, not necessarily technique. And there are both placer gold and lode gold tailings. In Alaska and other areas placer mining was often performed with huge wet gold recovery dredges and in the Southwest U.S. there were even a few large dry land dredges. Both types of operations left huge placer gold tailings piles. In this article we’re going to talk about lode gold mine and small dig talings that you can prospect.
Mine Tailings in Yuma AZ
The holy grail of high grade lode gold tailings and digs are hand cobbled and sometimes from Pocket Gold Hunters. Hand Cobbled means the the old time prospectors looked at the chunks of ore they dug out and if they did not see gold and the weight was not unusual for the its size, the chuck of ore became discarded. Yeah, that’s what really happened. Too bad they did not have modern technology and metal detectors! Hand cobbled mines often have chunky ore laying about and what was thought to be good for seconds was set aside in separate piles from the main talings. Unless they have been worked by others the old hand cobbled gold digs and prospects show little or no sign of mechanized equipment being used. If you see old equipment, detect metal balls (used in ball mills) concrete slabs, square nuts and bolts it likely you’re not the first to the pile of gold mine tailings. But don’t despair, rather, sample. The picture at the top shows my good friend Las using a Keene RC1 Pilot Mill (G-Force Rock Crusher). These small pilot mills can run several tons of talings in a day but you’ll need to sample before getting this involved. A simple inexpensive crusher can be made from a fence post driver and a heavy steel cylinder or bar. The easy way to use these is with a string, don’t beat your hands up smashing potential gold ore. This video is a great example and keep in mind as you sample you also want to learn what host rock the gold was with, its not always quartz. Don’t stop at the video tho there is more to read below.
Keen G Force Rock Screen
You can build a similar type crusher to the Keene G-Force with an old lawn mover engine and a reinforced steel drum. I don’t have plans to share but I’ve seen them. But the Keene is a great unit and I recommend it. If you buy one learn to use it. Ask questions from the owner or Keene and learn how many passes it takes to “power the rock”. Not all rock fractures and powders equally so some quart/rock needs only one pass to powder others, several passes. Do it right the first time to get the gold. And pre-screen your material. I like to use 1 inch chicken wire over the hopper as a pre-screen method. These pilot mills are not easy to transport so do plenty of sampling before you invest to even think about taking one off road.
And let’s not forget about detecting old gold mine talings. Some folks like to start at the bottom of a pile with a rake, others free detect. I’m a proponent of the latter. A few year back I made several week long exploration trips to Yuma, AZ to look for and detect small digs that hopefully most other prospectors ignored. Now I’m a long distance hiker (not fast) and love to see what others may have missed. These trips eventually paid off as I located a small dig up on the bedrock bank of a wash, literally in the upper bank. As soon as a swung my Gold Bug 2 over the tailings I got excited, zip-zip and when I got the old mini sledge hammer out (Reagan Smash I call it) soon the fruits of my efforts became clear and the tiny wash produced some nice nuggets and fine gold too. I hope you enjoyed this primer for Prospecting Gold Mine Tailings. Dirty your hands with endeavor, not speculation.
Yuma AZ Gold Mine Tailings
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