Crevicing tools and the sdc

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Hi Billy, they look good, but it's not so much being able to reach the gold as it is definitely locating it and then 'lifting' it out of the narrow crevices. I like the idea of some sort of small scoop. I think i may even be able to use some of my painting pallete knives! I haven't googled it yet because i thought others on this forum would be having the same dilemma. There's also a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people here which is great. I just need to take a few more specialist tools with me i think and give it a go. I'll report back, i'm going to hit them hard over this weekend.
 
Goldtarget, there won't be anymore gold dropping into where i'm getting the gold from. The gold is in the nooks and crevices that are already well above ground level. The area has been well surfaced and the gold is in the pockets of exposed reef and bedrock above the surfaced ground level.
 
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Stainless pipe cut at angles, works well in crevices.
 
Goldtarget said:
I always thought that breaking up a crevice was the final option not the first, to me it's like slaying the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Those little gold traps just sit there without needing any attention rain hail or shine holding onto the good stuff year after year. Sure you risk losing out if someone else comes along but I look at it like giving back to fellow prospectors.
Two great crevicing places I used to go are smashed to pieces, ironically I had already got to the bottom before so I can confidently say there's was little to achieve, and now no gold traps for anyone. Take the crowbar for big loose boulders, half the fun is devising a plan to get the pay dirt out!
My tools come from the metal yard, brass and copper odds and ends tend to tick the boxes, lightweight, malleable and strong.
Click to expand...

It all depends on what your particular rock or creek is like, I suppose. I use the Ebay picks to get reachable stuff out of cracks, and there are some sections of creek that I detect which have loose, cracked, vertically-oriented slate, which has been busted apart by every prospector since the 1870s. I have rarely gone for a day without needing to pry slabs apart. Every flood that comes through erodes the bedrock a bit more, and produces a whole new set of crevices. There is clay, gold and shot at the bottom of hundreds of small cracks maybe 2-3 mm across. They are rarely detectable, as the pieces are often buried a foot down in the tiny cracks.
By the sound of what you're describing ("holding onto the good stuff year after year") your situation is very different to mine. I can never find the same cracks year after year, often not even trip to trip, if there's been a flood.
I don't see also how busting a reef would be a final option. I'd detect all the reachable gold and then start to try and recover any targets in the reef by any means I'm allowed.
Did you take a look at the Ebay picks? They're cheap and very handy, at least I've found them so.

Cheers
 
Yeah i did mfdes, they look the goods don't they? I'm going to put in a serious couple of sessions this weekend and see what i can retrieve with screwdriver, coarse/long handled oil painting brush, narrow scoops etc first and then get an idea of how many pieces i still can't retrieve. A lot of the vertical reef is shaly and like what you're getting down there by the sounds of it. But the sections i'm detecting gold in is a good 3-400mm above the surrounding ground and wouldn't get new gold being washed in because there's no stream and its up near the top of a hill near the main quartz reef. The gold that's there is what the old timers missed when they surfaced i reckon.
 
Just a suggestion guys....... I've seen very long (around 20cm's) handled tweezers. They were ex medical supply, stainless & very presise. You could use them to dip into the crevise pinch them closed & pull out the pay dirt. Perhaps!
Rob.
 
Hey Hotrod, what's there are small nuggets that are hidden amongst the dirt,dust and are hard to see. A few did show themselves and i was able to reach and lift them out by wetting the tip of my finger and pressing onto the gold, so tweezers would work on them for sure. But the main problem is being able to get the small amounts of dirt (with the gold hidden below) out of the crevices.
I can't wait to get back out there on the weekend and tackle them again with some finer implements.
 
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All of the above apart from about six came from the reef area mentioned in the first post and probably half of the total came from crevices. I ended up using a bristle brush, screwdriver and long handled small spoon to get at a few of these and a couple where actually inside the bedrock and needed to be extracted with the pick.
Thanks all for your help and suggestions, i could be a convert to crevicing :lol: :lol:
 
Yeah it was a good weekend thanks Wal. I've got a number of pieces that came from the reef/bedrock that aren't visibly showing gold but giving off a good signal that i need to break down somehow. What do you mean by saving the fines mate?
 
I always think about the action that got a small nugget into a crevice, it usually has rolled down a hillside with water and lodged in the crevice and worked its way down to the bottom over time. If a big slug has done this then what about its smaller mates? I mean the ones that are too small for the SDC. I am thinking if the crevice that has captured a nugget also contains gravel, dust and clay why not pan it out and see if there is a couple of ounces of gold dust at the bottom.

who knows...... a SDC sub-grammar could be the tip of the iceberg, but then again, gold is where you find it. ;)
 
Oh, i get ya Wally. I think most of these nuggets are simply what was left behind when the surfacing took place? Some were actually stuck in the rock as opposed to at the bottom of crevices. There are areas nearby, a bit further down from the reef that would be good for fine stuff i reckon, but i'm still trying to work out getting the sdc firing on all cylinders. I used to pan (badly) up at Eldorado a few decades ago but not sure i'd have the patience (or the strong back for bending) these days :lol: :lol:
 
:8 Walking away from hard work is something I have started to do as well; there is one crevice I walked away from that I shouldn't have, I need to get back to it and have a crack at it. :lol: :D :lol:

I think the proof that you already have an extra cylinder in your SDC can be seen in your photos.
 
Cheers mate. Yes, now i have a (little) more knowledge with using the sdc, there are a couple of spots i'm thinking i should head back too and run the machine back over. Too many spots and not enough hours to do it all :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

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