Gold In The Quartz??

[BumbleB]

Hey Clan

I was out for a swing at Clermont yesterday & there was this quite large lump of solid quartz (estimate 30+kg) in a creek bed right on the side of the road- I have driven past it a few times over the weeks & each time it caught my eye- so yesterday I said "stuff it, I'm going to check this out"......... got out, ran the detector over it & 'ping' it certainly gave a signal- not the classic 'nugget signal', but a definite softer signal- one side stronger than the other. I threw it in the back of the car & took it home. What the hell do I do now? How do I determine if there is anything yellow in it? And if there is, how do I get it out?

 

[garnethawkins]

Break a chunk off the side with the strongest signal (at least the size of your fist) check the chunk again under the detector - there should still be a very faint signal if not break off another chunk and repeat as needed, if the signal disappears in both chunks but gets stronger in main rock you've not gone deep enough, if the chunk has a week signal OR the main rocks signal gets weaker then your comin up aces, smash down the chunk into fine powder using a morter and pestal (you may need to break it up a little more with a hammer first) and pan it out best guess is the rock is full of VERY fine gold. Good luck mate.

 

[garnethawkins]

Also you will have an easier time breaking off the chunks with a decent cold chisel then just wacking at it with a hammer

 

[BumbleB]

Thanks Garnet- will give it a crack.
I'll try to upload of photo or two- not that you can tell too much from a photo.

 

[Guest]

Safest way is use the thermal shock method. Heat the specimen up over a gas burner then drop it in water. The quartz will crack up and go brittle allowing you to pick it away, you might need to do it a few times for big bits.

DD

Try the above from Diggerdude to make it easier.

 

[BumbleB]

Thanx Mbasko, but heating such a large lump of rock might be difficult.
Here's a pic of the beast- 43Kgs!

8) 8)

 

[Sw1fty]

Drape a potato sack or old piece of carpet or similar over it and hit it with a sledge hammer. Wear safety glasses, shoes and long clothing as flyrock can be very sharp.
And keep they wife and kiddies well back.

 

[BumbleB]

Thanks Swifty- that's wat I intended to do.
Hope there is something 'yellow' inside, & not just veins of oxide or similar.

 

[Sw1fty]

Got me fingers crossed for ya

 

[charlie123]

Thats is biggest i have seen, let me know if you find anything in it, i use faily big ones for my garden edging, if there is a chance of gold in them I willl have the lot smashed