Quartz Reef Exploring Seeking Advise

[joe]

Hi Folks,

We (ChrisM,Dozer and Joe) have never prospected underground gold bearing quartz and are interested to hear from the experienced on what type of material should we keep an eye out for.
We have explored three types (potential material) at about 20metre drop. (no sampling at this stage) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[1] 2cm to 6 cm (variable) thickness quartz vein and there is no show of gold (visible to eye)

[2] Crystal deposits - no show of gold (visible to eye)

[3] Iron deposits - no show of gold (visible to eye)

 

[trashmagnet]

g'day joe
the material that I'd look for the most is, the falling type of material.. 8) :lol:

just mucken, but thanks for sharing the pictures, they look good

 

[joe]

g'day joe
the material that I'd look for the most is, the falling type of material.. 8) :lol:

just mucken, but thanks for sharing the pictures, they look good

LOL, Falling material we tried not to look up or down and only one at the time in the shaft (as it seemed to be going forever)
The possum approved of the air quality.

 

[G0lddigg@]

not expert comment here those last few pics look amazing like chalcopyrite, i would ahve chipped off some samples for sure, nothing like smashing a sample with a hammer getting it in the pan with a 30x scope to see whats in it good luck fellas play it safe yeh.

 

[joe]

not expert comment here those last few pics look amazing like chalcopyrite, i would ahve chipped off some samples for sure, nothing like smashing a sample with a hammer getting it in the pan with a 30x scope to see whats in it good luck fellas play it safe yeh.

Thank you G0lddigg, 30 x scopes is now on the packing checklist. Would love to take some samples but the rope and the bucket was too short to reach the bottom with tools or detector. Tried to get an idea of the mine before taking anything down.

 

[Village]

I'm no professional or expert,

But you need to supply better photos, samples and scales. What you have here I would say is a hydrothermal intrusion, either around Dubbo or Cowra. Now the best advice I could give you is if your not trained and equipped in confined space, and you really want to do it before you go down 20m for a start. If its an old mine, I would say the visible gold has be extracted in days past, not to say that 2" back from a face, lyes lassiters reef. But deadly again.

As GOIddigg said the easiest method to crush some quartz and examine it under a scope. Hydrothermal activity does tend to pick up everything and anything in the way of a mineral, most of the rarest ones, this is where you would look. I would probably lay my bet on Cowra based on what I can of the sediments but I could be wrong.

I could give you some big words if you like, but from memory if it is Cowra the results around there vary a bit, but most abandoned workings rarely yield above 1gm Au Ton. Saying that there have been some bigger hitters play around there, and if you are, your probably playing around on a Newcrest Lease area.

I could bang on a bit about the area, but if I do I'll probably be wrong.

Let me know, I'll help you if I can, just hard looking at isolated photos, is the sum of everything that makes it easier. Best of luck regardless and remember nothing is worth your life.

Play safe.

John

 

[Village]

Oh watch out for drop bears

 

[joe]

I'm no professional or expert,

But you need to supply better photos, samples and scales. What you have here I would say is a hydrothermal intrusion, either around Dubbo or Cowra. Now the best advice I could give you is if your not trained and equipped in confined space, and you really want to do it before you go down 20m for a start. If its an old mine, I would say the visible gold has be extracted in days past, not to say that 2" back from a face, lyes lassiters reef. But deadly again.

As GOIddigg said the easiest method to crush some quartz and examine it under a scope. Hydrothermal activity does tend to pick up everything and anything in the way of a mineral, most of the rarest ones, this is where you would look. I would probably lay my bet on Cowra based on what I can of the sediments but I could be wrong.

I could give you some big words if you like, but from memory if it is Cowra the results around there vary a bit, but most abandoned workings rarely yield above 1gm Au Ton. Saying that there have been some bigger hitters play around there, and if you are, your probably playing around on a Newcrest Lease area.

I could bang on a bit about the area, but if I do I'll probably be wrong.

Let me know, I'll help you if I can, just hard looking at isolated photos, is the sum of everything that makes it easier. Best of luck regardless and remember nothing is worth your life.

Play safe.

John

Thanks John, I meant experienced, we are new at this type of prospecting and any knowledge shared is appreciated - you are quite right it's within Lachlan Fold Belt lots of slate,laminated siltstone and lithic sandstone (I'm pretty sure that's not where Lasseter's reef lies). Books do help but real life scenarios = priceless. Samples of the ore will be taken for testing if we decide to venture down again and face the drop bears - playing safe. Cheers Joe

 

[HeadsUp]

not expert comment here those last few pics look amazing like chalcopyrite, i would ahve chipped off some samples for sure, nothing like smashing a sample with a hammer getting it in the pan with a 30x scope to see whats in it good luck fellas play it safe yeh.

ditto

get the safety gear organised

take a detector down there and impress the ghosts of the old miners who toiled there

say hello to them and check out the tunnel walls for signals , Wal might be able to give you a refined way to test with a GPX to eliminate hot rocks from gold deposits

take it slow and be thorough

good luck to ya ,

 

[Village]

Hi Joe

Best of Luck. All I could tell you is that the results vary across the belt, significantly, and there truely is not a general decryption that can be applied, its a little ore specific, expect for the fact that there is high occurrence of pyrite, not chalcopyrite in the area. In fact dependant on the locality, Gold was discovered in the pyrite, what a kicker hey. So just to double your exploration scope, your probably going to be looking closely at areas you would normally not give a second glance.

The area is too sizeable and the diversity is large, so much so to give you some tips would only become confusing, trying to summarise it. From memory the trends are NW/SE, so focus your sampling along this line. It should be evident what was extracted as the ore line and what was extracted to provide working room. Oh of course concentrate on the ore line. Don't be tunnelled visioned based on what you know to host gold in previous, hydrothermal related deposits have a completely new set of features and characteristics to keep you on your toes.

More over with GOIddigg's advice about the detector, I would also be looking on the ground for possible alluvial deposits resulting from this. Hydrothermal activity is normally generated under the ocean, so your highly likely that alluvial deposit of some value lies not far.

I can't stress enough on the safety issue, the intersection of the belt and the Sydney basin has been the subject of some large scale research due to subterrianan erosion. The photos of the rock crystals tells that there was plenty room down there at the time of the activity, which indicates means poor consolidation. Other shots reveal might also be low grade metamorphic activity, further adding to instability.

exercise extreme caution, best of luck and stay safe

John

 

[slowflow]

Village, your'e sitting on a truck load of knowledge. Thanks for sharing another interesting read.
Joe take care as all have said.
The possum may indicate ok air but that is not good enough with animals entering the whole place could be contaminated. Don't disturb any water without the correct gear due to potential hazards. Confined space is a killer hence all the regulations.
Good luck.
Barry

 

[Prospector B]

Joe and Co,

I'm sure you are but if you aren't then I suggest the following advice I got from Village in another post. Record all of your observations down in a book. Measurements of the reef like angle, direction, host rock and its properties etc. If you then find gold in an unusual location for the area then you will have a handy reference for next time.

Also while I was researching ore samples I came across this helpful URL, its got some good tips on sample sizes, crushing rock and calculating the gold per ton.

http://www.icmj.com/article.php?id=1592&keywords=Testing_Ores_for_Free_Gold

Hope this helps.

 

[joe]

not expert comment here those last few pics look amazing like chalcopyrite, i would ahve chipped off some samples for sure, nothing like smashing a sample with a hammer getting it in the pan with a 30x scope to see whats in it good luck fellas play it safe yeh.

ditto

get the safety gear organised

take a detector down there and impress the ghosts of the old miners who toiled there

say hello to them and check out the tunnel walls for signals , Wal might be able to give you a refined way to test with a GPX to eliminate hot rocks from gold deposits

take it slow and be thorough

good luck to ya ,

Cheers Headsup, will have to consult the partners in crime ChrisM and Dozer if they want to wake up the Ghosts in near future. By then we should have safety organised. No hot rocks by the sound of our detectors on the top surface, very little trash on the diggings and mullocks. Slow and thorough we will have to work on that one. Thank you mate

 

[joe]

Hi Joe

Best of Luck. All I could tell you is that the results vary across the belt, significantly, and there truely is not a general decryption that can be applied, its a little ore specific, expect for the fact that there is high occurrence of pyrite, not chalcopyrite in the area. In fact dependant on the locality, Gold was discovered in the pyrite, what a kicker hey. So just to double your exploration scope, your probably going to be looking closely at areas you would normally not give a second glance.

The area is too sizeable and the diversity is large, so much so to give you some tips would only become confusing, trying to summarise it. From memory the trends are NW/SE, so focus your sampling along this line. It should be evident what was extracted as the ore line and what was extracted to provide working room. Oh of course concentrate on the ore line. Don't be tunnelled visioned based on what you know to host gold in previous, hydrothermal related deposits have a completely new set of features and characteristics to keep you on your toes.

More over with GOIddigg's advice about the detector, I would also be looking on the ground for possible alluvial deposits resulting from this. Hydrothermal activity is normally generated under the ocean, so your highly likely that alluvial deposit of some value lies not far.

I can't stress enough on the safety issue, the intersection of the belt and the Sydney basin has been the subject of some large scale research due to subterrianan erosion. The photos of the rock crystals tells that there was plenty room down there at the time of the activity, which indicates means poor consolidation. Other shots reveal might also be low grade metamorphic activity, further adding to instability.

exercise extreme caution, best of luck and stay safe

John

Thank you John for your kind advice. We are connecting the missing dots and making notes to further understand the geology of the area and experience shared through this forum. Our future exploring will be better documented and prepared for ( safety and tool wise) Cheers Joe

 

[joe]

Village, your'e sitting on a truck load of knowledge. Thanks for sharing another interesting read.
Joe take care as all have said.
The possum may indicate ok air but that is not good enough with animals entering the whole place could be contaminated. Don't disturb any water without the correct gear due to potential hazards. Confined space is a killer hence all the regulations.
Good luck.
Barry

Cheer Barry, true and couldn't agree more. The list is growing

 

[joe]

Joe and Co,

I'm sure you are but if you aren't then I suggest the following advice I got from Village in another post. Record all of your observations down in a book. Measurements of the reef like angle, direction, host rock and its properties etc. If you then find gold in an unusual location for the area then you will have a handy reference for next time.

Also while I was researching ore samples I came across this helpful URL, its got some good tips on sample sizes, crushing rock and calculating the gold per ton.

http://www.icmj.com/article.php?id=1592&keywords=Testing_Ores_for_Free_Gold

Hope this helps.

Thank you PB, good article and methodology of sampling ore, is affordable and not difficult to calculate.

 

[headbut]

Nice matrix of crystals there too Joe , especially the shot with the "bic"

 

[joe]

Nice matrix of crystals there too Joe , especially the shot with the "bic"

Thanks Headbut, glad your car is back on the road mate, that was about an hours effort with out the right tools. Pockets such as this one were every few meters by tapping and the sound. Thus make me feel as John said very unstable ground.

 

[Heatho]

Great pics Joe, even if there's no gold they are some very nice crystals. Good stuff.

 

[SWright]

G'Day All

When I was involved actively in mineral exploration we often had to go into old mines and sample them - mostly for stuff the old timers did not have have any interest in. Only a couple of those old mines were safe. We would employ experienced miners to go in first and check to see if it was ok and then if only absolutely necessary would we undertake a program to "make it safe". Going into an old mine without an alternate exit such as another adit or an air or whip shaft with safe ladders is not a wise choice.

If the old timers have left material in a wall or in the Backs (roof) then they have done so for a reason. It was either worthless or it was not safe to remove it.

I did this sort of thing for a living and I can tell you that the more you know about mines and mining the less likely anyone would want to go into even what looks like a nice, stablel and safe old mine without expert advice, equipment and an exit plan. Many of these old mines have had the pillars robbed as they worked their way out or from tributers and depression miners and they are only stable if there is no disturbance at all and that may even include walking through the place let alone banging away at the rocks.

Araluen