Last Post 04 Jun 2018 02:20 PM by  Scott Leidenberger
Quartz crushing
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STEPHEN PARKER
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03 Jun 2018 02:40 PM
    Hello, I am a new member and new to this Forum. I am from the UK and am now living in Murrieta California. Prospecting is new to me, but I just love the whole idea.
    Due to nearby new road being built I have collected many small bags of quartz showing many of the characteristics For possible gold bearing (watched a number of videos). Now purchased a small rock crusher and am ready to crush, wearing a mask of course. The quartz collected varies in size, but mostly less than 2”.
    My question is-“How fine do I crush the quartz for wet panning.”
    Should I be going for crushing to dust, or larger particle sizes? I do not have a screen set yet. Do I need one for crushing?
    Basic questions, but I am a total amateur. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
    Scott Leidenberger
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    03 Jun 2018 07:00 PM
    I would think 20 minus for the screen would be a good starting point. You don't want all dust. When panning use some Jet Dry in the water and be sure your pan is seasoned.
    Until you get a classifier set you could use some window screen or get a sieve for cooking at Wal-Mart .
    Sounds like you will be doing a bunch of crushing. I would use a good respirator if you don't already have one. Get rid of any paper dust masks.
    Let us know what you find and good luck.
    STEPHEN PARKER
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    04 Jun 2018 12:39 AM
    Scott thank you for the information. I have used a few sieves to date bought from Walmart, or the like, but none of them graded. Can I ask why I ought not crush to dust (or near dust)?
    My quartz collection does not show any obvious gold content, but it does have evidence of iron and silica. Also the surrounding area to the quartz seams had black sand. On this basis I do not think I will find any nuggets, but am hoping for, at least, some gold particles. If no gold......what the hell it was fun, interesting, had some field and panning practice, and I have learnt a whole lot more.
    Scott Leidenberger
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    04 Jun 2018 06:02 AM

    Hey Stephen,

    If you crush down to dust it makes recovery more difficult.  100 mesh and smaller is very difficult to recover when only using a pan. I live in Colorado and 94% of our gold is flour and some small flakes. I stopped using a pan for clean up and bought a gold table. Even then I will run the cons 2 to 3 times to get all the tiny gold.

    Good find with the new road construction. If you are in a known gold bearing area your chances are a lot better for finding gold. If you can get back to that area try to get a sample where the quartz comes in contact with the country rock.

    Jeff Williams has some great videos on everything.  Check them out at Askjeffwilliams.com

     

    STEPHEN PARKER
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    04 Jun 2018 12:48 PM
    Hello Scott, thank you for input. Crushing size makes sense, but here comes my ignorance - what is a gold table ?
    The quartz seams I have found are mostly near vertical and vary in thickness from about 4” down to half an inch. It is difficult therefore to find where they finish on country rock. I am extracting from them at a depth of between 6feet and 30 feet below original ground level in the road cutting. I can see that others have been digging around where I have started to extract. There are two registered gold mines either side about a mile each way and locals tell me there is gold around, so maybe....,????
    Scott Leidenberger
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    04 Jun 2018 02:20 PM

    Hi Stephen,

    The gold table I have can be found at www.royalmfgind.com . Click on prospecting, then go down to the second item,  the gold dust concentrating table. They should have a video as well. That should answer all your questions.  This is not the only type of equipment for fine gold recovery. Lots of other manufactures as well. You can still pan the material but do very small amounts and look it over good in the sun .

    Sounds like you are on to something at that road cut.   The best way to sample the quartz vein is to go across it from left to right a little beyond the vein  on each side.  It may not be easy to break out the rock. Quartz is very hard.  Take some sample bags and record the areas. That way if you hit a sweet spot you know where to start digging. 

    Maybe others will chime in and give you some helpful tips.  Let me know what you find.

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