Making Gold Nuggets

There is not much gold in Georgia compared to the Pacific Northwest I picked up a half an ounce in one day just dinking around, in one of the smaller gold producing areas here in Washington state, you do not know this area like I do, I have been mining this area since 75 and just got serious about it this summer, not only that Oregon is only 38 miles away and is a big gold producer, California is the biggest producer it is only 275 miles away, you can work in Georgia all you want and you will not find much it has only produced small amounts of placer gold, I could make a very good living at it here on the west coast where the real gold is at, I have moved 4-6 yards a day and it is still alot of fun to me, I do not know about you guys but I have been pumping iron since 1968 so moving rocks is not work to me it is recreation, most of the gold in my area is flood gold it is in the first 1-18 inches of gravel almost every pan has gold in it, I use a beach box and the Columbia river  has always been a good producer of placer gold!! the gold is not very big but there is lots of it, there would be more people mining here but alot of them think like you can't do anything it's to hard , work is a four letter word, I can make a  hundred bucks here in an hour or so, thats 3-5 yards for a half days work ya whimp, you do not know how to prospect but I DO, you have obviously never done it!!!!

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Hi to all....

After ready all these posts... I decided to express my 2 cents worth.... My opinions are not meant to challenge or offend anyone... if they do, I apologise right up front... however, these opinions are based on many, many years of practical experience...

I started prospecting in the mid 1960's... took a few years off for a 3 tour in Viet Nam... and other things.... ..... but earnestly began prospecting in 1972.... and about 1980 turned my hobby into an occupation.... and for the most part, my income has been made from mining ever since....

Once you make the decision to become a professional or commercial miner... please have plenty of fluid cash available...as your commercial endeavor will drain you dry long before you make a lot of money at mining... in my case, I consider myself a moderately successful commercial miner.... but it wasn't until around 1998 or 99 that I began\n to consistently make money at mining... From the days of building our own dredges in the '60's to using nearly $1,000,000 in heavy equipment today.. a lot has changed in my life...would I change anything..probably not.... This is just a warning to you...that in my case it took nearly 30 years of prospecting and mining to see some good and consistant success...

If you are considering stepping up from a casual recreational miner to something more serious.. take a serious assessment of your cost...For instance, just for one weekend outing... you have your time invested.. your equipment cost...fuel... food... and so on and so on....You'll soon find, that a week end fun prospecting trip will cost a couple hundred dollars..... now multiply you cost several times as you increase you volume of gravel processed....and cut your projected earning by 50%.... IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO FOR AN INCOME...?  Pencil it out first... make sure you are making a wise choice...

Concerning nuggets.... I have found my share.. from a 2 1/2 pounder to very fine gold so small it is barely visible...  Jewelry quality nuggets can be so small to be used as inlays... or as large as 1/4 to 1/2 ounce "hangers" ... above that... you start to get into collector quality....

Jewelry quality nuggets will bring better than spot and it varies as to how much...mostly due to supply and demand.... and the collector specimen will bring up to 3 times spot usually...and more if it is just that one in a million special nugget...

For me, the handing of the gold cost time...which is money....I'd rather be processing gravel to collect more gold... that trying to sell the gold I have...It becomes a personal choice as to which is a better business choice....so I often melt everything except for those very few exceptional nuggets and turn the gold into a commodity I can use...like CASH!!!!  which is why I mine gold...so I can pay my bills and build up my retirement fund... which will usually increase in value faster than an old dusty nugget setting around for a few years... I can put my cash to work over and over again and again...and with the timing I choose.... but the nugget just gets dusty and only follows the trend in gold prices...at its choosing...

I usually use AAA metal and refining near Portland, Oregon to sell and melt my gold...  Under 50 ounce lots, they'll charge a $75 assay and the give you back either pure certified gold or cash for the actual gold minus a 7% processing fee..... over 50 ounce lots and the fee drops to 3%....and with over 50 ounce lots ... they will buy the silver and other impurities in the gold... They give me 50 % of the weighed gold at the sale and the balance of the actual pure gold amount and impurities at spot, minus any fees...usually in about 2 weeks... I've sold gold to them for several years... they are honest.....quick and very trustworthy....

As to purity of gold.... I've mined gold from Alaska to Mexico....and the nuggets and flat pieces that assayed anywhere from 71% pure to about 93%... It is a very rare situation that gold is above 95% pure in its natural state... it does happen... but it is rare...I've found most gold is usually in the mid 80% in purity range.....

I have from time to time melted my own ingots just for easier shipping and handling... but their isn't much advantage to melting your own gold...because it isn't certified...it doesn't have that government issued smelting stamp on it by the refiner...only then can you legitimately sell the ingot as .999 fine gold...or silver ..or whatever...

Below are some pictures... one of 3 1/2 ounces in a jar...very little is of jewelry quality..... another is of about 2 pounds of gold nuggets in my hands... these are jewelry and collector specimens..... and a third pix of one of my commercial processing plants....

I wish everyone's gold dream come true... and best success in your prospecting....

Klondike Ike....





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Sure.. different colored gold is around... The "Black Hills Gold" of South Dakota, comes in colors from pint to gold to greenish...  I've never seen that much green gold as you have posted... but nothing about gold surprises me... not only is it "... where you find it...."   it also come in may forms...

A friend of mine worked in the famous IDAHO-MARYLAND mine of northern California, near Grass Valley.... he was a young miner... followed a small mud seam and quartz to a large room where the gold sparkled from his lamp.... he said it looked like everything was "laser" cut.... it was a larger underground room where it was coated with "crystalline" gold.... its not nuggets... its not a sulphide.... it is gold in crystal form... below is a picture of crystal gold....

Good luck in your prospecting and the Green gold....

Klondike Ike

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I haven't heard of that specific story, but there are a lot of similar stories around here.  Basically we sit on four veins of gold that are each around form 1-4 miles wide and 5-50 miles long.  Lots of people have found gold under their property and been restricted from mining it due to city or county ordinances prohibiting mining.  This is really a result of the environmental disaster that was wreaked back during the gold rush of the 1820's and the resulting strip mining that occurred after the placer gold became more rare.  We have a restaurant here on the square in Dahlonega with a mine in the basement that is nothing but gigantic veins of gold... tons of it... and the city won't allow the owners of the place to even go in their own basement with a pick and shovel.  It's ridiculous.  Most of the old gold mining sites outside of the city limits are under private control, and it's easy enough to get permission from the owners of the land to prospect there as long as you abide by their rules... no Brigs and Stratton to annoy the tourists, don't dig up the banks of the creeks, plug your holes... etc... but anything that's not in private hands is strictly off limits.  It kind of sucks.  You can't even swing a metal detector around a city park around here, and get ready to face a hefty fine if they catch you spashing around in a public stream with a pan in your hands.

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Ike, you speak great words of wisdom.   

Many of us dream of making a living at our hobby (whether prospecting or metal detecting or something else) but very few of us ever consider how difficult it really would be to make a real living at it.   And even fewer, including those who truly have the skill sets necessary to succeed have the resources necessary to make it to the point where you actually able to sustain yourself and your family in anything approaching the lifestyle that you are used to.  For some people such as yourself and, possibly, Rick it is psychically and fiscally worthwhile to make the leap.  For the majority of us, including those who may be just as skilled and experienced, Bigwater's path is the better one.

Thanks for sharing wisdom based on experience.

BA

 

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