Remote Prospecting?

[Geowizard]

Remote Prospectors are inquisitive and (almost) fearless mathematicians!


Don't go away!

- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

Erratic GOLD?

Don't go away. There's more!

- Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

This makes me wonder. A nugget is basically a chunk of gold that at some point broke, or wore off of a vein. So, how does a nugget this size, or any size just appear in ground that is "non mineral in character"?

Admittedly, I have not watched the videos yet, now off to watch them, the answer may be there.

[Geowizard]

The "High bank";


Stick around and find out!

- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

The bluff;


Stick around and find out!

- Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

What you found at this bluff sounds a lot like what I found on my claim on the south fork of the Koyukuk River many years ago. I posted about this claim some time ago.

I did not find the "shear effect" you noted on your ground, but did find river run and fractured bedrock up high on the bench. It seemed like it had somehow moved, or slide at one time and remained deposited on a side bench of a small creek that led into the main river.

What I found extremely interesting was that the gold was mixed in with the river rock, as well as the fractured rock, and up high on the bench, right under the tundra. Never got to bedrock on this claim, was only using #2 shovel on the bench and a small dredge on the small creek. Also didn't know much about mining or prospecting at that time.

I never got to develop this claim, life got in the way.

[Geowizard]

Jim,

That's fascinating.

Thanks for sharing that experience!

- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

Excavating the Bluff;

[Jim_Alaska]

Thanks for the pics Chuck, they really make the information come alive.

Of course I don't know all of the ramifications and possible problems/solutions; but if it were me working there, I think I would have stripped off that tundra and trees on top first. It would have made working the deposit a lot easier the second season, after having a season to melt.

I also wonder why, in all the years you have been mining, you don't move up to an excavator? I hate bobcats, although they work, they don't do it well and have serious limitations

[Jim_Alaska]

Chuck, how did you process the cemented material from this bluff? I ask because any cemented stuff I have worked with required crushing; to try to just run it through a wash plant is a recipe for lost gold.