NATURAL GOLD AND QUARTZ MINI SPECIMENS .77 GRAM CALIFORNIA MOTHER LODE GOLD

Description

NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE GOLD & QUARTZ from CALIFORNIA'S MOTHER LODE
P
hotos are enlarged representations of offered item.   R
uler, if shown, is
1/4"
wide (actual size). A U.S. dime (10 cent piece) measures 17.5 mm in diameter.
F
eatured lot consists of several small pickers of gold quartz. Some are mostly quartz, others quite rich, but each and every piece shows gold. Combined, they weigh a total of 12 Grains Troy, i.e. (.77 gram). Not large by any means, 2 to 3 mm long on average and not a good investment (you're not buying bullion), yet, fans of Au in it's raw, natural state (as found in nature) should enjoy this small lot of high-grade ore samples.
Native gold and quartz - Total wt.
12
grains (Troy)  -
.77
Gram
B
efore spreading my entrepreneurial wings and becoming chief cook and bottle washer at Gold of Eldorado, I actively mined gold for 19+ years. Through the years, people inquire asking if I panned for gold. A gold pan is one of the most integral tools used by individuals involved in this trade, so I politely tell them "yes" then usually commence to elaborate a bit. Beginning long ago, in a past life perhaps, something in the golden mystique of this exotic metal attracted me to it. Searching for native gold, working with it, and marketing became a life-way. If, like myself, you're a big fan of gold, there's a lot to see here at
Gold of Eldorado
.
Weight Conversions:
15.43 GRAINS = 1 GRAM
31.103 GRAMS = 1 TROY OUNCE
24 GRAINS = 1 PENNYWEIGHT (DWT)
20 DWT = 1 TROY OUNCE
480 GRAINS = 1 TROY OUNCE
S & H
COMBINED SHIPPING IS OFFERED. ON MULTIPLE PURCHASES, FOR CORRECT AMOUNT, PLEASE REQUEST AN INVOICE FROM THIS SELLER.
U.S. BUYERS - S&H .00 with tracking.
INTNL. BUYERS - S&H .00 shipped via USPS International First Class Mail.
PAYMENTS
For U.S. buyers: We accept paypal.
For intnl. customers: We accept paypal.
Pay securely with
www.paypal
.
Payment must be made within 7 days from close of  auction.  We ship as soon as funds clear. If you have questions, please ask them before bidding.
REFUNDS
We leave no stones un-turned insuring our customers get what they bargained for.
If you're not satisfied with this item, contact me. If we can't resolve the problem, you may return item in  'as purchased' condition (within 30 days) for a refund. Exchanges are another option.
DRYWASHERS - PART I
One method prospectors use to mine placer gold in arid country involves a device for separating gold from unconsolidated, dry dirt. Back in the day, dry-washing was my favorite way to go. "There's just something about feeling the earth between my toes. Takes me back to the future, I suppose." I doubt anyone who grows up a country boy ever loses that feeling. If you'd like to learn more about drywashing, don't search 'instrument of torture' on Wiki, look for the term 'drywasher'. One of the short essays left there was conjured up by yours truly. Some people call these gizmos 'air jigs'. A bellows-type drywasher is referred to by others as a 'puffer belly'. There's another type of dry-washer which doesn't puff, however, it blows. Upgraded, motorized, forced-air machines come equipped with motors/blower assembly, and vibrating, riffle-lined shaker box. They're quite effective at recovering 'free gold' from loose, unconsolidated dirt. Early versions of these blower hose machines were static. No vibrating box had yet been incorporated into the mechanism as part of the gold-separation process. Experiences afield showed these prototypes worked well at retrieving gold from river gravels even without the added agitation of a vibrating box. After considerable trial and error working both river and desert gravels, I discovered forced-air, non-vibrating, static blower machines recover river gold quite well due to the rounded character of the sand and gravel. The drier, more river-worn the alluvial dirt, the easier the gold is to separate. Conversely, these same machines don't fare as well at recovering gold from desert gravels. This, in large part, is due to the jagged, angular character of rocks inside gold-bearing gravels. A shaking concentrator box invariably helps induce gold to drop out and stay lodged behind the riffles. Adjustments to the pitch of the concentrator tray are essential. Running it at too steep a pitch accelerates one's gold losses. With regards to moisture content, whichever drywasher type is used, gold drops faster through dry dirt than through wet dirt. In summing up, I discovered the hard way that electrostatic dry-washers (sans vibrating boxes) process rough, angular, desert gravels poorly. Adding a fan blade with attached counter-weight to the concentrator box's bottom opening will, however, increase an electrostatic drywasher's efficiency. One of my mining partners used a small Gold King machine on our Quartzsite claims to recover fine gold ejected by my puffer-belly.
To use a drywasher, first figure out
if the material you're in is dry and loose enough to be efficiently processed. You wouldn't think gold could be separated from hard-packed clay or caliche, but surprisingly, once consolidated sediments are broken out of the pack, most larger gold pieces can actually be captured. Extremely wet ground poses more of a problem. It needs to be spread out in the sun to dry. The acts of screening or repeatedly running material through your drywasher also helps accomplish the same purpose. Ideally, the dryer the dirt, the better. It's not always a lost cause, however, when ground seems too hard-packed or wet to run.
PART II
If a spot looks favorable, set your drywasher up. Stabilize it so it doesn't fall over. Start conveying dirt, clay, sand, or gravel (by shovel or bucket) onto the screening section (the grizzly).
Sediments classified thus drop into another section known as the 'hopper'. O
nce the machine is activated, down-sized material feeds over a series of
"riffles" in your concentrator tray.
This process varies slightly from machine to machine.
Heavier minerals...principally gold (if there is any) and fine-grained
black sands (assorted iron minerals) are separated from the paydirt in this manner becoming concentrate.
Panning, or the use of some other final cleanup method, comes afterwards.
Thanks for checking out my store.
G
old of Eldorado 6-5-12