Ccarson Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Has anyone done any detecting in goldfield Nevada? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Most of Goldfield was hardrock, But the surrounding areas have potentual, you just have to do your homework . Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccarson Posted May 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Ok thanks I have a buddy that has a patented claim in goldfield. So was just asking to see if anyone has done any detecting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Go thru all the pages in this forum. I know it's a lot, but, like I said, the information is there if you do your homework , Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reno Chris Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 I've never heard of any placer large enough to find with a metal detector in Goldfield. Some very rich ore was mined there, but the gold was very fine - dust sized and some of it was contained within rare gold bearing minerals. Way too small to see with a detector. Goldfield is the example I always cite that just because lots of gold was present in a district does not mean worthwhile placers also formed there. Goldfield produced around 4.5 million ounces - a huge amount. Nearby Tonopah likewise produced lots of gold and silver, but had no placers. There are areas in that region with some placer, but right in the Goldfield and Tonopah areas, no, I don't expect you will find anything. I have read much about these old districts and written about them as well - and while they produced millions in gold, they had no placers. In fact there is a famous tale of Tonopah where a prospector came in and tested the area by crushing ore and panning the surface veins there at Tonopah a few years before the rush there began. He only got a couple specks of color, and walked away thinking the veins outcropping there were poor. It was a couple more years before Jim Butler, not knowing about the previous guy, took some samples that were not panned, but were eventually fire assayed. The assay showed they were very rich, revealing the true nature of the ore that the crushing and panning did not show. Some types of ore just do not show much when crushed and panned, even if they are rich. Tonopah had some pretty great surface ore, but Goldfield had pretty so - so surface ore, and it wasn't any big deal until they got down a ways (around 100 feet +) on the veins that they discovered the rich bonanza grade hard rock ore. If you research the old records for these districts and see some small amount of "placer" production listed, it was from the re-working of some of the tailings (which because its loose and no longer attached to the vein is counted as a "placer"). Finally, there are loads of active claims here and some claim owners live on their properties (patented claims) and will not appreciate prospectors on their property, so be sure to get any necessary permissions. Another thing is that a few miles east of Goldfield, you cross over into the Nevada nuclear test range property that is like a military base - no trespassing. I'd expect the best potential at Goldfield or Tonopah for a detector is in the area of relic hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOC Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Sounds like Eldorado Canyon Mining District down here outside of Las Vegas. Millions and millions of dollars of gold taken out of the Jubilee mine, the Manhattan mine. Not a speck of it detectable with a metal detector. All of it microscopic, all of it had to be leached by crushing the ore and using potassium cyanide. However, there is no trash there. How do I know? Because 22 years ago when I was a NEWBIE and didn't know hard rock from placer, I spent three months down there detecting every square inch looking for a nugget. I picked up every piece of trash I found, and believe me that was all there was. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubstake1 Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Years ago, many years! I, my uncle and Shep went to Goldfield, to detect, none of us got anything, we were where the big dishes were, not far from them, the Gov. fence, was really close to us, and guys running around in Black SUV'S with all the windows tinted on them, a couple got out and looked at us with the glasses. Grubstake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccarson Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Thanks for the info everyone. And thanks for cleaning up the place doc :-( Some might say that is a lot of time wasted and that alot of time has been wasted with no fruit to show for their effort but I for one think the opposite. The information you provide to everyone is worth just as much as the yellow stuff we all are in search of and I for one might be lost without your help. So I say thanks again to everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccarson Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Thanks for the info everyone. And thanks for cleaning up the place doc :-( Some might say that is a lot of time wasted and that alot of time has been wasted with no fruit to show for their effort but I for one think the opposite. The information you provide to everyone is worth just as much as the yellow stuff we all are in search of and I for one might be lost without your help. So I say thanks again to everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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