Right tool to use??

Excuse my ignorance, but what does tin look like out of the ground? Think I found a spot with a little in it.
Its thin and grey like really thin sheet lead, could this be tin? I put it down to really old trash.

Davent this link will take you to the post I made when I first started finding stuff in the hole. Heaps better specimens have come out of the ground since but there's a few good pics of cassiterite tin.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1685&p=58

Thanks for the input guys. Got some good ideas to look into. I would absolutely love to get a genie in there but the terrain is incredibly steep. Best I can manage is a backpack with my hand tools, drill and a black snake. Might look into this expando stuff though. Heading out there this weekend so I'll post some pics of the lead.

Hunting the yellow said:

Smoky bandit said:

Fill the pit with wood ...let it burn all night....then thro a couple of buckets of water on it...will crack the quartz and make it brittle...much easier to bust up

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good idea but.......

1 it will also shatter the crystals and make the whole lot worthless also burnt fumes are not so good in small spaces

2 this method is good for making kilns but not for mining as you have two problems 1 where's all the water go ? it stays in the pit then you gota bail it out 2 where dose all the ash go ?? it stays in the pit too until of course you dig it back out

im not trying to be against you in anyway just stating that there's better ways than this

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Im sure there is mate But he did ask for any ideas....Not the best idea.

GoldCheddar2005 said:

Have seen expandable foam be used in a prospecting show ???? Thoughts???

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I tried expandable foam on a quarts reef after drilling a 13mm hole ( as large as bat drill will hold ) with no luck . Did another and after a squirt of foam plugged the end of hole with a rubber plug that has screw tsnsioner built in . Did not blow the bung and did not crack the quarts . Cant beat large crow bar ,sledge hammer , and tow bar
Never tried the fire water method but it makes sense . Big fire long enough to get plenty of heat into rock then lots water to cool quickly l guess

plug and feather same as is used for for splitting boulders might be useful too http://www.sydneyhardware.com.au/store/plug-and-feather-3/
heres a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdW3qjC7EqA showing the use, pretty easy thing to make up but the utility might be dependent on how much space you have for the stone to move.

I have considered getting a feather and wedge set in the past for cracking granite boulders. Always comes back to the same issue of drilling the holes. Little, light to carry hand drills just don't pack enough wallop to drill the holes right.

Some of my digging time is spent out a O'breins Creek but no power tools aloud out there. Tried looking for an old star drill set to hammer in some holes manually. Very hard to come across. Having said that though, even if i did find a set I'm not sure if I'd have the patience to belt out 10 holes 1 turn at a time.

One day if I ever find my own little patch to work i'll invest in a couple of hydrualic splitters and a nice big rock drill. Bets way to bust rock without damaging all the crystals.

I use hand driven drills and feather and wedge occasionally to turn one large rock into two smaller more manageable ones. You're right it does take a while but if you can't use power tools there's not many other ways around if there's no where to hook up a comealong. They work well, but you're right it's not exactly a fast exercise. If I could use mechanical equipment then I would of course, but for the occasional use there a handy thing. It might be worth looking into larger portable mag drills as they tend to have a fair bit of grunt and are usually available through tool hire joints, a bit of time with that sort of setup would probably let you get a decent amount of waste stone out of the way at least, even if it doesn't get you all the way to where you need to be.