Hard rock gold prospecting

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what sort is it mate, those cheap electric ones that run off a genny are useless, have burnt out 2 over the years, just cheaply put together, a metabo or aeg should do the trick, if not a petrol powered one would be the next bet. there a few vids on youtube of portable ones being made from old chainsaws which seem to work very well. heres a link to one lots of vids there...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Ns-D7L_ww. :Y:
 
one video i seen just had the drill bit connected to chain saw with no water swivel, instead they just used a pressure garden sprayer to supply drill fluid, worked a treat they were drilling in pilbara region too, had a quick look cant find it , have it book marked will try find it later this arvo for you. :Y:
 
The drill is a Shaw Backpack diamond core drill - petrol powered. I know that quartzite is extremely hard but I expected it to handle the quartzite easily but that was not the case.
 
Harlequin said:
The drill is a Shaw Backpack diamond core drill - petrol powered. I know that quartzite is extremely hard but I expected it to handle the quartzite easily but that was not the case.

Looks like you've got a nice piece of gear there: http://www.backpackdrill.com/

Shaw's Field Experiences page shows their drill even being used successfully in jade boulders, which I thought were hard as the hobs of hell, so your difficulties with quartzite are surprising. What sort of penetration rate are you achieving?
 
My Prospect is mostly surface and we are just beginning a drill programme - hopefully within the next month or so. In the meantime I tried out the drill on a slab of quartzite from the site. It ground away but very slowly and used a lot of water. (We have to cart our own water to the site- a huge problem). The core sample was small and in pieces. The drill will go down about 50 feet but I estimate the depth at around 25-30. I use an auger attachmentt ill I reach hard rock, then change to the diamond head. I'm hoping the overburden will be about 3-6 ft.
You're right grubstake, it's a great bit of gear!
You are right again about hardness. Jade is between 6 and 7 and quartzite is 7 so they are roughly the same - bloody hard!
 
same here id expect the shaw drill to do the job, maybe a better dearer core bit may help buddy.
 
also are you using a proper drill fluid or just water, this will make a big difference, better lube less heat better cutting. :Y:
 
Thanks for that. When I bought the drill I did not get the advice you give re dill fluid and lubrication but from now on I will follow your advice .Thanks again.
 
Harlequin said:
Thanks for that. When I bought the drill I did not get the advice you give re dill fluid and lubrication but from now on I will follow your advice .Thanks again.
no problems mate anything else just ask, we are also starting an auger program through autum , same problem no water have to cart it in, all the best :Y:
 
grumpygold said:
also are you using a proper drill fluid or just water, this will make a big difference, better lube less heat better cutting. :Y:
And longer bit life, better lifting of ground rock sludge. If it is a real problem and you have a lot of holes to drill, have you considered pre-collaring to above core depth with cheap percussion drilling?
 
No - I'm a total novice when it comes to drilling.I spent 2 years researching a particular site,assayed some specimens (2-3g/t) and decided to get a licence and get stuck in. Decided on the Shaw Backpack diamond core drill because it is light, portable and from those who know, the best on the market. But it's not enough to have the site sorted and a top drill to see what's under- you have to know how the ins and outs of drilling. I'm working on it.
 
I had a shaw drill many years ago....do you have a new head?...if it aint cutting I would say your drill bit/head has passed it's used by date.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I do have 3 spare diamond bits so that's not the problem. I didn't realise that quartzite is so hard that is smoothes and polishes the diamonds with the result that they can no longer cut. The solution is to continuously "dress" the bit by rotating it at speed in a bucket of coarse sand. This cleans out the gunk between the diamond edges. The sand I was using was ordinary concrete mix sand. When I return to the site I will be taking 50grit garnet (sandblast grit). I will be also taking a bag of Bentonite to stabilise the drill hole walls. I'm living and learning.
 
What bit are you running and rod size,

Im thinking been a back pack drill its not going to have a lot of weight behind it.

You will need a bit around 12-14 to cut quarts, smaller diamonds soft matrix and easy to expose and strip ur bit,

Water is also a big thing. To much and you will polish ur bit , to little and you will weld it to the rock.

Bentonite will be a waste of time for you unless ur in sands and shitty surface clays and gravels,

If ur going right into hard rock all you need is a short chain liquid polymer.
(Maxi drill from mudex) bloody good stuff,

Dont get bogged ??
 
Thanks Newbie - great practical advice from one who obviously knows. We're going to the site next week so we'll give it a test. You correctly identify the ground- "shitty surface clays and gravel. " I was researching Bentonite and read it was used extensively to stabilise dam walls. I wonder if that disastrous mine dam collapse in South America was the result of poor local contractors saving money?
I'll let you know how we get on.
 
Things have changed: we're not going to the site next week after all. My driller has had a motor bike accident and is in hospital with multiple fractures etc. It's an 8 hour drive from Melbourne, then setting up camp again etc etc. I can't do it alone so a change of plans is called for. I was born in the year of the Berlin Olympics and everyone tells me I'm too old to be out in all weathers digging, scrambling around hills, prospecting. And yet in the same breath I'm told to keep my brain and body active! I'd rather wear out than rust out. I've had a varied and interesting life but a few years in retirement I was bored silly. The crunch came when gardening was becoming the rule of the day. For 20 years before retirement I owned and operated an opal mine in Lightning Ridge. Mining is in my blood. At 12 I was helping my dad mine feldspar near Broken Hill. So I decided I had to do something with mining . My options were limited - gardening,(!) shopping, daytime TV, baby sitting, dishes ......
So I sat down at the computer and started to do research on gold. It was a bit slow going because my lack of computer skills slowed me down ( my technical assistant who often helped out in these situations was only available on weekends because he's started school this year) but after a while I got there. I discovered that back in the late 1800's in western NSW there was a gold rush that petered out because of distance and lack of water. I dug deeper and found a comment - "the Geological Survey Survey Department was of the opinion that an auriferous belt extends right across this arid district where the want of water has hitherto largely prevented prospecting being carried out." Until now! I reasoned that for such a comment to be made they had to know things that we didn't.
I'm sorry I've prattled on so. This post was a cry for help from someone not too proud to ask for it. Listening to my driller apologising from the Emergency Ward of a big hospital because he couldn't make it to the site unhinged me a bit resulting in this waste of your time.
But then again you might like to hear what I learned about simple geology which lead to my finding gold, about how to go about getting an Exploration Licence, about the pitfalls and mistakes to avoid, about how to start an Exploration business cheaply
 

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