Unusual Valentines Day Gift

[Moneybox]

Stuff the chocolates, I think I got gold...

As she handed me my gift she said "Sorry I could only afford Black & Gold".

Sometimes along our travels we find a gold specimen and it just ends up floating about the bus until one of us puts it away. Usually by the time we get to putting it away it's just 'another rock' and we have heaps of those. When we arrive home the rocks, bottles, relics and whatever else ends up in a pile, a drum or a box somewhere.

On the weekend Mrs M started unpacking some boxes of bottles that she's been avoiding for awhile. In amongst the bottles she found this little quartz rock marked AU on four sides. At least this one was marked, unlike most of the rocks we collect along the way.

It ended up as my Valentines gift when I got home from squash at about 9:30 last night. Lucky I had a packet of licorice allsorts hidden away Today I ran the SDC over it and it goes off like a decent nugget - even though no gold is visible I feel confident.

I just looked at it sitting here on the table and it spurred a thought. I remembered seeing an old out of date oxygen bottle sitting by the back fence.

Tomorrow I'm going to fire up the bandsaw and I think once it loses its head I'll have a ready made dolly pot

 

[silver]

8) Just looking Mb, and everytime I look at that rock something keeps telling me its got gold in it. ,.... at first I thought you were gunna say you would freeze it with gas and crack it open that way somehow, but smashing it to bits in your new dolly pot to be sounds just as good ,.... can't wait to see how you go with it now ! N I would have put aside a bag of cobbers in my suggery days , but now I'd struggle with a decision between dried meat or mixed nuts. :| ,..... :lol:

 

[Moneybox]

I had a busy day today so didn't get started on this project as early as I wanted to.

First I had to cut down the bottle.

A quick rub around the top with a file and there's my dolly pot.

I wanted to light a fire to cook the quartz but we have a total fire ban at the moment. The second option was to fire up the potbelly but Mrs M didn't want to be sitting by a hot stove for the rest of the night.

So the only option left was a gentle blast with the propane.

Then while it was hot I dropped it into a drum of water.

Even before I got it into the dolly pot it was in a half a dozen pieces but still no sign of gold. I was amazed to see that the texta markings had survived the heat.

Mrs M even let me work in the kitchen.

Just a few minutes later and there it is

Mrs M took the little nugget so that I could run the SDC over it again. There's no sign of more gold yet :/

So I kept on breaking it down.

If I get time tomorrow we'll have a go at panning it ...

 

[SC75]

What did the nugget weigh MB? And thanks for sharing the pictures mate.

 

[silver]

Broke down nice hey ! :Y: top lil nugget, lets hope there's lotsa tiny stuff in the sand you made O :rainbow: ,.... top job I recon MB ! 8)

 

[aussiefarmer]

Great pictures :Y: cant wait for more :Y:

 

[Rockhunter62]

If only all our wives would let us do our hobbies in the kitchen. For some reason I can't understand why mine won't let me rebuild my Haflinger in our kitchen.

Cheers

Doug

 

[GypsyGoldAu]

RH62...you want to rebuild your 'horse'? in the kitchen?...

Are you a taxidermist by chance?

NVM,..looked at pg 2 on google...you mean the Austrian post war vehicle... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Either way,...both cool hobbies. :Y:

GGA

 

[Moneybox]

What did the nugget weigh MB? And thanks for sharing the pictures mate.

It was nice to see colour but there's not much gold. It's still in a small chunk of quartz and Mrs M wants to keep it that way. It could weigh a bout 0.5g but I'll have a go at a correct weight latter. Considering the way it set the detector off I was expecting more.

 

[Moneybox]

If only all our wives would let us do our hobbies in the kitchen. For some reason I can't understand why mine won't let me rebuild my Haflinger in our kitchen.

Cheers

Doug

I love the Haflinger. My brother and I took one for a spin from Rocklea once many years ago. We went up a dead end road, Oneil St Marooka, and put it on it's side trying to cross a big washout. We just tipped it back onto it's wheels and returned it unmarked. I really wanted to buy one but it was just too slow for my everyday use and I couldn't afford too vehicles at the time.

 

[Rockhunter62]

Yes Moneybox, I am referring to the Austrian 4x4. This is my 69 model Haf and I have started to paint it and put it back together but the wiring harness is giving me a bit of grief at the moment. Rainy weather, other projects and finding time and motivation is also holding me up. arty: At the end I would like to use it as my fossicking transport into the remote areas.

Cheers

Doug

 

[Moneybox]

It's certainly a very capable vehicle when the going gets rough. It think you'd have to have one of those 60's model kitchens for that one to blend in ]