Crushing 1200+ Pounds of Ore from the Golden Griffin Mine! Season 2, Episode 5

Today we are crushing and processing ore samples from the Golden Griffin Mine to see how rich this vein really is. After our recent trip with Harry from @mineoperator, Pete from @Standingbearloggingandmore, @Danhurd, and a few other familiar YouTubers, we brought back several different samples from different parts of the mine. In the previous video, we explored underground, sampled the veins, and used the excavator to expose new material. Now it is time to run the ore, recover the gold, and see which sample performs best. We started by weighing everything so we can compare the final gold recovery to the amount of ore processed. The main samples included 382 pounds from the west side of the north vein, 711 pounds from the collar area, and 128 pounds from the small alluvial drift uncovered during excavation. We also ran about 100 pounds of Dan Hurd’s panning tailings from the footwall, which turned out to be one of the most interesting samples of the day. The ore went through our turnkey crushing and recovery system. First, the jaw crusher reduced the raw mine rock down to about three-quarter-inch to one-inch minus. From there, the material fed into the ore hopper, moved through the hammer mill, and then crossed the shaker table for final concentration. The goal was to separate the heavy minerals, sulfides, and free gold from the crushed quartz vein material. Our first run was the hard red quartz that looked promising in the field because it contained plenty of galena and chalcopyrite. On the table, we saw a strong sulfide line, but not as much free gold as expected. After panning the concentrates, there was definitely some gold, but not enough to make that 350-plus-pound sample look rich. There may still be values locked in the sulfides that will show up during smelting, but visually, that first sample was disappointing. Then we changed strategies and ran Dan’s footwall material. This was the loose, crumbly, oxidized rock where he had panned nice gold at the mine, including pieces attached to quartz. As soon as it hit the table, we started seeing a dense yellow oxide line with gold hidden inside it. The yellow mineral behaved a lot like gold, making it difficult to separate, but once the concentrates were panned down, the gold was obvious. There were chunky pieces, bright free gold, and a lot of fine gold mixed into the yellow material. That test proved something important: the gold is not evenly distributed through the Golden Griffin vein. Several hundred pounds of hard quartz produced only a small showing, while around 100 pounds of oxidized footwall material looked loaded by comparison. The big question became whether the gold is controlled by a specific part of the vein or by the crumbly oxidized material itself. We also processed the larger collar sample and the final three bags from the alluvial drift. Both showed gold on the table, with the alluvial drift looking especially promising for the amount of material processed. This video ends with the concentrates ready for smelting. In part two, we will melt each sample separately, pour gold buttons, weigh them, and calculate the real grade in ounces per ton or grams per ton. Make sure you are subscribed so you do not miss the final results from the Golden Griffin Mine. Music in this video: "Powerful Day" by Lobo Loco, Free Music Archive, CC BY Golden Griffin Season 2 Episodes: 1: https://youtu.be/fStkkdsqepY 2: https://youtu.be/7l5sedmWCVo 3: https://youtu.be/tftSR66mr4g 4: https://youtu.be/6DS_68b7fro Check out our Shopify and eBay stores for ore, specimens, cabochons, and more from our mines: Shopify: https://mbmmllc.myshopify.com/ eBay: https://www.ebay.com/usr/mtbakerminingandmetals For more info please email or call: Email: info@MBMMLLC.com Phone: 360-595-4445 Website: http://www.mbmmllc.com/ Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/MBMMLLC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBMMLLC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbmmllc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MBMMLLC #goldmining #gold #goldore