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Weird Looking white clay/quartz help?

goldguy89		Posted : Wednesday, 3 December 2014 9:21:22 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 25/08/2014(UTC) Posts: 25 Thanks: 5 times Was thanked: 17 time(s) in 12 post(s)		hey guys, goldguy here,went for a bit of a moss and dig today up my favourite creek and under a 60kg slate rock there a pocket/boil hole in the bedrock that was bright white about 60cm circle bt about same again deep,it is filled to the top with white clay like substance in it,now im talking bright quartz white,with a bit of force i managed to push my hole hand all the way to the bottom through the clay,encased in the clay are thousands of pieces of black sand and 2mm size gold specks,has anyone had any experience with this,i didnt bother to pan any of it but rubbed some in a pool ,and was left with 2 pieces of quartz,no clay and a white pool of water,after the white washed away the bottom was literally sparkling,what is this? im dying to know,the only thing i can think of is that the one of the stampers lost a whole lot of crushed ore and it ended up in that boil hole and somehow mixed with the river sand it has begin to cement or turn into a clay Edited by user Wednesday, 3 December 2014 9:27:15 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

NUGGY		Posted : Thursday, 4 December 2014 12:06:37 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 20/07/2012(UTC) Posts: 267 Location: greymouth Thanks: 85 times Was thanked: 76 time(s) in 58 post(s)		I have a few times noticed white clay with good gold deposits in rivers and creeks while dredging. It has grit of the same color and black sand through it, and usually good gold in my experience. It can be a very thin layer in the gravel matrix, or more often a layer glued to the rock bottom. I always thought it meant no-one else had dredged that patch and I usually did well when on the white clay. However I don't know what it's made of, and don't see anything around the areas that it could be derived from. It does have a strong pigment in that it colors the water white when stirred up, and there is a sand found locally on sea beaches that is used in making white paint ( I think I remember being told it's for white anyway) ilmenite - perhaps there is a connection ? I also notice that very old lead shot bullets etc turn white in the creeks, so could it be lead ore ? Seeing how it seems to associate with gold you would think it must be heavy. No answers here, but it was something I had noticed but not thought about for years. GL & HH NUGGY

goldguy89		Posted : Thursday, 4 December 2014 1:30:51 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 25/08/2014(UTC) Posts: 25 Thanks: 5 times Was thanked: 17 time(s) in 12 post(s)		Thanks mate,Think ill shoot up and dig it all out tomorrow.Also no ones definitally dug tht area because the slate rock ontop of it was hardpacked against the bedrock with 2foot cemented false bedrock on top,Thanks for the Info mate ,will take photos of it untouched extracted and panned ,maybe its the same stuff? To be continued .... Gold Guy

oroplata		Posted : Thursday, 4 December 2014 2:14:47 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 16/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,040 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 211 time(s) in 152 post(s)		http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide
		WWW

Mudwiggle		Posted : Thursday, 4 December 2014 8:07:32 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 22/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 742 Thanks: 182 times Was thanked: 683 time(s) in 317 post(s)		If you really want to identify it, you can send me a tablespoon of it and I'll put it through the machines at work, free of course. PM me if interested.