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Post by catmandewe on Jun 12, 2013 1:16:49 GMT -5
I decided to try some mining at Davis Creek for obsidian this year, been here for 6 weeks now and thought I would show you guys some of our progress. Here we are a few weeks into it   The pile of obsidian after about 3 weeks  The pit about 2 weeks ago  The pit about a week ago  The pit today  view from the top of the pit  We had a good day today, our best one day haul yet  Today we pulled out the biggest one so far, 260 lbs of killer rainbow  It is fun to play with rocks every day but I am missing home. Thanks for looking.............Tony |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2013 7:10:40 GMT -5
THAT HAS TO AMOUNT TO ABOUT A MILLION SHOVELS FULL. I salute your strong back and tenacity. What a haul too. I am totally impressed.
Jim
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marinedad
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 813
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Post by marinedad on Jun 12, 2013 7:23:50 GMT -5
that's amazing the amount you got
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jun 12, 2013 7:30:47 GMT -5
Tony, you are amazing! You certainly do things on a BIG scale. Thanks for sharing. I think it is every rockhound's dream to have a mine! You are doing it. Congrats! Got any pics of the cleaned/washed rough? Especially the godzilla piece. - Mark
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Post by orrum on Jun 12, 2013 8:38:42 GMT -5
Wow Tony thats a lot of dirt to shovel! Are obsidian chunks the only rock there? Is all the obsidian there rainbow? Buddy u are definitely the best man I ever saw running a shovel and wheelbarrow!!!!
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Post by paulshiroma on Jun 12, 2013 8:46:24 GMT -5
Impressive! My back hurts just looking through the photos. Thanks for virtually taking us along.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2013 11:30:46 GMT -5
That is way cool!
need that 260# for a giant sphere! Tim & I gotta build a big machine to share! lol
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Post by Toad on Jun 12, 2013 13:36:50 GMT -5
Now that's a whole lot of glass. Cool.
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Post by deb193redux on Jun 12, 2013 13:55:02 GMT -5
I hope it shows good color. The pile looks almost as big as the pit. LOL.
Will yall have to backfill at the end of the season?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 12, 2013 14:22:18 GMT -5
HOLY MOLY Dude!!!! That about covers it!!! Thumbs up
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Post by paulshiroma on Jun 12, 2013 14:42:01 GMT -5
That is way cool! need that 260# for a giant sphere! Tim & I gotta build a big machine to share! lol The Palantir of Orthanc comes to Chino ... |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2013 15:55:26 GMT -5
The Palantir of Orthanc comes to Chino ... I googled that. Nice Tolkien reference! Yes, I can now name my giant sphere. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jun 12, 2013 17:22:04 GMT -5
WOW do I ever feel LAZY after looking at those pictures. That's awesome to see what really goes into getting the material instead of just seeing stuff listed on ebay.
I see a box of this in my future. can't do it right now .... hopefully soon.
Chuck
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Post by catmandewe on Jun 12, 2013 17:29:09 GMT -5
We won't have to fill in the hole as we plan to be using it for a few years. There are pits there that have been producing good rainbow for 10 years. As long as it is pick and shovel only it will probably never be depleted, it was probably a good call on the forest service to ban mechanized equipment for the obsidian mining here as a good track hoe could clear this out in a matter of a few years. We dug for 6 weeks before we hit the vein, most of the obsidian in the big pile is float that we separated from the dirt as we were digging the pit looking for the vein. The vein is 35 feet into the hill and 25 feet deep and has the consistency of a 3 bag mix concrete with big chunks in it. After we dig it up we have to take it home and run it through the wash bay.  We presoak the rocks in buckets of water and the pressure wash the mud and concrete like ash layer off.  Then we weigh it and write it down on a tally sheet and put the clean rock into bags, each bag holds 1 metric ton, when a bag is filled we tie it shut and attach the tally sheet. We have to fill 20 of these bags before we get a check so sometimes cash is a little tight, so if anyone wants some real good rainbow let me know and I will make you a great deal!  Here are a few pics of some of the colors as we were washing them off. This is the 260 pound chunk, it has a couple of cracks so it wouldn't be a good one for your sphere Scott. I took a few shots trying to capture the sheen.   Here is one that is a little over 100 lbs, it would make a nice sphere.   Somewhere over the rainbow......skies are blue! Thanks for looking.................Tony |
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Jun 12, 2013 17:34:13 GMT -5
Dude! That is all so incredible, thanks for showing all the stages!
Sent from my phone.
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Post by paulshiroma on Jun 12, 2013 21:22:05 GMT -5
Tony, out of curiosity, how did you get those 260 and 100 pound pieces of obsidian out of the ground and into the truck?
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Post by catmandewe on Jun 12, 2013 21:32:16 GMT -5
Tony, out of curiosity, how did you get those 260 and 100 pound pieces of obsidian out of the ground and into the truck? We dig them out with paleo picks and pry bars, put them into a wheel barrow to get them to the truck, then lift them into the truck, on days we think we are going to be bringing home lots of material we bring along a trailer also. As we get the pit farther into the hill we will build a loading dock right into the hill so we can just roll them into the truck without having to lift them in. Some big ones are in the 600 to 1000 lb range so we want to be ready when we find one of those! Tony |
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Post by paulshiroma on Jun 12, 2013 21:42:00 GMT -5
Loading dock ... yeah, I can see that being necessary. Or frankly, "back-saving", regardless of the size of the boulder. Very cool, Tony.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2013 8:27:49 GMT -5
My hat is off to you. So I guess you are at a million shovels full and counting. If you need a little help please do not call me.  Jim |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,492
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 13, 2013 9:35:47 GMT -5
Holy smokes! You folks dig better'en a passel of prairie dogs on meth. What a haul!.....Mel
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