Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
We found HIGH-GRADE GOLD inside our own 130-year-old gold mine — and the vein we’ve been chasing finally paid off.
In Part 3 of opening this historic gold mine, we go back underground to answer the question that really matters:
Is there enough gold left in this vein system to justify developing the mine farther and punching back into the old stopes?
We map the pinch-and-swell quartz veins, metal detect promising targets and systematically sample the underground workings. Every sample is collected, bagged, tagged and kept separate so that if we recover gold, we know EXACTLY which structure it came from.
Then we crush the rock and pan the samples.
Sample #1 gives us visible WIRY NATIVE GOLD.
But the bigger surprise comes when we follow the cross-cutting quartz toward the main vein.
Multiple veins come together near a shear zone — exactly the kind of structural setting where repeated hydrothermal fluid movement can create richer mineralized zones. That’s why vein intersections are one of the places I pay very close attention to when prospecting hard-rock gold.
And when we pan that material...
BRIGHT YELLOW GOLD shows up.
Several pieces are noticeably more yellow than much of the electrum we normally see from this district. Based strictly on appearance in the field, my estimate is closer to an 80/20 gold-silver mix compared with the roughly 60/40 to 70/30 material we commonly see here.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: That is a FIELD OBSERVATION based on color and appearance — NOT an assay or confirmed fineness.
But it is VERY promising.
Now we need to find out whether the gold continues into the vein system strongly enough to justify opening this mine farther.
⛏️ WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
• How pinch-and-swell quartz veins form and why they can change dramatically over short distances
• Why intersecting and cross-cutting veins can create richer mineralized zones
• How we metal detect underground hard-rock gold veins
• How to systematically collect, bag, tag and track mine samples
• Why old metal sample tags can point to ground previous geologists considered worth testing
• The tarp + hammer-drill method for collecting underground samples
• How fault gouge, shear zones and hydrothermal alteration relate to gold mineralization
• How we crush and pan hard-rock gold samples in the field
• How to deal with clay-rich fault gouge when testing for gold
• The fire + water method for breaking down extremely hard quartz
• What unusually yellow native gold may tell you in the field — and what only an assay can prove
• How we decide whether a gold mine is worth developing farther or whether we’re just putting money into a hole in the ground
👇 GOLD BUG 2 OR GOLD MONSTER 2000?
At 1:16 I ask which detector YOU would use inside a tight underground hard-rock gold mine like this.
Gold Bug 2 or Gold Monster 2000?
Tell me which one you’d run — and WHY.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Back Inside Our Gold Mine
0:51 – The Pinch-and-Swell Gold Vein
1:16 – Gold Bug 2 or Gold Monster 2000?
1:33 – Cutting Sample #1
2:12 – Hydrothermal Fluids & Alteration
4:18 – Tarp + Hammer Drill Sampling
5:47 – Bag It, Tag It, Map It
6:08 – Why Old Mine Sample Tags Matter
7:04 – Sampling Another Underground Target
8:43 – Square Nails & the Age of the Mine
9:05 – Fault Gouge & Altered Material
9:33 – Where the Gold Veins Intersect
11:35 – Crushing the Ore
12:30 – When a Rock Crusher Pays for Itself
13:02 – Processing Sample #1
14:04 – GOLD! First Native Gold Appears
14:29 – Testing the Altered Fault Gouge
16:43 – Following the Vein Above the Shaft
17:51 – Sampling the Cross-Cutting Quartz
18:37 – Fire + Water Trick for Hard Quartz
19:13 – The Shear Zone & Hydrothermal Fluids
19:48 – BRIGHT YELLOW GOLD in the Pan!
20:17 – Why Every Prospector Needs a Hand Lens
20:38 – What This Means for Our Gold Mine
▶️ WATCH THE FULL GOLD MINE SERIES
PART 1 — We Finally Broke Into a 130-Year-Old Sealed Gold Mine
youtu.be/Qw2ETtm-CfU
PART 2 — We Opened an Old GOLD Mine, You Won't Believe What We Found
youtu.be/KKfWAN_P9K8
💰 WANT A SHOT AT REAL GOLD + MINING GEAR?
Every month we give away rich gold paydirt and prospecting equipment to Patreon members.
Join here:
patreon.com/c/askJeffWilliams
📖 WHERE TO FIND GOLD
More than 40 years of prospecting, geology and mining experience packed into one book:
[INSERT BOOK LINK]
⚒️ ROCK CRUSHING EQUIPMENT
Steve Hamilton at MakeYourOwnGoldBars.com
Mention Ask Jeff Williams when you contact him.
[INSERT EQUIPMENT LINK]
⛏️ DIRT CLOD PROSPECTING APP
[INSERT DIRT CLOD LINK]
Always verify current land ownership and mining-claim status before prospecting, sampling or staking ground.
🎥 LILA’S CHANNEL
[INSERT LILA CHANNEL LINK]
#GoldMining #GoldProspecting #HighGradeGold #GoldMine #HardRockMining #LodeGold #GoldVein #GoldOre #GoldInQuartz #NativeGold #MineExploration #Geology #FreeMillGold #HistoricMine #AskJeffWilliams
We found HIGH-GRADE GOLD inside our own 130-year-old gold mine — and the vein we’ve been chasing finally paid off.
In Part 3 of opening this historic gold mine, we go back underground to answer the question that really matters:
Is there enough gold left in this vein system to justify developing the mine farther and punching back into the old stopes?
We map the pinch-and-swell quartz veins, metal detect promising targets and systematically sample the underground workings. Every sample is collected, bagged, tagged and kept separate so that if we recover gold, we know EXACTLY which structure it came from.
Then we crush the rock and pan the samples.
Sample #1 gives us visible WIRY NATIVE GOLD.
But the bigger surprise comes when we follow the cross-cutting quartz toward the main vein.
Multiple veins come together near a shear zone — exactly the kind of structural setting where repeated hydrothermal fluid movement can create richer mineralized zones. That’s why vein intersections are one of the places I pay very close attention to when prospecting hard-rock gold.
And when we pan that material...
BRIGHT YELLOW GOLD shows up.
Several pieces are noticeably more yellow than much of the electrum we normally see from this district. Based strictly on appearance in the field, my estimate is closer to an 80/20 gold-silver mix compared with the roughly 60/40 to 70/30 material we commonly see here.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: That is a FIELD OBSERVATION based on color and appearance — NOT an assay or confirmed fineness.
But it is VERY promising.
Now we need to find out whether the gold continues into the vein system strongly enough to justify opening this mine farther.
⛏️ WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
• How pinch-and-swell quartz veins form and why they can change dramatically over short distances
• Why intersecting and cross-cutting veins can create richer mineralized zones
• How we metal detect underground hard-rock gold veins
• How to systematically collect, bag, tag and track mine samples
• Why old metal sample tags can point to ground previous geologists considered worth testing
• The tarp + hammer-drill method for collecting underground samples
• How fault gouge, shear zones and hydrothermal alteration relate to gold mineralization
• How we crush and pan hard-rock gold samples in the field
• How to deal with clay-rich fault gouge when testing for gold
• The fire + water method for breaking down extremely hard quartz
• What unusually yellow native gold may tell you in the field — and what only an assay can prove
• How we decide whether a gold mine is worth developing farther or whether we’re just putting money into a hole in the ground
👇 GOLD BUG 2 OR GOLD MONSTER 2000?
At 1:16 I ask which detector YOU would use inside a tight underground hard-rock gold mine like this.
Gold Bug 2 or Gold Monster 2000?
Tell me which one you’d run — and WHY.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Back Inside Our Gold Mine
0:51 – The Pinch-and-Swell Gold Vein
1:16 – Gold Bug 2 or Gold Monster 2000?
1:33 – Cutting Sample #1
2:12 – Hydrothermal Fluids & Alteration
4:18 – Tarp + Hammer Drill Sampling
5:47 – Bag It, Tag It, Map It
6:08 – Why Old Mine Sample Tags Matter
7:04 – Sampling Another Underground Target
8:43 – Square Nails & the Age of the Mine
9:05 – Fault Gouge & Altered Material
9:33 – Where the Gold Veins Intersect
11:35 – Crushing the Ore
12:30 – When a Rock Crusher Pays for Itself
13:02 – Processing Sample #1
14:04 – GOLD! First Native Gold Appears
14:29 – Testing the Altered Fault Gouge
16:43 – Following the Vein Above the Shaft
17:51 – Sampling the Cross-Cutting Quartz
18:37 – Fire + Water Trick for Hard Quartz
19:13 – The Shear Zone & Hydrothermal Fluids
19:48 – BRIGHT YELLOW GOLD in the Pan!
20:17 – Why Every Prospector Needs a Hand Lens
20:38 – What This Means for Our Gold Mine
▶️ WATCH THE FULL GOLD MINE SERIES
PART 1 — We Finally Broke Into a 130-Year-Old Sealed Gold Mine
youtu.be/Qw2ETtm-CfU
PART 2 — We Opened an Old GOLD Mine, You Won't Believe What We Found
youtu.be/KKfWAN_P9K8
💰 WANT A SHOT AT REAL GOLD + MINING GEAR?
Every month we give away rich gold paydirt and prospecting equipment to Patreon members.
Join here:
patreon.com/c/askJeffWilliams
📖 WHERE TO FIND GOLD
More than 40 years of prospecting, geology and mining experience packed into one book:
[INSERT BOOK LINK]
⚒️ ROCK CRUSHING EQUIPMENT
Steve Hamilton at MakeYourOwnGoldBars.com
Mention Ask Jeff Williams when you contact him.
[INSERT EQUIPMENT LINK]
⛏️ DIRT CLOD PROSPECTING APP
[INSERT DIRT CLOD LINK]
Always verify current land ownership and mining-claim status before prospecting, sampling or staking ground.
🎥 LILA’S CHANNEL
[INSERT LILA CHANNEL LINK]
#GoldMining #GoldProspecting #HighGradeGold #GoldMine #HardRockMining #LodeGold #GoldVein #GoldOre #GoldInQuartz #NativeGold #MineExploration #Geology #FreeMillGold #HistoricMine #AskJeffWilliams
