MikeD Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 At the HGMS Paleo section meeting last Tuesday night, our speaker was a placer gold miner from Alaska. He has recently been spending his winters near the Texas coast. He was raised on gold mining and has done it most of his life. He explained to us the methods that they used to search for gold and once they determined a promising spot, how they mined it. They are digging in the permafrost of an old river channel. They dig (using hydraulics) down about 40 feet to an 8 to 15 foot thick layer of pure ice. Once through the ice, they continue to dig until they hit gravel and stop at the bedrock. The land is reclaimed behind them as they move through the channel. Of course, this is a simplified explanation. One of the interesting things was the amount of fossils that they uncover and how they relate to gold deposits. The fossils are located below the ice layer. When they find the remains of a beaver dam, there is usually more gold there and an abundance of animal bones and teeth. These bones and teeth and tusks are not mineralized. They were frozen and pretty much in the same shape as the day they were buried. He said that most of them tend to start disintegrating within hours of being uncovered. They don't collect many of the bones or teeth, but have recovered some and had some University and museum people come collect some. He brought 2 teeth and 2 tusks with him to the meeting. One of the tusks is strapped with hose clamps to hold it together. He said he had been drying it for about 3 years and was ready to clean, polish and seal it. He had sealed the other tusk with verithane. Not sure how he polished it. The 2 teeth, he had dunked in motor oil as an experiment. That resulted in a dark staining on the teeth. Keep in mind that he is not a fossil collector. I took some pictures, so here they are. The mammoth tusks have part of the hollow root end on them. They are not huge, but interesting none the less. Tusk held with straps. The pointy end is splintered a bit. This one was close to 5 feet long. The hollow end. Closeups of the "cross hatch pattern in the ivory. Probably the only time I will ever get to hold one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 cool cool cool " We're all puppets, I'm just a puppet who can see the strings. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 That is a awesome story. But why would he put the teeth in oil though? Did he happen to mention what other kind of teeth they would find? Thanks for sharing that with us Mike. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Owens Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thanks for sharing! Those are the most complete Mammoth teeth I think I've ever seen. -----"Your Texas Connection!"------ Fossils: Windows to the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdog Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Wow. Thanks for posting. Cool story and pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 well, hopefully ya'll told him that the stuff is desirable and he should collect it all and give it to people like us who can appreciate it. and he can leave it raw and we'll dry and preserve it ourselves to save him work. i've run across a "gold bug" or two when out in the field. when somebody's got the bug, it's pretty interesting the lengths they'll go to in pursuit of that yellow stuff. good post, mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Wow Mike! That looks like at least a "two tissue box" presentation to get through the crying about great fossils getting pitched to the side...or "tortured" in hot oil. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Most cool! I had an Alaskan friend years ago who scrimshawed fossil ivory for a living; he said it was very difficult to work with, but his art was amazing. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Bob, the reason that he put the teeth in oil was that even the teeth start to come apart as they hit the air, so he was looking for something to "stabilize" them. He had just changed the oil in his tractor, so he figured what the heck, let's try that. Seemed to work to some degree. I did notice a lot of cracks in the enamel which looked like cracks from drying out. While they were pretty solid, I could visualize them coming apart in my hands. He did mention that they had found beaver teeth, lots of bones of mammoth, beaver and other unknown creatures. Sometimes the mammoth teeth and tusks are still in the jaws, but things tend to fall apart quickly. They also found tree trunks and wood chips left by giant beavers. tracer, he knows and has trucked out some, but they are in the middle of nowhere, the stuff falls apart quickly, and their primary interest is the gold. Really a shame how many fossils are destroyed and turned to dust. John, I am on my 5th box. I think I forgot to mention that these were dated to around 12000-13000 years ago. He did offer to sell them, but they were a bit out of my price range. He did say that if we were ever in the area, he could help us out. Just need to figure out how to get some 55 gallon drums of butvar to the middle of nowhere and then get out again. Maybe after I win the lottery and have the bankroll..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 ...He did say that if we were ever in the area, he could help us out. ... Forum Trip! The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bone digger Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 great post, what an awesome way of life that would be! Digging gold and fossils at the same time, living out in the middle of nowhere all summer and down in a warm climate all winter! This guys got it all figured out, I'm jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracer Jr. Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 that is way cool. thanks for posting the close-ups of the ivory, as i still wasn't sure what to look for when it comes to that material. hopefully now i would be able to spot a fragment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 that does it...im heading to alaska! awesome stuff mike. thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 that is way cool. thanks for posting the close-ups of the ivory, as i still wasn't sure what to look for when it comes to that material. hopefully now i would be able to spot a fragment That's why I took (and posted) those pics. You always hear about the cross hatch pattern in ivory. I have only seen it once before. This was by far the best example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixflood Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 He did say that if we were ever in the area, he could help us out. Just need to figure out how to get some 55 gallon drums of butvar to the middle of nowhere and then get out again. Maybe after I win the lottery and have the bankroll..... I would haul a horse trailer in if you are going for 55 gallons that sounds like a good trip! You could probably start with a smaller amount, find the fossils, and sell them for more butvar, then head out again for more, repeat as needed Hey, if you can preserve the items and have a day off why not! The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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