to dig or not to dig

[grumpy]

hi my mates property has a anceint creek running through it about 400 meters of it has a slight dip in it but the last 250 meters is 3 to 5 feet deep with sink holes in it from 5 to 12 feet deep you can see the over burden is about 1 to 2 feet deep in the bank with the wash in some places as deep as the creek after heavy rain depending on the depth of the sink holes you can have wash on the downstream side of the sink holes anywhere between 6 inches to over a foot deep and from 1 to 20 meters long we find jasper and zircons as well as 1 sapphire but the quality was not there what we were planning on doing was as the sink holes are very low on water due  to the dry weather we were going to use his backhoe to lift some of the wash from the bottom of a couple of the  shollower sink  holes to see if there is any heavies left there the question is are there any dangerous gasses that could be released from the decomposing matter from years gone by

[Rusted]

There could be, don't go down there just let the backhoe do the lifting.
CO2 can be nasty stuff, one of my GGG grandfathers died digging a well in Tasmania, three other people died trying to rescue him.

[grumpy]

thanks rusted  backhoe would be doing all the lifting were going to lift 2-4 buckets out of the 3 holes we can get at bit of luck might hit bottom no way were we going down the sumps even if they were dry so we will stay up wind and have a scratch might find something worth while will post if we find anything 

[harryopal]

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if a leaf blower might move any gases if the hole is only 5' deep? If you have a backhoe there may be some kind of power lead attachment.

[MrSydney]

From what you described aren't you lifting the wash out?

Decomposing matter generally will create methane but the digging of the backhoe should help release it pretty quickly (what amount there is) - and the release won't be violent or sufficient to be dangerous.

Well's etc can be dangerous for CO2 etc because they are deep and narrow and and the gas sinks and doesn't get ventilated.  If you are digging out a hole outdoors there should be no risk of this (maybe don't light or smoke a cigarette at the time if you want to be extra cautious!).  It is essentially open to the air too broadly compared to if you were sinking a shaft deeper into hard ground.

So I'd go for it!  Looking forward to hearing how it goes!!

[grumpy]

hi harryopal the only wires on my mates old backhoe is the red and black ones from the battery to the ignition key then to the starter  LOL the old girl was bought mainly for rebuilding the cattle yards and a bit of fencing the people he bought it off i remember them buying it new about 25 years ago for there farm

[grumpy]

hi mr sydney yes that is right we are only lifting the wash out had a go saturday after spending the day putting some more posts and rails in in the yards there was only one dry sump as he got a bit of rain about 4 weeks ago and you would not read about it lifting the first bucket out we blow the seal on the main ram on the beam  we think  poor old girl was saying to us that she had done enough for the day and yes 3 zircons 1 is a little 3 ct red and clear cutter and 1 yellow sapphire it is only 1/2 act

[MrSydney]

Still - a 3 carat clear zircon (I love the brilliance of zircons!) and a sapphire in first bucket!!  Bodes well!

[grumpy]

yes mr sydney the zircons are a nice stone getting a small collection of them from my place and my mates place i don't have much luck at my mates place when his 10 year old son is with me that rock pup is bloody quick anything shiney in the sieve bang its gone should of tought him to grab all those brown odd shaped stones that stick to the earth magnet might get a look in that way LOL

[harryopal]

Your friend's son reminds me of a friend who brought his 10 year along on a fossicking trip (Over 20 years ago ) to a quarry out of Geelong. The quarry was down about forty feet or more below surface level and fossil shark's teeth were easily found in the sandy soil and looking clean and shiny as if they had fallen there the day before. So my friend's son kept walking just in front of me watching to see where I was looking and the moment I was about to pick up a tooth he would be on it in a flash and the tooth was gone. I wonder if it might have carried as a lawful defence to a murder charge to claim severe provocation?

Anyway I stayed my hand and the boy grew up to be a very successful young businessman. 

[grumpy]

hi harryopal i know how you feel go specking for jasper there same thing looking where you are looking not where he is going his father and i get a laugh when he walks into a tree or goes arse  over tit then his father tells look where you are going stupid not where we are looking and there would be a fair chance of keeping more skin on the body