We were at a GPAA Gold Show in 1987 listening to a speaker talking on fine gold recovery. He suggested burning your dredge sluice matt at the end of the season to dislodge any residual gold. A former dredging friend (I'll call him "Jerry") took this advice literally. He went home and burned his sluice matt, which was made from a type of plastic fiber. It melted into a blackened, solid ball.
Anyone have a similar story...a good mining idea gone bad? Let's hear it.
LD