Long Island Flour Gold, Novice Panner

[bytedisorder]

Hey guys, I have been lurking around these forums for a few weeks, and decided to register and get involved. What spurred me, I believe is the first color I've seen. I'm pretty happy as this was my 3rd attempt at panning ever, and the area I am in (Long Island) supposedly has no gold. I have a few little flour sized flakes from the one pan I did today. I had to pick them out with tweezers because I couldn't get them separate from the back sands even with a magnet. Not to re-iterate but, this is my third time ever panning, and I just want conformation that this is color! Also hello to all.



Thanks All.

EDIT

After doing some reading, I now realize I lost a lot of flour gold from that pan ( I did not know that flour gold floats). I didnt have a classifier so I just used a bucket threw out all of the large gravel and shook it to stratify it then dumped the water. I saw shiny specks, but I thought it was a lighter mineral. At least I can pan again tomorrow.

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[bytedisorder]

Also if the gold in the creek where I am panning is around this size or a bit larger and in abundance, I assume a mesh classifier would be good. Based on the size of these flakes what would be better, a 60 mesh 100 or? I panned this with a baking pan from the hardware store.. lol. I already ordered a Garrett Gold Pan Kit, but I think it would be prudent to classify out all of the quartz sand and small pebbles, as I don't think there are nuggets around here.

[Terry Soloman]

I think it is mica or pyrite. It could be glacial gold, but highly doubtful. Go to Connecticut or Vermont if you want to stay close to home. You won't even pay for your gold pan on Long Island. Get a detector and head for the beach if you want to find gold. There are no known gold deposits in New York state. You can even call the State Geologist if you want to confirm that fact. Sorry.. GoldProspectingLessons.com is my site if you want to learn a little more.

[bytedisorder]

I am going to get a bit more and test it. There are a few reports of gold that has been found here locally over the years. I'm not trying to make a profit here, I'm just practicing for when I get up to Vermont in July. I do have a detector however.

The gold found nearest to me was about 5 miles south and 35 feet up in elevation. January 30th, 1858 Suffolk Times http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...8AD85F4C8584F9

[Terry Soloman]

Best of luck to you.

I am going to get a bit more and test it. There are a few reports of gold that has been found here locally over the years. I'm not trying to make a profit here, I'm just practicing for when I get up to Vermont in July. I do have a detector however.

The gold found nearest to me was about 5 miles south and 35 feet up in elevation. January 30th, 1858 Suffolk Times LONG ISLAND. - DISCOVERY OF A GOLD-MINE ON LONG ISLAND.--AN INTELLIGENT JURY.--SERIOUS AFFRAYS.-PETER MCGOVERN. - View Article - NYTimes.com

[hunter_46356]

It's more difficult to identify with the color backround in the pic. If it's gold it should not break up or apart and be pliable/bendable but you probably already know this. Your sample may be too small to even allow this type of confirmation. You'd have to have alot of it this size before any metal detector is going to sound off on it. I've found there ain't nothing like the looks of gold in a green or a black pan, you just know it's gotta be the good stuff. A better pic may help.

[bytedisorder]

Thanks Terry. Hunter, I panned this with a baking pan lol. It is pliable but I can cut it with a pair of steel tweezers. I'm getting my green pan and classifiers on Thursday in the mail, so I'll post a better pic under 10X magnification. Thanks guys.

[bytedisorder]

Here is a picture of what I found in 2 pans today. It bends and does not break and was at the bottom of the pan so I assume its gold. A lot more micro gold in the black sand.

[bytedisorder]

I am getting a reading on my metal detector from these flakes, so cant be mica or pyrite.

[Alnitak]

I am getting a reading on my metal detector from these flakes, so cant be mica or pyrite.

Even a high-sensitivity detector like a GPX-4500 wouldn't give a reading on such tiny flakes. Your photos look exactly like mica, which would be relatively common there.

[Bell]

Looks like gold to me but hard to say. And actualy you would be suprised what little gold a detector can pick up. We tested out a garrett AT Gold recently and it gave a faint response on a similiar amount of gold. Gold is where you find it.

[freddy williams]

Detectors built specifically for gold will pick up those amounts of material. You may have some gold there but without testing it would be hard to say. Then there are detectors built for gold and no matter how you tweek them they don't pick up anything.. Keep going it all addedd up and make your own classifiers from 1/4 inch chicken wire and 1/8 inch wire and futher classify that down with a collundar from freds store. It will save you the 85.00 fom buying 3 screens

[vtgoldprospector]

Howdy fellow Long Islander! I am in my first season myself but has managed to accumulate much info and even got a few Vermont trips under my belt. If you would like, I have a jewelers eye that I can give you a definitive yay or nay on your findings. Just let me know. Many things can look like gold to the eye but when you look a little closer it is a totally different game. The real thing no matter how small is obvious. I would love to collaborate with a local on my new hobby and share what I have learned. Hopefully you are on the east end and not in Nassau County. I am actually leaving this weekend for another trip to VT so I might have a little delay on checking this forum if you decide to take me up on my offer.

I must say that I am skeptical about finding any gold here on LI, especially that much without serious bulk processing. If it turns out being a flop I'll gladly help you out with where you can find some.

BTW, as an old law in New York State.. any gold found in NY is property of the state... *******s. Don't worry, I wont tell anyone. .... gold? what gold?

[headchef1971]

I an from long island also. A lot of people said there is no gold here. I've been around long island digging and I have also found flour gold. I believe there should be some more but I can't find any info. The oly thing I found was a news paper clipping the same one posted here. I would like more info please.

[vtgoldprospector]

The problem with long island is that it is a glacial moraine and during the process of the glaciers bulldozing the sand and rocks southward, all the gold mixed in with a great deal of not gold. So from pretty much any part of the island you can get gold but have to process so much dirt it actually makes it not classify as ore, by a long shot! However if I had to pick a place I would try and find what the general directions of the glaciers were and look where the soils from the CT rivers would end up on LI. I would imagine these areas would be the highest concentration. Personally, I just drive to VT.

[nickmarch]

There certainly is gold in NY State including gold on Long Island.

[vtgoldprospector]

But LI lacks the rivers to deposit in concentrations. We have no hills to speak of (I live on the north fork). Generally gold is just about everywhere, its just usually to darn spread out to make it worth the effort. If you actually find a decent spot then rock on! You were either lucky or did much work on finding it.