Black sand stream

diggingthe1

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Feb 11, 2015
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Victor, CO...City of Mines
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My brother found this stream and thought it might be worth checking out. Any advise for him. I said look for some bigger cobbles with the black sand and try there. Thanks for any advice:) IMG-20170827-WA0001.jpg IMG-20170827-WA0000.jpg
 

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KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
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Summit County, Colorado
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Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
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Run, do not walk, to the truck for your gold pan!
 

huntsman53

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Jun 11, 2013
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If I found a dry stream with that much Black Sand in it, I would not only find a way to pan it but would also run a metal detector over every inch and even well outside it's visible banks. Shucks, if I had a Backhoe and Dump Truck, I would scoop everything up, take it home and run it through a sluice.


Frank
 

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diggingthe1

diggingthe1

Silver Member
Feb 11, 2015
2,530
5,899
Victor, CO...City of Mines
Detector(s) used
Minelab EQ800, Ex2
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Thanks for the posts, he will be out there this week with a pan. Can anyone recommend a good cheaper beginning spinner to spin the gold out?
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,370
Summit County, Colorado
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Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
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Prospecting
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diggingthe1

diggingthe1

Silver Member
Feb 11, 2015
2,530
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Victor, CO...City of Mines
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Minelab EQ800, Ex2
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Thank you for the link!!!! We appreciate it! Better find the gold first then the good equipment!
 

johnedoe

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Jan 15, 2012
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Oregon Coast
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White's V3i, White's MXT, and White's Eagle Spectrum
Cleangold sluice & prospectors pan, EZ-Gold Pan, and custom cleanup sluice.
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Set up your gold cube recirculator and RUN THAT STUFF...................:laughing7:
I'm assuming it is magnetic?
Or you could set up a recirculating magnetic sluice like the cleangold ... just classify everything to 1/8th inch.
 

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smokeythecat

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Nov 22, 2012
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Maryland
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XP Deus II
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Use a detector too with the SMALL coil on it to find tiny gold. Try going upstream to see where it is coming from.
 

johnedoe

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Jan 15, 2012
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Oregon Coast
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White's V3i, White's MXT, and White's Eagle Spectrum
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I can't think of any detector that would be any good in that black sand... especially considering the size gold that will be in it.. Most likely -100 mesh ..
But hey... I would be happy to be proven wrong about that.....:dontknow:
 

Lucky Baldwin

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Nov 16, 2013
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My brother found this stream and thought it might be worth checking out. Any advise for him. I said look for some bigger cobbles with the black sand and try there. Thanks for any advice:) View attachment 1487661 View attachment 1487662

i found a black sand wash out in the desert

black sand wash.jpeg

(i know... what i need to find is a better camera)

so like any good prospector, i: 1) followed the black sand upstream to where it started to drop out. 2) found a good looking spot and dug down to bedrock and 3) got my wiskbroom out and started to collect a sample off the bedrock. that's when i discovered the source of the black sand. the bedrock was granite and in this area was a pegmatite which the wash crossed for a fair distance. in a pegmatite the individual granite crystals grow to a very large size. this includes the magnatite crystals which, when they eroded, formed the large black sand deposit.

looking for gold in such a deposit is a waste of time. that doesn't mean pegmatites are worthless, however. i've heard of rubies and sapphires being found in pegmatites.

so before you spend a lot of time and money on your deposit, you might consider poking around to make sure it isn't just a pegmatite under that streambed.
 

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diggingthe1

diggingthe1

Silver Member
Feb 11, 2015
2,530
5,899
Victor, CO...City of Mines
Detector(s) used
Minelab EQ800, Ex2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for the posts, the gold cubes look fun! I have a place in Leadville for one of those! I would freak out to start detecting nuggets:) Hopefully that is the case. Baldwin your advice is well taken, it will be exciting to see what he finds, small little gemstones would be a bonus!
 

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