Ultra fine gold dust

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Hi all,
The other day I found a patch of gold in a highbank. I've been sampling to find the parameters. So, I didn't move much dirt. I used a snuffer bottle to grab the tiny -50 mesh I would say and took that plus some of the sands surrounding these pieces from my pan. I am being careful and gentil to recover as small of gold as I can. I went home with only my snuffed material. I then decided to try a process I saw on line that uses one small dish inside a slightly larger dish. Then ran a steady stream on one side of the small dish pushing the black sands out the opposite side like the blue bowl process. To my surprise, it really worked. I would say -100 stayed and only 4 bits of black sand remained. I had about 20 pieces of gold. Then comes the interesting part. I took the bigger of the bowles and tried to swish the black sands around to see if any gold spilled into it. No,not even a tiny speck. Upon setting this bowl down I noticed some material forming a line. It was moving like mud does in water. You know, cloudy swirling color. This material, however, quickly settled into a trough on the bowl. I thought, humm, that looks like it may be golden. I swished it gentlyand was able to get a better defined line. This really looks and acts like gold. It really settles fast and looks like it could be ultra fine gold dust. I have been looking into methods of recovering this tiny pigment like form of gold. Millertables I believe would wash this away. The two bowl method seems to capture it though! I am going to try the two bucket process that uses a whirlpool and a test plug to capture all the gold.
My question is, if just a tiny bit of black sands can produce a visible amount of gold dust. If this can this be mined to produce some quantity. How would a newbie recover this ultra fine gold dust in s payable quantity? I'm curious as heck. I've accidentally recovered the smallest particles I could ever imagine. I couldn't even tell you how small the mesh of the would be. It moves like smoke in the water before setteling. I literally had one drop of black sands that produced this material. I am proceding with caution. I need advice. Anyone have actual experience mining this? Please, lets not speculate. Experienced miners, please advise. Thanks!
 

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placertogo

Sr. Member
Aug 25, 2010
371
350
Maine USA
The slits in gold fountain pen nibs are cut with an extremely fine saw. The nibs themselves are die cut from thin sheets of 14 or 18 karat gold, then formed half round on a mandrel and tipped with a hard alloy to minimize wear when writing. Over the years, those operations generated a good amount of gold waste that worked its way into the grain of wooden floors. There is a story about a fellow who pulls dirt from sidewalk joints in New York’s jewelry district. Over a period of years, fine gold dust from workers’ clothing fell off and worked its way into the joints.
 

Bonaro

Hero Member
Aug 9, 2004
977
2,213
Olympia WA
Detector(s) used
Minelab Xterra 70, Minelab SD 2200d, 2.5", 3", 4"and several Keene 5" production dredges, Knelson Centrifuge, Gold screw automatic panner
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
The slits in gold fountain pen nibs are cut with an extremely fine saw. The nibs themselves are die cut from thin sheets of 14 or 18 karat gold, then formed half round on a mandrel and tipped with a hard alloy to minimize wear when writing. Over the years, those operations generated a good amount of gold waste that worked its way into the grain of wooden floors. There is a story about a fellow who pulls dirt from sidewalk joints in New York’s jewelry district. Over a period of years, fine gold dust from workers’ clothing fell off and worked its way into the joints.

 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Running at about 6 to 7 degrees seemed to just clear material in the sluice. I fitted it with UR in the flair, then 2 razor back then 3 motherload. I got the majority in the sub 50 mesh and quite a bit in the -100 as well. No amount in the + 20 and barely much in the +50. I am happy that I am capturing such fine gold. I can't run the Motherload GGT because the water is shallow. However, with a flat sluice like this one, the water is great and I can move dirt really well. I am really getting the hang of setting up my gear and am seeing the capture rates getting better. Next time out it's going to be about a little sample exploring to zero in a little better on the location of better dirt! For now I gotta wait for a little better weather! Mean while, I spray painted the flair with plasti dip and put some low profile ribbed mat on the sheet metal strip that covers the top part of the mat. Oh man, this is addicting to work on your own stuff. Havin' fun making my stuff work better and experimenting. I figure the plasti dip will slow the gold a little and maybe I can see it while sluicing due to the black color. Also, the ribbed matting will maybe give me a little visual capture zone that was just bare metal before. What do you all think? I will probably go out soon so I can get a "fix" lol... You know, the best info was from Doc when he shows how much material should be in a mat. I get it that way so I got mine to be just like what he showed and that gave me the degree of angle that worked best. A little more experimenting by panning the cons and I came up with the right angle for the low/slow waterflow. So, I am including some photos of the material after running the sluice for several hours. Seems no matter how I edit the photos they end up in the wrong orientation. I wonder what the heck is the issue. Oh well, sorry about the sideways views!

1 days work.jpg

Tiny stuff.jpg

Water flow.jpg

Plasti dip sprayed flare (1).jpg

Ribbed mat on metal flashing.jpg

Motherload Mat.jpg

Razerback Mat.jpg
 

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N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,950
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I like various sizes of expanded metal on top of ribbed rubber or carpet, the unbacked veranda carpet on ribbed rubber as Hoser John suggested has worked well. Currently working on a "cleangold" style sluice using magnetic sign material, in another thread someone suggested to purchase a magnetic field viewing card off of the internet to choose and orientate the material, I got mine from amazon for 2 bucks free shipping It a green field with magnetic particles encased in some kind of oil when placed upon a magnetic piece it shows the field lines. The material used for magnetic signs or cheap fridge magnets aren't magnetic across the board, they often are magnetized in lines which blacksand will cling to forming micro riffles.
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Oh, that's -200!? That's tiny!! How you got that and cleaned it is some skill! I'm wondering which shape captures this better. The channel low profile, or some kind of V grove, or Gold Cube vortex mat or some Gold hog mat. I've seen the clean gold design. I am not just goimg for the ultra fine. But, want to be doing a good effecient recovery. Amazing gold RTR!
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Oh, that's -200!? That's tiny!! How you got that and cleaned it is some skill! I'm wondering which shape captures this better. The channel low profile, or some kind of V grove, or Gold Cube vortex mat or some Gold hog mat. I've seen the clean gold design. I am not just goimg for the ultra fine. But, want to be doing a good effecient recovery. Amazing gold RTR!

The -200 in that pix. is not mine.But I have found some -150 using this. 2011_0405Mttohuntdeer4th0002.JPG 011.JPG
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Nice set up! I have a set of screens. Keven Colorado's suggestion of 20 50 and100 works real well. I get the gold by panning easily. But, with a bucket full like what you have, it's got to be a good Idea to have a clean up sluice. I saw a guy on youtube use a 2 bucket system to get all the gold into a 2" test cap. I think that is for small amounts as well. But, it seems possible to actually get even more out of the cons. I'm certain there will always be some minute amounts left. But, aside from getting rich, it's fun finding ways to recover any gold that I worked for!
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Nice set up! I have a set of screens. Keven Colorado's suggestion of 20 50 and100 works real well. I get the gold by panning easily. But, with a bucket full like what you have, it's got to be a good Idea to have a clean up sluice. I saw a guy on youtube use a 2 bucket system to get all the gold into a 2" test cap. I think that is for small amounts as well. But, it seems possible to actually get even more out of the cons. I'm certain there will always be some minute amounts left. But, aside from getting rich, it's fun finding ways to recover any gold that I worked for!

The Falcon MD-20 is a REAL time saver at finding Gold. No need to 'pan' the material. 001.JPG
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I thought I'd revisit this thread and update. I bought some Gold Hog washer mat and made a recirculating sluice for winter time fun with the tiny stuff. I watched Doc's videos and got things dialed. A little experimenting and I'm catching almost everything in 2 runs. I read a post by Reed Lukins where he said he doesn't use mercury any more because things have gotten so good with the newer gear that it's not necessary. I ran every thing through the screens and ran the material 3 times each. On the -50 +100 stuff I had a couple of tiny specks with the 3rd run. Same with the -100. I think I'll run stuff 2 times from now on and I'm very happy with the washer mat. It's great and now I am confident that I'm getting even the tiny stuff. Anything smaller would be just to see if I have the skills to do it! I'm all in with Gold hog mats and 3 sluices. I'm amazed at their abilities. I like my BGT sniper but the GGT motherload is on par with the GH mats for the fines. I am so ready for this season. I can hardly wait, lots of snow, it should be a decent year. Thanks for all the advice guys! Washer mat sluice.jpeg
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
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Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
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How small do you want it. These(heavily magnified specks) are so fine they float. 005.JPG
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
That's some tiny stuff! Amazing that Gold is so heavy, yet it seems to jump to the surface and float when it's tiny. Good work getting that all clean and in a bottle. It's quite a feat to even get that apart from blak sands without chemicals and mercury.
Now that I have this washer mat sluice, I never have more than a tablespoon or two to work, no matter how much marerial I run. That's a relief. Makes it way more fun! I used to try to pan my cons at the river to see how much I'm getting. Now I'm just cleaning them a little to take a look to see how Im doing and bring it back to do a better job at home. I used to wonder how guys could just sluice and take the cons home and not pan it down. I get it now. I'm more determined to get as much done sluicing and gathering a bunch of cons than wasting time at the river.
 

johnedoe

Bronze Member
Jan 15, 2012
1,489
2,239
Oregon Coast
Detector(s) used
White's V3i, White's MXT, and White's Eagle Spectrum
Cleangold sluice & prospectors pan, EZ-Gold Pan, and custom cleanup sluice.
Primary Interest:
Other
I helped a friend do a cleanup of his concentrates ... He had about 2 1/2 gallons of cons from his beach mining.
He used gold hogs UR mat and some miners moss in his beach sluice it was 12" wide and 48" long.
Anyway he was not looking forward to panning those cons so I told him next time I dropped in I would bring my gold cube.
I had covered the slick plate of the cube with a 12"x12" piece of deep V mat sine I feel there is no reason to have a slick on the gold cube...On a sluice that's a different story but wI might go into that later.
Anyway we took that 2 1/2 gallons of cons down to less than a cup full.
Here is a little vid of the process......... By the way he recovered a little over 2 troy oz. of beach gold and if you have ever had anything to do with that you know just how fine it is.... -100 mesh and smaller.

2015-04-22 17.37.03.jpg

 

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johnedoe

Bronze Member
Jan 15, 2012
1,489
2,239
Oregon Coast
Detector(s) used
White's V3i, White's MXT, and White's Eagle Spectrum
Cleangold sluice & prospectors pan, EZ-Gold Pan, and custom cleanup sluice.
Primary Interest:
Other
There, fixed it for ya....:laughing7:

Screen Shot 2019-03-16 at 9.26.58 AM.png
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's some tiny stuff! Amazing that Gold is so heavy, yet it seems to jump to the surface and float when it's tiny. Good work getting that all clean and in a bottle. It's quite a feat to even get that apart from blak sands without chemicals and mercury.
Now that I have this washer mat sluice, I never have more than a tablespoon or two to work, no matter how much marerial I run. That's a relief. Makes it way more fun! I used to try to pan my cons at the river to see how much I'm getting. Now I'm just cleaning them a little to take a look to see how Im doing and bring it back to do a better job at home. I used to wonder how guys could just sluice and take the cons home and not pan it down. I get it now. I'm more determined to get as much done sluicing and gathering a bunch of cons than wasting time at the river.

I run the material on a Miller table,it removes 99%+ of all the junk. After the gold is dry, with a brush I sweep it on to a piece of white folded paper.Get the gold in the crease and gently tap the paper & the gold rolls down into the container. 004.JPG This is how good the Miller removes the black sand:) 008.JPG
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Thank you johndoe!!
 

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Tahoegold

Tahoegold

Sr. Member
Mar 7, 2016
304
303
Carson City, NV
Detector(s) used
Compadre, Gold Racer, White's TRX,Bazooka GT 24",God Hog mats,Grizzly Gold Trap Motherload, Harbor freight 9 function, Cintech pinpointer, Determination
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Hey RTR,
That's tiney stuff. I've thought about building a miller table. Now that I have a pump I just may do that. It's somethig to do when it's winter and I'm stuck in the house!
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,468
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

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