Black sand / beach sand - panning technique critique?

[Caribou369]

Im a newbie prospector eager to get started but biding my time until next summer season comes around. I collected some of the black sand rumored to bear very fine gold from the southernmost end of SF's Ocean Beach. Using a green pan and a rare earth magnet, I was able to separate the fine grayish blonde sand from the heavier black sand, but have not found any gold, even very fine gold, so far as I can tell. I noticed some success in separating a small amount of black sands from the lighter sand and have been washing it off to the side, then applying the magnet to get a relatively pure black sand. So far I have a bucket with a small amount of clearly lighter concentration of sands, and another container with extremely fine black sands, most of the latter obtained with the magnet.
although using a combination of quick vibration followed by a wavelet action seems to be good at separating the two types of sand in my pan, pouring off the lighter stuff alone is more difficult. I have not found even very small flecks of gold in what's left and am wondering, should I keep on doing what I'm doing? Re-run the non magnetic sand concentrates? Just process more volume, or what?
And...is it just me, or is panning beach sand really freakin' hard?

Advice appreciated

Heavy pans to ya

 

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[javed]

Hi I am Javed from India I am also a newbie prospector from India.. I have tried panning beach sand and river sand but all i get in the end is a layer of dark black sand ... i have a load full of beach sand collected from a beach in mumbai.. can someone advice...

 

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[javed]

Hi this is exactly what i get from beach sand which i have tried to pan only sticky layers of black sand.. should i use any other method to classify the sands to extract gold

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hi Javed, great to hear from someone in India! From my research, I don't think you will find gold in the Mumbai beach sands. For gold you need to go down to Goa.

Hmm, any excuse to go on holiday in Goa right?

 

[johnedoe]

I thought some photos of exactly how fine this sand is might give a better idea of what I'm working with.

View attachment 1117696
a partially classified pan with the lights separating out on the left.


View attachment 1117697
The same dime with individual grains of sand visible. The larger spots on lady liberty's neck are clusters of 4-7 tiny grains.

All of it is this size...I think I will be investing in a 100 mesh classifier soon.

100 mesh screens AND a miller table.......

 

[Skiddum]

Shake, wash, shake, wash repeat. never poor. panning is slow but the better you get at this small stuff the easier it'll become. and then you'll find other areas were it's super easy because your used to panning hard stuff.
become the best panner you can. cause when it comes down to it it's the one tool you will always use. and th e better you are at it the more you'll be able to do. and listen to these guys is seriously one of the best thing you could do. there very knowledgeable. I've only been doing for a little over a year. and honestly I've learned tons from these guys. but this isn't something you can be told either you have to do it to understand what and why they tell you what they tell you. happy hunting and I hope you have fun and enjoy it

O you might be able to wash the blacksand to with vinager and some other things. just let them sit in it for a week. I've found a little extra gold doing this