Found this gold dust in 3 minutes

reptwar1

Sr. Member
Jan 24, 2013
440
287
Russelville Arkansas
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Attachments

  • 1467640772425.jpg
    1467640772425.jpg
    36.7 KB · Views: 479
  • 1467640793949.jpg
    1467640793949.jpg
    50.1 KB · Views: 506
  • 1467640816919.jpg
    1467640816919.jpg
    38.4 KB · Views: 494
Upvote 0

DizzyDigger

Gold Member
Dec 9, 2012
5,853
11,603
Concrete, WA
Detector(s) used
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Sometimes we forget....

To dizzydigger re-read your own signature line once in a while.
Dizzy's Super-Simple, Universal Rule of Forum Conduct: Don't be an ass.

John, I'm afraid you failed to see the tongue-in-cheek humor of the
video. My intent was simply to say that the discussion on this is endless,
and it's the same thing, over and over. Not to mention that it's one of
the original JibJab video's..it's classic!

The thread has become something akin to sitting in on a session for the
12 step group for people who talk too much.. OnandOnandOnanon.

Truth is, the way I see it no particular person is responsible...it just happened.

The video was intended to reflect that. A bit deep, true, but that was the idea.

I honestly meant no disrespect..was supposed to be funny. My apologies.
 

Last edited:

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Petroleum jelly aka Paraffin wax works as does coal tar and a lot of other things.

Yes it is getting weird as usual.

Coal tar might work, but you really don't want to use it. It is rather carcinogenic.
 

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
The rules that I read say...[snip]


Biomass is organic matter derived from living, or recently living organisms. Biomass can be used as a source of energy and it most often refers to plants or plant-based materials which are not used for food or feed, and are specifically called lignocellulosic biomass.

The question asked in the op was how to collect the powderd gold. My and others have made suggestions based on facts, scientific studies, mining journals and personal experience.

Getting gold from cereal and bread using jelly will somehow help collect powder gold? Especially being that the linked article says that gold can be extracted from wheat and oat biomass. Biomass is not a food.

Biomass can be food, but as you noted most often not. Therefore your last sentence "Biomass is not a food" is an incorrect extension of the previous statement.
 

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
John, I'm afraid you failed to see the tongue-in-cheek humor of the
video. My intent was simply to say that the discussion on this is endless,
and it's the same thing, over and over. Not to mention that it's one of
the original JibJab video's..it's classic!

The thread has become something akin to sitting in on a session for the
12 step group for people who talk too much.. OnandOnandOnagain.

Truth is, the way I see it no particular person is responsible...it just happened.

The video was intended to reflect that. A bit deep, true, but that was the idea.

I honestly meant no disrespect..was supposed to be funny. My apologies.

No problem ... and I do understand.
Heavy pans...:icon_thumleft:
 

Just_curious

Sr. Member
Aug 27, 2017
332
273
Georgia/Alabama
Detector(s) used
Minelab GM1000
White's GMZ
White's Spectrum XLT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey everybody, new member here. I'm REALLY sorry to comment/bump an old thread, but this popped up in a Google search and seemed fitting. I've been looking for gold in Georgia in massive erosion ditches. There's granite, quartz, saprolites, laterites, etc. During my searches, I kept stumbling upon these shiney/yellow/gold patches. Upon further investigation, I realized it was just an EXTREMELY fine dust. I ended up dismissing it thinking "there's no way it could be gold", and moved on. Now after further research, I see that "gold flour" or "colloidal gold" is an actual thing. I dismissed it because I could get it on my fingers and rub them together, and it would leave a gold coating similar to make up on my fingers....which bring me to this post. On the first page or two of this thread, people questioned the validity of the OP's findings because he had found it on a side walk. Although he is adamant, it's a strange spot. This brings mine in to question because I found it in NATURE, where all of those key indicators were present. Can somebody try to help me out with this puzzle? All my research was on placer and lode gold. If I brushed off this dust and was wrong, is like to fix the situation. There was A LOT out there. Not alot like you would see with pyrite, but enough to notice.
 

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,383
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey everybody, new member here. I'm REALLY sorry to comment/bump an old thread, but this popped up in a Google search and seemed fitting. I've been looking for gold in Georgia in massive erosion ditches. There's granite, quartz, saprolites, laterites, etc. During my searches, I kept stumbling upon these shiney/yellow/gold patches. Upon further investigation, I realized it was just an EXTREMELY fine dust. I ended up dismissing it thinking "there's no way it could be gold", and moved on. Now after further research, I see that "gold flour" or "colloidal gold" is an actual thing. I dismissed it because I could get it on my fingers and rub them together, and it would leave a gold coating similar to make up on my fingers....which bring me to this post. On the first page or two of this thread, people questioned the validity of the OP's findings because he had found it on a side walk. Although he is adamant, it's a strange spot. This brings mine in to question because I found it in NATURE, where all of those key indicators were present. Can somebody try to help me out with this puzzle? All my research was on placer and lode gold. If I brushed off this dust and was wrong, is like to fix the situation. There was A LOT out there. Not alot like you would see with pyrite, but enough to notice.

Gold doesn't smear like makeup. I'm afraid what you found was mica.
 

Just_curious

Sr. Member
Aug 27, 2017
332
273
Georgia/Alabama
Detector(s) used
Minelab GM1000
White's GMZ
White's Spectrum XLT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It isn't that it smears like makeup as in disintegrates into a coating...its more along the lines of it is so fine. It's literally the consistency of flour or powder...powdered sugar maybe?
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,365
1,960
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I can't believe I read that in its entirety LOL, I've been out of the woods for 2 days I'm glad I'm going back again in the morning. chlsbrns posts have made me curious in the past but to go on and on like this but is unwilling to post pictures because they are a real miner with no time to waste is a little much and to repeatedly talk smack on "recreational prospectors" especially using it as an excuse not to share information burns me up just a little, why are you even here?

I really like all the comments on smooth hands, I have in the past worked as a dishwasher and it is actually really rough on your hands. Running my dredge made my hands smooth and silky soft LOL.

I also didn't like how the original poster made all kinds of really nasty comments as well as bringing in political commentary to insult people, the people called out for negative comments by the mods barely touched a stick to it. Not cool. That is BS grade A.

I hate editing posts but I keep remembering things.... including an anti hippy post concerning VW buses and bio diesel, diesel VW buses are kind of rare, most hippies cannot afford one.

My equipment blows out a ton of fines and I read everything I can to improve things. I probably learned more drinking moonshine at the last clamper doins than reading all this....
 

Last edited:

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,383
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It isn't that it smears like makeup as in disintegrates into a coating...its more along the lines of it is so fine. It's literally the consistency of flour or powder...powdered sugar maybe?

That's the point. Gold doesn't disintegrate. Put it in a pan and if it just floats around in the water it's not gold. I take it you found it on top of the material. Gold will sink, it's heavy.
 

DizzyDigger

Gold Member
Dec 9, 2012
5,853
11,603
Concrete, WA
Detector(s) used
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
That's the point. Gold doesn't disintegrate. Put it in a pan and if it just floats around in the water it's not gold. I take it you found it on top of the material. Gold will sink, it's heavy.

Not to be argumentative, but that's not quite true.

Be glad to show you numerous pics of fine gold floating.
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
yep... and guess what will make it float??


OIL!!!!
 

Twobrothers

Jr. Member
Jun 7, 2017
63
53
Primary Interest:
Other
Ive read and skimmed this post a few times while searching on various topics. One thing I would like to know is what is gold dust? By the old timers reckoning. When you read old narratives (gold rush era) referencing "gold dust".
"...worked the vein and ground out gold dust..."
"...bags of gold dust..."
What do they really mean? What particle size are they referring to? What size could they reliably recover using period methods?

Its conceivable to me that gold can exist in a very finely divided dist like state originating from hard rock deposits. The natural processes that grow placer gold is usually an independent process separate from the ore-genesis processes that precipitate hard rock gold. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...gold-formation-your-thoughts-experiences.html
There are many way gold can precipitate/ form. This is based on on observations and experiences in my district. I imagine a homogeneous hydro thermal solution circulating at high temperature and pressure. At the high temperatures and pressures various percentages of silicon, sulfur, iron, copper, lead, silver, and gold exist in a dissolved homogeneous state. The earth fractures and opens rapidly along a fault and the homogeneous high temperature/ pressure hydro thermal solution rushes in to fill the void. The sudden drop it pressure leads to a sudden temperature change quickly cooling the solution. Based on the specific heat of the different minerals, how quickly the pressure drops, different metals/ minerals will come out of solution and crystallize at different rates. The slower the cooling/ pressure drop the longer the minerals / metals have time to conglomerate come out of solution, and form distinct separate particles/ layers. The quicker the pressures drops and the more rapidly it cools the more homogeneous and finely divided the minerals will be. Just as there will be a difference if you rapidly quench or slowly cool hot steel. Different crystalline structure, giving it different physical properties. I hypothesize that's often the reason why hard rock gold deposits have such a range in particle size.
Slow cooling allows minerals/ metals to separate more distinctly and crystallize into larger formations
Conversely rapid cooling does not allow minerals to separate out as distinctly. If gold was precipitated from solution rapidly because of a sudden temperature/ pressure drop of a hydrothermal solution it stands to reason that the gold will exist as small particles in a highly divided state that didn't have time to combine.

An interesting experiment would be to super heat an aqueous of various gold containing solutions under immense temperature and pressure (thousands of degrees) then rapidly drop the pressure and experiement with the variable to see what happens.
 

Capt Nemo

Bronze Member
Apr 11, 2015
1,058
1,609
Oshkosh, WI
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I tried some gold leaf in a pan once, and it would flit around like mica.

Gold will stick to grease, but only to a certain extent. Trying to catch micro-fine suspended gold with it won't work unless you have a ton of it flowing over it, and then, you'll catch only a very small fraction. It does work a little better than a miller table on bigger stuff, but then you have to still clean the gold before you can bottle it.

I rather just miller table it, pan the tailings, remove the magnetite, and check pan again.
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,370
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Ive read and skimmed this post a few times while searching on various topics. One thing I would like to know is what is gold dust? By the old timers reckoning. When you read old narratives (gold rush era) referencing "gold dust".
"...worked the vein and ground out gold dust..."
"...bags of gold dust..."
What do they really mean? What particle size are they referring to? What size could they reliably recover using period methods?

Its conceivable to me that gold can exist in a very finely divided dist like state originating from hard rock deposits. The natural processes that grow placer gold is usually an independent process separate from the ore-genesis processes that precipitate hard rock gold. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...gold-formation-your-thoughts-experiences.html
There are many way gold can precipitate/ form. This is based on on observations and experiences in my district. I imagine a homogeneous hydro thermal solution circulating at high temperature and pressure. At the high temperatures and pressures various percentages of silicon, sulfur, iron, copper, lead, silver, and gold exist in a dissolved homogeneous state. The earth fractures and opens rapidly along a fault and the homogeneous high temperature/ pressure hydro thermal solution rushes in to fill the void. The sudden drop it pressure leads to a sudden temperature change quickly cooling the solution. Based on the specific heat of the different minerals, how quickly the pressure drops, different metals/ minerals will come out of solution and crystallize at different rates. The slower the cooling/ pressure drop the longer the minerals / metals have time to conglomerate come out of solution, and form distinct separate particles/ layers. The quicker the pressures drops and the more rapidly it cools the more homogeneous and finely divided the minerals will be. Just as there will be a difference if you rapidly quench or slowly cool hot steel. Different crystalline structure, giving it different physical properties. I hypothesize that's often the reason why hard rock gold deposits have such a range in particle size.
Slow cooling allows minerals/ metals to separate more distinctly and crystallize into larger formations
Conversely rapid cooling does not allow minerals to separate out as distinctly. If gold was precipitated from solution rapidly because of a sudden temperature/ pressure drop of a hydrothermal solution it stands to reason that the gold will exist as small particles in a highly divided state that didn't have time to combine.

An interesting experiment would be to super heat an aqueous of various gold containing solutions under immense temperature and pressure (thousands of degrees) then rapidly drop the pressure and experiement with the variable to see what happens.

You'll get some amazingly beautiful gold crystals. I want!
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,370
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I tried some gold leaf in a pan once, and it would flit around like mica.

Gold will stick to grease, but only to a certain extent. Trying to catch micro-fine suspended gold with it won't work unless you have a ton of it flowing over it, and then, you'll catch only a very small fraction. It does work a little better than a miller table on bigger stuff, but then you have to still clean the gold before you can bottle it.

I rather just miller table it, pan the tailings, remove the magnetite, and check pan again.

Gold leaf, electrum and ultra fine gold are easily gathered with a drop of mercury :)
...mercury has its purposes.
 

Jeff95531

Silver Member
Feb 10, 2013
2,625
4,094
Deep in the redwoods of the TRUE Northern CA
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Alpha 2000
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
A Miller table is a great "gold detector" but if out in the field and I have superfine gold/whatever floating in my pan, adding a drop of Jet Dry would answer that [/U]question. Still floating? Toss it.

Maybe that's the reason I've yet to Beach prospect...when one is 5 miles away?
 

Last edited:

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,365
1,960
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Twobrothers I have been driving all day and am a little brain dead but if memory serves me in J.D. Borthwicks The Gold Hunters flour gold the consistency of mustard powder along with the incredible pain in recovering it were discussed. It might have been a different book of Borthwick's or even another author if so I'm sorry, I would look it up but my whole library is in boxes as I am in the process of moving. I have a lot of prospecting friends who swear high and low that they didn't care about the fines back in the rush and the gold dust they refer to some of us would consider small pickers. As far as old timers go how far back are we talking? I could realistically see the Argonauts of '48 having a good ol' time throwing out the fines as the tales of easy gold from those days make a person want to cry but by the mid fifties there was much more competition.
 

Capt Nemo

Bronze Member
Apr 11, 2015
1,058
1,609
Oshkosh, WI
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Gold leaf, electrum and ultra fine gold are easily gathered with a drop of mercury :)
...mercury has its purposes.

Yes it does! :icon_thumleft:

When I tried adding the gold leaf, I had mica in the pan, and you could not tell the difference by motion in the pan. I figured that it would set right down and act heavy, but NO, it flew around. I had to throw that pan away...Too frustrating!

Larger gold can also float around like mica flakes when microbubbles are present. Jet Dry won't get rid of these, as your gold has developed a case of the bends. Ozonated cold water from municipal sources can cause this. When the water is cold, it can have a lot of gas dissolved in it. As it warms, it will release the gas and form bubbles that will stick to the gold and get it neutrally buoyant. Then the gold will float over the top of the black sand like mica. Suck one of these with a eyedropper and put it back in the pan and it will lay down again as gold should, if not, it's mica. The pressure at the tip of the eyedropper will shrink down the bubbles and the current washes them off. I normally see this in winter with our water. Use hot water and give it time to cool off before panning with it. The warmer the water, the less gas is dissolved in it, and the faster it will offgas. That's why they use hot water for making crystal clear ice.

Jet Dry doesn't solve all the world's problems, but it sure does help!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top