I need black sand concentrates

[Asmbandits]

Interesting design and I would bet it works great for beach sands, I do find it humorous that it says it will catch "invisible gold". If I can't see it I'm not too worried about losing it lol. Maybe if you caught enough "invisible gold" you could then see it?

 

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[arizau]

Interesting design and I would bet it works great for beach sands, I do find it humorous that it says it will catch "invisible gold". If I can't see it I'm not too worried about losing it lol. Mabey off you caught enough "invisible gold" you could then see it?

He should have added "to the human eye" to the invisible statement. FYI and for the sake of trivia - The Carlin gold deposit in Nevada is noted for that type of gold as the deposit consists largely of microscopic gold and they recover thousands of pounds of gold each year from hundreds of thousands of tons of ore! Hows that for visible!

 

[johnedoe]

He should have added "to the human eye" to the invisible statement. FYI and for the sake of trivia - The Carlin gold deposit in Nevada is noted for that type of gold as the deposit consists largely of microscopic gold and they recover thousands of pounds of gold each year from hundreds of thousands of tons of ore! Hows that for visible!

Years ago I worked with a seismic survey company. We went through some areas of Nevada and saw the huge concrete slabs that they would pile the ore on and then use a leach process to recover the collodial gold....... At least that is what we were told the slabs were for... Never really checked into it any further but there was an awful lot of collodial gold recovered from the region.

 

[Asmbandits]

Yeah lol, I do know what he is referring to I just thought it sounded funny when I read it. I myself live only a few miles form the McLaughlin Mine in CA which was the most producing mine in CA, which produced all of its gold from this microscopic stuff and sulfide bound ore. I wonder if any of the stuff has ever made it into my sluice, guess ill never know lol.

 

[johnedoe]

Interesting design and I would bet it works great for beach sands, I do find it humorous that it says it will catch "invisible gold". If I can't see it I'm not too worried about losing it lol. Maybe if you caught enough "invisible gold" you could then see it?

LOL, true enough.....
When I met up with David we ran some material through the sluice and it really is pretty amazing to watch once the sluice is charged with the black sands.... It is like a layer of corduroy and the fine gold just migrates to the bottom of the layer and pretty much just sits there .... the black sands make a soft yet isolating layer for the gold to drop through.
As to the recovery..... there was fly speck size gold and platinum barely visible but with a magnifying glass there it was..... Damn it takes a lot of that stuff to add up to anything.

 

[johnedoe]

Picked up a couple of these gold pans a few years ago....... A very efficient pan to say the least.
This makes reducing those cons a bit easier......

 

[Jjhall68]

I picked up one of these last spring and they work really well for me. Great for prospecting a new area when you don't want to carry a lot of gear with you.

Brawn Premier 2-in-1 gold pan | Prospectors Plus LLC

 

[Jjhall68]

Arizau,

Thanks for sharing your well thought out comments. I followed the link to Fossicker's video on the clean gold sluice. I watched that video and a few of his others as well. I think the idea is fascinating!
The one thing that confuses me with this video, like so many other demonstrations is the focus on what they recover. Don't get me wrong it's interesting to see the recovery of fine gold and very flat gold, heck anything less than 100 mesh and you have my full attention. However, speaking for myself, I don't care if you catch a hundred colors or a hundred penny weight, I want to know what you lost!
You can sell me on your losses!
I know what losses I can live with and how to work that into what I'm doing. However when I watch a video that shows a clean up with some -150 mesh gold in it and the demonstrator says "see this new left handed suckarator recovers gold all the way down to -150". Never mind that there may have been 10,000 pieces that went out with the tailings. This leaves me scratching my head.
I'm not being cynical or negative, at some point you're always trading recovery percentage for volume. Especially at the upper percentages. For example I bet if you were determined to go from say 90% to 99% recovery that additional 10% could double your processing time/effort, likely much more and the last couple of percent might be unattainable as a small scale miner. Even if you recovered 100% but only run half as much material you go home with 40% less gold, for some that's a victory, great! Mission accomplished.
I would just like to see a demo where the seller ended with how they determined their losses and what they were.
The best example I have seen of this is the field tests shown by the folks at "Gold Hog".
Another example of good information comes from the fine folks at Bazooka Gold company, they warn about small flat rocks and how fine a gold their system is set up for. Because of this honesty you can have an informed conversation about ways to compensate for these things. I live in Western Washington and lots of my local opportunity is in creeks with the vast majority of the gold being -20 and more than half -50. Add to that lots of schist and a little sharp edged quartz for fun and you can challenge a simple guy like me to be sure. I received great advise from them and on here from a couple of members, most of it from Kevin in Colorado.
Here is some -20/-50 gold out of my Bazooka, very low drop, deep water on the deck, medium speed. I had to help clear +/-25% of the bigger rocks.


All the best,
John

 

[johnedoe]

Getting back to the Nome beach, here is a site that may be helpful... Andrew C. Lee is SAFONATT | Sufficiently Adequate For Our Needs At This Time

I spent a couple years up there in the early 80s and it has changed a lot since then.... you can't just head out the beach and set up a tent and start digging anymore...... Man those were the days. I still have some cons that I have yet to work down.

And it's true the tides are only a little more than a foot in variance. Summers can be wet and cool so have good gear for marginal weather. With that said when it's nice .... It is incredible.... LONG summer days since Nome is just a little over a 100 miles south of the arctic circle, the sun barely sets... about an hour and a half on the longest day.

Yeah .... things have changed .... But I would still like to go back sometime.

some info even though it is extremely dated at this point... When I was there..
A gallon of milk was $5.25
A loaf of bread was $3.50
A can of chili was $2.50
A bottle of beer was $3.00
A gallon of gas was over $6.00
I rented a small room for $400 a month. and I mean a small room 10x12 till breakup then I headed out to the beach after breakup. Rent for a small studio started around $1400.00 a month so I was pretty happy about the room rate.

Bottom line it is very expensive in Nome. I can't imagine what the prices are like now.

And here is a webcam view of Nome front street at the visitor's center ........ http://www.visitnomealaska.com/nome-web-cam.html this site has a lot of good info.

Here is a link to the Nome Nugget newspaper...... http://nomenugget.net

They usually have it set up to view down the street.... also they should be getting ready for Iditarod.

 

[reptwar1]

Thanks for the info. A fellow tuner sent me some black beach sand from Washington. Would you think the grain size and gold content would be compatible to what you would find in Nome? I'm experimenting with the sands so that when I arrive in Nome, I will have a plan of attack and can get right down to business. Thanks again for everybody's advice, Ron B

 

[johnedoe]

Thanks for the info. A fellow tuner sent me some black beach sand from Washington. Would you think the grain size and gold content would be compatible to what you would find in Nome? I'm experimenting with the sands so that when I arrive in Nome, I will have a plan of attack and can get right down to business. Thanks again for everybody's advice, Ron B

The Nome beach gold is EXTREMELY fine, like flour nothing like the gold they are showing in Bearing Sea Gold on the discovery channel.
Here is a link to the cleangold site that has some photomicrographs of the Nome beach gold... http://www.cleangold.com/cleangold/photomicrographs.html#2

It was pretty amazing though just about anywhere you took a shovel full you could see color. separating it from the heavy cons is a real pain in the ass.

We would look for the black and ruby sand deposits then work them out.

There was an old-timer everybody knew as Blueberry John.... He had a pretty good setup and knew the beach, he had lived there for years, anyway he was known to pull an ounce a day off the beach more than once.... But like I said he had the knowledge and beach mining was wide open then.

 

[reptwar1]

The Nome beach gold is EXTREMELY fine, like flour nothing like the gold they are showing in Bearing Sea Gold on the discovery channel.
It was pretty amazing though just about anywhere you took a shovel full you could see color. separating it from the heavy cons is a real pain in the ass.

We would look for the black and ruby sand deposits then work them out.

There was an old-timer everybody knew as Blueberry John.... He had a pretty good setup and knew the beach, he had lived there for years, anyway he was known to pull an ounce a day off the beach more than once.... But like I said he had the knowledge and beach mining was wide open then.

Awesome. Thanks again. Sounds like a job for the Gold cube then miller table. I have heard of people getting an ounce a day from Nome beach, but I didn't know if it was just tall tales. Very encouraging!!

 

[johnedoe]

Awesome. Thanks again. Sounds like a job for the Gold cube then miller table. I have heard of people getting an ounce a day from Nome beach, but I didn't know if it was just tall tales. Very encouraging!!

Remember...... The laws have changed dramatically since "the good old days". You can't just pitch a tent and start digging anymore without risk of running afoul of ol johnnylaw.

Do some research to find out what the new rules are about.

I hope this all works out for you..... I had a great time and some great memories of when I was there over 35 years ago..... But like everything, change has come and nothing is as easy and carefree as it used to be.

 

[reptwar1]

I sure will lol The last thing I want is my equipment confiscated and fines! Such a shame that you can't just show up, and start mining and camp out. Either a few bad seeds ruined that privilege or our wonderful government decided that people were having too much fun. I am going to call Nome chamber of commerce this week for the details. I do know that GPAA has a Nome beach claim and an extensive outing, but they are charging members $1500 the first week and just over $1000 for every week after....though I am a member...I will pass. The day that I pay $1500 a week to prospect, will be the day I sell my equipment and find another hobby. They try to justify the cost by providing food and equipment...ummm, I will bring my own lol

 

[johnedoe]

GPAA may not be as bad an idea as it sounds.....
Like they say , they provide everything..... By the time you ship all you equipment it may be more expensive.
Plus the fact that you can mine their ground and all the permits and red tape are taken care of.....
I don't know but maybe something to consider.
Anyway I'm sure you will get it all figured out and have a great adventure.

Let us know what you find out from the chamber of comm.

 

[reptwar1]

Thanks and I sure will Another option I have is Kenai beach in Alaska. I have a friend up there that said that I can mine all I want up there for free. Just wondering if the black sand beaches in Kenai are as rich as that of Nome...

 

[johnedoe]

I am not familiar with the kenai gold history but it is a thought.
Have you received any info from Nome?

 

[arizau]

Thanks and I sure will Another option I have is Kenai beach in Alaska. I have a friend up there that said that I can mine all I want up there for free. Just wondering if the black sand beaches in Kenai are as rich as that of Nome...

Not according to this document published by USGS. Beautiful area and great fishing though. http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1374/report.pdf
Good luck.

 

[reptwar1]

Arizau...thanks a bunch friend. Very useful info. And if the beach gold in Nome is as small and as scarce as the gold in the beach sand my friend from Washington sent me...I am 100% screwed lol

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great resource arizau, thanks...plenty of reading to inspire my dreams and schemes of visiting Alaska!