Significance of black sand

[Nuggetbrain]

Hello all. Complete newb here! Just got my Garrett panning kit and eager to set out!

What is the significance of black sand? The fact that it is heavy which might indicate heavier materials in the dirt, such as gold?

Overall, is black sand a good thing?

Thanks

Tim

 

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[johnedoe]

Overall the presence of black sand is a good indicator...
NOW.... with that said heres a little something else for ya to ponder.

Black sand will always be present with gold BUT gold will not always be present with black sand.

the above statement is in regards to placer mining deposits.
It may not be true for hard rock or quartz vein deposits.

 

[newgoldfinder]

Black sand is also a pain in the butt to pan. Lol... Takes time to separate the black sand from the gold.

 

[huntsman53]

Black sand is also a pain in the butt to pan. Lol... Takes time to separate the black sand from the gold.

That is so true that it hurts! I would recommend that the O.P. first learn all he or she can about panning. Until you get really good at panning, it would be a good idea to pan the material down until you have most if not all of the lightweight material out, then dump the black sand and any possible Gold into a 5 gallon bucket to take home for finish panning. Many Gold Prospectors do this as it saves time, allowing more material to be processed and more black sand and possible Gold to be accumulated in the bucket. At home, you can then pan the material which should be black sand and possible Gold at your leisure. Make sure to pan in a fairly large tote which is filled about 1/2 to 2/3'rds full of water, so that you can catch the panned material and process (pan) it again, to ensure that you did not lose any Gold. Keep all of the black sands that you accumulate and when you have a fairly large amount, crush it, roast it in an Iron skillet and then pan it and you will will likely be surprised to find more Gold that was trapped in the black sands.


Frank

 

[johnedoe]

You can practice using small lead shot Like the stuff you find in 22 cal shot shells.
Also take a hammer to some of it so you will have different sizes and shapes, cut in half some of the flattened shot.....
Then.. Practice, practice, practice till you can recover all the know pieces of lead.

Try not to have too much fun without us.....LOL

You also might want to watch the video in this thread..http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/453068-ez-gold-pan.html.. I am not a big fan of the green pans, not saying they don't work ... just that there are more efficient pans out there.

 

[QNCrazy]

That is so true that it hurts! I would recommend that the O.P. first learn all he or she can about panning. Until you get really good at panning, it would be a good idea to pan the material down until you have most if not all of the lightweight material out, then dump the black sand and any possible Gold into a 5 gallon bucket to take home for finish panning. Many Gold Prospectors do this as it saves time, allowing more material to be processed and more black sand and possible Gold to be accumulated in the bucket. At home, you can then pan the material which should be black sand and possible Gold at your leisure. Make sure to pan in a fairly large tote which is filled about 1/2 to 2/3'rds full of water, so that you can catch the panned material and process (pan) it again, to ensure that you did not lose any Gold. Keep all of the black sands that you accumulate and when you have a fairly large amount, crush it, roast it in an Iron skillet and then pan it and you will will likely be surprised to find more Gold that was trapped in the black sands.


Frank

To take it a step further, once you have your black sands at home, classify the material down into different mesh sizes, recommend 30 and 50 mesh sizes at minimum. By classifying down, you will be panning similar size material but not weight. The heaviest pieces of similar sized material settles to the bottom easier thus making panning easier. Always use a safety pan or tub. There is tons of info on TNet. Use it to your advantage. Good Luck and have fun.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What is the significance of black sand? The fact that it is heavy which might indicate heavier materials in the dirt, such as gold?

Overall, is black sand a good thing?

Gold rides an iron horse.

 

[arizau]

You can practice using small lead shot Like the stuff you find in 22 cal shot shells.
Also take a hammer to some of it so you will have different sizes and shapes, cut in half some of the flattened shot.....
Then.. Practice, practice, practice till you can recover all the know pieces of lead.

Try not to have too much fun without us.....LOL

You also might want to watch the video in this thread..http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/453068-ez-gold-pan.html.. I am not a big fan of the green pans, not saying they don't work ... just that there are more efficient pans out there.

And look at the two videos here for excellent presentations on how to pan. How to Pan for Gold

 

[The Gilded Lens]

The Garrett kit is a nice one. I really like the their green pans a lot. Personally I loathe the loathe the black pans. I haven't tried blue pans, but I just really like the contrast I get with the green ones and I like the Garrett riffles the best thus far. That's what works for me, but it may be different for you (or anyone else).

Like everyone has already there is a love-hate relationship with black sand. I highly recommend grabbing some dirt, smashing up some lead (as suggested) and write down how many lead "nuggets" you can successfully recover from that dirt in your pan. Once you can repeatedly capture 100% of your lead then you can head out into the wilds and get the gold.

Depending on your location you can always hook up with another prospector and learn the ropes too. There are plenty of great and helpful folks around.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Black sand is also a pain in the butt to pan. Lol... Takes time to separate the black sand from the gold.

And if you are real motivated......

 

[The Gilded Lens]

And if you are real motivated......

View attachment 1129884

Oh HECK NO! Pretty though! Maybe if I wanted to fill like a whole flower bed with it and clean it at the same time.

 

[johnedoe]

Oh HECK NO! Pretty though! Maybe if I wanted to fill like a whole flower bed with it and clean it at the same time.

LOL.... No guts no glory.

 

[johnedoe]

And if you are real motivated......

View attachment 1129884

Yeah baby....... that's what I'm talking about..... You can see that from google earth satellite......

 

[Oregon Viking]

Yeah baby....... that's what I'm talking about..... You can see that from google earth satellite......

Update...it's all gone.....

 

[johnedoe]

You been a busy one then haven't ya?......

 

[The Gilded Lens]

On second thought.... how cool would it be to have a black sand sandbox!!! The envy of every backyard.

 

[QNCrazy]

On second thought.... how cool would it be to have a black sand sandbox!!! The envy of every backyard.

Another year of this stuff I might be able to fill one of those sandbox turtles for the grandkids.

 

[johnedoe]

Man..... I got black sand..... now I have to clean it up to see if there is anything in it.....
This is from a beach just a few miles form home.

 

[Oregon Viking]

I have one of these, https://prospectorschoice.com/clean-sluice/
I need to conduct a test. next to my friends miller table, that he purchased from Vern, Clean Gold Recovery - Clean Gold Sluice Great equipment.
The last test we did was my clean up sluice versus a homemade miller table and a blue bowl, clean up sluice prevailed, and was much faster.
We only used beach sand.
I like the clean gold sluice from what I have seen.

 

[johnedoe]

So far what I have seen I think the only way to deal with this extreme black sand and fine gold is one of these little miller type units.

My curiosity got the best of me and I went out to pan a little of the cons. I scraped off about an inch of cons off the sluice and good lord almighty....... just solid black sand with very little blond sand...... Talk about dense material....... I don't think panning this stuff out is going to work at all.... It is just too dense and it compacts like crazy.

The density of the black sand and the fineness of the gold is overwhelming when it comes to panning, or at least my attempts so far.

I will try some more again this weekend but I think I will have to get a table or maybe try gold hogs cyclone.

Gold Cyclone - Gold Concentrator | Super Concentrator for Placer Gold Miners

After I watched the vids for the cyclone I'm not sure it would handle the cons I ended up with...... Looks like I may have to go the table route..... I'll get it figured out though.....