Gold Flakes all over a nearby river.

[faramith]

Hi Guys new user here, my family and I went to a nearby river today for the second time in 2 months and found the river has gold flakes everywhere. I would like to learn how to prospect this I dont have equipment so would like recommendations. I took a bit of paydirt home so I can test the equipment before going back Really appreciate your feedback! The place is packed with flakes everywhere.

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

Sorry, but if you can see them, they're probably mica, and not gold, or possibly pyrite. In any event, probably not gold.
Jim

 

[Duckshot]

Probably mica which is easily distinguished from goal in a gold pan if you know that mica "floats" on black sand and gold "sinks" beneath the black sand.

Just because you found a bunch of mica does not nessecarily mean that there is no gold in that stream. Look for black sands. Though there is not always gold found in black sands, there is always black sands with gold. If you have not already you might watch some you tube videos on how to pan gold. Minimal prospecting equipment would be a 1/2" classifier, a gold pan, a shovel or spade, and a pipette or snuffer bottle. Prospecting is the looking, once you find it you are mining in which case you will want a sluice.

 

[GoDeep]

Unfortunately not Gold. Gold wouldn't be sitting on top of those individual rocks sticking up like that, gold is extremely heavy relative to other minerals and will quickly work it's way down into the cracks, even after only a few flood cycles. Now, there's always the 1 in a trillion chance a guy just dumped a bucket of gold flakes out very recently or their sluice was dumping the motherlode out the back, but yeah, no.

 

[trdking]

I had no idea it was that easy

 

[Duckshot]

GoDeep, you misspelled "heavy".

The correct spelling is "D-E-N-S-E"

If we don't get these things right the whole world will crumble and collapse in on itself. : )

Faramith- Gold placer has a density of around 17-19 grams per a cubic centimeter(depends on purity, placer gold is most never pure), black sand has density of about 6g/cc. This is how come a gold pan works. The DENSER material stratifies below the less dense materials when you agitate it.

 

[GoDeep]

GoDeep, you misspelled "heavy".

The correct spelling is "D-E-N-S-E"

Hot damn, glad to see you back Duckshot! I was starting to fear your mom took away your grammar police uniform! What are you 0 and 4 now?! Either heavy or dense suffice in my usage but knowing you, it's quite likely you had a much deeper meaning in your call out.

heavy
[ˈhevē]
ADJECTIVE
2. of great density; thick or substantial.

synonyms:
dense · thick · opaque · soupy · murky · smoggy · impenetrable

 

[Duckshot]

The thing is that in space no object is heavy. Zero gravity and it still has the same density. It makes a difference. Please do not dumb up the newcomer.

 

[GoDeep]

The thing is that in space no object is heavy. Zero gravity and it still has the same density. It makes a difference. Please do not dumb up the newcomer.

It is you who are confusing the newcomer. We are not in space, we are here discussing a topic occurring on earth, not in space and we as humans here on earth experience weight as a force due to gravity. Gold floating in space, no matter it's density, won't naturally settle into cracks absent an outside force.

Therefore, when referring to gold settling into a crack down here on earth we can generally refer to it as heavy or dense. Heavy metals will settle into cracks or one could also say, denser metals will settle into cracks, neither one would be grammatically or scientifically incorrect in this common usage.

These two statements are not mutually exclusive and can be used interchangeably in many scenarios:

Gold is heavy.
Gold is dense.

 

[Duckshot]

It is you who are confusing the newcomer. We are not in space, we are here discussing a topic occurring on earth, not in space and we as humans here on earth experience weight as a force due to gravity. Gold floating in space, no matter it's density, won't naturally settle into cracks absent an outside force.

Therefore, when referring to gold settling into a crack down here on earth we can generally refer to it as heavy or dense. Heavy metals will settle into cracks or one could also say, denser metals will settle into cracks, neither one would be grammatically or scientifically incorrect in this common usage.

No.

The little chunk of lime stone that washes off the top of your pan is heavier than the much smaller but denser gold beneath. And it'll push gold out with it too, because it takes up more volume by weight.

Don't get excited. You said "heavy relative to other materials", iirc.

 

[GoDeep]

No.

The little chunk of lime stone that washes off the top of your pan is heavier than the much smaller but denser gold beneath. And it'll push gold out with it too, because it takes up less volume by weight.

Don't get excited. You said "heavy relative to other materials", iirc.

Staying true to form aren't you? Arguing related, but irrelevant facts , to distract from the topic at hand when you're losing an argument.

Talking about how gold retains it's density in space, talking about how a larger piece of limestone will push out a smaller piece of gold, all true and why don't we add that gold is impervious to oxidization and that gold has a higher atomic number then silver and gold will float in space no matter its density. All statements of fact, but having nothing to do with our argument, that being my grammatical usage of the word heavy to describe gold.

I said, gold is "heavy relative to other materials" which is factually true and correct. Key word "relative". It signals to the reader that we are comparing equal size objects.

relative
[ˈrelədiv]
ADJECTIVE
considered in relation or in proportion to something else.

Again, These two statements are not mutually exclusive and can be used interchangeably in many scenarios:

Gold is heavy.
Gold is dense.

 

[angelito1]

Welcome to Tnet .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ..

 

[Duckshot]

Once his fuse is lit there is no putting it out.-

KABOOM!

 

[GoDeep]

Once his fuse is lit there is no putting it out.-

KABOOM!

That's rich, start an argument and then call them out as though they are unhinged or crazy for defending themselves. Gaslighting 101.

Did you not get enough attention as a kid?

 

[Duckshot]

Hey I was just pointing out that it is density that make the difference, not weight.

You seem to be getting excited.

 

[GoDeep]

Hey I was just pointing out that it is density that make the difference, not weight.

No, not completely true. It's a combination of weight, density and surface area and if we want to play a "duckshot", whether we're observing the phenomenon in space or here on Earth.

Say you had a sheet of gold, the size of a piece of paper and only a .001 thick, despite it's density, it is not heavy enough to overcome it's large surface area and sink.

You're smart duckworth, probably smarter then me, i've said that before, but you have a blindside in that you charge into arguments half cocked and overly confident.

You seem to be vulnerable.

 

[Duckshot]

That's great. I'm going to get more beer.