Having a tough time panning concentrates containing only fine gold?

[arizau]

Having a tough time panning concentrates containing only fine gold? These videos show a technique that may be the answer to your woes. Bear in mind, these are ocean beach concentrates which typically consist mostly of heavy black sands and gold that is about 100 mesh and much smaller! Side note: I would and do classify off and pan different mesh concentrates separately especially if my concentrates are from other than pure beach sand.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[chlsbrns]

I've never seen that done before but it obviously works!

 

[Goodyguy]

Nice technique.

I did notice that in the second video that the person broke his own rule of having the volume of water match the volume of the material.
Just sayin'

GG~

 

[chlsbrns]

The gold is very fine. What did you use to concentrate what was panned?

Can you smelt using a good flux?? Do you have a torch or furnace?

I think there is probably almost certainly gold to small to see. You can't pan what you can't see! With good eyesight we can see about 300 mesh but it's not easy.

If you stop panning when there is 70% black sands and 30% visible gold and smelt you would almost certainly get more gold!

Its a lot less expensive to purchase individual flux ingredients from a ceramic shop and mix your own flux. We use a flux to retain the gold and silver and remove other metals mainly copper. The flux costs about .75 cents per oz. You use 2 parts flux to one part material being smelted by weight.

It's easy to do and pays for itself in recovered gold and silver.

 

[Capt Nemo]

I hit gold so small that I have to use both lenses on the magnifier to determine that it is gold.

 

[arizau]

Not my videos. He calls his concentrator a "Frankencube" (by the looks a 7 tray gold cube with some mat modification, etc.) and he still loses gold. Google up washingtonbeachmining for you tube links. You are right on about the size of the gold particles, minus 100 mesh all the way down "to seen under magnification only" or at least that is my experience with the concentrates I get from some Oregon beaches. For me, beach creek sluiced material only since motorized equipment is prohibited on Oregon beaches.

 

[chlsbrns]

Washington beach mining is doing ok considering they are feeding with a hand shovel and not really moving much material. A lot of loss too!

I would think that Oregon beaches are better than Washington. Look for loopholes in the Oregon law. When law makers who don't know what they are talking about make laws they usually screw up!

 

[johnedoe]

In the first vid he has way too much material in the pan for finishing.... That would take way to long to work out.
But then I am kinda impatient and have developed my own techniques to deal with our fine gold and beach sands.
I showed arizau my technique when he was here a year ago.

 

[johnedoe]

Washington beach mining is doing ok considering they are feeding with a hand shovel and not really moving much material. A lot of loss too!

I would think that Oregon beaches are better than Washington. Look for loopholes in the Oregon law. When law makers who don't know what they are talking about make laws they usually screw up!

There are a couple of Oregon beaches that might be better and do have a little courser gold. The Oregon regs are screwy...
Actually if you read them literally you wouldn't be able to beach mine.....

 

[chlsbrns]

There are a couple of Oregon beaches that might be better and do have a little courser gold. The Oregon regs are screwy...
Actually if you read them literally you wouldn't be able to beach mine.....

View attachment 1605215

I would read the actual statutes but the pic that you posted shows me that there are loopholes. I won't discuss it on a public forum until I read the actual law. Actually I wouldn't discuss it in a public forum after reading the law.

 

[cosmetal]

The gold is very fine. What did you use to concentrate what was panned?

Can you smelt using a good flux?? Do you have a torch or furnace?

I think there is probably almost certainly gold to small to see. You can't pan what you can't see! With good eyesight we can see about 300 mesh but it's not easy.

If you stop panning when there is 70% black sands and 30% visible gold and smelt you would almost certainly get more gold!

Its a lot less expensive to purchase individual flux ingredients from a ceramic shop and mix your own flux. We use a flux to retain the gold and silver and remove other metals mainly copper. The flux costs about .75 cents per oz. You use 2 parts flux to one part material being smelted by weight.

It's easy to do and pays for itself in recovered gold and silver.

Care to share your flux recipe?

Thanks!

James

 

[chlsbrns]

Care to share your flux recipe?

Thanks!

James

Check your private messages!

 

[cosmetal]

Too cool . . . .! Thanks for the recipe and procedures.

My cons come from incinerated IC chips from eWaste. My goal is to smelt the IC cons and ship my "dore" bars (Cu, Au, Ag, and PGMs) to a refiner and get paid from the assay for all precious and noble metals.

Nice castings!

James

 

[chlsbrns]

The CU (copper) and everything except gold and silver will be gone.