HELP is this gold?

[THGold]

I have been using a highbaker next to my creek in Georgia. After taking a bucket of cons home I bought a blue wheel to help process. There is lots and lots of black sand but no gold in the cup. When I put the cons in a pan and move it around I see tons of small flakes that stick out and look like gold. But is it gold

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Sorry, I don't see any gold. Keep panning down to the heaviest of heavies. Get rid of those light colored rocks until you only have black sand. Then you will have a better idea if there is any gold in there.

 

[THGold]

The small flat pieces that look goldish seem to smear when moved between two fingers? What is it?!

 

[The Gilded Lens]

The small flat pieces that look goldish seem to smear when moved between two fingers? What is it?!

Most likely mica. Do they glitter in the sun but turn brownish/black in the shade?

 

[THGold]

That's exactly what it does.. Shines bright gold in the sun then turns a dark color.. I def have tons and tons of mica!!! I'm going to dig on bedrock in the creek tomorrow and retry..

 

[Hoser John]

Simply get a magnet and a knife-if it sticks to the magnet 99% of the time it's not gold. When pressed with a knife blade does it crack, crumble or goes crunch?? Not gold and ez as pie to tell-John

 

[yodi]

I don't see any visible gold but it can be hard to see fine gold in pics

 

[1637]

buy 20 dollars of gold mix it with some gold,then pan.once you see gold in the pan you will always know what you are looking for.
good luck brad

 

[bobw53]

buy 20 dollars of gold mix it with some gold,then pan.once you see gold in the pan you will always know what you are looking for.
good luck brad

1/10th of gram on e-bay is about $7... Doesn't sound like much gold, but its far more than enough to show you what it looks like, and how it behaves.

And, yes, once you see it, you will always know it. It doesn't change color, it doesn't shimmer, it doesn't twinkle, it just sits there, all by itself, because all the
other crap is at the other side of the pan... If its in the middle of a bunch of regular old rocks in your pan, its not gold... Gold is about 6 times as dense as
those regular old rocks... Those rocks will wash right away, and that gold will sit there... If you have to pan "careful" to keep the gold in the pan, its not
gold, let it go...

When I was green, and I'm not far off of that now, seeing real gold in my pan saved me a lot of time... Knowing how it looked and knowing how it behaved....
I wasn't wasting time trying to keep the pyrite and the mica in the pan... You can be a really unskilled, ham fisted monkey panner and still retain a large
amount of the gold (as long as you don't turn the pan upside down)... Technique and skill will get you the rest of the way..

 

[Jeff95531]

Well said bobw53