I need black sand concentrates

Man you guys are awesome! Just got off the phone with Johnedoe and he had some excellent advice and another member from Washington actually sent me some beach sand to practice with. Just want to let y'all know that I can't thank you enough for the tips and insight. I promise to give updates from all of my experimentation to my actual Nome trip. You guys are the best:) Ron
 

Glad you found some nuggets of info from our conversation.....It was just a little reality about Nome and how much it has changed from years ago when I was there.
Also sent ya a couple PMs with vids.
 

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Hey Ron....
Here is a little more info about nome though it is a little dated.. 2012.
While most of it pertains to offshore dredging there is still valuable beach mining info.
AMDS is a good resource for getting more current info. as well....
Bering Sea Gold - The Nome Gold Rush
 

Here is a little of the beach I want to do some work on this year... took these pic today.
Also there is usually a good deal of red sands but not today.

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Did he give you any indication as to how he was doing?
you would need at least a couple penny-weight a day to make it barely worthwhile.
I hauled a lot of black sand for him, then he told me that some of his sand was 2-3 times "richer" then usual. He pointed me in the right direction...I have been here since 1969 (4 years old then..) so I knew. He was around when Gold Beach locals could...could get an OZ a day. he said he liked to take it home and use a Keene super concentrator. Keene Super Black Sand Concentrator (kscr)
 

Nice......
Definitely the way to go..... Bust yer butt moving material then take the cons home to do the clean up in comfort.
I am going to get that beach wagon ordered this week I think.... definitely the larger dumping model.
It would have been great today to have had it and skimmed a bunch of that black sand in the above images.
 

In the box or on the beach?
I think it is a bit of a stretch saying that about the beach....lol.... but then my eyesight isn't what it used to be either.....8-)
 

In the box or on the beach?
I think it is a bit of a stretch saying that about the beach....lol.... but then my eyesight isn't what it used to be either.....8-)
Beach. A lot of glitter...I need a better camera or a filter to photograph it.
 

I might try my detector....
Take the V3i in prospecting mode and maybe find some good concentrations of black sand pockets or layers...??
Have to definitely give that a try now that I think about it a little more..:metaldetector:
 

Ron,

Practice panning that Washington Beach gold until you're happy with the results and you'll be able to pan about anything! I did these today from some blacksand I brought home in December. First a run through the gold cube then just a good old gold pan. A side note for me is to remember a little jet dry or whatever surfactant you like, or this gold will float like crazy.
image.jpg

All the Best,
John
 

I agree about the jet dry lol I saw gold floating right out of my blue bowl!! Thanks for the link and awesome gold pic!!! And Johnedoe, that is a great idea. Metal detector to find bigger black sand deposits....seems like one could fine tune the detector to only hit on pay streaks +4" thick
 

I agree about the jet dry lol I saw gold floating right out of my blue bowl!! Thanks for the link and awesome gold pic!!! And Johnedoe, that is a great idea. Metal detector to find bigger black sand deposits....seems like one could fine tune the detector to only hit on pay streaks +4" thick

Well I don't know about adjusting for the thickness of the deposit but the prospecting mode has the ability to help determine the ground matrix.
 

The Blueberry Bump...and I use it on my -50 cons every time I finish pan!

I agree Kevin,
I don't know how long it would take to finish with out that move.

GoldpannerDave,
That's a real cool story, it doesn't surprise me that he was a good guy, but it's great to hear that it's true.
Thanks for sharing.

John
 

Well the day I went up to the beach site I brought back a very small sample from the aggregate sedimentary layer. It was about the size of my thumb (sorry no pics of that) Anyway I broke it up today and still need to finish crushing it.... anyway a very small sample pan and it showed 30 colors from the size of a period . to about half that size. Needless to say I did not expect to see any trace in that sampling, and then to come up with that just amazed me.
Again sorry no pics of the colors , the good camera is at the office and all I have at home here is my cell and it just wasn't up to the task.

SAMPLE TAKEN FROM THIS WALL.
2015-03-08 13.41.52.jpg
 

Glad to hear that you found more good gold John! I'm trying to upload a pic of the gold I snagged in that sluice I built

ForumRunner_20150309_210529.png
 

Need some different angles to get some perspective.... I just can't seem to get a read on it from that angle alone.

Also that pic of your gold is about the size of my stuff today..... except I showed approx. twice the amount.....
 

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JohnDoe,
That bank looked oh so tempting from the first set of pictures. Can you dig that material? If you can't I would think there might be a nice sluff layer right in front of it.
I would be very excited to find that many colors in a small sample, heck I m excited and you found them,:thumbsup: of course I can't help but do the math and that is some rich material, at least for me! I would love to have access to some of that.

Ron,
It's all good gold, but I collected that with a good friend and his 9 year old son. Then processed it after prospecting for the afternoon with my wife and three of our kids and that's the treasure for me:occasion14:and so long as it is I always strike it rich.

All the best,
John
 

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