Im New at This .. Please Help .. Ozzie from Down under

[Kazza]

Hi, I am really desperate and a Newbie at that! I have just recently found .. very fine Gold foil like shavings after pulling a stump out of the ground for fire wood. Not noticing it at first until we had gone back and the sun hit the ground just at the perfect time for me and my partner to notice all the gold flickering from the dirt that came out of the ground by the stump roots.
We brought home a box of dirt so we could investigate it a little more (mind you I have just bought a property right next to an old open cut mine -and there are old mine shafts everywhere only metres of the fence line - I think it was one of the largest open cut in NSW Aust) Anyway.. we ran a handful of dirt through a sieve and there was loads of this "gold foil" but it is so thin that if you pressed it too hard on a rough surface it would leave like a gold coloured smudge.

I guess my question is;
How the Heck do ya separate this stuff from the dirt? keep in mind this stuff is as thin as "tobacco paper" some of it is even thinner and as fragile.
I haven't been game enough to try and separate it with water as I think it might wash out (have never used a pan! Ever!! and I don't even own a pan.. lol )

Would love to know your thoughts - and I am so sorry if this question has been asked many of times before.

 

[dave wiseman]

Sounds like your finding Mica.the gold may flatten out when pressed down,but not leave a smudge.But the good news is that you have all these old shafts and mine workings on your land so many opportunities may await you.Buy some pans and or a used minelab detector,read books and ask questions and you should find some yellow.Good hunting mate.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Kazaa, First off....Welcome to the site!

I'm almost afraid to say it, but based on your description
of it, I *believe* what you are finding is mica.

If you take a piece and press a knife edge into it does it
break or shatter?

There's loads of "How to" panning video's on YouTube,
so watch a few and then give it a go yourself.

 

[dave wiseman]

....And here is a link to a good Aussie gold forum...Gold Detecting and Prospecting Forum

 

[Jimmydolittle]

Here is a site I am a member of: Prospecting Australia | Gold Prospecting & Fossicking Forum I was looking for a site where I could learn how to build a high banker, and found it. Very informative mate.

 

[Hoser John]

The closer to home the source of your information the better off you are. Local conditions,rules,regs, and local mineralization most important. Lotza luck-John

 

[ecmjamsit]

Does it sink rapidly to the bottom of a glass of water? If it does its gold!