Magnetite

[TheCarFan]

Hello all,

I did some panning in a new area this weekend and found a heavy amount of the black sand.
My question is does the presence of magnetite always mean there is gold nearby?

Thanks

 

[pgleba]

No. You can have both garnet and/or magnetite, and still no gold.

 

[Astrobouncer]

But its a great indicator. Just because you don't find gold in your pan doesn't mean its not there. Try to find the place where the heavies are settling out, ( ie galena, ilmenite, lead shot, and other chunky stuff). If you find a couple such spots and there's no gold in them, then it doesn't look good for gold. But don't give up, even streams that have good gold have places where there's no gold at all. Try to get to bedrock/false bedrock but even that is not always a reliable indicator since it may have been worked in the past, or the geology changed, etc.

 

[strickman]

think of it like fish and water. .........just because you see water don't mean there are fish . when you see fish you will see water .......but there are exceptions to every rule . you can find gold and no black sand . but it is a good indicator.

 

[TheCarFan]

Thanks for all of the responses. There has been gold found within 20 or so miles around this area, but it has never been a hot spot.
I will try a few more spots there in the future.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Just spent five days digging and panning on a creek and all i found was magnetite too. But Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy ! You talk about exciting ! I couldn't sleep a wink the night i found it. Sat there in my tent waiting for the sun to come up so i could dig down to bedrock. That was about 4 feet down. Disappointed ? Discouraged ? Naw. There are plenty more creeks. I say "good for you"! "Keep on plugging"! And one day you'll see that gold color in your pan that makes your heart jump right out your chest.