OK Stupid question.......

[pulltab hatr]

How do you know it's real Gold I went panning today to a river nearby here in Delaware,Ohio for my first time gold panning. Now Delaware is not known for Gold, but after panning a few spots in the river I moved a big rock out of the way and dug deep. After panning there are a couple real small specks in the pan that are bright. Also there was some black sand in all the material I panned.I know they say gold will shine in the light and shadows which is what these specks do but I just don't know if it's real gold. What does fools gold look like? Thanks

 

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[drywalldave]

You got some pictures of your finds

 

[Jeffro]

Fool's gold will sparkle or flash in the sunlight. Gold will have a glow all its own sunlight or shade. Fools gld is hard and brittle, it will break if you try and bend it, gold will bend. Fools gold will lay on top of the black sands in your pan, gold will settle underneath.

Hope this helps!

 

[pulltab hatr]

I tried to take a pic of it but it is so small it's hard to see.

 

[aarthrj3811]

To check to see if it is gold use your thumb nail. Push it against the pan and if it breaks or smears it is fools gold. After a while you will be able to tell by the color.

 

[pulltab hatr]

Well it's hard to find it in the pan mixed with the sand.I can only find it in the shadow.If I am in direct light there are a lot of shining specks in the pan. But this one is really noticeable but too small to press against it with my nail.

 

[Functional]

Well it's hard to find it in the pan mixed with the sand.I can only find it in the shadow.If I am in direct light there are a lot of shining specks in the pan. But this one is really noticeable but too small to press against it with my nail.

Get it on a hard surface and press on it using the side of the blade of a knife. If it crushes, its fools gold. If it flattens out, its likely gold, (very small gold though).

F.

 

[AU Seeker]

Use a sewing needle and "stick it" if it breaks its is not gold, try doing the same to a piece of lead and you will see how it will do when you "stick" gold only gold is a little harder then lead.


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[EggyOG]

I don't think you guys out west realize when he says small specks, he's talking flour gold in Ohio. The pin head is more than likely bigger than the gold! You will find the small specks of gold everywhere that the glaciers went, you can thank Ontario for it. If you can swirl your pan gently with a little water in it and move the black sand slowly to the other side without the yellow stuff going with it, it is Midwest gold from the glaciers. You do have a few gold prospecting clubs in Ohio that can help you with your prospecting adventures.

 

[bigfish31]

Put a drop of mercury with it. If it get sucked up, it's gold, or silver, or copper, or...

 

[pulltab hatr]

Eggy you hit it on the nail...err or should I say needle. Now how would you tell between sand and gold. When I swirl the black sands there are a lot of shiny specks in the pan mixed with the blond sand. Can't tell if it is sand or gold.

 

[russau]

advising a newbee to use mercury isnt a good idea. untill they understand that this metal will kill them and the people/pets down wind from this. mercury will evaporate at room temp. if heated on a fire or hot plate outside it will burn off but it will condense back into small droplets and cover the ground down wind from you and then become a unsafe hazmat area that will still affect your children or pets that play in this area.be safe! plus "other" people read these forums and are looking for reasons to stop small scale mining. they pull this info from the net and use it to show the guberment what we are doing today! so maybe a word to the wise is in effect here.

 

[bigfish31]

I thank you for covering my butt on that one.

 

[EggyOG]

Make sure you pan all the blond sand out before you attempt to swirl it. Once the blond sand is completely gone, get all your material into one spot in the corner of the pan. Hold the pan at an angle so that the pile is on the higher part of the pan, but don't have it tilted too much. You don't want a lot of water in the pan, just enough so that you can move the pan and cause the water to wash over the material gently. The black sand will slowly start to move down the pan with each pass of the water, leaving most of the gold behind. The gold really tries to stay put. It will look yellow, not 'gold'. If you panned it down properly the mica that was sparkling with the blond sand should all be gone. If any is in there, the water will move it around quite easily.

 

[Shortstack]

I believe you'd want to use a couple of drops of liquid dishwashing soap in each pan to break the surface tension so that flour gold will sink and not be riding the water's surface out of your pan.

 

[pulltab hatr]

Thanks to Eggy and everyone else for the great tips and for helping a newbie. I think I will steer clear of mercury. Don't want to end up on the News.LOL