Processing Black Sands

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

I've heard that prospector's "would be surprised, & never discard black sands again if they knew how much gold is in it"...Well, with my 2nd season coming to a close I think I have stock piled enough to think about processing it.

I have about 2 gallons of black sands and am wondering, what's the most efficient way to process it? I've heard about the crushing method & the heat & freeze method...but what is the best way? Are there other ways??

My plan is to document this process from beginning to end on this thread once I have determined which processing method will work best for me..who knows someone else may benefit from seeing my trial and error with black sands. Plus it will keep me busy while I'm patiently waiting for spring

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[bobw53]

Things I need to look into/find something to prevent the slurry from foaming up like it did. I'm sure that there is something available on the market. I just hope it's not going to cost an arm and a leg or only be available in 55 gallon drums!

To keep machine coolant from foaming, I think it is calcium acetate? Whatever the actual name is, its basically Tums or Rolaids, and I've heard
of quite a number of people that have added ground up Tums to their coolant in a pinch.

I'm not sure if Tums would work on your particular foaming issue, but its certainly cheap enough to experiment with.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Cry Of The Eagle: History And Legends Of The Cherokee Indians And Their Buried Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[johnedoe]

Oh.... Just so you know... I WAS a government contractor for a lot of years. I've worked for the Navy and Border Patrol on the federal level as well as most of the counties in S.California.

This explains a lot..... especially the S cal part....

Oh and don't go gettin yer teat in a wringer...... geez just having some fun.
I used to work for ADF&G in SE Alaska (Alaska Dept. Fish & Game).
Now I am a business owner.....

By the way. I do look forward to your results and images from your tests.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Nothing in a wringer here man. Just laying out the facts of the matter is all. Most of the guys here that know me also that I'm the type of person that loves to tinker with things. I'm the guy that taught McGuyver everything he knows. His problem is that I didn't teach him everything I know. The people in government that I contracted for hated my guts because I got paid a lot more than them and when my contract was done, I moved on the to next place. Navy in San Diego one month, Border Patrol the next followed by a Scientific Atlanta job the next.

 

[Jeff95531]

The only real and honest experts on government and it's practices are the ones who've been on the inside and know better.

 

[goldenIrishman]

The only real and honest experts on government and it's practices are the ones who've been on the inside and know better.

...and were smart enough to get out before they lost all self esteem as well as all their sane friends.

 

[goldenIrishman]

I've been working with that foamy batch of the -70 magnetics today and let me tell ya guys, you want to talk about messy to work with? This stuff is almost as bad as that powdered graphite lock lube! You just touch it and your fingers are black as the ace of spades! It pretty much looks like black talcum powder. I did a dry cleanout with one of my magnets and got everything out I could and then slapped the remainder under the scope. Yup! There be some gold in there! There is no way that I'd catch it even with a 100 mesh screen though. I'll attempt to get some pics of it a bit later as a couple of the pieces are really nice looking even if they're almost invisible to the naked eye.

As this batch was all -70 magnetics, I didn't expect there to be very much gold in them and I was right. While the milling did free the gold up and flatten tit out, they're still very tiny. I feel sure that when I move up in size the I'll find more gold and it MIGHT even flatten out enough to be caught in a classifier. Though I had hoped to be able to get away from doing a Mercury amalgamation, if I want to get all the gold in that fine stuff out of the smaller mesh cons I'm going to have to keep doing it or spend forever panning it out.

While I was cleaning out that last batch, I ran another batch of -20/+50 magnetics so I can get an idea of what is in them. I only ran it for an hour ( I know the dadburn PDF said 15 minutes!) and I've yet to open the barrel. I used all the rods, a 1/2 cup of sands and a 1/2 cup of DiHydrogenMonOxide. I didn't have the same problems with the barrel that I had on the last batch and am kind of at a loss as to why that last one was so screwy on the drive. I suspect that it was more to do with the mesh size of the materials than anything else. They just didn't want to start flowing in the barrel or something like that. Tomorrow I'll dump it out, classify it down, and see how well it did. I've also got to finish running samples from two different sites that I'm testing to see if they might be worth filing a claim on so I'm going to be working harder than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. Jan has started her internship (at the V.A.) so she's not going to be around to help OR hinder. This is the last step she has to complete to finish up her Masters Degree so needless to say I'm all for it. Kind of nice to be with a lady that are a college edumacated woman.

 

[arizau]

I've been working with that foamy batch of the -70 magnetics today and let me tell ya guys, you want to talk about messy to work with? This stuff is almost as bad as that powdered graphite lock lube! You just touch it and your fingers are black as the ace of spades! It pretty much looks like black talcum powder. I did a dry cleanout with one of my magnets and got everything out I could and then slapped the remainder under the scope. Yup! There be some gold in there! There is no way that I'd catch it even with a 100 mesh screen though. I'll attempt to get some pics of it a bit later as a couple of the pieces are really nice looking even if they're almost invisible to the naked eye.

As this batch was all -70 magnetics, I didn't expect there to be very much gold in them and I was right. While the milling did free the gold up and flatten tit out, they're still very tiny. I feel sure that when I move up in size the I'll find more gold and it MIGHT even flatten out enough to be caught in a classifier. Though I had hoped to be able to get away from doing a Mercury amalgamation, if I want to get all the gold in that fine stuff out of the smaller mesh cons I'm going to have to keep doing it or spend forever panning it out.

While I was cleaning out that last batch, I ran another batch of -20/+50 magnetics so I can get an idea of what is in them. I only ran it for an hour ( I know the dadburn PDF said 15 minutes!) and I've yet to open the barrel. I used all the rods, a 1/2 cup of sands and a 1/2 cup of DiHydrogenMonOxide. I didn't have the same problems with the barrel that I had on the last batch and am kind of at a loss as to why that last one was so screwy on the drive. I suspect that it was more to do with the mesh size of the materials than anything else. They just didn't want to start flowing in the barrel or something like that. Tomorrow I'll dump it out, classify it down, and see how well it did. I've also got to finish running samples from two different sites that I'm testing to see if they might be worth filing a claim on so I'm going to be working harder than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. Jan has started her internship (at the V.A.) so she's not going to be around to help OR hinder. This is the last step she has to complete to finish up her Masters Degree so needless to say I'm all for it. Kind of nice to be with a lady that are a college edumacated woman.

As long as you are experimenting and since you do not have classifiers smaller than 100 mesh you might want to try the method Goodguy offered up. See below.

"Quote Originally Posted by Goodyguy View Post
You guys may also want to try a process utilizing Oleophilic Adhesion. I learned this technique from a fellow prospector that I met at one of my favorite gold bearing creeks.

It's a very simple cheap, fast and fun way to recover fine and micro sized gold from your -30 and smaller concentrates.

Simply smear a thin smooth layer of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) onto a flat smooth slick plate.
Hold the slick plate under water in a tub or if in the creek with a safety pan underneath it and shake the slick plate back and forth while pouring your wet concentrate through a sieve above it.

The gangue will not stick to the petroleum jelly however the gold will stick due to its oleophilic nature.

To remove the gold imbedded jelly from the slick plate use a body filler spreader to swipe off the petroleum jelly and then swipe off the spreader into a small jar.
To recover the gold from the jelly just use charcoal lighter fluid in the jar and shake it to dissolve the petroleum jelly. Simple as that!

The prospector I met was using this technique at the creek and my curiosity got the best of me so I had to ask what he was doing. Turns out he is a contributing writer for ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal along with other publications. His name is Alex Dolbeare and the ICMJ issue that this technique was featured in detail was Volume 83 Number 8 April 2014

Go for the Gold
GG~"

I did a crude test with some ocean beach concentrate, all minus 100 mesh and the gold down to much smaller. The cons were probably 80 to 90% magnetic black sand. It caught gold and shed virtually everything else. Might be an option to process your powdered material (I would dry it first to make feeding easier).

Congratulations to your wife and good luck to both of you.

 

[Oregon Viking]

As long as you are experimenting and since you do not have classifiers smaller than 100 mesh you might want to try the method Goodguy offered up. See below.

"Quote Originally Posted by Goodyguy View Post
You guys may also want to try a process utilizing Oleophilic Adhesion. I learned this technique from a fellow prospector that I met at one of my favorite gold bearing creeks.

It's a very simple cheap, fast and fun way to recover fine and micro sized gold from your -30 and smaller concentrates.

Simply smear a thin smooth layer of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) onto a flat smooth slick plate.
Hold the slick plate under water in a tub or if in the creek with a safety pan underneath it and shake the slick plate back and forth while pouring your wet concentrate through a sieve above it.

The gangue will not stick to the petroleum jelly however the gold will stick due to its oleophilic nature.

To remove the gold imbedded jelly from the slick plate use a body filler spreader to swipe off the petroleum jelly and then swipe off the spreader into a small jar.
To recover the gold from the jelly just use charcoal lighter fluid in the jar and shake it to dissolve the petroleum jelly. Simple as that!

The prospector I met was using this technique at the creek and my curiosity got the best of me so I had to ask what he was doing. Turns out he is a contributing writer for ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal along with other publications. His name is Alex Dolbeare and the ICMJ issue that this technique was featured in detail was Volume 83 Number 8 April 2014

Go for the Gold
GG~"

I did a crude test with some ocean beach concentrate, all minus 100 mesh and the gold down to much smaller. The cons were probably 80 to 90% magnetic black sand. It caught gold and shed virtually everything else. Might be an option to process your powdered material (I would dry it first to make feeding easier).

Congratulations to your wife and good luck to both of you.

That might be worth a try. I can get TONS of almost pure black beach sand.
It is also 80 to 90% magnetic black sand, -100. Hey....where did you get that sand?

 

[arizau]

That might be worth a try. I can get TONS of almost pure black beach sand.
It is also 80 to 90% magnetic black sand, -100. Hey....where did you get that sand?

Same places you get yours or at least near your location and yes it's worth a try. I just did a crude test but it beat the crap out of trying to pan it for the few cents worth I usually get.

 

[johnedoe]

(I would dry it first to make feeding easier).

When the gold gets as small as your talking about here you definitely want it wet.... Otherwise it will float like crazy.... and it has to go across the vaseline wet as well, keep it wet, keep it moving......

 

[mike(swWash)]

Go for it Viking....I have the same curiosity to see if it works out. Might be a lot of gold on the beach after the recent storms......or maybe they took it all back to the deep

 

[goldenIrishman]

I'm not going to start experimenting on yet another method right now Arizau. I've seen the method and since I already have a couple of pounds of mercury on hand I'll just stick with that. Trying to find the best setup for all the different mesh sizes I have on hand is going to keep me busy enough as it is. I have a retort so recovery of the Gold AND the Mercury is a piece of cake for me.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Go for it Viking....I have the same curiosity to see if it works out. Might be a lot of gold on the beach after the recent storms......or maybe they took it all back to the deep

Even after the storms, this beach keeps the black sand. It moves, but not much. There is a nice sized creek close, real close. I wonder if I can just put a "Vaseline" trap in the creek! shovel away!

 

[johnedoe]

Even after the storms, this beach keeps the black sand. It moves, but not much. There is a nice sized creek close, real close. I wonder if I can just put a "Vaseline" trap in the creek! shovel away!

View attachment 1237113

Have you seen anyone in the cove lately? Still intend to get down there but things just keep popping up and I get sidetracked.....

 

[Oregon Viking]

Have you seen anyone in the cove lately? Still intend to get down there but things just keep popping up and I get sidetracked.....

A few people. There is a gentleman that lives around gold beach, co-author of a good book on mining Oregon beaches, and creeks. He said he mines all the creeks...from the beach inland, and does pretty well. A lot of these creeks are 5-10 feet wide in the winter. I will be using my Keene A52P, the plastic folding miracle mat sluice to verify this information!
I will be doing some "culvert crevicing"

 

[johnedoe]

Is that guy Tom or Bill?

 

[Jeff95531]

I've read some of his stuff about Gold Beach and it was very impressive which would explain why he is so scarce..around here anyway.

Looking forward to your testing and results Oregon Viking. Got LOTS of beach sand here and some we can even drive on! Beings it's CA and all, it still will have to be on the DL. It's OK, I like the game.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Is that guy Tom or Bill?

Why yes...yes it is!
I had to find it, and another decent read, so I snapped a couple pics.

 

[Finn]

Hi Guys

A roll mill allows constant feed, provides same flattening effect as rod mill and doesn't require water. It's not so complicated to build either. Two heavy steel rolls rolling against each other with 5% or so difference in speed. Two coil springs in a frame with screw for adjusting the pushing force 500 - 2000 pounds.

Salud

Finn

 

[johnedoe]

Hi Guys

A roll mill allows constant feed, provides same flattening effect as rod mill and doesn't require water. It's not so complicated to build either. Two heavy steel rolls rolling against each other with 5% or so difference in speed. Two coil springs in a frame with screw for adjusting the pushing force 500 - 2000 pounds.

Salud

Finn

Not so sure it is less complicated to build but I can see how it would work.
In fact the frame for such a thing to be able to produce several hundred or thousand pounds would be quite a project in itself.
http://goldmachinery.com/machinery/D4158.htm