Prospecting in my basement?

[Dconcb]

Really?
Maybe...
I’ve lived here for 20 years. My damn well filter always plugging up with sediment.
Always looks like gold specs in it. Ever thought much about it.
But a recent purchase of a property with a nice stream got me thinking, there HAS
To be gold in that stream. Small water falls, big boulders ect.
So I found and joined this site. I’ll be buying a pan kit and soon Enough a sluice box to play with in the river.
Then I realize I need to change my well filter again.
It’s black sand. Littered with gold specks. As always.
What’s the best way to separate this POSSIBLE flour gold?
If it is gold, Ive got a constant supply of black sand concentrations. Maybe a quart a month from my almost 400’ deep well.
Dammitt! I’ve e got the fever!!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Dconcb]

 

[firebird]

What state are you in? If your area has a history of gold mining, it might be gold. But no way to really know for sure without a pan.

 

[Dconcb]

I’m in Massachusetts, not the most famous place to find, but I’ll be ordering a pan kit soon and I’ll be researching techniques in the meantime!

 

[No gold in NY]

A member of my club has a friend in MA. with the same problem as you. I believe the well does produce gold. I pan in Northern MA sometimes. Found a few specks.

 

[Dconcb]

Sounds like it might be a decent problem to have! There must be 100 of these I’ve dumped out over the years…

 

[placertogo]

Pan it very carefully and use a few drops of Jet-Dry or non-sudsing detergent to alleviate surface tension. Warm water panning helps too as the viscosity of water goes down with higher temperature.

 

[arizau]

Really?
Maybe...
I’ve lived here for 20 years. My damn well filter always plugging up with sediment.
Always looks like gold specs in it. Ever thought much about it.
But a recent purchase of a property with a nice stream got me thinking, there HAS
To be gold in that stream. Small water falls, big boulders ect.
So I found and joined this site. I’ll be buying a pan kit and soon Enough a sluice box to play with in the river.
Then I realize I need to change my well filter again.
It’s black sand. Littered with gold specks. As always.
What’s the best way to separate this POSSIBLE flour gold?
If it is gold, Ive got a constant supply of black sand concentrations. Maybe a quart a month from my almost 400’ deep well.
Dammitt! I’ve e got the fever!!

Don't procrastinate....get a gold pan. Using one is as good a way as any to test what you have to see if it is gold. To make it easier to pan get a set of 30, 50, and 100 mesh screen sieves and pan each size portion separately. When gold is panned with equal sized material it is over three times as heavy in comparison to other particles it's size so it is much easier to separate by panning. One thing to know is that gold still looks like gold whether viewed in full or shaded light. If what you are seeing blanks out or changes color in the shade then it is most likely not gold.

Good luck.

 

[Dconcb]

Awesome tips! Just ordered a Garrett pan kit on eBay. I checked the vendors section it didnt turn anything up. (I tried)
Jet dry in the kitchen.
Mesh...... I have some screen printing stuff, not sure on the size though?
Might have to wing it, we will see next weekend hopefully

 

[arizau]

Look up pioneer and camel stacking screens. They are in 4 and 6" diameter with various mesh sizes available. The 12" bucket screens are overkill for all but sizes 1/8 mesh and larger.

 

[Dconcb]

Look up pioneer and camel stacking screens. They are in 4 and 6" diameter with various mesh sizes available. The 12" bucket screens are overkill for all but sizes 1/8 mesh and larger.

The sizes are microns? If so I have 5 gallon bags in 25,50,73,90 and 120! I didn’t think the materials would be so small!?!?

 

[arizau]

Check this chart out for sizing. https://www.netafimusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Mesh-vs-Micron.pdf. Note that mesh size is the number of holes per running inch. Once you actually start finding gold you will be surprised just how small some of the particles you find are.

 

[Dconcb]

Check this chart out for sizing. https://www.netafimusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Mesh-vs-Micron.pdf. Once you actually start finding gold you will be surprised just how small some of the particles you find are.

Sweet! Thanks again.
I’ll use my 120 micron bag for now just to get some type of classification for my practice runs.
I really appreciate all the help!

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Run a magnet over the black sands to pull out all the Iron.

 

[OwenT]

Run a magnet over the black sands to pull out all the Iron.

Put it in a plastic bag first if you ever want to get it all off of the magnet. Not important, just in case you want to though.

 

[Dconcb]

That’d save a whole lot of work!
Great ideas, thanks

 

[Tahoegold]

Sweet! Thanks again.
I’ll use my 120 micron bag for now just to get some type of classification for my practice runs.
I really appreciate all the help!

That is really small mesh. If you have a 30 mesh it may be easier to check more material fast. You can check for a little bit bigger pieces too. You can still see the tiny stuff too. But will need to screen it smaller to actually extract it cleanly.

 

[Dconcb]

That is really small mesh. If you have a 30 mesh it may be easier to check more material fast. You can check for a little bit bigger pieces too. You can still see the tiny stuff too. But will need to screen it smaller to actually extract it cleanly.

I’m just going to wing it for now, find out if it is gold. If so, I’ll invest a better way to clean it up.

 

[Dconcb]

I always run the Brightness on my phone really low to conserve the battery, I just turned it up, and magnified the photo...
Now I’m excited!

 

[russau]

And DONT get rid of the material if your not up to snuff on your panning ability ! Get some help with learning how to pan that small stuff ! And good luck !