urbangold95 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Ok so I went to go test out a new creek to see if there was any gold. I step about two feet in the creek with my waiters and my right boot fills up with cold water. I decided to go pan anyways so I did. As I am digging this point by a bend I start classifying and pan...didn't find anything...foot started to get cold so I decided to go home after I panned out most of the material in my bucket. A couple days later I noticed I still had a little bit of material in my bucket and im not talking much hardly anything maybe a handful. So I decided to pan it out for the heck of it. I start looking around as I am shaking the pan and I see a pretty good size gold flake. So I sucked it up and panned some more found a bunch of more pieces and I am going to go back through it again to see if I can find any more. I am having trouble panning small concentrated fine material. Can anyone help me I have looked at some videos, but haven't got it to work. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGump Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Good job. You have earned another merit badge in the gold fever club. That last hand full in the bucket is where you will find the goodies. Pan out your boots also. Panning out that "fine concentrated material" is something that takes a lot of patience and lots of pratice. Do you have a small 6-8" finish pan? they help a bit---throw in something to break the surface tension. Poke around on the net--there are lots of sources with different methods. Once you are confident that you are getting gold on a regular basis think about buying a "fines" machine. Something I like for that east-coast fine gold is the Gold Cube. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Thanks... I have a garrett 10 inch finish pan...I will pan it out a couple more times to and get the rest of it. I need a better classifier...i just have a 1/2 inch classifier and its hard to pan with the small pebble rocks...do you reccomend a size and place to buy a classifier...I don't really want to make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 That gold cube is awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dorado Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I have a friend here on the Divide that swears by his Gold Cube. I saw it last week and is certainly is interesting. Your magazine will be on the way soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks... I have a garrett 10 inch finish pan...I will pan it out a couple more times to and get the rest of it. I need a better classifier...i just have a 1/2 inch classifier and its hard to pan with the small pebble rocks...do you reccomend a size and place to buy a classifier...I don't really want to make one.Cut and add a piece of metal windows screen into your 1/2 classifier, window screen is about 20 mesh and should make your life easier, you can also do the same with 1/4" hardware cloth, it can be use before using the windows screen, this way you wouldn't be making a complete classifier/s just inserts for your 1/2" classifier.To help with your panning the gold out of the blacksands this video will help if you haven't seen it before. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thanks for the info...Ive seen this video I actually tried to do it today, but the gold seemed to never want to settle to the bottom of the sand...so i added a little bit of soap maybe a drop hardly anything and that didn't seem to help either...i need help panning ive got a decent idea of what to do, but still need some help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Wouldn't that screen mesh tear? I have some extra in the house, and I thought about using but I thought it would tear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 What is a good way to pan gold dust? Thats mostly what im dealing with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Wouldn't that screen mesh tear? I have some extra in the house, and I thought about using but I thought it would tear.The window screen I'm referring to is metal that was used before the invention of the fiberglass window screen that is most common today, you can still find it in most hardware/Home depot type stores, it is use mostly for keeping rodents/critters out of places you don't want them to get into. If you classify the material down to close to the size of the gold the gold will stay in your pan much easier, gold is much heavier than anything else it's own size and will stay at the bottom of the other material making panning even the finest gold easy. For example if you are panning gold that weights 1 grain and it's specific gravity is 19.3 and you have a rock that weights 7 grains and it's specific gravity is 5.2 (a lot of rocks have even a lower specific gravity), you have gold at 19.3 against a rock at 36.4 (7 X 5.2), the rock will win the match and the gold will leave the pan before the rock because the rock is heavier than the smaller gold, but if the rock is 2 grains making it 10.4 against the gold at 19.3 the rock will lose the race out of the pan and the gold will stay behind, so you want to classify so that the other material is no bigger that 2 to 3 times the size of the gold or smaller and the gold panning will become very easy. The problem with panning fine gold after you start classifying correctly is keeping it from floating, a little surfactant (Jetdry or dishsoap) to lower the water tension will help, but you will still have some gold trying to float out of the pan, try and keep the gold covered with water to avoid this, anytime fine gold gets exposed to air it will try to repel the water and start trying to float when the water comes back into play. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Ok thank you that was very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe454 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Thanks for the Video from someone who had no idea how to pan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Well I went and tested the what I thought was gold turned out it wasn't. When I poked it with my tweezers the mineral shattered telling me it wasn't gold. BUMMER...Any thought to what it could be? It looks kind of bronze/amber color, but every once in a while it looks shiny gold. I tested a bunch of pieces of flakes and they all shattered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Well I went and tested the what I thought was gold turned out it wasn't. When I poked it with my tweezers the mineral shattered telling me it wasn't gold. BUMMER...Any thought to what it could be? It looks kind of bronze/amber color, but every once in a while it looks shiny gold. I tested a bunch of pieces of flakes and they all shattered.Pyrite, A.K.A. "Fool's Gold", you're not the first to think pyrite was gold, many have done so.Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlakMagnet Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 There is a saying; if you think it is gold is isn't. If you know it is gold it is...That sounds weird but when you see gold in a pan there is pretty much no question about it.I know you will be writing here soonabout how you have found gold.Best of luck to you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Amen Flak, when you swirl the fine concentrates around in the pan (from a stand still) with just a bit of water in there most all of it will move, the gold will remain, the black sands wont push the gold much and as you keep gently swirling the water more and more of the black sands start to migrate and if its in there...the gold will stay put, naturally if you swirl hard enough it will all move so the trick is to find the right speed to see the black sands slowly start to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Thanks...haven't had a chance to get out since the creek was high and muddy...too dangerous so I will go again when it clears up. Hopefully will have some success...I will never give up I will find it it will just probably take me some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGump Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Thanks...haven't had a chance to get out since the creek was high and muddy...too dangerous so I will go again when it clears up. Hopefully will have some success...I will never give up I will find it it will just probably take me some time.When it is "high and muddy" spend some study time. That is when the gold moves and you will better understand howand where... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbangold95 Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Ok thanks I will try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.