NcSwampfox71 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Prospecting in the Piedmont of NC, and finding a little color... Under bucket loads of black sand. I am still only using hand powered tools and looking to invest in a concentrating system. I am pulling about 2 gal of black sand from 6 x 5 gal buckets of screened sands and its brutal to get to the few grains of gold. The gold is mostly very fine and gets hung up in the black sand and is quite hard to get panned out. Any suggestions? And I am an experienced panner, its not my technique. I don't need instruction on panning or running my sluice, I need a way around all this black sand hence forth known as the ANGRY BLACK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Have you tried a finishing tool like say a Henry Henry Poop tube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 We do have several that we have made, its just a monumental amount of black sand, we have hundreds of pounds worth to deal with after a days digging. I am working a gravel bar in the bend of what has been a good creek back in the day. I am a few feet off the bedrock still and the black sand situation is only getting worse as I get closer to bedrock. The next place I intend to prospect is worse, almost 50% B/S per bucket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Your saving all that right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Saving the black sand? not on purpose. We collect it and process it but then its back to he wilds. I know that you used to be able to sell black sand but I have no idea where to these days. A bucket of dry black sand weighs close to or just a bit more than a hundred pounds. I remove as much as I can in the field and cant see much use in bringing it all back to the house. Do you have ideas for the black sand, I can have you a dumptruck load ready by the end of summer if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I would be processing it before using it as filler in the drive way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennM Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 There is a company advertising in the ICMJ every month for the purchase of black sand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I will look for the add thanks, just wonder what the shipping would be. And we do extract the gold, the problem is the volume we have to go through, trying to find out how to do it easier. We literally have buckets and buckets of concentrates and it takes hours to run it all through a poop tube or recirculating clean up sluice. I have been finding allot of gold amalgamated with mercury in the creeks near some old workings. Does anyone have info on using mercury to collect the fines? I have heard something about having to electro-staticly charge the mercury for it to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Some info here. http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Reference_pages/black_sands.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerico Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 There are processes you can use to extract gold in the sand you dont see which is why people would buy it I guess I have a few 5 gallon buckets of black sand from my claims and have tried these processes to extract gold you cant see but doesn`t seem to work on my black sand.My friend however has processed his black sand he has collected from other spots and has gotten about a pennyweight in fine gold out of the black sand . About 2 cups full of black sand and you do not see the gold until he processed it so i guess it depends where the sand is coming from. I will take a pennyweight of dust all day long, its still gold :cool: I still have the black sand because I hate to just throw it in my garden box if I was doing something wrong and find out there is still gold in there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuggetier Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 if you're using a sluice, get some neo magnets and glue 'em to the underside at the top of it. the black sand will simply stick to the mag area before hiting your carpet. you'll need to let your water run clean for a few minutes as the gold will travel very slowly through the built up sand. you'll want to agitate the sand with your hand to help it through. maybe get an extention for the sluice too to use the magnets in rows. also alternate the polarity of the rows but keep the rows themselves the same.if this doesn't help, hopefully I've given you some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugget Shooter Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Here is a poop tube being used, this is how I do it, and you can buy them at any prospecting supply, but make my own. Eliminates most of the hard panning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Slim Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 You can sell black sand in various sized bags on eBay. People buy it for a variety of reasons. Paydirt sellers from all over the country have set up Willy Wonka type operations where they add black sand, gold and other minerals to worthless sand and gravel and call it concentrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonoran Dave Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Take a look at a Nome style beach box. Lots of black sands there... and that is what's been in use for years. It catches the fines very well and not that difficult to make yourself. Keene has come out with an aluminum version that looks nice, locals just build them out of plywood or whatever........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 I have rigged up my keene mini sluice with a full piece of micro ribbed matting that fits right under the riffles and miners moss and carpet. I built a small header box and spray bar, got a $20 500gph pump from wally world a storage tote from the local DIY store. I can run the sluice as made or take off the flair, mount the new box, pull out the riffles and the miners carpet and I have an awesome little clean up sluice. Went through a bit of concentrates that we had run through a poop tube at least twice and got a decent bit of color. The flat bottom of the sluice works way better than the curved bottom of a tube. 500 gph seems to run my homemade gold bowl and the clean up set up ok but I would buy a bigger pump if I had known better. I think I will get a 1200 gph and see if its enough to run a mini high-banker without the noise of a gas motor. Any one know how long a battery will last on a 1200 or higher gph electric pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 This looks good for removing black sands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Thanks for that post Bucket, I will be cloning that machine as soon as the magnets come in from E-bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 All black sands are not Magnetic.Some here in NM have Rare Earth properties of value.Do you have a Cement mixer?Fill it up and flow it with water and let it run.Point it straight Up!Run it until the goodies hit the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 More than half our black sand seems to be magnetite and half hematite. Both are magnetic but the hematite is only a little. getting rid of half my burden would be awesome. Sand could be the least of my worries I actually dropped a more than gram picker back into the creek today!!!!!!!!!! Now I have to dredge the whole thing to find it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt18000 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 If you are finding that much black sands and that little of gold you need to find a better spot to work! The time you waste with all that black sand can't be paying off, spend that time looking for better paying ground. Rule one of mining,never fall in love with a hole-in- the ground thats not worth it! If the gold is'ent there all your wishing it was is not going to make it so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Let me know how it works out for ya Swampfox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NcSwampfox71 Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 I have been popping from spot to spot for twenty odd years and Its just a carolina thing. I am finding good color for where I am digging, I am going to go to bedrock or bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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