Fine gold in blonde beach sand.

[Rugerr 1]

Hello I have stumbled apon what looks like gold in beach sand. I have got it classified down to very fine blonde beach sand mixed with small gold flakes.

First question is..Is this gold?

2nd/3rd question how do I get it seperated from this very fine heavy sand and get it tested?

Thank you

[Relichunter2016 709]

Not a good picture....if it is gold , you are a rich man...looks like flake mica to me.

[boulder dash 1,239]

I see nothing!!

[Bedrock Bob 3,960]

First question - Probably not

Second question - Keep on panning carefully and get rid of all that waste. Repeat until you get a clean pan of concentrates with enough material to see how it acts. Then get a magnifier strong enough to get a good look at it. 

My guess is that after you complete a few pans and get it all down to a teaspoon of concentrates it will be little flat mica flakes on top of the black sand and not gold flakes under it. A pretty common mis-interpretation when looking at mica flakes in a half concentrated pan.

The good news is that heavy mica is a great source of rare earth elements. It might not be gold but you could have struck Columbium! Or Yttrium! Or Neodymium! They are often found in beach deposits and are very valuable elements needed to expand existing technology. 

Edited June 26, 2019 by Bedrock Bob
Columbium is good stuff man.

[chrisski 821]

I recommend getting yourself a gold pan.  They're not that difficult to learn and plenty of you tube videos.  Maybe one part material, five parts water, shake it back and forth quickly, they heavy settles to the bottom, and the lights on top.  Tilt back and forth to get the light stuff to one side, Get rid of the light stuff, and repeat.  At the very least, you'll be left with black sand.  That tells you you're doing it correctly.  Once you get the black sand, start over, and if you're lucky, the gold will be waiting at the bottom of the black sand.  Kind of need a gold pan to pan.  I first tried with a cereal bowl.  Not good results.

Before panning, you can get a magnifying glass and look at the "gold."  If it still looks like gold, then is it shiny all the time in sunshine?  That would be good.  When you take a pin to it, does it dent and not break, which is good.

Honestly doubt you have gold, but if there's enough in there to see it without panning, you are onto a very, very rich streak.  

[Bedrock Bob 3,960]

1 hour ago, boulder dash said:

I see nothing!!

Mr. Dash has been blinded! Rush this man to the optometrist immediately! He is used to looking at big chunks of gold and his vision is weak. Looking for the gold in this pan has broken his eyes!

[Rugerr 1]

Heres a pic out of my pan. Some of it floats. This video should help. Thank you for all your help so far guys.

[Bedrock Bob 3,960]

Oh man! Now you are making me go blind!

It does not look like concentrates. Sure there are yellow spots but you just cant tell from a photo. It looks laminar like mica to me in the close up photo. Not little blobs of soft metal.

You need to separate the heavy stuff from the light stuff and try to estimate the specific gravity of the material. At least compare it to the black sand in a concentrate. That is the easiest way. Gold is extremely heavy and the best way to know if it is gold or not is to learn to separate the materials by weight. 

Get one of those little grains in your teeth and bite it. If it crushes it is not gold. If it dents under the pressure of a tooth it is gold. That is a mighty gritty way to do it but it's about the only way you are going to find out unless you develop some technique or send off a sample.

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There is a beach in France where the mica is so thick in the waves it will stick to the naked women swimming in the surf. They glitter like a bass lure when they come out of the water. It is the silver variety of mica though and not the yellow variant. It will get more attention that the yellow stuff though. That is the only time I can remember that mica excited me. 

Lots of it on the beaches around the world. The wave action concentrates it and it really makes for some glittering sand. I am 100% sure that is what you have from the looks of the grains in the close up photo.

Bite one for me anyway because I like it when I can get someone to do that. It is either that or rub it under the toilet tank lid. The grains are just too small for that to be much fun. 

[FlakMagnet 412]

mica…gold would never jump around in the pan like that…mica does.