Coupla tips if you are REALLY into gold prospecting

[TerryC]

Here are two tips I wish to pass along to you. First: I have learned that the best way to transfer the small, flat, flakes from my black sand to the vial is use a single-edged razor blade to GENTLY stab the flake then GENTLY transfer to the vial by WIPING the flake into the vial. This does not work for the roundish flakes as they tend to "skip" away to eternity! Needles are not as sharp as the corner of a razor blade. Second: if you own a scale, (as in small-weight scale, not bathroom scale [I have yet to find enough gold to use a bathroom scale]) chances are that it has a fine adjustment screw somewhere. Usually at the left side. Count the revolutions that the screw takes to go full left then right. Now, center the screw by screwing it back "half" that number. The scale may now be "off" from its zero. Add or subtract weight from the "dead" mass UNDER the platform used for weighing your gold till the scale is again zeroed. You can use a file or drill a hole to remove weight, or glue on tiny masses of metal to make heavier. GO SLOW, and make SMALL changes, as drilling or filing is permanent. But don't fret too much as you can always glue more weight on. Now you have full range for the tuning screw, for tables that are not quite level. Also, don't try to use a scale with air currents nearby (fans or open doors). Ok, now does anyone else have a tip that doesn't JUMP out at all of us? ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION. Follow the thread down to where jcazgoldchaser has ENLIGHTENED me!TTC

 

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[63bkpkr]

Terry,
Should I jump to the contusion that these notes come from past experience? I should also ask if use of a single edge blade had anything to do with sharing the contents of your holding basin with the floor of your home? Also, could you show us a picture of your scale as I'm curious about what you mean by "don't fret to much as you can always glue more weight on".

And finally, I would not worry much about the Gran Torino on your lawn unless the M1 is in it as well. Actually one last thing, I usually strive to get more than enough gold to weigh up as I only have a bathroom scale.........63bkpkr

PS - In micro paleontology class, ummmm this was a while back, we used a tripple ought (never had to spell that before - 000) camel hair painting brush moistened with a fine amount of available moisture (stick it on your tounge) for picking up teeny-tiny-itty-bitty pieces from the dirt samples we brought in from our field trips as the instructor told us it worked better than a single edge or even dougle edged razor blade. Mind you this is a small amount of moisture as a lunger on the end of the brush would pickup more than you wanted to sample and would not let go of it.

 

[hunter_46356]

I'd like to think I've become pretty handy at removing flour gold from black sand.......as we have alot of both here in Indiana. I've yet to build a fine gold recovery system to get this teeny weeny stuff but really need to think about it. I have had pretty good results using a small eye dropper. You can pan, back wash n tap to a point where an eye dropper will let you move and remove the black sand as well as pick up the concentrated gold. In both cases you can pick up a fare amount of either with little effort instead of one piece at a time. Keep in mind I usually only have a cup of concentrates after a day on the creek. After a clean out of the sluice I usually do a quick pan and get down to the BS and other heavies to bring home. When I get better at finding the yeller stuff and have more concentrates to work I know I'll have to find something different as it only take a couple of refreshments to get the job done now. Any greater quantity and I might not be of sound mind to complete the task. Single edge blades be it a Ka Bar or a razor blade might not be advisable at this point either. LOL

 

[vtgoldprospector]

Here is what works for me for dust, grain and small flake recovery from the pan after I back pan the black away from the color. Either the soft plastic cap from a garret snuffer bottle or even a pencil eraser shaped to your preference will do the job. Gently blow on the gold to remove the excess water and firmly press the cap/eraser on the gold for a full second. Gently lift and presto. The gold will stick well but don't jar it or it will fall off. Do not hold it sideways, hold it straight up and down so the surface the gold is stuck to is up. I personally take advantage of this to inspect the gold with my jewelers eye and remove any other debris with a blade or finger nail. To remove just dip it into the vial and tap or dunk if you keep it wet. Otherwise stick it in the dry vial and tap. Note: work over a clean table or pan in case you had to much coffee that day. I hope you find this to work well as it has for me.

 

[victorysgold]

I use a wet Q-tip with dry gold and then just touch it to the water in the vial and it falls off.

 

[419GottaMinute]

I toss my black sand in the air and dance a merry jig while it falls around me.

 

[cuzcosquirrel]

I usually just push it apart from most of the black sand and poke it with the end of my finger until it gets picked up. Then I drop it into a plastic water bottle I have full of water. I bring along tweezers, but these are mainly for scraping bedrock areas and picking up flakes from the bedrock underwater.

 

[TerryC]

Good replies! Shows that SOMEBODY has been actually reading my posts. No, Herb, I did not use the blade to scrape up the sand, I prefer the "roll the phlem around the floor" method. NOT! I actually found some of the larger flour pieces off the floor. I used one of those jewler's "headband glasses" to find them. OOOPS! giving away too many of my STRANGE BUT TRUE methods. I'll take a coupla pics of my Adam triple-beam and my O'haus 311 Cent-a-Gram later tonight. And give away one more way to super accuratize the 311, even though it is already accurate to .01 gram. Tnx Herb, and all. TTC

 

[TerryC]

Here are pics of my Adam TBB2610T. Pic 1 is where you can drill a hole, or file, to make the weigh plate lighter. Remember, removing metal from here will LOWER the weigh pointer. If you need to bring the pointer DOWN to zero, remove metal here. Pic 2 is a convenient place to glue metal to RAISE the pointer to zero. Using a small piece of metal "test weigh" the piece to see if it is the size you need. Just use the scale to weigh it. File the metal to change its weight down. Now glue it to a location under the plate to RAISE the pointer to zero. Remember to account for the weight of the glue drop. Do NOT glue it to the plate! If you are not QUITE zero, simply turn the zero adjust knob to fit. Hopefully, you will not have to adjust the knob so much you negate the reason we are going through this. Now, you have adjusted the scale to be able to use the adjust knob to its fullest potential. DONE. This particular scale has a resolution of .1 gram. This scale cost just over $100.You don't need to be more accurate than this. I also have an O'haus 311 Cent-O-Gram scale that has a resolution of .01 gram! MORE than accurate enough... at 171 BUCKS. You may ask why you just don't buy a digital scale (platform type) for about $30. The 2610T has the ability to measure the specific gravity of minerals. By measuring the SG of quartz, you are able to measure the amount of gold inside the quartz without busting up the rock! You can also use the SG of minerals to determine the purity of your gold nugget. You cannot measure the SG of a mineral using a digital plate scale without spending more than the 2610T for a specialized unit attachment! My post is long, but I hope I have provided info that some of you may want or use. I need to pull my 311 Cent-O-Gram out of a shed to take pics... or you can go to OLD WILL KNOTT SCALES (where I bought both) to view more specifics. Tnx. TTC

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Here are pics of my Adam TBB2610T. Pic 1 is where you can drill a hole, or file, to make the weigh plate lighter. Remember, removing metal from here will LOWER the weigh pointer.

The table on my Ohaus unscrews and you can play with table weight there. Is the table on the Adam fixed?

 

[russau]

i also have Ohaus scales! and the calibration weights to use it.

 

[TerryC]

The table on my Ohaus unscrews and you can play with table weight there. Is the table on the Adam fixed?

I don't know, Chaser.... haven't screwed around with it that much yet! (get it? UNSCREWS --- SCREWED AROUND? ) Damn, I can come up with those QUICK! Seriously, yes the Adam plate unscrews. HA HA HA. I went back to the plate, I was curious! I lifted up the dead weight below the plate to find how Adam fine tuned the weight. They have small weights UNDER the dead weight that I did not know were there! I did not even know the dead weight was removeable! You have ENLIGHTENED me Chaser..... and I feel FOOLISH!!! I thought The short instructions described adding weights under the plate, as in the small area I am pointing to. Thank you, Chaser... everyone DISREGARD the last instructional post. I threw the instructions out long time ago so I cannot re-read them. Here are more pics. TTC