Any advice will be appreciated

Kjb1207

Greenie
May 25, 2021
14
12
Ruidoso, new mexico
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RM ricomax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So a month or two ago my boyfriend and I went camping and the area we went to has old gold mines and copper mines close by . We camped next to the creek ,or stream now , and my son watches gold rush on discovery channel alot and thought he could find gold there in the water. Well sure enough there was alot of flakes and some little rocks and a few quarts rocks around. Well now to help my son I am picking these little flakes from the sand and dirt. Is there a easier way to get this done without looking like a crazy lady with tweezers in a pan of dirt? I have collected about an ounce or more already and have it in a vial with acid to prove its gold. But I know nothing of this kind of thing and am willing to learn and try anything new to help my son.please can someone guide me in the right direction cause I only know what is on TV or youtube.
 

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First advice is to go to " Land Matters " and check if the area is open or claimed. You may be mining on someone's claim. Its really not possible to tell you how to clean up your gold, that is something that has to be taught or there are a lot of videos on YouTube showing how to do it. The first lesson all miners need to learn is how to pan, good luck and welcome to the TN.
 

Great advice to start off with ! Like et1955 said , panning is the last process to retrieve your gold unless you invest a LOT of money into equipment & I understand your position with your son ! I bet you all were jumping with joy on seeing a few flakes of "gold"..........Years back a friend of mine went to the Great state of Colorado and Colorado Springs and went up some dirt road and he saw a lot of black sand on the side of the road and he remembered my saying about black sand and gold ,so he dumped out his coffee cup and scooped up a cup full of "gold" or so he thought. He called me from Colorado that night and said he found "gold" on the side of the road and he described it to me.......... I had to chuckle to myself and said let me know when you get home and I'll show you how to pan it. Well you probley already guessed it ,pyrite. BUT it was a good try !:dontknow:
 

Thank you I checked and we did all that stuff needed everything is good now it's just cleaning the flakes. Lol my son is taking that role I'll let him see how to learn patience cause I have work to do with our animals and building the campers and other things we have going.
 

Gold is heavy. If you found this laying on top of the sand and gravel then it is probably not gold.
Acid...? Gold is resistant to acid when other things are consumed but that depends on the strength and type of acid.
Gold is soft like a lead sinker. Pyrite or mica, which is probably what you have, is brittle Take a piece and squeeze it with some pliars or place it on a piece of metal and smack it with a hammer. If its gold it will squish flat, anything else will shatter.

Can you post some pics?
 

Welcome to Tnet .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..:hello:
 

Welcome. Another simple test for gold-

Gold is real shiny, it is easiest to see in a pan with bright sunlight. But if you shade the light away gold still looks yellow though other minerals will lose their luster. Also, gold is very dense. In a pan gold will settle into the bottom when agitated and when tipped while agitated it will settle into the corner of the pan. That is how come a gold pan works, the materials stratify when agitated with the less dense material "floating" on the more dense material, kind of like how oil floats on water.

Good luck to you and your son.
 

thanks for the info and I'll post pics soon when I get a chance been busy with the kids. the flakes were in the bottom of the dirt and rocks in the dirt in the mud and sand
 

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this's a rock I found don't know what it is
 

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I got the gold flakes and left them in acid for a few weeks
 

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The only gold I see is the 4th pic from RTR. I think you have fools gold. If you would pan it, like has been mentioned, I think it will float away. You can use a cake pan. Also, use some lead shot, or little pieces of lead to see what gold would really react like in the pan. Bright yellow color will not fade when shaded, like Duckshot states.
 

Use a "Snuffer" bottle, to surgically remove those precious little flecks of GOLD...!
Welcome to TNet...! :hello:
 

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