Found this gold dust in 3 minutes

[reptwar1]

I live by the Arkansas river and dug out a crack in sidewalk, that is submerged when river floods. Literally took 3 minutes to collect this gold dust. It stuck to my dust pan, and I am wondering about ways to collect it. There are literally hundreds of more cracks for me to dig out. Thanks in advance

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Jet dry, WD-40 and duct tape...those 3 can solve all the problems!

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Jet Dry uses a lot of citric acid and a little surfactant. The acid content actually contributes to forming bubbles on several mineral surfaces. It's great for making your dishes sparkly and squeaky but it's only minimal help with dealing with floating particles. If you use more than just a tiny bit it will do more harm than good. Jet Dry is more effective than dish soap but has many of the same problems.

A lot of this is about pH. Get the water pH right and your processing will be a lot more productive. Obviously while panning your last concern is going to be getting your pan pH just right. Unless you have done your coarse processing with adjusted pH water you won't be effective in doing your finish work with just a pH adjustment. In that situation it's best to concentrate on using a good surfactant.

The reasonable and most effective alternative to Jet Dry is to use a pure surfactant. That would be Lissapol N a non-ionic surfactant and an emulsifier. Cheap, available and a little bit goes a very long way. Lissapol N doesn't have any of the additives that Jet Dry or Cascade do but it's truly the superior choice when you want to break the surface tension that allows those super fine particles of gold to float. Gold leaf will sink on it's own when exposed to this powerful surfactant.

Pure Lissapol N is getting harder to find. I bought a gallon back in 1984 and I've still got nearly 20% left. For a much more watered down version that's going to be much less expensive you can start out with one of the non ionic weed killer surfactant additives. About $30 a gallon and will treat about 2,000 gallons of process water. I would avoid the Alligare 90 product because unlike Lissapol it can irritate your skin if you use too high a concentration. No more floaties and if you are recirculating you will get better recovery and a quicker clearing of your process water settling.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Jet dry, WD-40 and duct tape...those 3 can solve all the problems!

Don't forget fish oil!

Heavy Pans

 

[bobw53]

Jet Dry doesn't solve all the world's problems, but it sure does help!

I've got a machine shop, and I do most of my panning in the shop.. There are oils in the air, oils landing on stuff and
a lot of times, oils on my hands.. I use JetDry.. I use Dawn (the blue stuff)... But sometimes, its just not enough...

On my panning table, I always keep a bottle of 409, if any ANYTHING floats, the pan gets a shot.. It settles right down.

Coatings for customers.. Naptha, Acetone etc.... F* the spec.. 409 and Dawn.. Works better and cheaper for degreasing.

I HATE floaters, and they do happen, especially when playing with the tiny stuff, even if you have JetDry in there.. Quick
shot of 409 and those floaters drop like a rock(or a piece of gold).


Just MOVING your pans around when you aren't panning or thinking of gold, you are putting oils on your pans.. Frying some
chicken 2 rooms over.. Oil is going to land in your pan.. With experience, you know when there is a problem, even with JetDry,
and a shot or 2 of 409 takes care of everything.

 

[KevinInColorado]

^good tip!^