How do you get gold out of clay?

[KurtB]

I brought a bunch of clay home that I know has gold in it but it's a pain in the you know what. Is there any tricks for dealing with this stuff?

Thanks for any advice.

Kurt

 

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[joncutt87]

Welcome to the site lala

 

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[mytimetoshine]

I just used this and it WORKS quickly and easily. Thank you SO much!
I live in Middle GA. I'm 29 and I love looking for gemstones and gold.
I joined this site because of this thread and this is probably the most helpful forum I've seen yet.

So... I have a hunch that Red Clay pretty much stops gold from sinking too far into our dirt here in GA... and that all I have to do is rifle through a bunch of it. Am I accurate in this assessment?
I'm still not that great at panning. I don't have my nice black rubber pan anymore. I'm working on it! But I can't wait to share my finds with you guys! I just wanted to say hello and thank you!

Welcome to Tnet Lala. Your right it is a very helpful site. People are more friendly in this gold forum then I have ever encountered in any online forum. Keep practicing with that gold pan. Don't be afraid to really shake it. You can't be to aggressive when trying to liquefy material. It may be different in different area's But in general clay act's like bedrock and most of the gold will be right on top of it. Scrape the top bit and forget about the rest.

 

[Lala]

Hey! Thanks for the tips! I always feel like I cant be too aggressive or else I'll knock it out of the pan. I have found yellow chunks inside pockets in the clay. It looks like a yellow buttery sand. Any clue what this could be?

 

[joncutt87]

I've hit a couple small sand pockets in the clay here in nc. It could also be yellow clay.

 

[Lala]

That's kinda what it looks like to me too.

 

[joncutt87]

You could also have some siltstone that got broken up from freezing and thawing

 

[Ragnor]

Got it. This is a cheap and simple solution. One sm. bottle of hydrogen peroxide to half a tube of toothpaste. Add a squirt of Dawn and a quart of water. Cost is about $2 dollars a gallon. Clay will liquefy, release the sand, gold and heavies and just pour out as muddy water. Got the tip from the geology department at Tulane University. Hydrogen peroxide and fluoride together liquefy clay. The Dawn just helps with separating things a little more. You don't need a bunch of expensive chemicals.

Tried this mixture out yesterday on some really thick nasty red clay that was driving me absolutely crazy. Works like a charm. Even thinking about patenting it under the product name "Clay Away".

Sounds interesting, gonna have to check that out next summer.