Magnet

[john12]

Howdy
I have been reading the forum posts, and etc. and have a question about fine gold. I have read that a lot of prospectors use a magnet to separate out the magnetic sands before they process the concentrates.
Since some fine gold can be trapped in the magnetic sand. And some fine gold can be coated with magnetite that will also be picked up.
So what is the point of using a magnet before processing, since magnetite and hematite both have approximate the same specific gravity?
Thanks John

 

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[aarthrj3811]

Hey John 12….Be very careful. If you must use a magnet cover the head of it with a plastic bag. Release it into a container. When you have enough material in this container you can crush it and process it and it will surprise you how much gold is there….Art

 

[john12]

My thinking is that will be about the same amount of fine in the non-magnetic. Am I'm wrong thinking this and there is only fine colors in the magnetic concentrats.
John

 

[Functional]

My thinking is that will be about the same amount of fine in the non-magnetic. Am I'm wrong thinking this and there is only fine colors in the magnetic concentrates.
John

Depends on the area. In some cases there will be more gold in the black sand, than amongst the nonferrous material. Here in British Columbia, about half of the gold has ferrous content, (iron), and can be influenced by a magnetic field. Often you can pan away and only get a few small flakes, (again, depending on the area), but the iron sand can be quite plentiful and consistent in quantity compared to the visible gold flakes, making it worth saving and processing.

Part of the reason is simply that most areas have been worked over with a pan in the past and most prospectors were after the easy to find gold flakes and nuggets, often not knowing, not caring, or unequipped to process the black sands. I think I've mentioned this on here once before, but just in case, I'll risk repeating it. About 20 or 25 years back, I met an old prospector type who knew alot about finding gold, but they kept saving their black sand in 45 gallon drums.

"Someone" had convinced this person that the black sand was a high grade of iron and "they" would pay them a premium price for it for saving it for "them". Unfortunately, this person didn't know that there was such a high gold content in this material and had sold over a hundred barrels full of unprocessed black sand to this person over the years at refinery prices for iron. At the time, I didn't know as much about the gold content of this material and it wasn't until several years later, (shortly after the internet became popular), that I found out about this. I think this person has passed on since as he was about 60 at the time, but I feel bad about them being taken advantage of like that.

F.

 

[aarthrj3811]

My problem with using a magnet is that when the magnet grabs the iron any gold that is between two pieces of iron will also be moved with it….Art

 

[stryker-one]

Using the magnet will aid in the processing of your fines. But you do need to classify the black sands into another bucket and save it to separate when you know more about what you are doing. Using a magnet wrapped in plastic is the best and least expensive way to do this classifying.

You will not regret saving your black sands.

Stryker

 

[aarthrj3811]

Years ago I had a friend who never processed his black sand. I had him dump it in one spot on the river. At the end of the season I dredged this spot and processed the concentrates. Easiest 5 oz I ever got…Art