Newby Needs Help!

[chapow1]

I've been metal detecting for years but recently fell in love with gold prospecting after a recent trip to Colorado Springs. I've done quite a bit of research online but for the life of me I cannot find a good way to separate flour/micron gold from "floating organic matter" . It's hard to tell in the pic but there are a ton of black specs mixed in with the fine gold. I've tried several different methods but the fine gold always follows these black floating particles.

Initially I had a 5 gallon bucket of gravel that I got out of the South Platte River. I work for a Ready Mix/Gravel company so I "borrowed" our gravel gradation screens to classify the material. The screens were 5, 14, 32, 48, & 100 mesh. I wet washed all the contents and found the majority of the fine gold caught between the 32 & 48 screen. However, a lot of black organic material followed. At this point I'm really struggling to find a way to reclaim the fines.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

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[Lotus Geologist]

All that gold colored stuff "floating" with the organic material isn't gold... It's mica. If it moves when you very lightly swirl the pan, it's not gold.

L.G.

 

[H&F909ORO]

As said already it is mica, if it moves around with the water it's not gold. It is a type of fools gold, I was going to say you have a lot of it. Remember gold is heavy, about 19x heavier than water so gold won't not move unless you apply force. If you simply move your pan to a tilt and your fools gold follows, it's not gold. Also if you crush it it will break gol on the other hand bends and does not flake or crush off. Sorry to burst your find.

Always remember gold is heavy!

 

[DesertNuggets]

Not to add confusion but some micro gold does float.

Add a drop of Jet Dry to make it sink.

 

[chapow1]

I've watched several videos on "floating gold" & it does indeed sink once I add Dawn dish soap to it. There are several different minerals in the pan I just need find a bigger flake & try crushing it to see if the breaks or not.

 

[Gold Rover]

Another quick check is to look at your pan in a shaded area out of the sun. Fool's gold's glitter and shine disappears when out of the light. Gold just keeps on looking like gold in the shade.