No black sand?

[forhorsmn]

I was practicing my panning yesterday on my father-in-laws creek. Classified everything down to about 1/8th, put it a couple pieces of lead shot and got started. I got down to the very end and could see the lead shot and I was surprised to see a few VERY small flakes. The odd thing was that there was no black sand in my pan. Is it possible? I'm wondering because I used the same pan at home to run a bag of cons I got from Goldstrike (great stuff by the way) and thought I may have left a few flakes in the pan when I cleaned it out.

I'm not sure if it's even possible that the flakes would have stayed in because of the way I processed the material. Here are the steps I used:
1. Classified down to 1/2 inch into my 14" pan.
2. Classified what was in the pan down to 1/8" (getting my 1/8" classifier this weekend) into my 5 gal bucket.
3. Run what was left in the bucket in my sluice.
4. Clean out sluice back into my 14" pan. Add lead shot to the cons.
5. Pan the cons to find the lead shot.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is is it possible to find gold where there is no black sand?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[hunter_46356]

Although I am very new to this hobby my experience has been when I've worked the material down to 1/8" and just panned it out I have never found gold in a pan without black sands. It seems the more black sand the greater the possibility of finding some gold. The heavies stick together if you know what I mean.

 

[TAKODA]

The wide spread text book myth of "You always find black sands with gold "
is just as I said .... a myth . Just plain out wrong .... period .

 

[Goldwasher]

T is very right....some creeks and washes have more black sand than others. Basically if i AM IN A CREEK WITH ALOT OF BLACK SAND I WILL GET ALOT OF IT IN THE SPOTS I RECOVER THE MOST GOLD...SORRY CAPS..... the creek were working now doesnt have alot of black sand...the heavies at the bottom are just a differnt mineral make up...but still more abundent in the spots we find more gold.....the color changes density doesnt..IMHO

 

[forhorsmn]

When I get out there again next weekend I'll be sure to take some pics so ya'll can see. I've been watching a LOT of videos on Youtube and the closest I can find to what I'm talking about is in this video:

I see some black sand but an awfull lot of lighter colored stuff also.

 

[williamsingr]

Anything is possible but Ive yet not to find black sand when panning, easier to find black sand and no gold around here

 

[strickman]

around west ga. there are some spots with real heavy blonde and super heavy white sand . very very few black ,maybe just a couple specks .basically no black.

 

[Astrobouncer]

When I get out there again next weekend I'll be sure to take some pics so ya'll can see. I've been watching a LOT of videos on Youtube and the closest I can find to what I'm talking about is in this video:

I see some black sand but an awfull lot of lighter colored stuff also.

Thanks for linking my video! I think I get a couple more subscribers every time someone posts one.

Originally there were many black sands in those cons, but I probably panned them down quick and/or removed them with magnetics to make it easier to show the gold recovered for the camera. The big black chunky pieces you can still see are sulfides. I dont want to say what type exactly because then anyone with knowledge of geology can pretty much track down where I am at. Same for the other minerals. The other lighter colored minerals are actually all heavier then black sands. Again I don't want to mention what they are for fear of giving away my exact location of one of my spots.

Now with that said, like Takoda and others have mentioned, it is quite possible to find gold with no black sands. I know a spot that has all heavy blond sands that will hang in the pan with the super fine gold. When you look at the blond sands under microscope magnification you can see them covered in gold. Granted its probably -200 mesh gold, but still neat.

 

[russau]

around west ga. there are some spots with real heavy blonde and super heavy white sand . very very few black ,maybe just a couple specks .basically no black.

Strickman check that heavy whitesand for precious metal content!

 

[strickman]

always

 

[forhorsmn]

Thanks for linking my video! I think I get a couple more subscribers every time someone posts one.

I didn't realize it was one of yours LOL. I think I've seen most of your videos 4 or 5 times. I'll remember to credit you next time I use one
Thanks for the info guys. We just had a pretty interesting week of weather so I'll try to get out to the creek again in a few days.

 

[Stand Watie]

Strickman check that heavy blacksand for precious metal content!

I don't think I have panned a creek here in South Carolina yet without finding tons of black sand.

So that leads me to these questions after reading what you wrote.
1) How do you "check" black sand for precious metals?
2) Why? Is there a market for something I may find in the black sand?

Any and all help is appreciated because I too am somewhat new to the game. Thanks in advance.

 

[strickman]

when you hit a spot that doesn't have much b.s. , what few are present tend to have some precious metal content . crushing ,is the easiest way to tell.some areas have high sulfide gold .

 

[russau]

you can crush your blacksands and repan then to capture fine gold that is/was encapsolated in the blacksands. lots a really fine stuff but not a lot of $$ in it. also that heavy white sand may hold some values also! send in a sample to a state colledge or refinery to have it checked out.dont assume that its just white sand!

 

[strickman]

roasting helps low sulfides as well.

 

[dgrs2]

I've been finding gold here in PA but black sand hasn't been part of my panning. I always find heavier white to tan sand. Always has fine reddish looking crystals, clear crystals some occasional green, blue and purple.

 

[TerryC]

Interesting gold there Dgrs2. Very course. maybe even crystaline. Have you checked it out with a mineral scope or low powered microscope? TTC

 

[dgrs2]

Crystaline gold?

Interesting gold there Dgrs2. Very course. maybe even crystaline. Have you checked it out with a mineral scope or low powered microscope? TTC

Just started panning....not even sure what crystaline gold is...looked it up on the internet and found some examples...thanks alot...i'll look under a microscope to check it out...a question ...
is it always attached to quartz or can it break away from it...thanks again for the info

 

[patches63]

often just bits of qtz attatched to the foamy crystaline au.sometimes called bull qtz.in hardrock areas and say below a big quartze/au operation,there may be zero black sands present,10 miles away,in an epithermal pocket gold type area,and with no placer deposits(rounded rocks/black sands/garnet,involved,rotten with black sands and fine ragged looking gold dust.and no quartz at all,zero.prospector/author jim straight explains this well,and theorises that big gold comes from these very iron seam type deposits,while the finer gold originates in the quartz lode type deposits.with exceptions as always,of course.i think hes right,and a fact is,the old timers,with their uncanny sense of geology,called iron the mother of all gold.one thing,there are several very unique types of black sands.magnetite,hematite,ilmenite to name only 3,and all have varying specific gravities,and thus differ in behavior while panning/concentrating,and consider that even with same specific gravity but different configuration(flat,round,ovular)due to different deposition process will behave/concentrate different as well despite same SG.isnt this fun?

 

[dgrs2]

often just bits of qtz attatched to the foamy crystaline au.sometimes called bull qtz.in hardrock areas and say below a big quartze/au operation,there may be zero black sands present,10 miles away,in an epithermal pocket gold type area,and with no placer deposits(rounded rocks/black sands/garnet,involved,rotten with black sands and fine ragged looking gold dust.and no quartz at all,zero.prospector/author jim straight explains this well,and theorises that big gold comes from these very iron seam type deposits,while the finer gold originates in the quartz lode type deposits.with exceptions as always,of course.i think hes right,and a fact is,the old timers,with their uncanny sense of geology,called iron the mother of all gold.one thing,there are several very unique types of black sands.magnetite,hematite,ilmenite to name only 3,and all have varying specific gravities,and thus differ in behavior while panning/concentrating,and consider that even with same specific gravity but different configuration(flat,round,ovular)due to different deposition process will behave/concentrate different as well despite same SG.isnt this fun?

Yes it is! Very fun. Funding little pieces of gold is worth it.