Panning for Silver???

[dirty_digger]

OK! Dumb question from someone new to prospecting....

Can you pan for silver? How do you get silver out of a creek? What would silver look like if it were stuck in/on a rock?

Maybe more than one dumb question....

 

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[russau]

youll have to have a sharp eye looking for it in your pan. while your at it keep a eye out for platinum. learn what they look like in their natural state. and it may be a small peice.

 

[dirty_digger]

Have any pictures by chance?

 

[CGC Miner]

You can definitely pan out silver if you are in silver nugget country. Silver has a specific gravity of 10.5 which you can easily keep in your pan considering most black sands are around 7sg.
Platinum is even heavier than gold at 21.4.
The problem is you rarely will come across silver or platinum nuggets. But if you are in silver country your black sands concentrates could very well contain finely ground silver, for that your going to need an assay.

 

[dirty_digger]

If I were to see silver in its natural state, what would silver look like? I know it could be in quartz (maybe)? what would the nuggets look like?

 

[PROSPECTORMIKEL]

DIRTY DIGGER,
I HAVE SEEN SILVER IN THREE NATURAL STATES, RIGHT HERE IN THE NATURAL STATE.

THE FIRST THAT I SAW WAS IN GALINA, SILVER/LEAD ORE... LOOKS LIKE LEAD BUT IT BREAKS
IN SOMEWHAT STRAIGHT LINES. I KEEP A SMALL SAMPLE WITH ME FOR COMPARISON IN THE FIELD.

THE SECOND WAS ALMOST PURE SILVER. SCRATCH IT AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT IT IS.
I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT CAN TRAVEL WITH COPPER AND MIGHT BE TARNISHED GREEN.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, I HAVEN'T SEEN IT THAT WAY.

THE THIRD FORM MADE ME START QUESTIONING AS TO WHY THE SPANISH USED TURTLE MONUMENTS TO MARK SILVER MINES.... LAST YEAR A MAN HERE IN NW ARK SHOWED ME A ROCK THAT LOOKED LIKE A TURTLE, IN THE CREEK THAT I WAS GOLD PANNING IN. HE FLIPPED IT OVER AND THE UNDER SIDE LOOKED LIKE A TURTLE'S BELLY. HE HIT IT ON A LARGER ROCK AND IT SPLIT, AND WHEN HE SHOWED ME THE FRACTURED FACE IT GLISTEND.
HE SHOWED ME A BUTTON THAT HE HAD MADE FROM THE ORE IN THE ROCK.
MY HEAD HURTS WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW SIMPLE THAT WAS. HE KNOWS HOW TO REFINE THAT ORE CHEMICALY. HE EXPLAINED IT TO ME AND CAN'T REMEMBER THE FIRST WORD.
LET ALONE THE PROCESS.

THERE MAY BE OTHERS, BUT THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT I HAVE SEEN.

IF IT IS IN GALINA IT WILL TRY TO STAY IN YOUR PAN...

HAPPY HUNTING
PROSPECTORMIKEL

 

[russau]

Have any pictures by chance?

goggle rocks or minerals your interested in. the are all there.

 

[Mitch Dickson]

Very little free silver in the creeks. Water and grinding reduces it to microscopic very quickly. Most silver in ore is sooty black looking or dark grey. Almost always found with lead. The Parks method is used to seperate them. Lead and Silver are non magnetic so galena will not react to a magnet while pyrite (which look a lot like it) will. Platinum is paramagnetic to it won't react to a regular magnet but will react to a Neodyum N52 super magnet. That info will help out in the field. You can find out for sure when you get home.