super fine gold

[jarocki]

Alright, I bought some paydirt from California. It was a 10 pound bag. I only panned so far 6 tablespoons (2 tablesppons at a time). There were flakes in with the black sand that looked like gold, but seemed to light. Has anyone every seen anything like this? Also there appears to be a lot of gold in with the black sand, but it it to small for me to get it. How do you? I have been panning a few months now, not consistently, I may have a week or so if counting over all hours. The black sand sparkled nice, I know all that glitters is not gold, in fact that is what it looks like, gold glitter. Any info would be great, I saved what I did, just to do again in case. Thanks in advance.

 

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[ALewis]

hard to say about the gold without a pic, but to answer your q about getting the small pieces, get a "snuffer bottle"....next to a pan & possibly a shovel, you will use that more than anything else....well, hopefully... A magnet can also be used to get the black sands moved around, but be careful with that, it can trap gold between sand and magnet.

 

[jarocki]

I forgot to mention that this paydirt was screened down to 1/16 of an inch. So finding small gold I understand, but what I am seeing looks light. It doesn't behave like gold I panned before.

 

[B H Prospector]

If it changes color or shine when you shade it with your hand it's not gold. It sounds like it is too small to do a shatter test.With ten pounds of dirt to play with I would put at lease a cup of material in the pan. The more gold you can see at one time the better you will be able to distinquish if it is real or not. As stated above be careful with a magnet. Also save what you have done like you have been to redo.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[goldenmojo]

Do you have a loupe or a magnifying glass? Get one and check what you are looking at under high magnification. It may be micro gold or just blonds. As Alewis says clear all the black sands that you can with a magnet and them scope them. Report back.

GM

 

[jarocki]

Bh prospector, thanks for reminding me of that. I was outside in the sun today and it sparkled like glitter. I panned real slow and tapped. I tried press a piece on to my finger. When I looked at it, it almost looked black. When I put it back in the pan it sparkled gold. I don't have a loop, but I do have a magnifying glass. I will have to wait till Saturday to try the shade test, bsck in truck and heading to Baltimore. I attached a picture of what I have found panning so far this year with paydirt.

 

[KevinInColorado]

For fine gold panning tutorial, watch the YouTube vids from Doc at Goldhog. You can also go back to see my prior posts on my finish panning process by going to my profile page, scroll to bottom, hit link to see prior posts and scroll thru until you find it.

There is a LOT to learn from reading the older threads here...and more interesting than tv!

 

[goldenIrishman]

You might want to consider picking up a set of dental picks/scrapers. Very handy for doing a shatter/crush test on suspect items in your pan when they're too small to use a fingernail. They don't take up much room and with all the different shapes and sizes you'd be covered for just about everything you'll come across in your pan. I believe Harbor Freight has sets of them and they only cost a few bucks for a set. I keep several different picks in the panning area at all times.