WHAT TO DO WITH BLACK SAND???

blynch35

blynch35

Sr. Member
Sep 6, 2012
299
85
Alabama
Detector(s) used
Gold Bug Pro, Gold-N-Sand X-Stream Pro, super mini, super prospector bazooka gold trap sluice's, Thompson 12v Drywasher, royal highbanker, and blue bowl.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Upvote 0
I did find a refiner in Arizona, but he will only take a ton or more. I just hope I can get that much without the econazis in california shutting me down.
 

chlsbrns said:
A 55 gallon drum of dry BS is about 2,000 lbs. It costs about $400 to ship 5gal/200 lbs from Vancouver, Wa to the east coast. It costs about $1600 to ship 55gal/2000 lbs from Vancouver to the east coast.
Click to expand...

5,6 years ago when the bottom fell out of everything, i needed some money to keep the lights on and the doors open at the shop... (machine shop). I started selling off the material (metal) that I wouldn't need, and still have piles of.
To try and get some extra money, I offered to fill the rest of the box with random drops, $10 to fill up a medium flat rate, and $15 to fill up a large. The home shop guys loved it.. So, the first Large Flat rate I packed full, and there
was aluminum, and some plastics.. 126lbs. Woops... Take out a bunch of steel, add in a bunch of plastic and aluminum... 69.8 lbs.

Just did some off the cuff quick calcs. A medium flat rate is 514 cubic inches. A bit over 2 gallons. 514 cubic inches of iron is approx 170 lbs. Black sands are 20% or so less dense than iron, add in the air spaces and what not,
I'd guesstimate a medium flat rate should hold at least the 70 pound limit of black sand, if not, pretty darn close. Print your own label and only pay $11.30 and it will be there in 2 or 3 days for less than 20 cents a pound.

I'm just thinking out loud. Cheap way to move a ton of material, under $350.
 

Well let's face it here ladies and gentlemen, there comes a time when you have to say "That's enough processing". If you don't, then it becomes counterproductive. Time that could be spent processing fresh materials for easy gold gets wasted trying to get it all out of black sands. Some of us are in this "Game of Gold" to make a PROFIT. We are not "weekend warriors" who do this for the fun factor, it's our job. Sure we'd love to be able to get every last bit of the gold out of our materials but unless you have a sizable investment in equipment already in place to do all the crushing and chemical treatment automatically, you have to draw the line somewhere. Sure the micron size gold will add up over time, but the nuggets,flakes and fines add up much quicker!!!

In my mind the following operating procedure makes the most sense for the scale of my operations: Your results may vary.

1. Dig and run the materials to concentrate them. Use a good system and run it as flat as possible to maximize recovery of gold and other heavies.
2. Pan concentrates down and get the easy gold (nuggets. flakes and fines) out of them.
3. Store remaining black sands until the "Digging season" is over. For me that's during the heat of the Arizona summer.
4. During the "off season", classify the black sands down to -100 mesh
5. Anything that is larger than -100 goes into the homemade ball mill and crushed. (Modified electric cement mixer filled with crushing medium and black sand)
6. Once everything is crushed to size, run over a Miller Table while working in the shade under the mist system, sipping a nice cold drink.
7. Check the tailings off the Miller Table with a microscope (100X - 450X - 900X) and if samples don't show gold, pitch the tailings into the garden area. If there's still gold in the samples, rerun over the table at a shallower angle or slower water flow rate. Recheck tailings and pitch if clear.

Using this method, I can spend more time during good weather (under 105 degrees and no monsoon lightning) working in the field and less time obsessing over getting all the gold out of the sands. This also keeps me working the gold pretty much year round. When it's hot, I also do my main research into new areas in the evenings. There is no need for a small scale operator to have to invest tons of money to be able to get the MAJORITY of the gold out of their placer materials. Lode (Hard Rock) mining is of course a different story and one that I have no interest in at this time. Of course that's subject to change should I happen to come across an exposed vein in the bedrock while clearing the placer materials.

So unless you're bored out of your mind, there's no sense working black sands beyond a certain point. Run as much fresh materials as you can and save the B.S. for the down time!!!
 

Ayeyou said:
. I cant help but post a reply here.I am a placer miner in B.C. and have to laugh when I see people who really do not know of what they speak and yet offer answers to others. Black Sands can and do hold values in Precious metals.Not all black sands do but any taken from known mineralized areas such as gravels that contain placer gold almost always do. The value of the gold , silver and platinum can vary widely even on assays taken on samples from the same gravels. I have had four assays done on my black sands from my mine.I first remove all visible gold on my Miller Table and it is the leftover "tailings" that I sent for assay . They are all different which is to be expected. They range from a low of 188 grams or 6 ounces per ton gold to a high of 2449 grams per ton gold and 206 grams silver per ton. That is just under 80 ounces of gold and 6.5 ounces silver per ton of black sand. That is a dollar value at todays prices of $132,500. per ton. Considering a ton of black sand can fit into 8 five gallon pails I would say that black sands are a very valuable commodity and if you produce more then a few pounds should never be discarded without paying the $80 for an assay. And yes I do recover all kinds of gold from my black sand tailings.Here is my last assay.View attachment 740618
Click to expand...

Knowing how little time and effort it takes to process large or small quantities to get thousands of dollars worth of gold I couldn't have said it better. We do skip the miller table its way to time consuming and not worth the effort as our method will also get that gold. Actually we spend much less time processing black sands than we do getting the larger particles and get almost as much gold from the black sands.
 

Last edited:
I'm with you Jeff. I personally draw the line at what I can see (around -40). That doesn't mean I won't brush anything the Miller Table collects into the vial of course. It's just to keep the "fun" factor in it. Especially when you consider all the time you're doing...

Research
Travel
Hiking, wading, climbing
Digging, moving rocks, sampling, classifying
Collecting and storage
Return home
Sluice all material (and possibly re-running two or more times)
Recover large gold
Classify
Miller Table
Recover small gold

And that's on a good day when nothing breaks. Now if they allow sluicing in a stream...maybe I'll consider a little finer.:icon_thumright:
 

Last edited:
If they start buying again I will just send in the sands...... I'll only clean up one time and let them deal with the rest... All my gold is -100.
 

I didn't read the entire thread. Has anyone posted this link?

Contact Us. We buy gold black sand concentrates, gold ore, and silver ore.

Depending on the assay, they may or may not purchase your black sands.
Magnetite itself does not usually contain gold, as it is a crystal, and gold does not participate in the formation of the crystal. However there can be fine gold attached to black sands in some cases, though I have never actually observed it myself firsthand.

Values in black sand concentrates from mining can vary greatly, depending on the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of the equipment and persons doing the cleaning. Leaches can do some good if the sands do contain a sufficient quantity of microscopic gold.

I do know of a place in Wickenburg that may purchase cons once they have tested them to determine the gold and other valuable metals content of the cons. If you are interested in how to contact them, PM me.
 

LP13............

Yes I was aware of them and the post just above yours is about them and the fact that they are not currently buying black sands.
Also PMed you about the refiner you mentioned.
 

If you do not have large quantities you could try amalgamite. Look it up if interested. Do it outside no matter what others say.

There are a few others who process black sands.

This one is in AZ...

Black Sands Processing « TCB Metals and Refining
 

Last edited:
I currently have pricing with all the carrriers across the U.S. and can have the BS shipped for $ 320.00 from Vancouver to Chicago if anyone needs this let me know.
 

I have been told that you could also use your black sand in one of the phases of tumbling stones, however, I am not certain of the fact other than what was told to me. If anyone knows anything about this please by all means do chime in, after all the more information we have the better off we are (for the most part at least).
 

Most interesting thread I've read so far, thanks for all that contributed.

Bill
 

Any more news regarding black sand processing and values?
 

First, where and how did you get the black sand. If you mine with a suice, high banker, or dredge, the black sand concentrates will be almost worthless. No modern sluice of any kind will catch and hold fine gold (which means it won't hold platinum either). All sluices throw about 85% out the back. They only hold course gold mostly above 50 mesh. There is no such thing as a magic mat. They don't work. You might get a sampling but most is gone. Now if you use a pan and just pan down to the black sands and take all of those home, you will find very good values!!!!! A pan won't loose any!!!! Centrifuges and pulse jigs also work very well. I won't even bother to try if I know it came from sluice or dredge concentrates. They are mostly void of values. LOL! If you want the gold outta your dredge, pan your tailings HEHEHE! I do it all the time. Especially if I can find a dredger with a dual box. His tailings on that small side are usually richer than 9 foot up a bull's rear ;) I even dive for it!!! Your modern sluice is not like the old timers!!! Theirs had a 2 foot slick plate made outta sheet copper coated with quicksilver!!! The riffles were only the safety to catch what little course gold they shoveled. They got it all! Your working with a crippled sluice that only has the safety catches for the large gold. You have thrown out the working part of the sluice!!!! You have the option of keeping on shoveling a whole weekend for $8 or change your methods!! There is plenty of gold there, you just got to learn to catch it!!!!!
 

Last edited:
Yup..... A sluice won't even touch fine gold..... This is the result of about 2 1/2 gallons of sluice concentrates.
Over 2 OZ of -100 beach gold

 

It was a nice quiet couple years.

Not having to read the above nonsense
 

johnedoe said:
LOL.... Just have to stir the pot every once in a while.:laughing7:
Click to expand...

Trust me I wasn't talking about you! I caught your sarcasm this time.

I respect your posts
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Hey Hurthawk

⬅️ Previous Thread

"Where is that creek you go to?"

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Metal Detecting Stuff

Latest Discussions

Back
Top