Separating fine gold flakes from black sand method

Here's how I am attempting to do it.

I made a few tapes of my method but they came out very very amateurish , but heck mate , I myself don't mind poor tapes.
It's not like some million dollar budget Gold Rush Discovery channel.
Just sharing stuff is all.

I'm new at everything so it is what it is.
If I still interested in future then I do a better job of it.

I'll post the links to YouTube once I get them up.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/9gZqK8mq1gA[/video]

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/mDeptRDtfpk[/video]

Here's one more link of the process.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/PVef16V5u8M[/video]

I have been pm'd that nobody likes me because I am a troublemaker.
So if that's the story then that's the story.
But if there are any members who actually are interested in my stuff and like me , could you please like me by clicking the like link.
Or make a comment if you would like me to elaborate on anything.
cheers - Mo.

Watched all three vids - very entertaining. :Y:
I'm not sure whether there's a method in your madness or a madness in your method, but it's comedy gold either way. :lol:
Keep up the good work!

Cheers grubstake.
Its good that you enjoyed them , whether for educational purposes or for entertainment.

i did make myself look foolish , in that result couldn't have been worse , but heck , I could have saved a whole bunch of tapes and editted out all the bullshit and made myself look like a rocket scientist.
But I tell it and show it as it is.

Yes there is method to the madness in things I do , except maybe the holes I dig in the creek , and then fill 'em up again once they are dug.
Whoever came up with that Rule sucks.
I feel like Cool Hand Luke every time I fill in my holes.
Old men whose back is aching and are exhausted should be exempt from that rule.

moeee said:

Here's one more link of the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVef16V5u8M&t=2s

I have been pm'd that nobody likes me because I am a troublemaker.
So if that's the story then that's the story.
But if there are any members who actually are interested in my stuff and like me , could you please like me by clicking the like link.
Or make a comment if you would like me to elaborate on anything.
cheers - Mo.

Click to expand...

If you are relating to my PM to to you of you pulling your head in, sit back and ennjoy the forum, leaving politics and crap out of this forum...
it was is no way hate mail. Friendly advice to another member.
Unless you there is numerous other PM's stating otherwise?

I'm not an engineer or a metallurgist and I guess you aren't either, but I've worked with enough of them to have an inkling of why your 'quick and dirty' demo didn't achieve the desired outcome.

I don't think you're on the wrong track, but as a solution to the thorny problem of separating fine gold from black sand, fluidising is probably much more complex than it might at first appear. I believe that every component of the process is a variable that will have an effect on the result. eg. container dimensions, water flow rate, particle size, etc. These and more will all alter the percentage of gold recovered. You may even need a supplementary chemical treatment to change the water surface tension (a drop or two of detergent might do it).

With enough experimentation, I reckon you'll eventually refine the process to achieve worthwhile yields. In the meantime, unscripted stuff like the dog walking past and the wind gusting, made for some classic moments - thanks for sharing them.

Quote PM TO YOU, from myself" Unsure of how to put it to you, but in a short time you have made a stir. And not many likes with your attitude.
Normally a question you have asked about finding a gram would of had heaps of veiws and replies..
Why so little?
Im not going to debate this conversation much further.
But you and a few are skating on thin ice.
Dont think its a public forum for a soap box mate. Cause it aint.
If you dont like it. Simply go elsewhere.
Your negative post comments are not wanted.
Take it or leave it."
Mudgee Hunter.
So be it

thanks for posting that mudgee hunter
Are we done now?
Can i get back to sharing my knowledge with interested readers without you interupting ? No reply necessary please.

grubstake said:

With enough experimentation, I reckon you'll eventually refine the process to achieve worthwhile yields. In the meantime, unscripted stuff like the dog walking past and the wind gusting, made for some classic moments - thanks for sharing them.

Click to expand...

Bless you grubstake and your family and more power to you.
You seen Bonnie walk past lol , yeah me too.
And yeah the wind was blowing cups and buckets all over the place.
I thought the wind blew my sample of material away , hence the break between the 2 clips while I try find where the dregs landed.
Turned out I actually had it in a small gold pan with water and the wind did not destroy it just my senile brain at its finest.

Truth be told , I had this method working really well , fairly well anyway , and was losing maybe 5% tops.
Soon as i fire up the camera ... well we saw.
If not windy tomorrow I make another clip.

I am an old man and my back and every thing else aches.
But I enjoy it without question.
Be proud of your finds.
But do not think that you cannot be out done.

moeee said:

Cheers grubstake.
Its good that you enjoyed them , whether for educational purposes or for entertainment.

i did make myself look foolish , in that result couldn't have been worse , but heck , I could have saved a whole bunch of tapes and editted out all the bullshit and made myself look like a rocket scientist.
But I tell it and show it as it is.

Yes there is method to the madness in things I do , except maybe the holes I dig in the creek , and then fill 'em up again once they are dug.
Whoever came up with that Rule sucks.
I feel like Cool Hand Luke every time I fill in my holes.
Old men whose back is aching and are exhausted should be exempt from that rule.

Click to expand...

Tathradj said:

I am an old man and my back and every thing else aches.
But I enjoy it without question.
Be proud of your finds.
But do not think that you cannot be out done.

Click to expand...

Ahh , excuse my ignorance , but could you rephrase this in other words "But do not think that you cannot be out done."
I get the feeling you are trying to tell me something important and I just want to clear up what it is.

It is in the wording.

Tathradj said:

It is in the wording.

Click to expand...

Yeah , missed it again.
I take it as being unimportant
Best of health to you in the future because I am very familiar with bad back injuries.

Moeee, isn't your black sand magnetic? Can't you simply dry it completely then get rid of the black sand with a magnet?

I find that once I have it concentrated in the pan. by gently tipping it back and forward so that the sand gently washes out over the lip, I can get rid of most of the black sand without losing gold (practice a bit, letting it wash out into another pan so you don't lose the gold if you muck up). It hugely reduces the amount of black sand that you have to then deal with (more than three quarters at least of the volume you show yourself working with).

Yes you are correct goldierocks - much of it is in fact magnetic and your method would most likely remove 75% of the sand.
And your method is heaps better than mine.

Main reason I posted was to show a method that I use for a different purpose really.
Have you seen my tapes in the recirculating sluice box thread ?
They are poor efforts at the minute and I will be providing better when I get the opportunity , and I will show how I use this glass in my sluice as a safety trap to not lose gold - at least that is the theory.
Thank you very much for your post and advice.
In case anyone has not seen my recirculating sluice in action , here is the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgN7SiPR1So

Thanks Moeee.

The only black sand that gives trouble as a rule (because not magnetic) is cassiterite - tin sand. An issue in some granite areas, like Beechworth in Victoria. Sometimes there is heavy white sand (monazite) that is difficult to separate (eg Bonang). If you have a lot, i.e. significant value (as one eductor dredger brought to me), most university metallurgy departments have more powerful electromagnetic and electrostatic separators that will work on small samples (as small as a few hundred gm total sand)
, and they are quick. Very sensitive - will even separate each mineral out (eg garnet).

I just came in from messin' with the separation method and had much more success.
I first tried the magnetic method you mentioned goldierocks and it was exactly as you said - 95% of the black sand was removed.
I did it with the material soaking wet but the reult would probably be similar if it was dry.
What was left was lights which are easily panned away , tiny tiny black sans which also panned easily , and the material you just posted on - monazite.
At least its that until I learn different.
My son and I called it crushed fine quartz powder until now , and previously I called it flour gold because it was as fine as flour and it stayed in the pan so must be heavy.

Well I tried my method again and with the rusty clamp leads and rusty springs I was getting poor contact with the wind disturbing things and getting erratic pump running with the changes in delivery upseeting things.
I pretty sure with a rocksteady fluid flow I can improve further than the 95% recovery I achieved today.
Also the wind may be messin' with the gold flakes that rose to the brim and was makin' waves and that may have tipped the flakes over instead of allowing gravity to drag them back down.

I have never tried this way, I usually dry it out vibrate it on a plastic plates and use a straw to carefully blow away the black sand, seems to work but never had large amounts to process.

Goldfreak said:

I usually dry it out vibrate it on a plastic plates and use a straw to carefully blow away the black sand, seems to work but never had large amounts to process.

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So how much material would you have on the plate ?
Would it be more than a teaspoon at a time ?

Yes only about a tea spoon full at a time, material has to be completely dry and carful not to blow any moisture in there when you are doing it. I always found black sands are easy to blow up and out of a slightly tilted plate and gold takes alot more to move and just keeps bouncing around unless you blow a little too hard. A small gold pan is good too, you can blow black sand to the other side stop the vibration then wet your finger to pick up the gold.