Flat Gold

[Digit]

Hi all found some flat gold (like foil)on the weekend
Having a hard time with it not sure if I'm catching it all in the high banker
do I run the water slow or do I need steeper riffles?
It even seems to run out the pan after being classified
Can anyone help me with some info on how to work with
Flat gold
Thankyou
Digit

 

[HeadsUp]

smaller riffles and less water flow

or try just less water flow first and shovel slower so you dont have to modify your highbanker

what size is your grizzly classifying it down to before it goes through your HB ?

search for pictures of "DFS sluice" or damn fine sluice

they used 3 grades of expanded mesh , its a low processing rate but they catch the fine gold

approximately which part of the country is it from ?

were you catching any of it in the pan ?

 

[Chimpy]

G'day

any type of gold is still 17 times heavier than water and should not run out of the pan Flat or 'scale' gold is typical of small bits that have moved a fair way from the original source and has literally been hammered flat by the action of water and rocks moving it down stream. It shouldn't behave any differently to other gold unless you are talking about very fine or 'flour' gold, which can float on water surface tension and be hard to pan.
A pic would help, are you sure it's gold? There are quite a few creeks that also contain Mica which looks much the same but is not malleable and weighs alot less (it moves in the pan with any water movement). This is what Mica looks like

Cheers

Chimpy

 

[headbut]

I agree with Chimpy , flat or not, should not float. If its mica, under 10x loupe ,looks brown like wood & nothing like gold & make that 19 times heavier

Cheers Paul

 

[HeadsUp]

i have had gold specs up to 2 mm wide that were so thin it was easily lost from a pan

even swishing water around in the pan showed a big difference with smaller thicker specs of gold just sitting on the pan and not moving while sand would slosh around from side to side , yet these super thin bits of gold would slosh around at maybe half the speed of the sand and refused to behave themselves

 

[Ramjet]

I found a heap of mica at Grabben Gullen. Annoying stuff
But it surely does move easily. Much lighter than gold.

 

[Chimpy]

I agree with Chimpy , flat or not, should not float. If its mica, under 10x loupe ,looks brown like wood & nothing like gold & make that 19 times heavier

Cheers Paul

G'day

It might be lead thats 17x ?

I haven't taken me brain medicine today

Cheers

Chimpy

 

[dezman]

Iv seen flat gold floating in the heavies when cleaning up cons. I recommend emptying the sluice regularly to clear the riffles and slowing the water may help!

 

[benny1]

wow good learning lesson

 

[richo966]

mica is all over the ground at gg flows in the water every where real pain

 

[Ramjet]

mica is all over the ground at gg flows in the water every where real pain

Totally agree richo. Mica is everywhere at GG. If you where a fool you would think yourself rich
I saw it in the creek and just sitting on the ground, when I was walking in and out of the area.

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Try putting a few drops of detergent into the pan. this should help the gold sink. breaks surface tension of the water and stops things floating..

Good luck

Cheers, Tone

 

[Digit]

Thanks for the info
Heads up seems to know what I'm talking about.
The gold is flat too big to go through a 40 mesh sieve
But too small to act like a 40 mesh gravel/rock it will not
Settle to the bottom of the pan it floats in the gravel/ rock
I'm quite accomplished at panning flour gold
When I figure out how to up load a picture I will
Thankyou all for your help
Digit

 

[HeadsUp]

if you're getting no larger nuggets in that location then having a finer grizzly to classify out any rocks above 3 - 4 mm will help to catch more fine gold

it reduces the actual volume of gravel slurry going through your sluice section so you can slow down the water flow a bit and the sluice wont choke up

it also gives you a testing option without going to the trouble of modifying the highbanker

my highbanker has two grizzly screens i can change out in 5 seconds to suit the ground , one is 5 mm spacing , other is 13 mm ( seldom used ) some people use smaller than 5 mm

another option is to get a dripper bottle around 500 ml in size and have it dripping dishwasher "rinse aid" in to the top of the highbanker which is a proven way to catch more fines

be careful with slowing down the water flow too much , if you go beyond a certain point the riffles may stop working altogether , get choked up with gravel and the gold will get carried out so its something to experiment with.

hope you find a solution , it would be a shame to leave the thin gold in the river all by itself when its friends have all been rescued

good luck

 

[G0lddigg@]

hey Digit

I have some experience with flat gold and i know your pain too well, there's a spot in Creswick that produces the flattest lightest gold i've come accross. The best Ive been able to pull in a four hour session is .86g it looks like you have heaps and when its dry and on the scales weighs nothing 8.(

Without seeing your setup I can only tell you whats worked for me, slow the water right down and run steeper angle if your clogging up too quick, i've made a 20cm additional dropout zone in my banker and use small expanded to reduce water blowout. originally i had the mesh right on top of the v rubber which worked well but this setup is working even better with the raised expanded and miners moss. additionally to that use wals bread crate pattern its a ripper on light gold and a good mod is to hold the water back before your accelerated section of the sluice by using a rubber damper.

Your gold floats because of velocity and air bubbles the rubber helps on both counts, the biggest problem i have is holding too much black sand but that's a good sign it just means more frequent clean outs.

Good Luck

 

[HeadsUp]

agree with the rubber flap mentioned by goldigga above

the length of your slick plate allows time for the slurry to stratify which is the heavies to go to the bottom and lighter stuff at the top of that moving slurry mix before it gets to the first riffle

If there is too much turbulence and bubbles the gold will be mixed randomly through the moving slurry and the ability of the riffles to pull it down through "particle bed shearing" towards the mat will be a random event , relative to the state of the mix and the affectiveness of the riffles in creating that separation

air bubbles can also lift small gold particles and carry them at the top of the flow so they go right over the top of the riffles

the rubber mat is likely to smooth down the emulsified slurry and flatten down the turbulence , giving the stratification process a better chance in the time it has as it travels across the slick plate area.

the above theory may explain why Angus McKirk sluices seem to work well , they use drop riffles so the riffle is more likely to nip off the bottom layer of heavies and pull it down to the catch area rather than rely on gravity or vortex theory to pull it down.

Where goldigga has fitted ribbed rubber mat on top of the flow, I will be fitting a smooth clear plastic mat above the slick plate when i find a bit the right thickness , so it will do the above and also let me see the process occurring in case i need to adjust sluice angle or flow rate.

all the comments above are made without knowing what kind of riffles people have

 

[Colin&Lee]

Try putting a few drops of detergent into the pan. this should help the gold sink. breaks surface tension of the water and stops things floating..

Good luck

Cheers, Tone

I agree with TT, I'd check your pan and HB for grease and oil maybe give them a good clean with some detergent just in case and wash your hands before panning get the natural oils off your skin.

Cheers

Col

 

[Digit]

I can't post pictures because have not posted ten topics/postst
so no photos of flat gold or my HB or the other countless gold finding / sorting
Equipment that I have. I think I will redesign the top half of my HB with a rubber flap