Has Anyone Here Done any Gold Prospecting?

[NoCorruptionAllowed]

The "load" or source for the lower peninsula of Michigan is from Canada after the glaciers pushed it down here. here is what I posted earlier.
 

That's great, I must of read through too fast and missed those details. Yep, have the fever a little since you did all those calculations about how much gold could be there, I love that. It helps for anything to really want to do it, and how much thinking on a problem one might do.
I hope you find a lot, maybe there will be a surprise or two.

[NoCorruptionAllowed]

The "load" or source for the lower peninsula of Michigan is from Canada after the glaciers pushed it down here. here is what I posted earlier.
 

I estimated, (guestimated) that could end up being a few million dollars, if there are 25 flakes per gram and .75 purity.  
That's a lot of panning though :) Just guessing the numbers of course on my part.

[argentus]

Although there is a lot of dissolved gold and actual flake in the ocean  (Sullivan Generator), I fear there isn't much of a reasonable manner to hunt gold down here in the Caribbean.   There is talk of nodules of gold on the sea bed, but since we have some of the deepest waters on the globe, that doesn't sound reasonable.  Thus, I will have to "pan" vicariously through your narratives.  

I am in my 'golden years'.   I think they are so named because it costs so [expletive] much just to survive.  

[MichSwampbuck]

I estimated, (guestimated) that could end up being a few million dollars, if there are 25 flakes per gram and .75 purity.  
That's a lot of panning though :) Just guessing the numbers of course on my part.

They are small too. I'd have to collect enough to get an idea of the weight of a number of flakes. I imagine that if I fill the bottom of the vial to a certain point with dust and flakes, that would be close to a certain weight if melted down. The idea of a number of flakes per volume of material is a crude eyeballing method I picked up from those guys on Youtube. I need weight and purity as you point out to determine true market value.

ETA: Just thinking about it, I should call them flecks of gold rather than flakes. The glass vial is a cylinder 1/2 inch wide by 1 & 1/2 inches tall. The ten small flakes I have now settle around the edge of the bottom and would take 100 or more just to go around the bottom edge. I think the flour gold that is near impossible to glean from the material would really add to it. I can use poisonous chemicals or mercury to get the smallest particles out, but I don't want to do that.

[MichSwampbuck]

As nice as it is to have a creek with a tiny tease of gold in it right in my backyard, this all started as practice for a real world situation. It has paid off as tiny flakes in a small vial, but more importantly, the experience has taught me lessons of far greater value. If I have learned how to tease a few gold flakes out of a creek in a swamp that people would say you were crazy to think had gold, then imagine what I could do somewhere else. The gold fever has caused a case of wander lust now as well.

[MichSwampbuck]

Although there is a lot of dissolved gold and actual flake in the ocean  (Sullivan Generator), I fear there isn't much of a reasonable manner to hunt gold down here in the Caribbean.   There is talk of nodules of gold on the sea bed, but since we have some of the deepest waters on the globe, that doesn't sound reasonable.  Thus, I will have to "pan" vicariously through your narratives.  

I am in my 'golden years'.   I think they are so named because it costs so [expletive] much just to survive.  

Looks like there should be opportunities on the islands. Islands are geological high points created by upheaval or volcanic activity and beach areas or the shallows sound promising. If a gold load is up on higher ground, it probably won't get farther than where it meets the ocean through water erosion. The surrounding mainland areas likely even have a history of gold mining. Then, there is always some treasures in the Caribbean, isn't there?

[mikell]

HUMMMM I'm in Southwest Michigan right on Lake Michigan with a couple of creeks nearby. Hummmm, too many projects right now but I might ask around. Only been retired a month. Lots of state land with creeks too.

[argentus]

Looks like there should be opportunities on the islands. Islands are geological high points created by upheaval or volcanic activity and beach areas or the shallows sound promising. If a gold load is up on higher ground, it probably won't get farther than where it meets the ocean through water erosion. The surrounding mainland areas likely even have a history of gold mining. Then, there is always some treasures in the Caribbean, isn't there?

Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Surinam, Dominican Republic, certainly others.   You're right.   There could be a valid source anywhere.    I still have my old pan.   It's was used when I bought it 47 years ago when I was in college.   Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?   Besides, I always like to commit little frequent acts of apparent insanity to keep the community at bay.   :D :D I think I might give it a whirl.   I just hope I can still squat and crouch.   I know I can still kneel.

[Mike27]

They are small too. I'd have to collect enough to get an idea of the weight of a number of flakes. I imagine that if I fill the bottom of the vial to a certain point with dust and flakes, that would be close to a certain weight if melted down. The idea of a number of flakes per volume of material is a crude eyeballing method I picked up from those guys on Youtube. I need weight and purity as you point out to determine true market value.

ETA: Just thinking about it, I should call them flecks of gold rather than flakes. The glass vial is a cylinder 1/2 inch wide by 1 & 1/2 inches tall. The ten small flakes I have now settle around the edge of the bottom and would take 100 or more just to go around the bottom edge. I think the flour gold that is near impossible to glean from the material would really add to it. I can use poisonous chemicals or mercury to get the smallest particles out, but I don't want to do that.

Get smaller screens (at least size 100 and 200) for your classifier stack, when everything in your pan is the same size you'll be amazed at the stuff you were loosing over the edge.

If those aren't small enough, if i remember right, they go all the way down to size 2000, but the super fine ones are tough to keep clean.

[MichSwampbuck]

Get smaller screens (at least size 100 and 200) for your classifier stack, when everything in your pan is the same size you'll be amazed at the stuff you were loosing over the edge.

If those aren't small enough, if i remember right, they go all the way down to size 2000, but the super fine ones are tough to keep clean.

That is incredibly fine. I classify down to a 16th inch mesh which is about kitchen sieve or window screen size mesh, just a little bigger than a #20 mesh. I never considered going smaller than a number 20, and 200 sounds more like a water filter it is so fine. I bet the muslin bag I use for beer brewing is courser than a 200 mesh. It must be very delicate at such a fine mesh size.

More steps in the process, but if it works, that is totally worth a try.