Panning storebought sand bags for gold :)

ohiochris

Elite Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
6,186
Location
Findlay , Ohio
I have been reading about people panning storebought sand for gold and decided to give it a try. I went to Lowes and bought 2 50 lb. bags of quickrete all purpose sand and believe it or not I am finding fine gold flakes in it. They are tiny , most of them are so small most folks would just toss them out without even seeing them but they are there , and the possibility exists to find nuggets. People out west find much more gold in their sand bags and nuggets are common from what I read , just because the sand and gravel may be taken from gold rich ground. No matter what the bags say , the sand you buy almost always comes from source in the area where it is bought , which makes the fine gold Im finding placer gold from ancient glaciers. I pan for gold in local rivers anyway and this just gives me something to do during the winter when I cant get into the river. I havent found much , just a few specks but a nugget could turn up some day and when the sand only costs 2 to $3 a bag its not expensive. You wont get rich doing it but there is always a chance of getting a bunch of sand that has more than the usual amount of gold in it and even a nugget if lucky. Its interesting , if nothing else , and I thought some of you might find it interesting as well. I am having trouble taking good pictures of it that you can actually see the gold but here is a pic of one of the flakes I found. Its below the rock a little ways , not clear but you should be able to see the color I hope.
 

Attachments

  • g1crop.jpg
    g1crop.jpg
    40.5 KB · Views: 11,487
I have done it, I have 4-5 grams of nice pickers. and some flour

I bought mine from alaska paydirt.

you get what you pay for in the dirt.. I am sure its salted to a degree. but hey its still really fun..
 
So after the cost of the time, sand, tax, and gas - where are we at? Hope you get a nugget. ;)
 
They say that you could probably make fifty cents a day panning the Arkansas River here in Wichita...and it's free.

50 cents ought to get you a couple of day old Honey Buns. If the water is clean you are good to go! I'm thinking retirement...
 
Tom Massey showed the same thing on one of the "Gold Fever" shows on the outdoor channel. he bought 4 bags of sand for $2 each and got gold out of it. sand bought from any gold bearing areas, N Ga, N.C. ,S.C.Al. ect; and other areas would probably have some gold in those bags of sand ... just don't buy the white play sand
 
They're gonna look at me funny when I'm running my XLT over the bags of sand in my Lowes and Home Depot :lol:
 
Even in just areas like mine where there is no load gold , just bits left over from ancient glaciers depositing it , the sand and gravel operations are getting their stuff from where the gold is at. It will naturally be spread through the the glacial moraines and eskers where the good sand and gravel is , so as crazy as it sounds , its really a good idea. Who knows how much concrete , driveways , and play areas actually have some nice gold hidden in them.....just because not many people have thought of it. I may not find much in each bag , but the potential is there to score BIG eventually , especially if I shop around a little and get some from many different locations.....not saying its gonna happen , but I bet the odds are better than winning the lottery :lol: They way I have everything set up in my garage , I can work through a little at a time , whenever I got a few minutes so I dont have to put a lot of effort into it. I pan through a little , dumping the concentrates into a bucket , then spoon the concentrates into a miller table I built , walk away and come back later , the sand washes away and I pick up any gold flakes I see. Its gonna make some cold nasty winter days a little more fun. I thought of trying it a long time ago but never did because if there was gold in there then everybody would be doing it right ? I didnt know that there were a few people doing it but they were keeping quiet about it. If I never find much , its still a treasure hunt and it appeals to my interest in finding free stuff.
 
Back
Top Bottom