Floating gold

[Danielkrupski]

What does everyone use to stop their gold from floating? Just got back from tuena and cleaned the concentrates out tonight. Found a lot of flour gold with the odd chunky bit here and there. I was using rinse aid in the water and agitating it to get the bubbles to form but in every pan at least 5 to 6 specks would float. I have previously used detergent as well with the same results. They both were no frills brands could this have something to do with it??? Also while while surfing the net have seen a couple of advirtisements exclusively from the US about products like gold drop or something like that has anyone used this or similar? Thanks

 

[Ag Man]

I prefer rinse aid, as detergent can tend to bubble(even if used in miniscule amounts) but will use detergent if I have to.

Just a thought... In a washing machine, if you have too many bubbles/foam, then you add some fabric softner & the bubbles go away.
I wonder if that would work to stop gold from floating, or even just some fabric softener & no detergent.

At least your gold will feel all soft & smell like lavender

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Hi Daniel, must be really fine gold, I have no trouble using the rinse aid or the el cheapo dish liquid. If your water is getting to cloudy, try using clean water, I have heard that a bit of salt in the water can help also, I was using the tap water and I would get floaters if I was going to gentle in a small 10" pan, the really fine stuff would lift and it become irritating. Just sucker it out. I have recently been using a bucket of pool water (salt water chlorinator) and I have not had this happen since. Dont know if it is to do with the water chemistry or what? I still put a few drops of rinse aid or liquid detergent but only a couple of drops..

If you are in a hard water area then you may need to use something a bit stronger, you want to try and break the water surface tension... try a bit of laundry powder in a bucket of water and then add a few cups to your panning water and see if that makes a difference. Or a bit of bi carb soda in the water..

Cheers, Tone

 

[Tige]

Hi Daniel , I hav found if u hav a bit of extra water in your pan when swirling the material around it helps , just try to keep gold under water all the time , it is hard though

 

[shivan]

I use rinse aid (the actual rinse aid brand) I find you only need 1 maybe 2 drops into a garret supersluice pan in clean water for it to stop the gold floating. For me it seems if i use much more i start to get a few bubbles which can help float the gold when backwashing.
Also try to get out of direct heat/wind as this will help your gold dry enough to want to try to float sometimes.

 

[bazza2210]

I find rinse aid the best also - just 1 drop in the pan will do

 

[nuggetino]

+1 on add salt to the water. If bubbles are the issue the salt will get rid of them

 

[shivan]

Interesting about the salt. I always thought salt water made you more boyant, so i would have thought more surface tension not less?
All i could find out about was inorganic salt :/ So maybe be careful of the salt

"The amount of surface film tension is affected by both temperature and dissolved substances. An increase in temperature lowers the net force of attraction among molecules and so decreases the surface tension. An increase in dissolved organic substances also lowers the surface tension However, an increase in dissolved inorganic salts causes a rise in surface tension - increases the attraction of the surface molecules for the underlying molecules."

 

[nuggetino]

I never knew why it prevents bubbles so I looked it up and here's what i found

Molecules of pure water are attracted to other
molecules of pure water. You can think of these molecules like being tiny
magnets. Now these magnets only work in pure water, as the sodium and
chloride ions (the stuff that make up salt) block the magnets from linking
up in salty water. This feature of water, by the way, is called polarity.
This polarity gives pure water another cool feature (and another cool word):
elasticity. Elasticity makes liquid, pure water squeeze together into the
smallest possible surface area. The smallest possible surface area is a
sphere. When water is filled with air, it's elasticity forces it into a
sphere shape. That's why bubbles have the shape they do.
Now, if you add salt to the water, you prevent the tiny water magnets from
linking up. The water loses it's polarity and thus it's elasticity. No
bubbles can form, and thus your salt water makes no bubbles.

you're right seawater does make you more buoyant but that comes down to having a higher density than freshwater due to the salt content.

 

[ryanonthevedder]

Thats a good explanation indeed, might be cheaper than rinse aid in the end too. My biggest secret is to keep all the gold under water. If I am panning and the water is able drain off of the pay dirt the gold is likely to lift and float. If it is really a problem, dont be afraid to give your pan a good scrub with soap and hot water.