How to Process Black Sands

by Brandt
(Woods Cross, Utah)

I have a lot of black sand from different places. I would like to know the best way to get the gold out. Brandt

Stan's response: There are several ways you can process your gold-bearing black sands. The simplest way is to use a concentrating device such as a spiral wheel. There are at least a dozen such devices on the market.

Another popular method is to amalgamate your black sands with mercury. This is usually done in a rock tumbler after cleaning your black sands with lye.

You can also prepare an acid called Aqua Regia which is a combination of 1 part Nitric acid with 3 parts Hydrochloric acid. In this heated mixture, your concentrates can be taken into solution and then the pure gold can be precipitated out. The precipitate can be melted into a gold button or bar.

In my manual entitled Black Sand Bonanza, I give the exact procedures and necessary ingredients for all of these methods. Here is the page where the manual is described:

https://www.adventure-trader.com/find-gold.html

You must always use EXTREME CAUTION when working with mercury and acids. They are very toxic and can even be deadly if not handled correctly.

I hope that helps Brandt.