How to Separate Gold from Black Sand

Black sand is the heavy, dark material that stays in your pan with the gold. You can separate the two right in your pan: screen your material, pan it down, lift the magnetite out with a magnet, then give it a quick final pan. Here is how to do each step.

Why does black sand stay in the pan with gold?

Because both are heavy. Panning works by weight, and the light stuff washes out first. The U.S. Geological Survey puts pure gold at 19.3 times as heavy as water, and gold as it is usually found at about 16 to 18. Ordinary sand is only around 2.5 to 2.65.

Black sand sits in the middle, at roughly 4 to 5.3 times as heavy as water. That is far heavier than ordinary sand, so it stays in the pan with the gold. The gap between black sand and gold is smaller, so a few swirls will not wash it away. Pans, rockers and sluices all catch gold by weight, which means they catch black sand too.

What do you need?

You need a gold pan and a magnet, plus a bucket to drop the magnetite into. A classifier, which is a screen for sorting material by size, makes the panning easier. For the gold itself, bring tweezers or a snuffer bottle and a small vial filled with water to keep it in. A second pan or tub to work over catches anything that spills.

A small magnet for pulling out magnetic black sand is on the gear list in the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management guide to recreational panning. Our black sand magnets are made for this job: a neodymium magnet sealed in a UV stable epoxy resin body, in two sizes.

How do you separate gold from black sand, step by step?

1. Screen your material. Run it through a classifier first. California's state geologists point to material of an even size as the way to get the most gold out of a pan.
2. Pan down to black sand. Swirl and rock the pan so the lighter sand moves to one side and washes out while the gold stays put. Stop when mostly black sand is left, and keep a little water in the pan. A dark streak in the bottom of the pan is a good sign: it means you kept the heavy material.
3. Lift out the magnetite. Pass the magnet slowly over the wet concentrate, right there in the pan. The magnetite jumps up onto it. In a normal pan, our magnet pulls up all the black sand we see. This is a strong magnet, so keep fingers clear of steel tools and read our magnet safety warnings before you start.
4. Release it into a bucket. Hold the magnet over your bucket. With our mags, you slide the sand off with your thumb and it drops right where you want it. Repeat until nothing more jumps up.
5. Give it a quick final pan. With the magnetite gone, there is far less left to pan. Swirl gently so any heavy grains the magnet did not take, like garnet, wash to the side. Then swirl the last of it into a crescent shape in the bottom of the pan and look for the gold in it.
6. Pick out the gold. Lift the gold with tweezers, a snuffer bottle, the tip of a knife blade or a dry fingertip. Put it straight into your vial of water.
7. Work over a catch pan. Do this final panning over a second pan or tub, so any gold that slips over the edge is not lost.

Some panners prefer to dry the concentrate first and run the magnet over it dry. That is how the Forest Service and BLM guide does it, and our magnets work either way. Wet in the pan simply saves the drying time. Either way, a quick final pan, and there's your gold.

Why doesn't the magnet take all the black sand?

Because not all black sand is magnetic. Magnetite is, and it is usually the biggest part of the mix. Garnet and zircon are not magnetic. Ilmenite and chromite answer a magnet only weakly. Hematite barely reacts unless it has some magnetite in it. Those leftover grains come out in the quick final pan. To tell magnetite from hematite, see our guide to magnetite.

Will a magnet pick up gold?

No. Gold is not magnetic, so a magnet does not pull it. A magnet only takes the magnetic part of your black sand out of the way. Once in a while a tiny flake can ride along stuck to a grain of magnetite, so keep what the magnet lifts in its own container until you have looked it over.

How can you tell if black sand has gold in it?

Pan it down and look. Swirl the last of the concentrate into a crescent in the bottom of the pan. Gold is the heaviest thing in the pan, so it stays put while the lighter grains move. Taking the magnetite out first makes small gold easier to see, because there is less dark sand covering it.

Do you need a machine to separate gold from black sand?

Not for the amount in a pan or a bucket. A pan, a magnet and tweezers handle that. People who process a lot of concentrate use cleaning equipment. California's state report on placer gold recovery methods describes shaking tables as cleaning machines for concentrate, not for raw gravel. Blue bowls work on a similar idea: water swirls in a bowl, the fine gold settles, and the lighter sand washes over the top.

Should you use mercury or chemicals?

No. Do not use mercury. California's state geologists named its health hazard as the biggest downside of using mercury to catch gold. The USGS estimates that around 10,000,000 pounds of mercury were lost to the environment from placer mining in California, and a form of it called methylmercury harms the nervous system, with unborn babies and young children most at risk. Home chemical tricks you may see online have no official support, and we do not recommend them. The pan and the magnet are enough.

Can you get your gold completely clean?

Close, but the last bit is patient work with the pan and tweezers. Panning is a skill, and California's state geologists say it is best learned from an experienced panner. That is why this Field Guide is written with Randy DeNucci, who has panned for gold since he was 13.

What to read next

To learn more about what you are pulling out of your pan, read What Is Black Sand? If you already have one of our magnets, How It Works shows how it fits into your panning.