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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums > Prospecting, Mineral Collecting and Treasure Hunting Forums > Prospectors and Rockhounding Field Work
CP
Hey folks,
We've just uploaded a new beginners field gold panning video on the Colorado Prospector youtube page. Just like what anyone would find on their panning adventures out prospecting new ground with a raw unprocessed sample.
Watch it all the way through to see the bonus surprise ending!
smiley-shocked003.gif eating-popcorn-03.gif
Hope you enjoy the video and may all your pans be full of gold this season! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

Gold Panning Field Demonstration video
swizz
Very good vid!!!! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
I tend to get impatient and need to work on my tap and slow down my panning. I've known that for a while and this confirms it.
NewRockHounder
Good video. happy088.gif

What's the point of breaking the surface tension with soap? I don't get that what so ever.

Ya'll will make a gold prospector outta me yet... spock.gif

Colin
MikeS
Great video CP!
I am off to the hills to hunt for some color myself.
Have a great weekend everyone and stay safe! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
swizz
QUOTE (NewRockHounder @ Jun 12 2015, 03:08 PM) *
Good video. happy088.gif

What's the point of breaking the surface tension with soap? I don't get that what so ever.

Colin, it is to prevent or reduce the amount of "floating Gold" from getting away. Believe it or not some fine Gold can and will float on the surface. Using a small amount (a drop per pan) of Jet Dry or dishwashing liquid scatters any grease on the surface, thus breaking surface tension. Gold is less prone to float with a surface tension buster like that during all steps of processing. Too much Jet Dry or soap will cause bubbles and you don't want that either, the bubbles will carry Gold away.
NewRockHounder
Huh... How in the hell did someone figure that out in the first place?

Good to know, good to know.

Colin
Yoda
(Edit: Great video. Exactly what I was talking about CP! Now, we just need to figure out how to make it so you aren't doing them all and feel like you are having your arm twisted. wink.gif And nice job with the camera Mrs. "Mudfoot" smiley-laughing021.gif )

Woot! SCIENCE! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

I think the common principle of wet detergents is fun to understand, probably more than is healthy for a layman. Swizz explains that it disperses grease (or oil) and thus reduces water tension, which is exactly right but also not the whole picture.

Think of soap as that molecule that both loves water and hates oil. One side of the soap molecule loves water (is strongly attracted) and the other side pushes away from oil, dirt, etc. In doing so, the oil's cohesion is disrupted, and individual oil molecules can't find fellow oil molecules to latch on to because all the oil molecules have been forced to disperse as almost individuals through the full water column (in effect, grease and oils float too because the water molecules are cohesive and acting "together" to hold the oil's weight).

But there is a second benefit: Those water molecules now act as if there was more "space" between each other, which also aided in the oil losing its cohesion. Water, in a physics sense, becomes "wetter" with a detergent because of that extra space between the water molecules. This as a whole makes the surface tension of the water even less than what was needed to just disperse the oil... which is a good thing, because really fine and flat gold can float even without oil present, it just isn't as likely. (You can actually get gold to float in RO/DI water that is typically filtered down to the 1/10,000,000th of impurities.) With your water even wetter than it started, more things drop into the water column because not enough H20 molecules can find a place to stay and attract together under floating objects to support the floaters' weight.

So why doesn't it disrupt how a gravity based trapping system works too? Because gravity remains constant, and the mass of the water remains unchanged, and turbidity is actually slightly aided because more solids fall out. Because the mass of the water remains nominally unchanged, the force it has as it moves isn't different either. Thus the system maintains integrity, and the lessening of attractions between molecules (tension reduction affecting the surface and the column) simply aids in gold recovery.

So what happens with too much soap? Bubbles. Bubbles are simply left over soap that the water column couldn't support, and so they start rebinding and acting with each other because they can't find any free water molecules to attract to. Which is bad, because you essentially made floating/rising/popping islands with more tension capability than the oil (and water!) you wanted to disperse in the first place.

Notice too how Dan pointed out in the video that warm (or hot even) water helps reduce tension too? It is because the water molecules are traveling with enough stored thermal energy to make the water "vibrate" faster, thus imparting even more space between each molecule than if the water was cold. The over all effect is less than what is accomplished with the detergent, but it still adds up and is a very nice principle to work with when cleaning up to get the ache out of your hands from being in COLD Colorado water for days. wink.gif

I sure wouldn't mind finding out who thought to put these principles to use the first time for prospecting purposes, that was one "fine" leap forward for prospecting. smiley-music024.gif
swizz
That says it all! Super excellent breakdown of that process! worthy.gif
I knew basically why it works and you can see it happen when you add but this gives us all a deeper understanding. Thanks Yoda!
Yoda
Gladly!

In some ways, I'm every bit as interested in the "whys" of prospecting as I am in getting the actual goods.

Or in other words, I'm a giant nerd, and probably affected in other ways I fail to acknowledge. greensmilies-025.gif

Just imagine living with me like Cara must, and having to hear useless knowledge all day long, pretty sure there have been more than a few times I went on until she wanted to puke.gif.
CP
Thanks everyone, very glad you all liked the vid, we tried to put a bit of fun it too! Everyone catch that surprise ending too?

Not really any arm twisting involved just needed to get "a-round tuit" smiley-laughing021.gif Finally found that dad burn "round tuit" and there wasn't a wind! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif We'd been talking about doing a beginners panning vid demo for a long time....now we got one going and hopefully many folks find it useful in the future.

I agree Swizz, that is an excellent breakdown and explanation of soap/jet dry use and why it works or doesn't if too much is used.

Once a person can get the brain wrapped around that concept it also can help understand why a diamond stays "dry" in water or why gold and mercury "stick" to one another. It all has to do with "surface tensions" either on the water and or the mineral itself in relation......
Science.....WOOT! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
CloudyKitty
QUOTE (Yoda @ Jun 13 2015, 10:01 AM) *
Or in other words, I'm a giant nerd, and probably affected in other ways I fail to acknowledge. greensmilies-025.gif

Just imagine living with me like Cara must, and having to hear useless knowledge all day long, pretty sure there have been more than a few times I went on until she wanted to puke.gif .


Oh Precious, wub.gif you know at that point I just zone out and nod my head. Pretending to listen. I do love you, and your lack of pop quizzes. I won't acknowledge the things that you won't, either smiley-laughing021.gif
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