I have a very powerful but small rare earth magnet that is better then all the magnets you can buy for separating materials. I pulled this magnet out of one of those shake flashlights that gained popularity a few years ago but petered out. It's about the size of a thimble but it will lift 10lbs. I just drop it in a ziplock bag and wave it over my sands and the magnetic material literally leaps from my pan. I have two industrial magnets that will lift 60lbs but because of their shape and size they are not nearly as effective.

Oh, and don't use a magnet on wet sands, not only does it create a mess but also it will trap gold in the muck. In the picture above you can see a couple of gold flakes that were picked up, even with dry sands. Look right at where the poles are meeting and you can see two small flakes.

Thank you for the info. I will keep this in mind.

That is right wet sand will hold some gold.do not get rid of it .llet it dry and do it again.

 I have used a magnet on a water table and dumped the black sands in the lower corner to check for gold that was picked up but now I have got away from magnets

If your gold is really small, I believe a magnet will help recovery.
Be sure to check what has been removed for anything left behind.

I am with Benjamin, I don't use one, I have in the past, no longer.


Bill

I took rare earth magnets from an old computer disk drive. They are half moon shaped. Taped 2 together to make full circle, run string up and through lid of vitamin bottle. Put magnet in bottle. Works just like the black sand removal tools you buy in mining shops.

Posted By JON STEINER on 06 Dec 2015 07:27 AM

I took rare earth magnets from an old computer disk drive. They are half moon shaped. Taped 2 together to make full circle, run string up and through lid of vitamin bottle. Put magnet in bottle. Works just like the black sand removal tools you buy in mining shops.

Cool idea...  I bought some Neodimium rare earth magnets some time back just to play with. The one I placed in my prospecting kit is a 45 lb. rated magnet about 4cm. long by 1cm. wide by about 6mm. in thickness. rapidly clears magnetic black sand from a cup or so of dry dirt with 2 or 3 passes depending on the amount. I did, however, keep it and will be running It on the Miller table over the weekend. This is the first time I've tried this.

I'm a bit of a tinker, myself, Mr. Bean. To my knowledge, it's not the hematite that's plugging up your pan, it's the magnetite. I live in Colorado and work the old dredge tailings on N. Clear Creek. Lots of magnetite, hematite, some garnets...all the things that make panning difficult. A magnetic device like a Keene Black Sand Magnet is indispensable up here.A strong magnet is better.

Hard drive magnets are usually very strong as magnets go. Hard drive Neodymium magnets are over N38 and usually are N52 strength.