Make Your Own Black Sand Magnet

You can make your own black sand magnet for aiding in gold recovery using a plastic 35mm film cassette can, a piece of wire, and a magnet that will fit inside the film can.

To make mine, I used a small but powerful magnet I had in my junk box. Although it has a convenient loop at one end for attaching the wire, you may need to get a bit creative if your magnet has a different design. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the film can just large enough for the wire to pass through. The parts ready for assembly are shown below:

(Note: I recommend drilling the hole in the cap instead of in the bottom of the film can as with the latter arrangement very fine particles of black sand work their way under the cap and onto the magnet itself.)

With the wire pushed through the drilled hole in the film can, form a loop in it as shown below so that the magnet can be raised and lowered inside the can:

Attach the cap to the can to complete the assembly as shown below:

To use your new magnet, spread your black-sand-containing concentrate more-or-less evenly over the bottom of a gold pan under an inch or so of water. Keep the magnet above the concentrate while moving it in a circular motion. If you get the magnet too low or into the sand, the magnetic particles will clump and can entrap pieces of gold. As you work, you will notice the concentrate becoming lighter in color in the areas where the magnetic black sand particles have been removed.

Every few moments, withdraw the magnet from the concentrate pan. You will notice an accumulation of black sand on the bottom of the film container.

Next, position the magnet in the water in a second gold pan which will serve to collect the magnetic sand removed from the concentrate pan. Release the black sand into the pan by pulling up on the wire to raise the magnet inside the film can.

Each time you drop a load of black sand into the second gold pan, you should check it to be sure no gold particles were trapped within it. When you are satisfied that you have only black sand in the pan, you can dispose of that material as you normally do with your tailings. The second pan should now be empty (except for the water) and ready to receive the next load of black sand.

When you are no longer getting black sand on the magnet assembly from your concentrate pan, you are finished with this stage of the separation process. You will probably notice a considerable reduction in the amount of concentrate remaining in your pan, depending on how much magnetic black sand it contained, and may even see some gold pieces amid the remaining material, as on the right and bottom of the image below:

As always, happy prospecting!