Can You Find Gold With a Magnet? (Coins, Rings, Gold Nuggets)

Finding gold is not easy! Many people have tried, and unfortunately, most of them have come home empty-handed. While this doesn’t imply that the traditional methods are not working, there are resourceful people who try to come up with new, more effective ways of finding and mining gold. If you are one of them, you might have considered the idea of using a magnet to find gold.

But is that even possible? Can you really find gold with a magnet?

No, you can’t find pure gold with a magnet, as gold isn’t magnetic. However, in some rare cases, gold can form alloys together with magnetic metals such as iron, which could make a gold piece magnetic. Magnets are still used in gold mining, but for the purpose of separating gold from magnetic black sands.

In this article, we will look closer at how magnets are used by gold miners, two profitable gold mining techniques, and how gold in rare cases can be magnetic if the conditions are right!

Table of Contents

Why You Can’t Find Gold With a Magnet

So, as you see, gold in itself won’t be attracted by a magnet, which means that any attempt to recover gold using one would be quite futile.

In a best-case scenario, you would end up with a piece of gold that contains a lot of iron or Nickel, which both are magnetic metals.

However, those metals seldom stay in gold for long periods of time, as the constant contact with water will cause them to dissolve.

If you also considering that gold is really heavy, you quickly understand that a gold nugget would have to contain significant amounts of magnetic metals to be attracted by a magnet, and not just tiny traces.

What If A Gold-Like Metal Is Magnetic?

If a gold piece is attracted by a magnet you can be quite confident you’ve struck some other metal, such as bronze, that might show resemblance with real gold.

In other cases, it might be that the piece is gold plated, with a magnetic metal used as the base. However, you shouldn’t stumble upon this too often, as most gold-plated jewelry is made out of copper or silver, of which neither is magnetic.

Metals You Can Find With a Magnet!

Just to give you an idea of what metals you will be able to find with a magnet, here comes a list of the most common ones:

Iron
Cobalt
Nickel
Manganese
Gadolinium
Lodestone

Metals You Can’t Find With a Magnet

Here is a similar list containing the most common non-magnetic metals:

Aluminum
Brass
Copper
Gold
Lead
Silver

Although the metals listed above aren’t drawn to magnets, there are many situations when manufacturers mix in magnetic metals into non-magnetic metals to alter their characteristics.

For example, adding iron to steel, which isn’t magnetic in its original form, will give it magnetic properties.

How Magnets Are Used In Gold Mining (They Still Have a Purpose!)

Even though magnets can’t be used to attract gold, they are still commonly used by gold miners and prospectors in the final gold separation process.

Here is what this means:

When gold miners look for gold, they process large amounts of gravels and sands to extract the gold.

In short, they get the gold by constructing gold traps that are specifically made to catch the heaviest of materials.

And since gold has the highest density of nearly all materials found in normal mining operations, it is the most likely of them all to get caught.

However, there are other materials, although not as heavy as gold, that find their way into the traps as well.

These are generally referred to as black sands and contain a wide range of different metals, including magnetite and hematite, which are both magnetic.

Therefore, a magnet can be used to expose the gold in black sand concentrates, by removing most of the magnetite and hematite.

How to use a magnet to remove black sand

There are several things you need to be aware of when using a magnet to remove the black sands. If the right steps are not followed you risk losing some of the gold in the process!

Here the entire process is broken down into three simple steps:

First, put the black sand into a container and make sure that the black sand concentrate is either completely submerged in water, or completely dry. If it’s just damp, some of the gold will adhere to the magnetic black sand particles, and be removed by the magnet, which is not desirable!
Now shake the concentrate so that the heaviest material, that is the gold, sinks down to the bottom.
Now wave the magnet over the concentrate so that it picks up the top black sand layer. Release the black sand into another container, and pick it up again in the same manner. This is done to save any gold that might have been picked up by the magnet the first time. You may use several containers and do the same steps several times, to get any gold that might still be left.

Also, here is a video showing the process if you’re interested!

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Here is a good black sand magnet, in case you would like to get one.

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Best Alternative Methods Of Finding Gold

Since you have shown interest in gold, I suppose you are looking for a quicker way to find it, be it in rivers or on land, using a metal detector or traditional river techniques.

Before ending the article, I just wanted to give you a quick introduction to both metal detecting and gold panning, and lastly, my opinion as to which one is the most effective if you’re just getting started!

Gold Panning

Gold panning is the most common method and is practiced by both beginners and experienced miners, in some stage of the mining process.

Getting started is easy, and a gold pan can be carried easily wherever you go, which makes prospecting new grounds for gold a breeze!

The only disadvantage of using a gold pan is that it can’t process a lot of gravels and sands, which in itself limits how much gold you can find.

The solution, however, is easy. You just get yourself a cheap sluice box that lets you run through gravel and sand much quicker!

Metal Detecting

Metal Detectors are perhaps the most modern type of technology used by hobby prospectors and miners. They let you explore areas and locations that the old-timers never had the time, nor the equipment, to prospect in, meaning that there are many untouched locations to look into!

However, you should be aware that metal detecting isn’t as easy as many make it look. Like any other prospecting method, it requires hard work and the right knowledge about the area!

How to Decide Between Gold Panning and Metal Detecting

I will give you the short answer right away:

If you’re torn between getting started with metal detecting or gold panning, I’d go for gold panning.

It’s cheap, easy to learn, and there are many great locations scattered around the country that can be mined legally by getting a simple GSC membership.

In addition, if you want more advanced equipment you just get yourself a sluice box, and you will be set for a long time to come.

Metal detectors, on the other hand, have a much steeper learning curve, cost many hundreds of dollars, and therefore are less suited for beginners.

Many new prospectors have completely unrealistic expectations when it comes to what a metal detector could make them achieve, and subsequently leave the hobby rather quickly!

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For more information about both prospecting styles, I recommend my following guides: