Lots of black sand but no gold?

[AtomRat]

There's many creeks with or blacksand and gold, generally you want a couple of handfulls of posibilities to say gold may be close. Black sand / heavies, mixed strata, usually volcanics near, red or high iron content soils, pyrite etc.. If your a bit lost, look up some history if your local / closest goldfields and work outward from there

Top info from blisters there too, a good magnifying glass will expose all sorts in the gravels. Make sure you've panned the creek upstream and down for at least 5km-10km samples at intervals of distance and depths.

 

[Gaz&Al]

Good idea guys I haven't give up yet will try what you guys said
Cheers

It is in a well known area for gold

 

[blisters]

If you start to sample at distance like AR suggests and are finding gold, then observe the gold features such as colour as that may suggest different sources for different colours, and smoothness for distance traveled.
Jon

 

[Rusty_G]

Great advice on here. Also do some research with Geo maps and if there were any old mines in the area try and get any notes you can on there operations...I have often found very helpful info this way!

 

[Nightjar]

Black sands can sometimes indicate mineral sands, Illmenite, Rutile.
As Blisters has suggested try and take a peep under microscope.
Here is a highly magnified image of Rutile, looking with the naked eye it appears black.
Coated a clear glass wide necked bottle with Rutile years ago when working in the Mineral Sand Industry and fitted a light in side. The colours were spectacular.