How To Pan For Gold

Tilt Your Gold Pan And Shake It Very Slightly To Create A Line Of Stratified Minerals

Doing this final step in the panning process can be a little tricky and frustrating or beginners, but it is really the step where you can expose the tiniest of the fine gold particles that may still remain hidden at the bottom of your pan. You can separate the gold from the black sands with carefully agitating the contents that are left. Tilt the pan just slightly and shake the pan in a very gentle motion. If done correctly, you can get a nice stratification of light to heavy materials, and the gold will show up at the trail end.

Another tip that you can do at this final step is to do a quick flick-of-the-wrist, enough motion that all of the garnets and black sand will move, but the gold will remain in place. This can be challenging at first, but a little practice will improve your skills. And it can be really fun surprise, because it will immediately expose any gold that was hidden beneath the sands.

How Do You Pan For Gold

• Any flat pan will do, but the best is the regular pan you can buy at local shops.
• Fill the pan with sand and small gravel.
• Fill with water and mix thoroughly.
• Rotate the pan in a fast circular motion to settle the gold.
• Keep the pan level and continue the circular motion, then slightly tip the pan to get the lighter material to the top.
• Take your thumb and scrape the lighter and larger pieces out of the pan.
• Repeat the process over and over until only a small part of the pan is covered with concentrate.
• Leave just enough water to feather the tailings as you lightly swirl the material.
• The heavier material will be at the tail of the feather.

Who knew history could be so fun?

Visually Inspect The Contents And Look For Pickers

The first think you want to do is take a quick look amongst the black sands and see if you can spot any visible nuggets or pickers of gold. Remember, these arent likely to be big chunks, but rather little flakes that stand out within the black sands. Casually shake the pan while you look at the contents, looking for any bits of gold that may be exposed.

This is the when having a colored gold pan is really nice, rather than an old metal pan. The newer plastic pans that are green create a nice contrast with the gold that is in your pan, and often the little bits of gold can really stand out.

If you are fortunate enough to spot a nice picker, it is now a simple task of using tweezers to pick it up and drop it into your vial .

Its always a nice surprise to recover a good sized piece of gold that you can grab with your tweezers. Most of the time its too small to grab, so there are a few tricks to help you separate the fine gold from the remaining black sands so that you can capture it and add it to your vial.

Read Also: Should I Buy Gold Now Or Wait 2020

Qualities Of A Good Gold Pan

In general, pans are pans. But there are a few factors to keep in mind to ensure that your improvised gold pan does the job correctly.

Prospecting is more of a marathon than a sprint. You’ll likely have to spend an extended period of time in the water before you see any results. For that reason, your homemade pan should be lightweight and shallow. A lightweight design is also beneficial when carrying your equipment to your chosen prospecting location. Proper panning technique requires you to hold your pan with both hands, therefore your gold pan must be easy to grip on all sides.

Which Pan To Choose

There is no limit to the items you can use as a gold pan. As long as your homemade gold pan meets the criteria outlined above then you’re good to go. Some of the most popular gold pan substitutes include bowls, buckets, and Tupperware. We’ve even heard reports of people successfully panning using a hat. In South America, prospectors often use something called a batea. A batea is basically a large wooden bowl. It differs from other gold pan alternatives in that panning is its primary purpose. You’re unlikely to have a batea lying around the house, but you could find something similiar such as a round ceramic bowl.

Read Also: How To Weigh Gold At Home

How To Pan For Gold Platinum And Other Metals

The principal behind gold panning is really simple. Gold is heavy. Just about everything else is lighter. If you load a pie-pan shaped container with gold-bearing gravel and sand, proper agitation in water should cause the gold to sink to the bottom, while washing away the lighter stuff that rises to the top. Eventually, all that is left in your pan is the heaviest minerals, including gold, platinum, copper and other metals.

Do Kids Like Panning For Gold

Panning for gold with kids involves digging, playing in the dirt and rocks, and getting wet. Therefore, its a great activity for kids. However, kids have shorter windows of interest than adults. My nephew took to it for a while, but what he was really fond of what Prospector Dans pickaxe because it reminded him of one of the tools he uses in a video game. His interest in gold panning came and went throughout the few hours we were out by the creek, so make sure to plan for other activities to break up the afternoon and keep the kids engaged.

You May Like: What Type Of Gold To Buy

Other Equipment To Have When You Start

To successfully pan for gold, youll need to carry more gear than just a pan. In fact, a good quality gold panning kit can really increase your odds of success when you start panning .

You should still add a few more tools to your arsenal though if you want to be well equipped for a day on the river. Of course a good ol #2 shovel is a must-have item, and a smaller trowel sized shovel is also a pretty good idea.

Other good stuff to carry would be tweezers, magnifying glass, and a variety of crevicing tools that you can use to dig material out of cracks in the bedrock.

Crevicing tools dont need to be store bought items specifically designed for prospecting to the contrary, some of the handiest tools for this can be things like screwdrivers, thick pieces of wire, spoons, and pocket knives. The more variety you have, the better job you can do to get down to where to gold hides.

Leveling Out The Contents

Now while the pan is still in the water you want to shake it back and forth. Doing this will level out the contents of the pan and it makes the gold settle to the bottom of the pan. You will do this many times until you have a small layer of dirt left in the pan.

Whats left in the pan are the heaviest of the finer-grained dirt. You will have black sand, various minerals and hopefully some gold left in the pan.

Don’t Miss: How Do You Purchase Gold

Bedrock Map For Gold Panning

It is a good start to look at a bedrock map from your location to find the right conditions for gold. Different bedrock brings with it different amounts of gold. Minerals that occur most frequently with Gold include quartz, copper, sulfurchisel, lead, magnetite, molybdenum.

Gold can occur in many different rocks some are more interesting than others. The most gold-bearing stone is volcanite, and mostly so acidic volcanite. Quartz sections in the hillsides can be interesting to explore, ideally substantial quartz sections with various colours. Other places to explore are fault cracks and traces of geological activity in the area. All mountains have undergone many changes through millions of years, so what was once a riverbed can today be a mountain peak.

Fill The Pan With Material

Fill the gold pan approximately 2/3 full with the dirt you collected and want to wash. Dont fill the gold pan all the way up as it can become too heavy and take too long to completely pan. Place the gold pan with dirt completely under the water and mix up the gravel with your fingers. By doing this, you get the floating material out of the pan and start the process of getting the heavier material to settle at the bottom of the gold pan.

You May Like: What Is The Value Of Gold Per Ounce

How To Find Gold On Public Land

Remember, gold is where it’s been found before. If you’re in central North Carolina or the Colorado or California mountains, that’s darn near every creek and river. Gold has been found in more states than not.

With that being said, to dig on private land, you will need the landowners permission. Most hunters and anglers are familiar with asking permission to access private land. OnX is a perfect app to help by offering land ownership details and mapping in the field in real-time.

Colorado gold country.

Put A Moderate Amount Of Gravel In Your Pan

Loading way too much gravel into a gold pan is another mistake that lots of prospectors make. For one thing, it makes your gold pan really heavy, which can get really uncomfortable during a long day prospecting on the river. When you are uncomfortable, you are more likely to get sloppy with your panning technique, so only put a moderate amount of classified gravel into your pan at any given time.

This would also be a good time to mention that you use a gold pan that is of proper size for you. For most men, a 14-inch pan is a good universal size. For women and kids, smaller 12 and even 10 pans might be the best size.

Sure, a bigger pan can hold more material, but they sure get heavy after you fill them up. Personally, my back and shoulders are a lot happier if I use a reasonably sized pan and work at a reasonable pace.

Recommended Reading: Are Golden Goose Sneakers Worth It

What Passionate Gold Prospectors Use

Most public access areas allow the use of hand tools only. Some areas allow the use of a river sluice. A few areas allow battery-powered mechanical equipment to process more material. Here are suggestions for your first small wash plant once you have access to grounds where powered equipment is permitted.

Black Sand And Gold In Streams

If you find black sand, you are on the right track. The black sand is heavier than ordinary sand and stone and sinks and stops just as gold does. It doesnt have to be gold where there is black sand, but it is a good indication that you have come to a good spot.

If you have dug for a while and washed several pans and have not found either black sand or gold, then you move a little bit and try again.

Don’t Miss: What To Know About Golden Retrievers

Find A Place For Gold Panning

The next thing you are going to need is a stream to pan in.

Location is arguably the most important factor when it comes to determining the success of your gold panning experience. You can have the most expensive equipment and tools in the world, but unless theres actual gold in the water and land, you simply arent going to come out with any. Thankfully, the U.S. is filled with hotspots from the east to west coast that are perfect for hopeful panners. As long as youre willing to make the trip, youll find these locations are well worth the extra time it takes to reach them.

If you see a small post sticking a couple inches of the ground with some reflective tape on it, chances are the area is already claimed. When in doubt, check with the park or agency who owns the land to make sure panning is legal and you arent breaking any laws in the process.

Of course, gold panning can be a nice hobby, but it can also be a skill to consider in a financial crisis. Bill White, one of the most respected crisis analysts has urged recent bulletins on WND.com, Townhall.com and Theblaze.com about the coming financial crisis. And given the fact that at this moment a mere 86 million Americans are supporting a whopping 317 million people I suggest to watch his video and take him seriously.

I wish you much luck in your gold prospecting!

The Steps Onhow To Make A Gold Panareeasy

Gold panning is one of the oldest ways to collect gold.

It is done by heading to an area which is known for gold deposits. To make it successful, a gold pan is necessary. It allows you to scoop potential gold from that area.

The process of extracting the actual mineral is still long, but this is the first step. There are gold pans available in the market. However, if you want to create your own, then you need to know the process on how to make a gold pan.

Commercial gold pans are sold at just $10 to $15. You can easily buy one.

“Finding out how to make a gold pan is easy. The difficult part is using it.”

They are also designed to last for a long time. However, creating it would give you a different sense of satisfaction. Besides, there are instances when you really need to pan for gold and you are far from home.

If not, you are out on a gold panning trip with your friends. Hence, you need to create one .

Before starting, you need to understand first the process of gold panning.

You should also realize that gold is a very heavy element. It is in fact one of the heaviest elements you can find. Therefore, the gold pan must be sturdy enough to take on this challenge.

Also Check: What Do Golden Retriever Puppies Eat

How Old Should Kids Be To Pan For Gold

Panning for gold with kids can be done at any age, but there are definitely perks for panning with older kids. My nephew is almost eight. He was really interested in gold panning for about twenty minutes. After that, his patience waned because of the lack of instant/exciting results. Keep in mind, this is only one boy and we could have brought him out to the creek on a low-energy day. As far as age goes, it really depends on the kids. Patient or older children will be able to pan for longer periods. Younger kids, or children who cant sit still for long periods, may need other activities to keep them busy.

If youre bringing an infant along, gold panning needs to be done in shifts so somebody can keep the little one busy. The great outdoors is always a fun place, but with gold panning, safety at the creek comes first. Our baby doesnt get much out of gold panning itself, but she loves to watch the movement of the water. We dipped her toes in a pool of water and let her touch the rocks and trees around us. Gold panning is something that shell grow into with time, but right now shes just there to watch.

Agitate Vigorously Before Tipping The Gold Pan

Now that you have everything loosened up in the pan, its time to start shaking it up, but dont tip the pan yet. You want to give the gold a chance to get down to the bottom of the pan where you want it.

Continue to agitate the contents of the pan, and you will see that the larger, lighter weight pebbles will rise to the top. This is a good sign. This shows us that the contents within the pan are starting to stratify, which is exactly what you want to happen.

Tip the pan, and slowly work it allowing lighter gravels to leave the pan

At this point, any gold that is in your pan should be settled to the bottom, and as you slightly tip the pan and continue agitating the contents the gold will end up in the bottom crease of the gold pan.

Now you can start letting some of the gravel to slowly leave your pan.

Do this process SLOWLY!

Youve gone to a lot of effort at this point to make sure that you have good material in your pan, and you dont want to get sloppy now.

A gold pan like the Garrett Gravity Trap has several riffles that help to retain gold from falling out of the pan. In theory, you really shouldnt need these at all, since a careful panning process should ensure that the gold never leaves the bottom crease of you pan. Still, you want to makes sure that your pan is oriented correctly so that the sand and gravel that is leaving your pan is going overtop these riffles. This is a little added insurance that you arent losing any gold out of your pan.

Also Check: When To Buy Gold Stocks

Eureka Theres Gold In Them There Hills

Hopefully, at the end of the day, you will come home with some gold. Like I said earlier in this article you will probably come up with your own technique of panning but this should give you an idea of how to start panning for gold and you can go from there.

So get out there and start prospecting for gold! The more often you pan the better you will get at it. Even if you dont find any gold its still a fun pastime and just the chance of finding gold is fun and exciting.

I hope you got some informative details that will help you get started prospecting for gold. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments section below. Thanks for reading and as always Happy Treasure Hunting!