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Need some advice..Panning for gold?

Watching this thread.

My property has about 300' of creek running through one corner and we get snow/ice so I think it gets agitated pretty well. The sale ad for my property as well as others along the creek claim it has gold. Here is example:
fetch?id=41681&d=1592343046.jpg


I'm interested in the light equipment side of "panning" for gold. It is ~100 feet of steeper terrain to get down to the creek. Power would be close to 300 feet so that isn't a good option either.

Any panning type activities in either Placerville or Auburn of California? Hell, ideal would be in Georgetown but I'm easy.

Get a pan first and go and dig on the down stream side of the big rocks. Once you find some gold and know it’s there then can decide what the next step is.
 
Watching this thread.

My property has about 300' of creek running through one corner and we get snow/ice so I think it gets agitated pretty well. The sale ad for my property as well as others along the creek claim it has gold. Here is example:
fetch


I'm interested in the light equipment side of "panning" for gold. It is ~100 feet of steeper terrain to get down to the creek. Power would be close to 300 feet so that isn't a good option either.

Any panning type activities in either Placerville or Auburn of California? Hell, ideal would be in Georgetown but I'm easy.

Most of the public places are hands and pans only(Auburn State Rec Area etc). It can be difficulty to find areas in the foothills that aren't claimed up, but it is possible. If you've got that creek in your backyard, I'd be spending some time down there.
 
Get a pan first and go and dig on the down stream side of the big rocks. Once you find some gold and know it’s there then can decide what the next step is.
So if you were starting in the picture above(creek flows up the picture), you would dig on the up picture side of that large boulder?

Most of the public places are hands and pans only(Auburn State Rec Area etc). It can be difficulty to find areas in the foothills that aren't claimed up, but it is possible. If you've got that creek in your backyard, I'd be spending some time down there.
Yes, I've got the above in my property and my looking shows no split out of mineral rights.

From the standpoint of a pan, is a pan just a pan? Or is there better styles/brands?
 
So if you were starting in the picture above(creek flows up the picture), you would dig on the up picture side of that large boulder?


Yes, I've got the above in my property and my looking shows no split out of mineral rights.

From the standpoint of a pan, is a pan just a pan? Or is there better styles/brands?

The downstream side of the rock is where you want to bet.

As for pans I prefer the large black pans. The bigger the flat on the bottom the better.
 
So if you were starting in the picture above(creek flows up the picture), you would dig on the up picture side of that large boulder?


Yes, I've got the above in my property and my looking shows no split out of mineral rights.

From the standpoint of a pan, is a pan just a pan? Or is there better styles/brands?

Quite a few prospectors swear by the Garrett Super Sluice pan. I've yet to add one to my collection. Any pan that is sturdy and has a wide bottom will work. Buy a pan and a bag of paydirt and practice practice practice would be my best advice. Learn what the gold is going to do in the pan and how to control it. Next step is learning where to dig/look. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/go...pecting-forum/ is full of information
 
The downstream side of the rock is where you want to bet.

As for pans I prefer the large black pans. The bigger the flat on the bottom the better.
Do you prefer plastic or metal pan?

Quite a few prospectors swear by the Garrett Super Sluice pan. I've yet to add one to my collection. Any pan that is sturdy and has a wide bottom will work. Buy a pan and a bag of paydirt and practice practice practice would be my best advice. Learn what the gold is going to do in the pan and how to control it. Next step is learning where to dig/look. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/go...pecting-forum/ is full of information
The Garrett is what I found recommended in a couple searches. Here is amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Supersluice-Gold-Pan-15/dp/B000H82E2M?tag=91812054244-20

I saw mentioned that it was desirable to get a classifier(??) to get the bigger chunks out(ie 1/4" mesh strainer)

Also mentioned in my searches was a dropper bottle to suck up the black sand/gold specs.

Any recommendation on either?
 
Use a dredge if your government regulating body allows it or depending on how you like a challenge or risk nevermind the regulating entity.
 
Do you prefer plastic or metal pan?


The Garrett is what I found recommended in a couple searches. Here is amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Supersluice-Gold-Pan-15/dp/B000H82E2M?tag=91812054244-20

I saw mentioned that it was desirable to get a classifier(??) to get the bigger chunks out(ie 1/4" mesh strainer)

Also mentioned in my searches was a dropper bottle to suck up the black sand/gold specs.

Any recommendation on either?

Classifying isn't really necessary until you start digging and running a sluice. You don't want the larger rocks bouncing down the sluice knocking gold out of the riffles. Test panning you can just pull the bigger stuff out by hand.

A dropper bottle is necessary to get all the specs out of the pan. No preference there, just get one from Garrett or similar.
 
I've seen mention scuffing up a new pan. Is 120 grit sufficient?

I stopped by my local hardware store and not really shocking, they had a black pan:
GoldPan_sml.jpg
On the left is a random hand full of creek dirt that I'll tinker with once or twice.

My general understanding of the technique is swirl - swirl - swirl then rock front to back toward the large ridges to knock out larger lighter material. "rinse and repeat". Eventually you get down to black sand and with luck gold flakes/specs. Am I misrepresenting the process?
 
I've seen mention scuffing up a new pan. Is 120 grit sufficient?

I stopped by my local hardware store and not really shocking, they had a black pan:
On the left is a random hand full of creek dirt that I'll tinker with once or twice.

My general understanding of the technique is swirl - swirl - swirl then rock front to back toward the large ridges to knock out larger lighter material. "rinse and repeat". Eventually you get down to black sand and with luck gold flakes/specs. Am I misrepresenting the process?

All you want to do is get the shine off the bottom. shouldn't take much.

As far as panning:
 
I have not. Work got nuts and had to work on some home projects in the evenings.

Plan is to do it tomorrow with my boys (10 and 8) after we get them some new servos at the hobby store.

Will advise! hopefully I can get my better half to video

:beer::beer::beer:
 
I've been meaning to pick up a pan for random camping trips, something to pass the time. What is needed other than a pan, bottle and dropper? I always have a small shovel in the car.
 
I've been meaning to pick up a pan for random camping trips, something to pass the time. What is needed other than a pan, bottle and dropper? I always have a small shovel in the car.

That's really all you need unless you're making the whole trip about prospecting. Everything starts and ends with a pan.
 
I've got a Gold Bug II which is a premium gold specific detector, but Kalifornistan laws regarding using detectors is crazy. You pretty much have to own private property or know someone who does. The State laws regarding digging, erosion, and potentially disturbing artifacts are crazy. They have all of the State and County parks locked down for the most part from using a detector and you can't hit the National Parks either. You can go to state beaches on the coast, but they don't produce good placer / surface gold for the most part, just lost jewelry and coins, etc.


__

Probably similar to NY laws. You can detect on some NY land. but. Paraphrasing. "If you find anything more than 50 years old, it's ours. If you find anything worth more than a nickel, it's ours. If you find trash, you are required to pack it out and dispose of it properly at your expense. Have fun detecting."

.
 
That's really all you need unless you're making the whole trip about prospecting. Everything starts and ends with a pan.

You could also add in a touch of knowledge of high grading! Knowing where to look helps a ton.
 
High grading story:

A month ago I was out walking around inspecting a hard rock pit for any signs of gold. I grabbed 1 rock half the size of a beer can and put it in my pocket.

At home I broke it in half and smashed it on my bench with a 5lb maul. Panned our the dust and was like Holy-EE-Fuck-Boys we have something here. I found 20-30 100 mesh pieces of gold. I got ahold of the old timers to come out and do a Look over. We went out set up sluices and did a bunch of tests. Only found a small bit for the yard of material we ran it was so disappointing.

At home I show the old timers the rock smash the rest on the bench and there it is WTF. We are still looking for that rocks brother and sisters lol!

Moral of the story is out of the billion rocks that all looked the same I managed to pick the only one that a bonanza amount of gold in it. I’m such a :homer:.
Sometimes Dumb luck will save the day,
 
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High grading story:

A month ago I was out walking around inspecting a hard rock pit for any signs of gold. I grabbed 1 rock half the size of a beer can and put it in my pocket.

At home I broke it in half and smashed it on my bench with a 5lb maul. Panned our the dust and was like Holy-EE-Fuck-Boys we have something here. I found 20-30 100 mesh pieces of gold. I got ahold of the old timers to come out and do a Look over. We went out set up sluices and did a bunch of tests. Only found a small bit for the yard of material we ran it was so disappointing.

At home I show the old timers the rock smash the rest on the bench and there it is WTF. We are still looking for that rocks brother and sisters lol!

Moral of the story is out of the billion rocks that all looked the same I managed to pick the only one that a bonanza amount of gold in it. I’m such a :homer:.
Sometimes Dumb luck will save the day,

Gold is where you find it :laughing:
 
I have a placer claim on the Fraser River (just recreational- I have a real day job) first things I learned was that panning sucks. It is inefficient and hard on the body from squatting in the water. Build (or buy)a small sluice - your body will thank you for it.
 
I've got some old prospects on my property out here on the east coast. Didn't know about any of it until I had already bought my place. A friend and I have been tinkering with it but its certainly no Comstock and Bonanza. Its fairly cool because there's remnants of an old stream sluice wall and I even found while metal detecting in the area what was left of an old 1800s miners pan along with a broken 2 man crosscut saw and some harmonica reeds. We ran a sluice that my friend built and didn't really find much worth talking about but my nephews had fun. I did find a spot with a bunch of blue clay with crushed quartz in it so we dug a few buckets of that and panned it and he gave a few buckets to his dad to run. His dad found a decent little picker in his bucket and then a few weeks ago I spotted some exposed bedrock along the stream bank so chased it back a few feet cleaning it into a bucket and found a nice piece.

As far as pans go, my buddy uses the Garrett stuff, but I like the stuff from a company in South Carolina - Maritn Prospecting. They sell a lot of stuff on ebay and I like the pans due to having an additional trap lip in the bottom that the Garrett stuff doesn't.


Some pictures, those are two different pieces shown. The average size is just fleck flower micro gold. Its one in 30 pans that turns up a nice piece. We chased some of their prospects recently and it appears they chased one big stringer of crushed quartz until it ran out and then bounced. What we find seems to be lost or placer in the stream.
20210920_201805.jpg
20210503_191143.jpg

20210716_170933.jpg
20210919_122623.jpg
 
I’m Jealous. All we have is flour gold in our area. Biggest piece I have ever found is one that wouldn’t pass a #8 sieve smashed paper thin.

Looks like a gold hog sluice? Prospecting is a fun activity with the kids. All kids love to play in the dirt and water!
 
Looks like a gold hog sluice?

Good eye, but actually its a clone of one. He built that one from scratch by looking at screenshots of videos of the Gold Hog stuff. He even cast his own leveling feet brackets by 3D printing the mold, sand casting, and pouring molten aluminum. The aluminum is actually sourced from all of his neighbors and himself collecting cans. He melts the scrap in a wood fueled blast furnace / forge and casts his own aluminum ingots that he later re-melts and sand casts whatever weird parts he's into. His day job is like 2 hours of work each day to make his $ for living so he then does stuff like that with the rest of his time.

Those are the two biggest pieces I've found so far in a year of playing around. I'll run about 5 pans a week on average just to see if I can find a paystreak or something. About 5 miles from me, downstream on a creek that this exact stream feeds into, someone pulled a full ounce nugget about 3 years ago so I daydream about finding something like that.

And yea, the kids loved it but the attention span was short lived. Its been fun watching these tablet and video game kids get to experience outdoors and its also painful to think of so many kids these days who NEVER go outside or get experiences like this.
 
Does he use the good hog mat? I use it in my huge sluice. Im happy with it, it catches some of my extremely fine gold. I am running way to fast way too small of box to even think about catching all the fine stuff. I’m just happy it catches some lol. Some day I’ll get it figured out to be more efficient.
 
Damnit. Now I gotta order a gold pan and go play around my property. I’ve got a small creek running thru it and I’m rounded by big ass sand and gravel pits.
 
I've got some old prospects on my property out here on the east coast. Didn't know about any of it until I had already bought my place. A friend and I have been tinkering with it but its certainly no Comstock and Bonanza. Its fairly cool because there's remnants of an old stream sluice wall and I even found while metal detecting in the area what was left of an old 1800s miners pan along with a broken 2 man crosscut saw and some harmonica reeds. We ran a sluice that my friend built and didn't really find much worth talking about but my nephews had fun. I did find a spot with a bunch of blue clay with crushed quartz in it so we dug a few buckets of that and panned it and he gave a few buckets to his dad to run. His dad found a decent little picker in his bucket and then a few weeks ago I spotted some exposed bedrock along the stream bank so chased it back a few feet cleaning it into a bucket and found a nice piece.

As far as pans go, my buddy uses the Garrett stuff, but I like the stuff from a company in South Carolina - Maritn Prospecting. They sell a lot of stuff on ebay and I like the pans due to having an additional trap lip in the bottom that the Garrett stuff doesn't.


Some pictures, those are two different pieces shown. The average size is just fleck flower micro gold. Its one in 30 pans that turns up a nice piece. We chased some of their prospects recently and it appears they chased one big stringer of crushed quartz until it ran out and then bounced. What we find seems to be lost or placer in the stream.
20210920_201805.jpg
20210503_191143.jpg

20210716_170933.jpg
20210919_122623.jpg
was that near c'ville? I saw your location, and now I'm debating if its worth in in my small creeks on the property
 
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