Gold Gravity Trap

It is important to note that the smaller size gold "Gravity Trap" finishing pan is the more popular kind for panning dredge concentrates. Its long sloping side walls allow uncomplicated visual examination of the contents and it is designed for being used with one hand. It is also tremendously popular for gold pocket hunters where the prospector speedily pans a small sample of material to determine if only one tiny speck of flour gold is present in the area, which discovery will possibly lead to a fabulously rich pocket further up the hillside. Finishing pans are constructed specifically for the separation of the fine gold from the heavy black sands. It is smaller than a standard pan; the finishing pan can be carried easily, piggyback style, for convenient storage. A finishing pan is one of the most important apparatus where flour gold is present.

Snipers working cracks and the exposed bedrock in dry areas may possibly dump several shovelfuls of material into the classifier; they twist them vigorously over their gold pan or plastic bucket to fill it, and at that moment move towards the nearest water for wet panning. The twisting motion on dry material produces a grinding effect among the heavy rocks which tends to get out the fine gold, allowing it to flow through the classifier and be trapped in the bottom or receiving container. in addition, care is supposed to always be taken to examine the larger material which is left in the classifier before it is discarded. It takes only a couple of seconds — and could produce a pleasant surprise.

Bear in mind that a large amount of gem hunters are after the larger material such as garnets, etc., so the preference of the appropriate size of holes in the classi­fier is all important. The 7/16-inch square hole design of this popular classifier was selected after quite a bit of research. The holes are of uniform size, as nearly as plastic reproduction will authorize. Carnet diggers most of the time keeps only the larger material, such as would be accumulated on top of the classifier. The Garrett classifier size of the hole is smaller than the usual keeper size and the garnet digger can speedily fill up a plastic bucket with all the material that does not pass through the 7/16 -inch square holes to carry it to water later on for close visual examination.

Sapphire hunters are a totally different breed. They practically use none of the tools of the gold prospector, even though, on the whole, a classifier of some sort is used and a great quantity of digging, screening, and examination of material under the water is necessary. The uniform 7/16-inch size holes in the Garrett classifier are al­most just the thing for this operation. The sapphire hunter hardly ever finds a sapphire which is over 7/16-inch in size, as a consequence the material that passes through the classifier into the plastic bucket may perhaps indeed be called concentrates. on the other hand, bear in mind again, it takes only seconds to examine the larger material visually before you discard them.... an occasional sapphire of more than a few pounds weight is in point of fact recovered from every now and then.

To bring this chapter to a close on the new tools, we will point out that the design of the 10½--inch Garrett finishing pan has just about solved all the problems of the panner who is just beginning. An amateur is supposed to use two pans, locating one under the water, it is wise to use a large rock to hold it stable, and using the other to shake, swirl, etc., directly over the immersed pan. Any gold or other values which are lost from the top pan will still be found in the second pan. This procedure will create confidence and momentum with no fear of loss whatsoever. As the panner starts gaining experience he/she will be have the ability of panning the material speedily, you must then dump the finer concentrates into the finishing pan, and continue the panning procedure finally to recover the finest gold.

The vast majorities of people, for some reason or another, draw back from gold panning and are unenthusiastic to even put panning into consideration. They are unenthusiastic, that is, until they see that gorgeous gold, in all its beauty, shining back at them from the bottom of their first pan. At that moment, they are totally enthusiastic about this! After that, they spend more time than they ever imagined they might in looking for and panning for that most beautiful and valuable of Nature's minerals that one and all can ever find ... gold!