Desert Panning & How to Pan

Almost all prospectors prefer panning their material in water given the fact that dry panning is slow and the rate of recovery is not the same as with water. There are desert prospectors that take a big wash tub along with a supply of water and pan on the spot. There are those that have come up with devices and ways to circulate water and filter it in order to keep the sediments under control which helps to keep the water in the tube from clouding. Keep in mind that there are watercourses in the desert that have running water in them during certain times of the year and explorations can therefore be planned and taken advantage of in these circumstances. You will also want to keep in mind the weather and heat factor of the desert.

How to pan

1. Fill the gold pan with ¾ of gravel. This will then need to be immersed in the water deep enough so that it is just under the surface 3/4 of the water. While it is submersed you will need to give it several energetic shakes back and forth and from side to side, but make sure this is not done too energetically to where you end up washing the material out from inside the pan. 
2. After having shaken the pan start gently moving the pan with a circular movement; the gravel and material inside should start spinning around. This makes most of the dirt and clay dissolve and washes out the pan. If after having done this you see that moss and roots go up to the top, crush these over your pan with your fingers in order to break up the lumps they have in them. Get rid of the bigger rocks after you have made sure they are clean.
3. Repeat the process again in order to get the smaller rocks up to the top and cause the concentrates that are heavier to settle down.
4. Hold the pan right underneath the water and slightly tilt it away from you. Then swirl the water from one side to the other and give it a little bit of a forward motion. Be careful but use enough force to move the top and lighter gravel out over the edge of the pan.
5. Level the pan every once in awhile and shake it back and forth so that the lighter material goes up to the surface and the heavier material stay on the bottom of the pan.
6. Continue to do this process around two more times until there is only about two cups of heavier material left in the gold pan. The material on the bottom of the pan consists of concentrate or black sand.

It would probably be better to take the pan completely out of the water and leave only around one inch of water in it. Then slant the pan a little bit towards yourself and whirl the water in circular motions very slowly to see if there are any nuggets and pieces of gold that you can pick up with your hand. Then, submerge the pan back into the water and do the second step again to get the final concentration. This is one of the most important parts of the panning. You will need to make sure the last process is done as carefully as possible so that you do not end up getting rid of the gold. If you are using a plastic pan, you can use a magnet in order to help with the separation of the gold from the concentrate and black magnetic sand. In order to use the magnet place it on the bottom side of the pan and move the magnet in little circular motions while you tilt the pan slightly at the same time; doing this will cause the gold to separate from the black sand.