Essential Prospecting Supplies

It will be necessary to at least have a little gold pan that can be made out of aluminum if one is going to be doing a lot of back packing. One other very essential item is a solid, folding shovel that can be found in any surplus store. Lights are also necessary as well as cloth tape that extends from fifty to one hundred feet in order to lay out a claim. Take along a little ten power folding pocket magnifying glass too as this will be sufficient for examining specimens. You should also take some small cloth sacks as these can be utilized as bags for the samples. If you have a bar magnet take one as this will serve for separating the magnetic mineral from the gold. If there is lode gold in the area, you will also need to take a prospecting’s pick. Location notices, should be taken care of right away and they can be found at general mining stores or even in stationary stores in mining areas. There are in addition, other tools that can be very useful depending on the traveling one is going to be doing. For instance, an iron mortar and pestle can be utilized for grinding the samples so they can be panned for efficiently. It is also possible to utilize a normal two inch pipe cap and a prospector’s pick. If you are doing placer work, it may be very convenient to take along a sieve or a screen in order to concentrate the material that is panned. Obviously out of all these things (and your clothing) the most important thing in this type of adventure is to have a gold pan. A gold pan is a must. A gold pan has the aspect of a dishpan that has been flattened out. The sides of a dishpan slope up at an interesting angle but the reason for this is to allow the gravel that is not wanted and water to slurp over the edge. This allows it to stay clean so that it is easier to see and so that the gold does not get covered in flecks of rust. Gold flakes are very small and if you think you can see them but are not sure, just use the magnifying glass as this will help.