Gold Panning

Although it seems like a lot of information for the first step, the truth is that this is something that can be done in a matter of minutes. The whole procedure can be done under the water if you are in working in still water. But remember that if you stir it too violently it will cause the heavier materials to go up to the top and they will escape before they have had a chance to concentrate, so be very careful. If you cannot immerse the pan then the water needs to be dipped in and poured out, however there is still a danger of allowing the heavier material to escape from the pan so make sure you do not stir it too harshly.

When you are taking out the bigger rocks and stirring the sand with your hands, make sure to observe the pebbles closely. If there are any gold nuggets or little pieces of quartz with gold attached, then this is where they can be found. It is not common to find a nugget in a pan but they do show up sometimes and being careful can give you a big prize.

Most people that start out find that if they are careful, going along with the basic procedures is not a difficult task to accomplish. The interesting thing is that the more complicated methods for concentrating gold such as those that involve using a sluice and portable dredges etc all use the same type of procedure. 

All right, so after you have removed all the foreign material from your gold pan, you will now proceed to doing the actual gold panning. It is a little bit complicated to explain this procedure, not because it is difficult to do, but because most panners develop their own style and do what is easier for them, another factor is that different types of soil require different types of methods. However, after the basic and fundamental part has been learned it does not really matter how you personally decide how to agitate the sand you are working with as long as they bring you the results you are hoping for.