Gold Panning Principles

The method of separation of panning is based on the principle of gravity in which the heavier gold particles and pieces settle down to the bottom of the gold pan when in suspended water. In other words, if a mixture of fragments is mixed inside of a container of water, the heavier particles are the ones that will settle down to the bottom first. There are a couple factors that will determine which are the heavier particles, this has to do mainly with the size and the specific gravity. Evidently in the case of a couple equal size particles that are composed of a different material, the one that has the higher specific gravity will be the heavier one. The specific gravity of quartz, for instance, is of 2.6 and in the case of galena it is of 7.5. therefore, if you had a piece of quartz and a piece of galena and both were of the same exact size, the galena would be heavier in weight around three times that of the quartz. The same rule applies, however not in the case of teensy little particles of gold. The teensy little particles have a tendency of remaining floating up and down and in the case of the teensiest ones, they sometimes stay suspended. There is also other factors that affect this, like that of the shape of the particles, the electric charges in them, the suspension density, and so forth, all of which has an effect on the rate in which it settles. Even though panning is mainly a matter of making a suspension in the water so that the valuable materials are able to settle down, the fact that teensy bits of gold has a tendency of remaining suspended will need to be taken into consideration when gold panning in order to avoid losses from occurring if one intends on rescuing as much gold as they can. One other way in which a panner can lose their gold is if there are oily impurities in the pan. The way oil is able to cause the heavier materials to float to the top of a suspension is actually the basis of a process that is utilized in milling ores and this is known as flotation. Given the fact that oil is lighter than water, it has a tendency of rising to the top and the little particles of heavier minerals that are covered with oil or which have little oil drops adhered onto them, can get lifted with it. When this occurs the gold can then be washed out of the pan and lost and this is why any oil in the pan should be burned before it is used for panning.

More Gold Panning Principles
When the materials are inside of a pan it is brought into suspension by allowing the water to move around the pan, this causes a sort of current that will carry the particles of gold that are suspended. Most likely you have at some point or another removed material from a pan or a dish of some type by placing it in water and making the water swirl around until the particles have been picked up, at which time the water is then poured out, like when one is washing dishes. If we stop swirling the water, the particles will start to settle down. In order to get the heavier particles to move the water has to be swirled a little bit more. The idea of this is that the quantity that water is able to carry with it will highly depend on the velocity at which the water moves. When panning is done, the idea is to hold back some materials like gold, the idea should be recognized and the current made by running water inside of the pan that is kept a low speed in order for the heavier materials to remain down and not brought into suspension and carried off.