Gold Panning Tricks

The following are some gold panning tricks to consider if prospecting:

• Old abandoned mines can be dangerous places.

• Whenever doing prospecting make sure to take a partner with you, never go alone.

You should always take extreme caution whenever working or exploring deserted mine shafts and tunnels. Know that shoring timbers have been sitting for years and water can loosen the tunnel walls that used to be rock-solid. If at any moment you notice or hear any sort of noise or impact on the walls or timbers of a tunnel you should get out at once as this could cause the mountain on the tunnel to fall down.

You should also be very careful whenever you are searching down an old mine shaft. There are poisonous fumes that come from old mine shafts that can kill people. One thing you should be very cautious about and avoid is to lurk around inside some old mine shafts, because they could end up being very dangerous for your health. Some of the dangers of going inside an old mine shaft are falling down vertical mine shafts – keep in mind that these can be very deep – other hazards are spiders, rattlesnakes, as well as rocks that could fall. Bear in mind that years ago people used to use dynamite to blast open the tunnels and there could also be dynamite sticks left laying inside and the problem with that is that once dynamite has been sitting for a long time the nitroglycerine in it can concentrate in one specific area and it could go off even if somebody holds onto it very gently.

One other thing that is very dangerous is what is known as bad air. Bad air is mixed in with poisonous gasses. In some cases this is caused due to a shortage in oxygen since it has probably been lying in a certain spot in the shaft for a long amount of time. The trouble with this is that it is impossible to smell it or feel it, it simply makes you lie down or sit down and go to sleep and it can take your life.

Remember that you should never go on a prospecting trip alone. Always take another person along with you. This way if you are going to be getting into a shaft the person that goes in can have a rope tied on his body, and the other person should stay outside with the other end of the rope. Evidently this is done for safety measures and so that the person inside is able to indicate to the person outside that everything is fine. If the person outside starts pulling on the rope and sees that there is not a response, he will be able to hightail the rope upwards and get some help. Never go in and attempt to rescue the person inside, never. Instead go and get help. The only thing that will happen if you do this is that both of you could end up dying and there would be nobody to help you out. 

Another thing to keep in mind are the laws of ownership. Just because you believe a mine is deserted does not mean that it necessarily is and it certainly does not mean that you have the right to go in and begin searching with your metal detector. There are people that have claims to many mines and who would most likely not appreciate you doing some high grading on their property. Be careful because some people might react in ways you do not want to know. Whenever doing this type of work, make sure you first get permission to search. There are some claim holders that do not mind electronic prospecting and are willing to allow it if they are able to get information on any mineral pockets or veins you might find in their property.