How to Gold Pan

All throughout the recovery of gold, especially in the case of placer, but also with lode deposits, the fact remains the same in that gold is heavier than any other mineral that is normally found. Through agitation, suspension as well as other disturbing outside effects, the gold will settle first into a concentrated accumulation and it will then be able to be recovered through different methods of separation. Remember that since it is heavier it will sink first and the furthest. This is the fundamental rule of all gold prospecting, so keep it in mind.

When gold panning is done methods of agitation and suspension of the lighter materials are used to accomplish the recovery. In other words, the objective of gold panning is to concentrate the materials that are heavier, such as the black sands and the gold, by washing away the materials that are lighter by methods of swirling the pan, bouncing it up and down as well as by stirring the material. This will make the heavier materials and sand sink down to the bottom and become concentrated. Other materials such as sticks, pebbles, silt etc can be picked out by hand or can be washed over the side of the pan.

It would be a good idea when first starting to practice at a stream with running water. If you do not have a stream available, we suggest you fill up a big tub of water, place some sand inside your gold pan, mix in the particles of lead completely and then do the following procedures.

Start out by filling your pan up around three fourths full of sand to be concentrated and then submerge it in the water. A lot of times in desert streams the water will not be deep enough to submerge it all the way and it makes the panning a big trickier but you can dip water into the pan and the procedure can continue on this way.

Gold and other heavier minerals can be more efficiently concentrated when the material in the pan is almost all the same size whether it is sand, clay or simply dirt. The first thing you will need to do in panning is just this. Study the pan of material and get rid of any large stones, sticks or material that would just get in the way.

Then submerge the pan under the water and stir it with your fingers. If you are in an area that has river sand, you will probably notice how rocks and pebbles will spring up to the surface and you will also need to get rid of these. Be careful when stirring as if it is done under water a good amount of silt will go to the surface and wash away with the current of the stream. Make sure you are careful about this and to watch it closely. The last thing you want is for your gold to wash away before it has been able to settle in the pan.

At the same time as you are removing the pebbles make sure to not get rid of the particles of clay or dirt that have hardened. You should first crumble these in your fingers and drop them back into the sand so they can be concentrated because often times gold can be found inside of them. When you are breaking up this kind of material it is better the pan be out of the water because otherwise you could lose a lot of material from the stream current or it could float away.

After the larger rocks have been taken out of the pan and you have broken up the clay or dirt bits, place your hand into the pan and stir it with your fingers. This will help to release silt, and other lighter materials that did not come out at first. You may need to do this several times and obviously a lot has to do with the nature of the material you are panning.