Gold Panning

By this time you should have accumulated a small amount or big amount (depending on the time you spent at it) of concentrates that you have previously cleaned of light sand and small gravel. Now what you need to do is use the riffles in your pan a little bit more. This is actually not a complicated thing to do because you can see the action of the contents and it will let you know when the gold has settled in or not. Remember to follow the same basic measures, which is to keep the edge of the pan under water when you are going to be shaking or slipping off the black sand. And of course, remember that there is not a specific shaking style you must do. Just make sure the pan is covered in water so that the water creates suspension and so the gold settles down to the bottom. If this one important point is not done, it will cause the gold to stay in the wet sand and will slip out of the pan along with the sand. Remember that a good gold panner knows he or she must take time and not rush.

Make sure to always keep in mind gotten this far is where it gets a little bit tricky as far as your emotions are concerned. Your pan may very well contain gold in it but remember that it might not. However, just remember that the place you choose has a lot to do with this factor. If you are trying out your luck in a new area, well, don’t be surprised if you do not find anything. If you have panned the concentrates from a suction dredge cleanup, you will most likely have at least a little bit of gold in your pan. This might be a heavier type of gold that will not have difficulty settling through the black sand. There is also the type of gold that is lighter and finer and which is difficult to save. Whatever the case you should rapidly give the pan some shakes and then spill off the top or the excess part of the concentrates; this will allow you to trap most of the gold behind the riffles. Just remember to go slow and keep in mind that you are dealing with gold. Gold is simply too valuable for you to toss back into the stream just like that, especially when it requires a lot of hard work and time to get to it.

Another good idea to keep in mind whenever you are panning a dredge camp is to place another pan down under the water and allow the tailings to fall into the extra pan, as this will allow you to look through it again to make sure you have not lost any gold. After you have practice this a few times you should work up enough confidence and you will not have to use the second pan anymore.

Once again, make sure you have enough water in the pan so that you are able to cover the concentrates, this can be done by either dipping some water in or by keeping the pan inside the water. Remember that gold will not sink down to the bottom of the pan if there is not water suspension in it. Begin by using a soft side to side motion so that your gold settles.

If you practice and are careful the gold will remain trapped inside the pan. If you started out practicing with bbs you will be able to notice how they will settle little by little as the pan is continuously and gently shaken. Let the lighter material slip out of the pan but do this slowly and do not let any of the practice bbs or gold escape from your pan.