1st time panning in 2 years, working old bought pay

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

got the bug again, been busy for a couple years and haven't though of panning. Being handicapped I can't go to the streams and there is no one local to bring me paydirt so I had been buying it.
I realize that it is salted but it is still fun, although some of the thrill of a single flake in a 5 gallon bucket that you dug yourself is gone.

I asked a friend who goes to Rangley near Coos Canyon if he would go to a stream near the state park in Rangely and get me a couple 5 gallon buckets of dirt, since he doesn't pan or anything it will just be dug dirt, the last time I found 3 flakes in 5 gallons or raw dirt.

Anyhow I set up a tub and did some panning of some old paydirt and as expected found some gold. I forget what it cost me back then. I also have two 5 pound bags of cons that two people sent me, one from West Virginia and the other I am not sure from where.

Anyhow, it was really fun today, although it took me an hour to find my pans, they were in a junk pile from my old camper in the backyard, my son when he emptied the camper before I junked it just piled it all in the back yard.

 

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[Ohiogoldfever]

Finding gold is finding gold. Raw dirt is more fun but it’s a fair amount more work also.

 

[russau]

You could always make your own cons and a LOT cheaper ! Take that gravel you already have and buy some gold of different sizes and mix them up . Far cheaper and just as fun ! You can buy gold of different sizes separately and give yourself more experience panning them. Each size of gold will pan out slightly different so you'll get that experience ! Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

You could always make your own cons and a LOT cheaper ! Take that gravel you already have and buy some gold of different sizes and mix them up . Far cheaper and just as fun ! You can buy gold of different sizes separately and give yourself more experience panning them. Each size of gold will pan out slightly different so you'll get that experience ! Good luck and enjoy!

It is not the same. I search for silver coins in bags of half dollars, making cons would be like my taking a bag of clad halves and adding some of my 90% and 40% halves and then shaking it and searching it. Somehow it is not the same as finding them in the wild.

 

[islamoradamark]

thanks for the pictures

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I went through 5 pounds of unsalted pay, found 5 or 6 flakes and a bunch of black sand, was fun

 

[russau]

Ben I agree with it NOT being the same , BUT add up the cost of everything that will get that gold . Fuel ,time , equipment , etc. and the find out the finale amount of gold . Then the cost of just buying the gold from (example : Goldbay or another dealer.) For a lot of people close to the gold ,I myself would have been out there with my equipment BUT for a whole lot of people that are NOT close I'd have to think a little more about it. I really loved driving 16 + hours to get to where the gold is and spending 2 weeks or more prospecting / dredgeing and howling at the moon ! My time has long passed and wish I could keep going BUT "What's a F.O.G. supposed to do?"

 

[Goodyguy]

My time has long passed and wish I could keep going BUT "What's a F.O.G. supposed to do?"

If you were out here in Arizona you could sit under my pop up canopy drinking cold beer while I keep you supplied with paydirt to feed the drywasher.
You are welcome anytime when you are ready for a long road trip!


GG~

 

[russau]

Thank you Buddy ! I'd really love to help you BUT my days of long road trips are long gone for me! Covid -19 really puts a damper on thing's ! I've got some friends out your way and wanted for a long time to come out that way BUT never got around to it! SHAME ON ME !

 

[scruggs]

Good luck to you and hope you find a lot of gold!

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I got some pay from Gold Hogg and Roaring Camp and Lynch Mining and will compare all three with pictures. The season for me is starting to wind down because this morning it was 59 degrees and now that Sept is here it will be starting to get cold, too cold to sit out back panning

 

[russau]

Ben what you got there from those sources was gold added to some cons............ Either way , I'm sure it would be fun each time you panned it !

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I realize that it is salted, but then again if it wasn't you would probably have to run several 5 gallon buckets to find a few flakes. I remember shoveling bucket after bucket into my sluice and getting nothing.

But while realizing it is salted I always hope for a mistake and more than they meant to give at the same time it might be a bust....

Today my first box of Half Dollars was a bust, no silver, have one more $500 box to go...

 

[johnedoe]

Ben.
Russau has a real good point .. Buying cons from a reputable supplier can actually turn out to be profitable compared to all the expense we put out when we get out to prospect....
Granted it isn't the same, No campfire at night in a beautiful wilderness setting etc..
But you do still get to feed the need for some gold panning and recovery.
I think Goldbay has a good rep for pay dirt as well as gold hog. I know there are a couple others but can't seem to recall at present...
I'm at the point where getting out there is getting harder as well... in fact I'm just pretty well done... Can't get around on the rivers anymore and they have made the regs so ridiculous on the beach it just isn't worth it there either.
So I guess I'm pretty much done as well..........
Hang in there and find the fun where ya can.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I got a Gold Hogg bag to try out so I can find out.

I am mainly a silver miner now, silver coins that is. I just two $500 boxes of halves, no silver on the first one and my bank just called me to tell me that they filled their half dollar bag and did I want it ($1000) I will get it tomorrow.
Problem with halves is that it should take almost a year to fill a bag from depositors, but this one filled in 2 months so it is a competitor dumping his halves like I will do (and hopefully at his bank)
My best find so far was when I got 30 rolls of halves and TWO of them were Walking Liberties from the 40's! cost $20 current value $350 not a bad return. When I go through the halves I take and dump them at different banks so if I don't find anything I get all my money back. Melt value is $8.75 per coin (if you buy junk silver at a coin dealer they charge about $12-$15 each

I also do dimes, from the coin machines. I have found several thousand dollars worth of silver coins in the last few years and you can watch TV while you are doing it!

Check out the Coin Roll Hunting thread on the forum!

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

UPDATE: I had bought a 2 lb bag of paydirt from Dirt Hogg, when through it today. I used my 6" classifiers (4,8,30) and under them my 15 inch 100 mesh classifier.

I took about 2 hours to go through it. Found several pickers and a lot of flour gold, it was amazing how small the gold in the 100 mesh is, I didn't bother trying to find stuff that went through the 100 mesh as I can hardly see the 100 mesh!!!

I weighed up the pickers and they were .5 grams, I couldn't find my grain scale. but my guess is that there is about $30+ worth of gold which is nice but the bag costs $109

but that being said I had a blast doing it!!

I looked back on my records and in 10 prospecting trips, to NH and western MA I found 3 flakes in all that time and when I add up the campgrounds and camping cabins and gas it was hundreds of dollars. Although every trip was a fun time. The first picture is all the gold I found in those trips The next two are from the Dirt Hogg gold.

I was hoping for more but it is addicting

Dirt Hogg 2 lb bag

 

[arizau]

UPDATE: I had bought a 2 lb bag of paydirt from Dirt Hogg, when through it today. I used my 6" classifiers (4,8,30) and under them my 15 inch 100 mesh classifier.

I took about 2 hours to go through it. Found several pickers and a lot of flour gold, it was amazing how small the gold in the 100 mesh is, I didn't bother trying to find stuff that went through the 100 mesh as I can hardly see the 100 mesh!!!

I weighed up the pickers and they were .5 grams, I couldn't find my grain scale. but my guess is that there is about $30+ worth of gold which is nice but the bag costs $109

but that being said I had a blast doing it!!

I looked back on my records and in 10 prospecting trips, to NH and western MA I found 3 flakes in all that time and when I add up the campgrounds and camping cabins and gas it was hundreds of dollars. Although every trip was a fun time. The first picture is all the gold I found in those trips The next two are from the Dirt Hogg gold.

I was hoping for more but it is addicting

Dirt Hogg 2 lb bag

I hope you didn't throw the minus 100 mesh paydirt away. It is always fascinating to me to pan the small stuff and see the gold separate from the waste while panning.

A tip to handle micro gold.....Tilt pan to drain water off the gold then press down hard on the gold with a dry fingertip (I just wipe it on my pants) to pick up the gold then dip your fingertip in the water of a full vial to collect the gold (it immediately drops off). You may pick up some black sands too so just pour vial contents back in pan and repeat the process until clean.

Good luck and have fun.

PS. I read in a canadian gold forum years back where dirt hogg adds gold to random bags and at least makes that bag profitable.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I still have the -100 stuff, part of the problem with that is with my eyes I can't see the gold that fine.

I have a magnet with a handle that I use to separate black sands.

I have to admit that I had fun!

 

[Relicgrubber]

Panning Paydirt for gold in my air conditioned man cave...

Can't beat it imo if you dont mind NOT spending thousands of $$$ to go chase it in the wild!

 

[russau]

I hope you didn't throw the minus 100 mesh paydirt away. It is always fascinating to me to pan the small stuff and see the gold separate from the waste while panning.

A tip to handle micro gold.....Tilt pan to drain water off the gold then press down hard on the gold with a dry fingertip (I just wipe it on my pants) to pick up the gold then dip your fingertip in the water of a full vial to collect the gold (it immediately drops off). You may pick up some black sands too so just pour vial contents back in pan and repeat the process until clean.

Good luck and have fun.

PS. I read in a canadian gold forum years back where dirt hogg adds gold to random bags and at least makes that bag profitable.

EVERYONE adds a specific amount of gold to the cons...... They have to make a profit to stay in the business !