Buying a bag of pay dirt

N

Nuggetbrain

Jr. Member
Mar 9, 2015
31
15
Los Angeles
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Hi all. Just starting out here so forgive my newbness!

It might be against the rules of the seasoned gold hunters, but I would like to buy a bag of pay dirt to practice my panning.

I have practiced with creek dirt I have dug up locally, but I live in Los Angeles, and locally, there aren't really too many places to pan.

I hope to get our to the San Gabriel river soon but in the meantime I would like to buy a bag of pay to hone my skills and see what color in
my pan actually looks like!

I thought I saw some recommendations for honest sellers on these forums but I can't seem to locate that posting again.

Any thoughts on legit sellers of small bags of pay?

Many thanks.

Tim
 

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absolutely ! if you buy a Spiked bag.
it's great for Practice.
Some suggest lead Shot instead.
But Lead shot ain't real gold.
& seeing the fines and a picker or 2 in the bottom of your pan
assures you that you'll learn right.

good luck !
I'm sure there are a few members here who can suggest
decent sources.

but please note. members suggestions will most likely be personal opinions,
not TreasureNet sponors
so 8-) buyer be careful
 

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Thanks folks! Just got back from panning in my backyard with the no good dirt! ha ha ha! I got the fever! No gold but black sand!
Will get a spiked bag soon then off to the San Gabriel river!
 

Try Goldbay.com, it's about 45-50 dollars a bag but you are guaranteed a gram of gold or your money back. You should find pickers and fines. You can also trade in you fines and pickers for nuggets. It's fun to see the gold that you get in those bags.
I think the company is located in Spokane WA. Good luck and keep that fever going.
 

Where in LA are you? What tools of the trade are you planning to use? If you're traveling light (panning/sniping) go as far up the East Fork as you can. 4 miles is good. Careful though. Lots of ways to get in trouble up there.

Take lots and lots of water.

If you find yourself high up on a dead end trail, go back. You are on the wrong trail.
 

I have not explored all of the options folks have mentioned here, but I did buy some paydirt to practice with from eBay a while ago. The product is Constellation Mining Company pay dirt - seller is 'elkie13' on eBay and from Alaska, for whatever that's worth. They had 100% positive feedback and around 1,000 or so ratings when I bought it. It may be worth checking out if you haven't found what you need yet. Learning how real Au will act/react/behave in your equipment, pan, to your eyes are all invaluable lessons, IMHO. Best of luck to you!
 

Ausome thanks for keeping the memory of EagleDown alive. Was thinking about his posts today while sitting at a stoplight.

NuggetBrain Get out to the river with your pan as soon as possible. Panning in the wilds collecting gold is far better than panning at home in a tub. Just make sure to keep your clothes on......
 

I started with bird shot painted orange so I could see it. If you can pan and keep those in, your golden, as gold is even heavier. Then I took to seeing how aggressive I could get with out loosing any shot. That is a fun learning experience. I buy bags at times when the weather is all bad and I need a fix.
I can now pan as well as a blue bowl and at a fraction of the time.
 

goldenmojo said:
Ausome thanks for keeping the memory of EagleDown alive. Was thinking about his posts today while sitting at a stoplight.

NuggetBrain Get out to the river with your pan as soon as possible. Panning in the wilds collecting gold is far better than panning at home in a tub. Just make sure to keep your clothes on......
Click to expand...

goldenmojo, EagleDown is the reason I joined TNet. His stories inspired me. Briceburg is where I caught gold fever, which made it all that more relevant to me. Sadly, Eagle ran out of time on this earth before we got to go nugget shooting, but I do think of him from time to time as well. This passed weekend I was in the Sierras and a small butterfly kept following us. Finally, as we were stopped, it caught up with us again. I put my hand out and it landed on me. We put some drops of water on my fingers and it drank it. We passed it from hand-to-hand between all of us. It did not want to leave us. We eventually placed it on a small plant. It then flew off. Those types of moments remind me of Eagle and his stories. His love and respect for nature are infectious!

Nuggetbrain - let us know how you do on the river. Be safe out there.
 

if you go on ebay don't buy bags from Porcupine Creek not much gold in there bags I have bought bags from ebay just to have something to do for the winter I have got a lot of good bags from Eureka Joes Paydirt there like 57.00 for 2lbs but you will be hours panning there is a lot of gold in there bags just remember the people selling paydirt on there is not going to take a loss but if you can find gold just about anywhere if you don't mind the time you would put in to panning and working the ground you can have a lot of fun doing so.
 

Since this thread came back I want to add a thought. If you just want some gold but it in whatever form floats your boat.

To practice panning get some local gold. From where you expect prospect. I was surprised how different gold acts much different. See how it acts in your pan. Especially the small amounts
 

Warning to anyone buying pay dirt don't buy from USA gold pay dirt you would be better off buying gold and throwing it in your own dirt.
 

goldog said:
Since this thread came back I want to add a thought. If you just want some gold but it in whatever form floats your boat.

To practice panning get some local gold. From where you expect prospect. I was surprised how different gold acts much different. See how it acts in your pan. Especially the small amounts
Click to expand...

This is great advice! Local paydirt may have very different contents such as black sands, garnet, etc which change the panning challenges too. Go local, get better faster! Just be sure they are using real paydirt...some places just use random material and add gold to it. You learn more from real paydirt from a gold bearing deposit.
 

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jeff of Pa, you having any kind of luck finding gold on the eastern side of Pa? is anybody?
 

kayakpat said:
jeff of Pa, you having any kind of luck finding gold on the eastern side of Pa? is anybody?
Click to expand...

only in Bags in my kitchen :tongue3:

and it's been a few years since I did that
 

If your look to purchase pay dirt I highly recommend wiskey_petes_gold I've bought 2 of his 5 pound bags and they have been well worth it finding nice gold and some turquoise. Lots of fun and you get real dirt. Not seeded like many others.
 

I found more than a gram of gold in two bags each bag costs 18 dollars so as far as fare wiskey_petes_gold is your best bet if your buying dirt. Yet in most cases you are right buying gold and making you own cons is the bet.
 

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