Ever panned with someone that was getting way more gold?

[idowa]

It is sooo frustrating...

Worked 5 hours today and moved around 20 pans full of material. Got a couple of pickers and had a really good day, I thought. A friend of mine worked 6 hours yesterday at the same spot and got twice as much.

We've panned side by side and worked the same spot for the same amount of time, and he gets roughly twice as much every time. He's been doing it for 20 years and I've been doing it for a year, but I've studied his technique and have tried to mirror it. I did start finding more, but he still beats me every time.

I'm convinced panning is more art than science...

BTW, this is what I got today:

 

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[MadMarshall]

It is tough to say.. I can pan multiple pans compared to the average Joe one.. Also when I pan I often dictate my style of panning to my enviroment in the sense that some pans I will pan roughly intending on losing the flour and dust only to keep pickers and be able to move more material..and making a more profitable day..Some days I pan down to a half cup don't even care what in my pan as it goining in the bucket to be hiked out.Only time and experiance will tell you..Art? Science? Experience? There are so many different scenario's but I think one thing will hold true! A prospector must be adaptable!!

 

[NuggetN8]

Finding more gold isn't all about how you pan as long as you're sure your method works. Its mostly about where you're digging. Gold can be pretty random sometimes. Dig in one spot and get nothing move over a foot or even a few inches and you could get a huge nugget. Part knowledge part luck. He could dig in the same hole as you and find a bunch of gold and you could take a pan out right after him and get nothing. It depends on a lot of things though. (What size of gold, how much there is in the area, currents, flow, bends in the creek etc) Keep at it and I'm sure you'll do as good if not better than him! Good luck!

 

[DesertNuggets]

Luck & Skill.

 

[Fabrication Specialists]

Lets not forgot maybe his shovel held more gold than yours did. Gold deposits can change rapidly, when you're on good gold your buddy 2 feet away may not be. Also the other thing that helps is classify your material before you start panning. That will get rid of the larger rocks and make panning easier.

I guess if your buddy is getting more gold wait till he bends down to pan then take your shovel and sneak up behind him and then......oh wait don't do that! lol JUST KIDDING!!!

Gold is quite random, don't be discouraged as you never know what that next shovel may hold!

 

[NorCalPilot]

Or sneak a vial out on your next trip and add a little to your pan when your buddy isn't looking. He's been doing that to you!

 

[Vance in AK]

Are you both doing the same # of pans? If he has 20 yrson you I would hope he is proccessing more material by the end of the day.

 

[dieselram94]

If he is always getting more gold than you are most likely the variable. Seeing he has 20 years to your one it is probably safe to say you need more practice. This is the same story with my wife and I, I always get more gold but then again I have been panning almost 20 years to her 2 outings...

 

[WildWill]

Id agree with experience and skill, been panning on 3 years now, and my ability is 10x that of my first year, just keep on keeping on

 

[claygold]

Lets not forgot maybe his shovel held more gold than yours did. Gold deposits can change rapidly, when you're on good gold your buddy 2 feet away may not be. Also the other thing that helps is classify your material before you start panning. That will get rid of the larger rocks and make panning easier.

I guess if your buddy is getting more gold wait till he bends down to pan then take your shovel and sneak up behind him and then......oh wait don't do that! lol JUST KIDDING!!!

Gold is quite random, don't be discouraged as you never know what that next shovel may hold!

Heres how i pan we have a lot of glay here n.c. I take 1/4" hardware screen put it over a 5 gal bucket and classifie it down then pan don't like plastic ones as whatever i shovel go in the bucket 6" rocks ect works good for me

 

[idowa]

I have a 1/4" classifier that sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket full of water. I put in a couple of shovelfuls, pour a couple more shovelfuls of water, wash it and classify it, then repeat until I have about a half bucket of material, then take that to the panning spot in the creek and just start panning a bit of material at a time.

I used to pan each couple of scoopfuls down to black sand and the gold, pick out the gold, and repeat.

I noticed my buddy would just keep adding material, pan it down to a manageable level, then add more material until the bucket was empty, then pan down to the black sands and gold.

I starting imitating his method and started moving more material, but I noticed he can go through a bucket of classified material a lot faster than me. I am simply still paranoid about washing out gold...

Also, when I'm classifying my shovel loads, I take a lot more time inspecting the material before I dump it; again I think it is simply an experience thing...