Falcon finishing gold pan

[Skiddum]

I'm looking for advice on this pan. and how well it works. I have a Maverick finsihing pan but from what I've been reading and seen the Falcon is by far 1 of the better pans for finishing. and that it works better than miller tables and other equipment. just takes patients. so anywayslooking forward to hearing from you guys and your opinion. if you've used it I'd love to hear from you. if you've used the maverick and the falcon I'd like to know what you find easier and what you finds holds the fines better. I'm looking to increase my panning skills. I can pan down to 100 mesh fairly Decent with all the pans I've used with a few exceptions.

 

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[rodoconnor]

To say that it works better than a Miller table is quite a claim Skiddum. I've never used A Maverick or Falcon pan but I use a Table always

 

[johnedoe]

To say that it works better than a Miller table is quite a claim Skiddum. I've never used A Maverick or Falcon pan but I use a Table always

YUP.... what rodoconnor said......

 

[Skiddum]

this is just what I've been reading. they reason they say it's got better results is because you control every aspect of the finishing pan. where as the others are more like a river that you control the flood gate

 

[johnedoe]

this is just what I've been reading. they reason they say it's got better results is because you control every aspect of the finishing pan. where as the others are more like a river that you control the flood gate

I don't know,,,,,, I took look at the web site and well I think you could do the same with a metal pan .... get some course sand paper and go around the pan to put the "micro-grooves" in into the flared sides. Anyway these pans are designed for sampling .... I have better use of my time than to try and use them for final cleanup.

When it comes to final cleanup it will be pretty hard to beat a miller table if you have any quantity of material to work.... However the falcon pan will be a lot easier to carry in the field....

On a side note I took a look at their Falco gold tracker MD 20 and was NOT impressed.... needless to say I did not waste any more time or money on it.

I think I will just stay with my blue EZ pan.....
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/453068-ez-gold-pan.html

 

[arizau]

The real secret of the effectiveness of a falcon pan for use as a finishing pan is that........ there is a smooth transition between the bottom and the side unlike the traditional plastic pan which has a bit of a vertical step/shoulder between the bottom and the side which actually hinders the process of "finish panning" eg. the separation of the last of the black sand from the gold. Some black sand is trapped in the crease of a traditional plastic pan along with the gold thus the hinderance. This is opposed to a pan with a smooth transition which allows all waste material (gold too if you are not careful) unhindered access to final rejection by water wave action.

In most cases, steel pans are formed with a smooth transition too and they are cheaper! If you choose to get one season it before use and here is a link with references on how to do that. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/448570-i-ran-my-new-old-school-pan-today.html

A steel pan will quickly rust if not dried after use but when it rusts and the rust is removed by scouring the result is tiny indentations that give much the same effect as the "micro" ridges in the falcon. A slight amount of remaining rust leaves a raised sandpaper effect on the pan which actually is a positive effect too as it is a coarse surface for gold to stop on while other lighter material washes out.

Good luck.

PS: Do yourself a favor and get a 30, 50 and 100 mesh classifier (I use 4 or 6" ones). This makes finish panning/recovery much easier no matter your final cleanup method.

 

[johnedoe]

If I remember right the old timers used to throw their metal gold pans into the campfire to season them.... Try that with yer new fangled plastic pan.....

And about the rust..... no big deal, your first pan load will cleans it up and you won't lose anything by doing that..... and yes the micro pits that the rust creates is a good thing.

 

[arizau]

If I remember right the old timers used to throw their metal gold pans into the campfire to season them.... Try that with yer new fangled plastic pan.....

And about the rust..... no big deal, your first pan load will cleans it up and you won't lose anything by doing that..... and yes the micro pits that the rust creates is a good thing.

Multipurpose too: sand scooper/digger for hands and pans only areas, fry pan/beanie weenie heater, etc.

 

[Skiddum]

ok. cool thanks guys. I was just looking at them. I have a black magic and blue bowl. but want something for when I start going on camping trips and such. caring back a bucket of blacksand is very difficult. so if I can clean up at least a good bit before then it would help. might also help to go back through the super cons again before we leave. but I'm always worried about loosing gold. we only got to actually do 1 good trip last year. spent a full week up there and once everything was cleaned up for the day everyone would put everything left in there pans in 1 bucket. and caring that thing down was an event all by itself. all of us took turns packing it down. and after me and the wife didn't even get to go through it. we had a huge argument with the other guy about something stupid and he kept it. we'd already pulled what we could see out but im sure if he was as smart as he claimed then he'd have gotten tins out of it. but I doubt it. he didn't even know how to really prospect he'd sit there at the river and be like. the deeper I go the more black sand I'm finding. and me and the wife are already clear down as far as we could go digging going yep. that's how it works. so I'm betting he didn't clean up the blacksand or anything. probably still sitting in his truck. that's another thing

any of you guys ever herd of using.
5 gallon water bucket
2 cup of white vinegar,
rest water.
then add rock salt and 2 table spoons laundry soap.
let sit for a week
it's supposed to clean up and dirty gold thats mixed in the blacksand.
from what I've been reading it helps out allot to with cleaning up blacksand. I've wanted to test it out buy haven't really tried it yet. I've got some that I've ran through the blue bowl to and pulled all the gold I could find out.
But I've herd of other using things like borack acid and concrete acid, and some other really nasty type stuff trying to clean up blacksand to see and get what gold is all dirty and dingy. sounded like it would be a good substitute for use of things of that nature

 

[johnedoe]

YUP..... those old metal pans were truly a multi use tool......

 

[Skiddum]

I'll definitely have to get 1. thanks all

 

[KevinInColorado]

Those ideas for treating blacks and with chemicals will work. The problem typically is a lot more $ spent on chemicals than the value of the gold found. Best way around this is concentration via further panning...so you have less material to process with the chemicals. Go watch Mike Pung's videos on finish processing/panning to get great at this. He published a whole series of videos about six months ago. Can't find the link right now (due to being in China right now) but search on YouTube...might also be on the Goldcube channel.

 

[Skiddum]

Sweetness thanks Kevin as always man. your wisdom is always welcome. thanks everyone for the help. I'd be so lost if I didn't have TNET

 

[rodoconnor]

Kevin, you heard about that big ol nugget the Chinese farmer found ,so off you go? LOL

 

[KevinInColorado]

Yeah right Rod! I wish...
This being communist China, all the gold in the ground is government property. Unless you get a license from the govt first, any mining you do - you have to give the gold to the government although I think that farmer did get some sort of reward from the authorities.