First Day of Panning

[frost10509]

So this was my first day to attempt to pan and I quickly realized one thing. Well, a few things but número uno is panning is an art form and I am definitely no artist.
I feel I'm in a good area but if I have to rely on my panning to get the gold then I'm screwed. I have a great opportunity to prospect on a private piece of land (about 8 acres) in my family that is about 5 miles from known quartz/gold deposits in CT.
There is a creek that bisects the entire property which is where I was focusing my efforts. There is also quartz everywhere as well which I believe is a good indicator for the presence of gold? Right under the surface is basically bedrock and my second shovel uncovered a softball sized chunk of quartz. The river rocks are basically washed quartz boulders and you can see the river sand gleaming with all of the dissolved quartz.
One side of the creek slopes up about 15 to 20 feet of bedrock where the creek has obviously eroded over time. I think there are veins of quartz running through some of the exposed bedrock out toppings.
I was able to dig 2 five gallon buckets of material (one from the creek bed and one from larger boulders on the bank) that I have already classified with the standard classifier that comes in the green Garret panning kit. I wanted to know should I just run the material down a recirculating sluice and then run the finer stuff through say a Gold Cube?
I panned a scoop of material down to fine sand/gravel and I could start seeing the black sand but I couldn't seem to pan it down any further. I know it is lack of technique. I was very worried that I was panning out the gold (if any). I am not confident enough to pan and feel that I am catching gold. Can the afore mentioned tools be used in lieu of panning or will I have to pan at some point.
In-laws say if I find gold then I have free reign to extract however I please. I think they're as excited as I am for the hunt. For those of you with a lot of time in the field does thIs location hold promise and any suggestions on my panning woes? Those buckets of material are
screaming my name. Thanks for your help!

 

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[walldo]

I have a gold cube. I bought mine used. The person had modified the #1 tray with 1 /8 inch punch plate. So classify to 1/8 in before running the gold cube.
Then after running through the gold cube I run the cons through a blue bowl set up.
A little learning curve to get every thing right, but I had help from the local club I joined.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Just keep practicing! Here are a couple of videos we have done that you may find helpful



Jump to the 1:40 mark in this next video!

 

[frost10509]

Thanks guys. I'll just keep it up. Practice makes perfect I guess!

 

[Goodyguy]

Just practice your panning into a tub, that way if you do happen to loose any gold out of the pan it's not gone forever.
The more you pan the better you get. After 100 pans or so you should be fine.

While you are learning don't overload your pan. A scoop at a time is plenty. And don't even think about taking your pan out of the water to inspect for gold until nothing but black sand is left in the pan. You are wasting time looking for gold in the pan until only a small amount of material is left.

Also once you get down to mostly black sand turn the pan away from the traps and very gently wash it over the side a little at a time being sure to re stratify often in between.

There are probably 100's of ways to pan that work well, just keep practicing and you'll find what works best for you.
Go to youtube and do a search on gold panning and see what others are doing. Some ways are better than others but the more you watch the more ideas you'll get.

You will also find that panning different types of material will require different techniques to be employed.


Go for the gold
GG~

 

[mattfink]

yeah just practice like goodguy said just pan into a tub or another pan that way you can become more confident without losing anything...I practiced with a bag sand for weeks until I actually went out to find gold and it took a couple months after that to find it.....Oh and make sure your pans are seasoned!!!

 

[frost10509]

Seasoned? I am showing my rookieness huh? How do I season them?

 

[Fullpan]

There's always a little 'plastic mold release residue" on new pans - wash it in AJAX 'til the shine comes off or rub some sand around. You did good on
choosing samples. Maybe try crushing the quartz rocks by hand - see Astrobouncer's and Goodyguy's and TerryC's recent posts about building homemade rockcrushers. As for panning, try a couple flatten BB's or slivers of lead in your pan - if you can keep them in, you're halway to expert!

 

[frost10509]

Once again I learn something new every time I come here. Thanks again for all of the help. I am very curious to see what might be inside the quartz. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

 

[TerryC]

There's always a little 'plastic mold release residue" on new pans - wash it in AJAX 'til the shine comes off or rub some sand around. You did good on
choosing samples. Maybe try crushing the quartz rocks by hand - see Astrobouncer's and Goodyguy's and TerryC's recent posts about building homemade rockcrushers. As for panning, try a couple flatten BB's or slivers of lead in your pan - if you can keep them in, you're halway to expert!

Panning is the most required step in gold recovery yet it is also the easiest. It is difficult to get it wrong because there is no right way (WOW, I just made that up!). The basic rule of panning is AGITATE AGITATE AGITATE in water. The gold goes to the bottom very quickly because of its specific gravity. Only three other elements (I believe) are heavier than gold. Rhenium, Osmium, and Iridium. You're not likely to see them in your pan. The best pans (in my opinion) to use have a 1/4 inch "bowl" in the bottom. I also like the 90 degree riffles of the Gravity Trap and the Gold Getter. And as GG said, turn the riffles away to do the LAST of the black sand... carefully. I "season" my plastic pans by rubbing vigirously with 0000 steel wool. 14 inch pan to start then 10 inch pan to "finish". (EDIT: I forgot Platinum in the heavy minerals!) TTC

 

[Fullpan]

Also check out TAKODA's posts under Hard Rock Mining, but don't expect the chunky gold he's getting out of quartz rock - he's having really good luck. To see
your gold, if any, will probably require some magnification after panning the powdered rocks. Just double-checked TAKODA's
posts and he's pulled his pics - probably smart thing.

 

[frost10509]

Also check out TAKODA's posts under Hard Rock Mining, but don't expect the chunky gold he's getting out of quartz rock - he's having really good luck. To see
your gold, if any, will probably require some magnification after panning the powdered rocks. Just double-checked TAKODA's
posts and he's pulled his pics - probably smart thing.

As always, thanks Fullpan and TerryC!

 

[TerryC]

As always, thanks Fullpan and TerryC!

You are welcome, friend. TTC

 

[TerryC]

Suggestion on flattening lead... Put some pieces in a baggie. Flatten on a suitable piece of flat iron/steel using a hammer. If you flatten one REAL flat, you can cutit into very tiny "flakes" using a scissors. Spray paint the lead/s gold or yellow so they stand out in the pan. If you can count the number coming out as the same as going in, you got it mastered! TTC

 

[frost10509]

Suggestion on flattening lead... Put some pieces in a baggie. Flatten on a suitable piece of flat iron/steel using a hammer. If you flatten one REAL flat, you can cutit into very tiny "flakes" using a scissors. Spray paint the lead/s gold or yellow so they stand out in the pan. If you can count the number coming out as the same as going in, you got it mastered! TTC

You guys have all the tricks. Maybe I can fake out my wife at the same time as well?!?!
On second thought, better not tempt fate!

 

[TerryC]

You guys have all the tricks. Maybe I can fake out my wife at the same time as well?!?!
On second thought, better not tempt fate!

Yes, don't tempt fate. TTC

 

[Deester]

Hi from another complete newbie in the UK!
As has been said by the other fellas, there are lots of great vids on youTube to watch and learn from. But there's nothing quite like trying it out yourself. The way I did that this week was pretty much as TerryC says using lead. I cut up some fine solder into roughly 1-2mm chunks and put 10 of these in my pan (which for this test was actually just a plastic dish) added some dirt, and had a go! Knowing that there is a measured quantity of heavy material there in the first place makes a big difference in my opinion. Pan this out into a bucket/bowl and see if you can get the 10 chunks back. If you miss a few, just re-pan the whole lot again trying a different technique. After I'd suceeded at this I decided to have a try at finer stuff so I used a file on some solder/lead until I had a nice pile of heavy dust and threw this in the pan with some dirt and tried to separate that out. I was truely amazed that after just a little trial and error, I was able to recover even the fine 'gold' dust pretty easily!

I'm much more confident that I'll be able to keep hold of any gold that may be in my pan after this experience...I'm less confident that I'll find any gold nearby tho!

Good luck!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great job Deester, gold is more dense than lead and so is easier to pan...if you can do it with lead, you are ready for the big leagues! (Or the Premier League in your case!)

Mine it and recycle it!

 

[rodoconnor]

To give yourself a little confidence, toss a pnny in with your material and try to get it on top. It will sink instantly to the bottom. Gold is far heavier than copper/zinc.

 

[63bkpkr]

Frost,
Your little creek sounds like a prospectors dream and you've received plenty of inputs on the 'how too's of panning' and assuming you've a plastic gold pan with riffles up one wall then you are all set save of course for the fact that it is now winter and your area should be very cold as well as white.

I worked with typical plastic gold pans for several years but a few years ago I purchased one called the Batpan from batpan.com The unit has three sides with some rare earth magnets along two sides of the pan, on the outside of the pan. What the magnets do is collect the magnetic black sands making it much easier to wash out the rest of the lighter materials. Also the pan is shaped like an inverted pyramid so all the heavies fall to the bottom of the pan. The pointed shape makes it less convenient to set the pan down however I feel the pan is a worthwhile device and it is the only one I carry with me.

The best of success to you with your 5 acres and quartz laden stream and finding the yellow metal on it.........63bkpkr

You might care to check your black sands with a magnet to confirm if they are the magnetic type of black sand!