I am New to the game!! Any advise will be appreciated

[crystalpayne]

My Husband took me on vacation to Helen, Ga and I went panning for gold! Needless to say I am now addicted and want to take this newfound hobby to the extreme! I am about to go to Alabama Gold camp and I am going to rent a High Banker, this is a machine that I am looking to invest in but I am not sure if it is practical for me. I am looking for any tips on stuff to buy that is a must have, or any advise you are willing to put out there to help me! When I took up Salt Water fishing as a hobby I bought a lot of stuff that I really didn't need. I think this is going to be great for the whole Family to enjoy!

My Friends and Family say I'm crazy (they also said that about the Salt water fishing..I proved them wrong with a couple of sharks over 100lbs and Landed my first Cobia solo)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[midnightmoon]

Welcome to Treasurenet and welcome to gold prospecting!
Must haves -- lets see --
the Garrett gold panning kit is quite popular around here; comes with a snuffer bottle and some plastic vials for your gold.
Also consider a shovel, a pry bar, and a scoop.
And 5-gallon, or 3 gallon buckets.
A magnet to remove black sand [put the magnet in a baggie when using it, still works, but you won't get your magnet covered with black sand]. That stuff is hard to remove. Black sand is kind of like the metal filings in that toy -- the pic of a bald headed man in a plastic frame. You use a magnet to move metal shavings to give him hair and a beard. Yea.
And work gloves.
I also took up salt water fishing with $600. worth of gear and my darling daughter landed exactly 1 fish. A cute little rock fish. She carefully removed the hook with tools from the surgical pack I purchased and released the fish without incident considering it's spines are poisonous ... I didn't know. Sigh. But, I am doing much better with the gold thing.
My next gold prospecting purchases will be the Falcon MD20. And the Fisher Gold Bug Pro.
There are some good books on the subject:
"Fist Full of Gold" by Chris Ralph, copyright 2009, there is a lot of desert prospecting in this one; but mountains too.
And "Recreational Gold Prospecting For Fun and Profit" by Gail Butler -- this book is a little older -- copyright 1998. She learned panning from her grandpa, and she worked LAPD. Adventuresome!
The guys on this board are very helpful.
So, welcome aboard ... it's going to be a blast!

--Katt

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Welcome to Treasurenet and welcome to gold prospecting!
Must haves -- lets see --
the Garrett gold panning kit is quite popular around here; comes with a snuffer bottle and some plastic vials for your gold.
Also consider a shovel, a pry bar, and a scoop.
And 5-gallon, or 3 gallon buckets.
A magnet to remove black sand [put the magnet in a baggie when using it, still works, but you won't get your magnet covered with black sand]. That stuff is hard to remove. Black sand is kind of like the metal filings in that toy -- the pic of a bald headed man in a plastic frame. You use a magnet to move metal shavings to give him hair and a beard. Yea.
And work gloves.
I also took up salt water fishing with $600. worth of gear and my darling daughter landed exactly 1 fish. A cute little rock fish. She carefully removed the hook with tools from the surgical pack I purchased and released the fish without incident considering it's spines are poisonous ... I didn't know. Sigh. But, I am doing much better with the gold thing.
My next gold prospecting purchases will be the Falcon MD20. And the Fisher Gold Bug Pro.
There are some good books on the subject:
"Fist Full of Gold" by Chris Ralph, copyright 2009, there is a lot of desert prospecting in this one; but mountains too.
And "Recreational Gold Prospecting For Fun and Profit" by Gail Butler -- this book is a little older -- copyright 1998. She learned panning from her grandpa, and she worked LAPD. Adventuresome!
The guys on this board are very helpful.
So, welcome aboard ... it's going to be a blast!

--Katt

Yes welcome crystalpayne,
I always say there aren't enough ladies in the treasure hunting business and when you start bringing home the gold am sure your family will see a plate full of words they will ingest.
Midnightmoon is a smart lady. I like what she said. Gayle Butler is also a smart lady. I have her books. if you ever get out to California get her book Rockhounding California [Paperback]
Gail A. Butler (Author). Check it out she leads you around California to most of the greatest geologic areas I've ever seen. The rich mining history is still alive today here in California. There are gold and gems to be found all across this great country.
Of course this particular thread deals primarily with gold prospecting, which is why I'm sure you signed in here.
I just got back from a trip to the Mojave Desert to visit a friend's property. He and his wife plan to move here in about five years.
The travel trailer is now permanent.
After helping him put stuff together we did a little prospecting.
We took about a two-mile hike and took several samples.
During the day it never warmed up.
The first night it got down to 23°
The next night it got down to 20°
I put my own little recirculating high banker using a small sump pump and EZ sluice and a small generator.
And I had to bring my own water.
Here are some pictures.

We were very blessed there there was no wind blowing, and it was clear and sunny, but cold.
We found a little color, but we need to prospect other places near his property that may be richer.
Desert mining isn't the only kind of mining out here.
There's lots of River Mining, which is where I find most of my Gold.
This is East Fork San Gabriel River Gold in the picture below.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Check out the videos on this thread--lots of stuff to watch and learn (about equipment and techniques), and there's even some shots of gold that will get your heart pumping.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/327445-gold-panning-video.html

Welcome to the wonderful world of chasin' the gold!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Astrobouncer]

Welcome to the hobby! I would just get the basics, a panning kit, waders and maybe a sluice box for now. I see a lot of new people dive in and buy all sorts of things and inevitably sell them a year later (for half what they paid!) when they find out just how hard this hobby is. Good luck and keep us informed on how the trip goes to AGC!

 

[Ace2010]

Hi Crystal, welcome to prospecting.I'm not a professional and it's just a hobby to me that I enjoy.I've never used a highbanker, looks to much like work with the shoveling all day. Always remember rocks are lighter under the water.Listen to astro and start out small and go with others to see what you like before investing much money.
You're not to far from me so when the water warms up a little if you would like to try dredging I would be happy to take you sometime.It's not easy but its easier to suck gravel through a hose than it is to shovel it.You never know til you try it, you make like highbanker better.For me, I just like being under the water.

 

[crystalpayne]

Thanks Ace that would be awesome! I have read a lot about dredging! There are some pretty cool tools I have seen! I cant wait to get out there!

 

[crystalpayne]

I have panned twice! I did buy the bad of concentrate from one of the minning places, I did find gold! So then I re-panned everything and found I didn't miss anything, this surprised me. I don't even think that is possible and feel like I am missing something! I seen on another forum that people let their sand dry then re-pan it. Does this make a difference?

 

[crystalpayne]

Welcome to Treasurenet and welcome to gold prospecting!
Must haves -- lets see --
the Garrett gold panning kit is quite popular around here; comes with a snuffer bottle and some plastic vials for your gold.
Also consider a shovel, a pry bar, and a scoop.
And 5-gallon, or 3 gallon buckets.
A magnet to remove black sand [put the magnet in a baggie when using it, still works, but you won't get your magnet covered with black sand]. That stuff is hard to remove. Black sand is kind of like the metal filings in that toy -- the pic of a bald headed man in a plastic frame. You use a magnet to move metal shavings to give him hair and a beard. Yea.
And work gloves.
I also took up salt water fishing with $600. worth of gear and my darling daughter landed exactly 1 fish. A cute little rock fish. She carefully removed the hook with tools from the surgical pack I purchased and released the fish without incident considering it's spines are poisonous ... I didn't know. Sigh. But, I am doing much better with the gold thing.
My next gold prospecting purchases will be the Falcon MD20. And the Fisher Gold Bug Pro.
There are some good books on the subject:
"Fist Full of Gold" by Chris Ralph, copyright 2009, there is a lot of desert prospecting in this one; but mountains too.
And "Recreational Gold Prospecting For Fun and Profit" by Gail Butler -- this book is a little older -- copyright 1998. She learned panning from her grandpa, and she worked LAPD. Adventuresome!
The guys on this board are very helpful.
So, welcome aboard ... it's going to be a blast!

--Katt

Thank you so much, I am so excited! Its like Christmas morning in every pan!

 

[whiteriver23]

"midnightmoon" made a great recommendation on the book "Fists Full of Gold". I
got a copy last week and have to say it's about the best recent research tool you
can get your hands on. At the very least it may point you in the right direction on
which way you want to start out looking for the shiny stuff and in the long run
save some $$$. Just about every garage sale I've attended someone is selling
some type of prospecting equipment that didn't fit their expectations and I live
in an area where gold doesn't exist.
JP

 

[Fullpan]

And for inspiration - "Bacon and Beans from a Gold Pan" available used copies on the web.

 

[Lanny in AB]

I have panned twice! I did buy the bad of concentrate from one of the minning places, I did find gold! So then I re-panned everything and found I didn't miss anything, this surprised me. I don't even think that is possible and feel like I am missing something! I seen on another forum that people let their sand dry then re-pan it. Does this make a difference?

It shouldn't. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

All the best,

Lanny

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

 

[whiteriver23]

Seems like it would be the same as dry panning & that's a
harder way to go vs wet panning, at least that's what i've
found with the little experience I have.
JP