I bought a gold pan kit, but it's getting cold. Should I just bring dirt / material home from places I find interesting and take note for Spring?

[HoosierDude]

So, I just bought this kit from Amazon: Amazon product ASIN B08CM27VW4
It's getting cold so I'm not certain I'll be wanting to spend full days in the cold and in creeks this time of year. But I was wondering if it's common practice or a good idea to use this time of year to collect material from sites that you may want to return to in the Spring and in warmer weather to do a proper day of panning at?

I was just thinking of hitting up some of my favorite spots while hiking and filling up a ziplock back or three with some random material where I think some gold may or could be found and hauling it out, labeling it for future reference in case anything promising is panned out from the interior warmth of my house.

Good plan?

EDIT: Registered in 2012. I guess it's taken me 9 years to finally get around to getting started, lol.

 

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[delnorter]

Hell yes, take samples wherever you suspect gold may be. A little research of gold prospects/occurrences in your area would help eliminate a lot of areas, but sample away. You’ll learn a lot.

 

[Assembler]

Do not be afraid to sample outside of known gold district as you could be one of the few doing this and you never know what you could find.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Not a lot of gold in my part of Arkansas,but I,m going to be doing exactly what you describe,just because I want to.

 

[RTR]

So, I just bought this kit from Amazon: Amazon product ASIN B08CM27VW4
It's getting cold so I'm not certain I'll be wanting to spend full days in the cold and in creeks this time of year. But I was wondering if it's common practice or a good idea to use this time of year to collect material from sites that you may want to return to in the Spring and in warmer weather to do a proper day of panning at?

I was just thinking of hitting up some of my favorite spots while hiking and filling up a ziplock back or three with some random material where I think some gold may or could be found and hauling it out, labeling it for future reference in case anything promising is panned out from the interior warmth of my house.

Good plan?

EDIT: Registered in 2012. I guess it's taken me 9 years to finally get around to getting started, lol.

Thats what I have been doing for years . But bring more material home than a few ziplocks can hold, its a long winter. And classify the material at the locations to 1/4" (no need to carry excess weight )

 

[RTR]

And while you got the bug you might as well set up a recirculating sluice in your garage ,or basement

 

[N-Lionberger]

I like to sample with my pan before going through the effort to haul dirt anywhere. A pair of rubber gloves helps in cold water sampling.

 

[Assembler]

I like to sample with my pan before going through the effort to haul dirt anywhere. A pair of rubber gloves helps in cold water sampling.

This time of year a sheet metal wood stove would be nice for heating up the water to pan in. If you are panning a fair amounts for hours the hot water is very nice.

 

[russau]

Even at home during the colder months I had a 120vac heater element with thermostat wired into it to keep that panning water nice n warm for my hands . This warm water also helped breaking up the clay that is left in the cons. worked for me

 

[Tinhorn2]

I knew where a dried creek was about a mile walk in mountains. I took 2 buckets out there, filled some gravel in each to balanced my shoulders LOL & walked back to my truck, drove to wet creek etc,

No different than what your talking about - go ahead