Panning near northern ca.

[209bluebus]

Hi all,I've been lurking here for a while and decided to join this site, I was just wondering where a good place is to pan for gold in the motherlode area or near. My son and I are getting into this,he really seems to have fun doing this. Thanks,Troy

 

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[63bkpkr]

Hello 209bluebus/Troy,
The easiest place to go to is where gold has been found before and as you are in Lodi you are very close if not there. Any creek or stream that runs through historic gold country is where to go. It is as simple as that and as difficult. What I mean by that is at times a person reasons away the simple solution to the question "where is gold found". As in, well shoot it HAS to be in the bottom of some long forgotten canyon but not in my backyard.

If you go to the internet and type in panning for gold or beginner panning for gold you will find a bunch of hits. What you are looking for is a beginner's gold panning guide put online by a gentleman in Oregon and it tells you just how to do it and "in general" where to look. Where to look is the downstream side of boulders, in the curves of a river/stream and just look where he suggests.

You have a lot better chance of finding 'gold' than hitting the lottery but for either of these one must first perform an action, get involved as in try. And that is the mystery behind the entire prospecting gig. Panning is a simple relatively inexpensive way to start but even then you need a gold pan as well as a classifier, some type of screen to sort out the larger pieces of rock, say 1/2" or 3/8" grating and this lessens the work of kneeling along the banks of a stream swishing water and dirt around in the bottom of a pan. I built my first one by cutting both ends off of a Tuna fish can (before the design of the cans was changed to rimless on one end) and pop riveted in 1/4" mesh hardward cloth into the inside of one end, that's a classifier.

Prospecting can be tedious and you may not find a flake of gold for a long time but when you do you need to test it to see of it bends or breaks. If it breaks it is likely not gold, mica breaks and other things look like gold but are not. You and your son have a great time out there!

One word of caution, right now and for several more months all the streams and creeks in the Sierras will have considerable amounts of water in them and this stuff will be cold and dangerous so stay out of the fast water, please!

63bkpkr

 

[olepossum]

when gold panning i was told to check the riffles in the culverts they act like sluice boxes if at all possiable with out causing yourself any harm

 

[209bluebus]

Thank you for the help

 

[aa battery]

welcome frum the central valley

 

[kuger]

I am not going to tell ya where to pan,but ask that you please do not Trespass,it seems people think they can just go where ever they want,and tear the hell out of the stream banks

 

[menotomymaps]

I have a lot of old California gold claims maps and and detailed mining stats on my site:

http://menotomymaps.com/gold_claim_maps.asp

 

[Doug Watson]

One of the best and easiest ways to start is to join a local club. Lots of good advice and places to go without a lot of hassle. Doug.

 

[Hoser John]

Amen Doug--Local yokels of the retired type in SMALL LOCAL clubs rock the mining world . Free help,advice,equipment to use and more experience in a day than a lifetime of reading--John