Question for MDers/Gold Panners

[Dick from IA]

For those of you who metal detect and pan for gold, I have a question.

Which is more exhausting?:

A day of metal detecting or

A day of Gold panning(just panning, not dredging or sluicing)

Just curious; I presently MD and want to start panning, too.


DFIU (Dick from IA)

 

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[MAINE HILLS HUNTER]

DFIU, where are you going to go panning for gold in IA? I have heard stories of gold being found in the volga, cedar, and racoon rivers but the stories also said that one would pull only about $20 worth of gold out of any of these rivers in an 10 hour day. Of course that was a long time ago.... would probably be 40-60 bucks with gold prices these days. Good luck in this. Let me know how you make out. I thought about doing some panning but thought twice about it and decided to stick to MD'ing.

Eric

 

[Dick from IA]

Hey Eric:

I'm in Ft. Dodge, along the Des Moines River and have heard of some with limited success. Not getting into it because of the $$ as much as trying a different type of THing just for fun. If it's more exhausting than MDing, then I'd probably pass on it. Not over the hill yet, but the top is in view, if ya know what I mean. Really pooped after a day of MDing, but it sure has me in the best shape I've been in for years.

My son and family live along the Cedar River in Charles City. When we visit we camp right along the Cedar;

Thanks for the info.


DFIU (Dick from IA)

 

[goldinmypan]

OK, I'm not from Iowa. All I know is its flat. Well maybe thats a misconception. If the gold that is there is glacier moran then it is more than likely fine, which is not exactly nugget detecting gold.

The next question. Which is more exhausting. Well, if its 110 degrees outside, would you rather be out on a hill top in the sun swinging a MD. or sitting in the middle of a creek, waist deep in H2O swearling a pan. Of cource you still have to dig the dirt to put in the pan.

 

[warsawdaddy]

You would really enjoy the search for gold.You can pan at your own pace.An idea would be to get a spiral batt operated wheel that you can set and use.Attend one of the gold shows put on by the GPAA,one in Onalaska,WI in Oct.You'll see demos and venders there.There is a chapter in Iowa,check it out:

http://www.iowagold.net/

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

sheeshs simple, detecting is far easier. Panning leaves you with a sore back and at times leg cramps, it IS work.

Tropical Tramp

 

[Jeffro]

Panning is definately more physical.

 

[Dick from IA]

Thanks for the replies, you guys!

So far it's about even as to which is more physical, panning or detecting. Some one way, some another. I guess it would depend on how aggressively I go after it; and being retired I don't need to be so aggressive, so I believe I'll give it a try sometime.

I detect steadily, not at a breakneck speed, so I'll approach panning just the same way.

DFIU (Dick from IA)

 

[Jeffro]

Actually, no matter how you look at it, its a win-win. Panning/detecting? Detecting/panning? Coin flip says---- YES! I'll be panning today!


Heck, why not try out coin collecting too?


Sorry Mrs. DFIU, I didn't mean to get him going.... really!

 

[Dick from IA]

Actually, no matter how you look at it, its a win-win. Panning/detecting? Detecting/panning? Coin flip says---- YES! I'll be panning today!


Heck, why not try out coin collecting too?


Sorry Mrs. DFIU, I didn't mean to get him going.... really!

LOL My wife is really very tolerant of my hobby, and in fact encouraged me last week to buy an X-70, which I've really wanted but was too tight to buy. Why wait, life's too short, she said. SO I Bought It!!

But, she does giggle whenever I bring up gold panning :P

 

[Pirates Keep]

I would say panning is. But I like MD'ing for the "not knowing what your going to get" thing.

 

[Urban Prospector]

It's all relative, ever notice digging pop tops is exhausting yet digging the same amount of holes for silver isn't.

 

[Dick from IA]

It's all relative, ever notice digging pop tops is exhausting yet digging the same amount of holes for silver isn't.

Isn't that the truth. Today I was using the HF coil on my Xterra 70, looking for jewelry; and yes, digging foil and pulltabs for hours is very tiring Especially when that is all I found

 

[Functional]

Dick

If you really like panning, its not work. I like to find a spot in the river, or stream thats only about a foot deep and plant my camping stool down with my bucket tied to it, just in case. I don't usually use a shovel, but I do strap a hammer holder like carpenters use to the side of the stool and stick my small army style shovel through it. My hand trowel is on a rope which goes around the leg of the stool and my "cooler" is just a plastic container with lockable lid that rests on the bottom, (also tied to the leg of the stool).

When I'm panning, nothing else matters and time is just a position of the sun. I pan in areas where its mostly sandy soil and rocky streams and rivers. The sandy soil means I can safely have a small campfire and that means a hot lunch and supper from the pots I bury in the coals. Take your pick, stew, chili, or beans, they all taste better baked in hot coals for hours. Just don't forget the tortilla's. Sometimes I think to do some fishing too, but I'm not a fanatic about it.

Whatever you do, don't rush it. You may be panning for gold, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the peace and serenity while your there.

F.

 

[Dick from IA]

Hey Functional, that's the best answer I've seen yet!!

I'm hoping to do this for the pleasure and not the exertion and dreams of wealth some might undergo. I worked hard to get to this point of retirement and your description of a day panning is enticing indeed.

Thanks for sharing.

Dick

 

[Hoser John]

A decent detector will scan just shy of a cubic foot a second at a steady swing. A pan will check a cup in about 5 minutes. I throw a poker chip on a few dozen targets and scoop them up all at once and dump that in a sluice. Don't play the split/resplit game,waste a time and your mining instead a didling. Your back at the lousy cup every 5 minutes. Think- you gotta play find the target,lay down the detector,get pan,trowel to dig,down on your knees,whatever,scoop it up swing it over the coil, nope get another,over and over.At the days end or when it gets hot,dump the sluice and pan out your gold!!! Work smart,not hard and enjoy your adventure.Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[Functional]

Hey Dick;

You might try using a MD earlier in the year, then switching to panning when the water levels drop? Previously, I never owned a good MD with manual ground balancing that could detect gold through the highly mineralized soil here, so I stuck with panning. It's only been over this past winter, when I found this website that I decided to see if there wasn't some way to increase my gold finds by getting a better MD. I still plan on panning, for the enjoyment of it, but with the increases in fuel and living costs, I hope the MD will increase my earnings.

The MD I just had given to me was involved in a fire, but I hope to fix its audio problem and have it fully functional soon. I'm opening her up tomorrow to see if I can spot the problem. Its just an old Compass Magnum 420 MD, but its the first MD I've owned that has ground balancing and from what I've read, it was known as a good nugget machine in its day.

Anyway, since you already have experience with swinging a MD and are familiar with areas that might be thin on nuggets while being rich on flake, or flour gold, you might find as I have, that panning can be more consistent in it returns, (depending on the particular area your in), simply because of a lack of coarse gold. I don't have the fanciest equipment and most if what I do have is improvised and patched together, but I'm slowly working on improving both my tool selection and my knowledge of prospecting techniques in general. I've posted links to some of the information I've come up with in this forum and in particular in the following thread:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,86794.0.html

I'm not out for the big score, but I do expect to increase my returns by working smarter and taking advantage of opportunities that others often overlook. If you want in to increase your take from panning, there are a few webpages around that go into detail on what to do with tellurides, like this one:
http://www.nuggethunters.org/telluride.html

Good luck and have a great summer!

F.

 

[Nashoba]

Panning is definately more physical.

That's a straight up fact Jack. A day of panning really kicks your tush. Honestly I don;t think there is even a comparison.

~Nash~

 

[Broken Emerald]

Gold panning.