what material to pan?

[eureka77]

I live in NC above mooresville in the ''piedmont belt''. Anyways when panning a small creek what material do you pan? Do you dig a certain depth then pan or the top layer. Ibeen doing alot of reading and know about the different layers and what not and know where I'm suppose to dig but how far down do yall go to reach those spots on average.
I understand this is real vauge but.... I've panned the 1st time today for a little while and am finding alot of black sand. Also one huge bedrock in the stream i was able to break chunks of and in those chunks was nothing but gold flakes and black sand. I washed it in the pan and when i was done the whole pan was nothing but that ''gold'' and a little bit of black sand. I wish i would've took a pic so yall could i dentify it but didint have a camera. I ended up just washing it back out cause i wasnt sure what it is. I know I could identify a nygget but that flake stuff...... not sure.
to the original ? what do yLL LOOK FOR?

 

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[eureka77]

eureka77;

The answer to your question is---Go DOWN. Gold is almost twice as heavy as lead! gold goes down as far as it can, and that's where you will find it.

Using a shovel can be hit or miss, as you can imagine, knowing that the gold, if it is there at all, is on the absolute bottom. And if it is disturbed, it will return to the bottom really fast. so you can imagine the hit-or-miss situation of using a shovel to try and scoop it up. A shovel mostly just disturbs it, especially when under water. It will fall off the end of a shovel quicker than you can blink, because it's going to be at the very tip, to begin with! (The exception to this is sometimes there is very sticky, dense, clay; and it can hold some gold in suspension, sometimes.)

That's why dredges are so effective---it's not just the volume, it's that they suck everything right up, down to bare bedrock. Even a hand operated sucker, like a turkey baster for sucking out cracks, or the piston type (works the opposite of a bicycle tire pump) for getting around rocks and down to the bottom. (Never stand in front of a boulder while sucking all the sand out from under it, however, because it will roll onto you!)

Placer gold looks like yellow, used, chewing gum, dents and all, because it is very mallable and usually worn to one degree or another by getting pushed down the river, over the sand and stuff. If it looks flaky and changes color, dark to light, as you turn it in the light, it's not gold. Once you see it, there is no mistaking it.

Once you agitate your pan a little, and remove any larger pieces of rock, you will have three layers: river sand on top, black (iron) sand in the middle, and gold (if you got some) on the very bottom. Gold is almost three times heaver than iron, so you can be sure that's where it will be, on the very bottom.

If it is very small size, they call it flour gold, because it's about that size, and will form an arc line around the outer circular edge of the pan. When you've gotten all of the river sand out of the pan, tip the pan (with a little water still in it) away from you and agitate it, then tip it back toward you gently so the water moves the black sand toward you. The gold will stay where it is, at the far edge of the pan, forming a small arc of yellow that you can easily see.

Gently wash the black sand back a few times and if there is flour gold there, it will be visible. You can even get it to where there is a separation area between the black sand and the gold, this way. If there are larger pieces, too, they will show up a little sooner. If you got nuggets, also, they will start to peak through the sand much sooner.

Have fun, and bring plenty of fresh water.

Right. These are things I've learned along the way. Why didn't ya post back in May, couldn't of asked for a better reply!
Atleast if someone does a search they'll see this and the other knowledge other people have posted to help them along the way.
Thanks.

 

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