Whats a good day panning?

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

Hello, seems like its been a while :/ got Alex out today gold panning, seems we are always taking a backseat to the Army. (violin music here) His dads schedule seems to screw up plans altogether or we find ourselves crunching in way too much usually on a Saturday, suddenly with no notice to plan....and we end up at home around 11, with the hours of driving to find water. Anyway, it's been a while and we got out today on the Kern. We have no clue what a "good day" panning is. Our days our good, we get out of the desolate wasteland & see water! No army, just a nice day with the kids, but what does a "good pan" look like? One speck? 5 specks? We got a few specks, but are completely clueless when we can say we had a good pan. I'd say we run about 15 buckets (5 gallons each) of dirt..... It's some back breaking digging!!!!! For a few specks....I'm very proud of that child, he will dig, gets cut by glass, stands in cold water & he never loses his spirit I was thinking about doing a geology focused science class next year. Also, is there gold panning etiquette? Are you supposed to fill in your holes? Redisburse the sand pile you made with your sluice, etc? I see tons of holes everywhere and sometimes I fix other people's....I don't want anyone to find gold prospectors a nuisance. I sure wish people wouldn't leave trash at the shore, broken glass, etc but I'm certain most of this is from homeless, or crazy kids partying down by the river. Well, I totally went off tangent many times in this post. Good luck out there if you are headed out tomorrow after church and thanks in advance for answering my questions!

 

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[B H Prospector]

Any time I find color it is a good pan. Keep at it and you will eventually find a good paystreak with real good color. I have had times when I would run 12 buckets and get maybe 5 or 6 small specks. Then dig down 2 inches and over 3 in the same whole and get 50 colors and a picker or two. Learn where to look in a stream on the inside bend on gravel bars both in the stream and up on what is called a bench. Dig under and around large boulders any place where the water slows and gold will drop out and settle. I think I will be able to help you in the color intake soon. Tell Alex I am going to my claim today and I will be sending the Black Hills paydirt I promised soon. It will be worked down to a pound or two of cons classified down to 1/4" material. By all means pick up any trash you find and fill in holes when done on public land. Want to keep up a good image.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[Fabrication Specialists]

Any time I find color it is a good pan. Keep at it and you will eventually find a good paystreak with real good color. I have had times when I would run 12 buckets and get maybe 5 or 6 small specks. Then dig down 2 inches and over 3 in the same whole and get 50 colors and a picker or two. Learn where to look in a stream on the inside bend on gravel bars both in the stream and up on what is called a bench. Dig under and around large boulders any place where the water slows and gold will drop out and settle. I think I will be able to help you in the color intake soon. Tell Alex I am going to my claim today and I will be sending the Black Hills paydirt I promised soon. It will be worked down to a pound or two of cons classified down to 1/4" material. By all means pick up any trash you find and fill in holes when done on public land. Want to keep up a good image.


Good Luck!

BH Prospector

That is the dead truth. Gold can be finicky to find. As BH said I've literally been skunked and in a matter of inches you'll find a nugget or two, etc. Have Alex (or you!) do some research on the internet and learn where gold is typically found in rivers, streams, etc (gold will typically end up on the inside of bends in rivers or streams as the water is slower on the inside of a corner, and see if you can't dig around bigger rocks in the water, etc. There is a lot of free information out there, and being knowledgeable about geology basics, where in a stream gold slows down and get held, etc gives you a good starting point to start digging. Also see if gold has been found in the area your going, as you may need to just change areas altogether. Keep at it, but be warned, once you find a nice "picker" or nugget you'll be hooked for life!

Have a great day, Chris

 

[goldog]

You sort of answered your own question. Getting out and finding something, enjoying time together etc...

Each of us have different goals.

For me, any gold is good gold. But to quantify it I hope for a dollars worth for half a day.

Glad to hear from you again.

 

[Hoser John]

A pan is simply a prospecting or cleanup tool. NOT a mining tool. Work only cracks,crevices,depressions and holes. Buckets through a pan is a fools folly and as you have found NOT rewarding. Fun in the sun with your son is your true gold so enjoy. Just get a used,but not abused,used sluicebox -keene/Le Trap/Proline and then you'll find much more gold. The Kern has never been a decent producer of nuggets as 95%+ fines . Go north to the motherlode and much better results-John

 

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

BH prospector, I do believe you are our hero Alex is always asking if we can take a trip up there! He is beyond excited about dirt! My husband was envious when I told him you lived in the Dakotas. Yes, he was.

Hoser John, we run a small sluice & even got a gold cube recently (thanks taxes!) we run it through there before attempting to pan. (I'm horrible at panning & Alex isn't very great either) his dad somehow learned from videos and he seems to be very patient moving the sand around in the pan! still, we seem to have gold fever even if what we have is the size if a grain of salt

 

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

Oh I told my husband what y'all said about moving over 3 possibly making a huge difference and yes...now he's hooked on the idea of heading back to that spot and working it over. For some reason we always think "down!" we need to dig down more. I'm SURE we will head to that spot once the army dismisses him for the long weekend thursday (yes!! We will get to prospect for 2-3 days in a row!!)

Yes, a good day is family time well spent, I think I need to really talk to my husband about this, as I am often reminding him when he's frustrated with the kids throwing a huge rock in the water and splashing him, "character, dear...we need to be teaching them character" for some reason, he finds it a serious matter.....on Saturday later in the day, I took the liberty of taking some rocks and tossing them just right to splash him just for the fun of it. He didn't think it was funny, just that I was beyond immature he actually has taken the fun out of our prospecting a bit, the first few times it was just me and the kids.....there was some digging and sluicing....some playing and goofing around and the only seriousness had was me worrying about them getting swept into the river. And we ended up producing a few specks....but the kids would cry when we had to leave. That is a good day prospecting for sure

 

[B H Prospector]

I was able to spend a couple of hours on the claim yesterday and got 4 1/2 buckets of dirt to run for Alex. When I am done with it this week he sould have a pound or two of cons to run through his gold cube. I will get it dried and sent asap.

BH Prospector

 

[pmgsourdough]

Not sure what the situation is here, but I would be more than happy to provide some nice cons to a child who is interested in prospecting.

 

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

I'm so frustrated, I wrote a huge reply and now I erased it by tapping my phone BH prospector, your kindness has truly blessed me (and my family) please know we sincerely appreciate you!

 

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

Pmgsourdough, , I wrote to you about my son and it got erased because I tapped my phone the wrong way. Agh! my son is "prospector Alex" he started a thread titled "need prospecting areas" I'm going to see if I can link it in the post below this one. He's 10

 

[1dayIwillWalkOnST'sOfGOLD]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/348723-need-gold-prospecting-areas.html

We are new to treasurenet, I hope this works. Im his mom

 

[B H Prospector]

You are more than welcome Alex's Mom.

 

[63bkpkr]

Hello to Alex and to the Family!
I started backpacking in 1964 and have been at it ever since here in northern California. In 1971 my first born was five years old and I took her on her second and only good, at that time, backpacking trip into NorCal Wilderness, many good ones since then. In 1974 my second daughter was 4 years of age and I took her on her first backpacking trip with many since then. In 1980 my third child was 4 years of age and I took him on his first backpacking trip with many more since then. Being out there with ones children one at a time or all at a once is such a wonderful sharing time though fathers in particular can be a bit thick headed about why we are out there, speaking for myself of course. These adventures, as they are adventures, are life building times that bring the child closer to themselves as well as to the parent. I would not trade any of these times I've had with my children for any amount of money, status, power, etc.!

You've been given some great and useful advice from all! Prospecting is just like real estate location, location, location. Behind stream/river obstructions, down in bedrock cracks, eddy pockets/holes, close to the summer time water line OR far away from it up to and including the high spring flood line or a touch further up. Sample the area between these two extremes. Doing so will yield results.

Results of this practice:


The pile on the US half dollar is from all four of the single pictures and was taken from the downstream side of a large boulder that is located in the flood stage portion of a river bed.

Happy times to the family just being out together!.................63bkpkr