when is a pan test considered good

[alaskagems]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum but not to the mining industry. I have a gold mine here in alaska. There are three small creeks on five thousand acres. Of course I have panned a ton of tests. It is remote so I did so before flying my four inch dredge out. I usually get from One to three grams for four to five hours of dredging and that is surface gravel as I have not reached bedrock yet. I believe the bedrock is around twenty feet. I find gold fly speck in almost every random pan. Some tests yield four or five colors per pan others much more. One random pan for instance had twenty spec. What I would like to know is what is considered a good pan test as far as how many spec or color per each pan. Im considering placer mining the area. I believe I am getting good enough results to warrant further development but it is so remote i must be certain Im on to something here. I also found and verified corundum some of which are gem quality, blue saphire looking similar to kashmir blue as well as yellow, purple, pink, and red. The largest blue so far is only two carats but I have only processed less than 100 yards of material. Thanks for any input I may receive

 

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[mytimetoshine]

The OP asked if it was worth it... $350 considering impurities. Subtract $75 for fuel, $25 for food plus replacing the shovel you broke and you are down to about $250. Divide that by 10 hours of panning/sluicing, 3 hours of travel time and another 3 hours of cleanup to get just gold in a vial and you are making about $15 bucks an hour. So yeah, 1/4 oz a day... Anything less and you are just messing around and having

Lol. That's one heck of a "day" trip panning!
Broken shovel? Lmao...whatever guys..I stand corrected i guess. Smh..

 

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[Joanne]

Allan is a nice guy. We are planning to get together for some video later in the year. Yeah, a lot of YouTubers have a "shtick" to help them be unique and memorable. The nice thing about YouTube is that there is no lack of options. There are a lot of very smart people out there creating content, so if you don't like one channel, there are plenty more to watch.

Of course rigs like Allan's this aren't for every ground condition. But in the right location, it might be useful.

Joanne

 

[Tesorodeoro]

3-12 grains of gold per hour of dredging seems pretty dismal. Especially for having to fly equipment in.
I don’t know anything about the stones.

I’m not familiar with counting colors, nor Alaska gold mining.

Maybe clarify what your goals are?

 

[et1955]

Clearly it depends on "if your trying to make money" and Clearly the size of the operation and overhead is a huge factor. I was only referring to the part where he said 1/4 ounce with just a pan or sluice. Which Clearly would NOT be a waste of time, or anything close to it.

Maybe you need to read his post again, he said 1 to 3 grams dredging for 4 to 5 hours, that is clearly not profitable. Size of operation means nothing without the gold producing ground to support it and make a profit.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Maybe you need to read his post again, he said 1 to 3 grams dredging for 4 to 5 hours, that is clearly not profitable. Size of operation means nothing without the gold producing ground to support it and make a profit.

Smh....

 

[Goldwasher]

Smh....

Lol.. this stuff cracks me up. You're one of the few commenters being realistic.

How dare you..

 

[Goldwasher]

If you arent getting a quarter ounce dredging in 4-5 hours. you dragged your gear to the wrong spot.

If your dredging and it isn't because you know you'll hit cracks with several DWT per crack.

You dragged your gear to the wrong spot.

Unless you are doing it for fun...paying to dredge..is not really all that fun to me.

if you can't determin that with a gold pan.

Don't buy a dredge.

 

[Bonaro]

If you arent getting a quarter ounce dredging in 4-5 hours. you dragged your gear to the wrong spot.

If your dredging and it isn't because you know you'll hit cracks with several DWT per crack.

You dragged your gear to the wrong spot.

Unless you are doing it for fun...paying to dredge..is not really all that fun to me.

if you can't determin that with a gold pan.

Don't buy a dredge.

Even if you are getting 1/4 oz in 4-5 hours but you have to hire a helicopter to get gear there, you're still in the wrong spot

 

[hunterbill]

Depends on the goal you have set for yourself. I consider anything close to a gram an hr. to be good dredging and enough that I'm going stay and grind it out. My goal is at least to cover expenses, and one or two ounces a month will do that for a one man dredging operation. I would not invest into an upland mining operation based on stream samples. Also, I have found it Not always true that deeper is better. Have seen places where more fine gold is actually in the top layer and just pumping up the top foot and going for lots of square footage, is what pays the bills.