Gold Panning

I use to do it as a child when we didn't have any internet, got some not much. Sold it a couple years ago and got 800 dollars from 2 years of work part time. I had a cheap plastic green one I bought from Canadian Tire for 12 dollars... Worked fine

>>968207
That's awesome. How long was each panning session? Was the river close or out in the boonies?

I was looking at getting something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Estwing-BP-16-Black-Plastic-13-Ounce/dp/B00DT0P616/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8

theres a fairly large panning community where I live, most of them will give you hints where to go but they all have their secret spots.

I've never been but I'd love to try.

>>968332
>most of them will give you hints where to go but they all have their secret spots.
Sounds like the mushroom community here.

Anyone else have tips and info?

http://www.goldprospectors.org/

>>968222
That pan will work fine. I prefer the Garrett super sluice pan though, more rugged design and you can pan faster/aggressively with it. Actually get both, when you're panning down your concentrates do it into one.or the other so you lose nothing.

Reminder that this is illegal af be sneaky boys

>>969281
How so/where?
From my European experience, collecting fossils and minerals (under which small amounts of gold should fall) for personal use is not a problem, unless you are in specially protected areas.
But yeah, if you go to a highly visible point and move tons of dirt (even when it is hand-shovelled) people will start to ask questions.

That said; I am thinking about trying it too coming spring/summer, since there are a few areas close to me where you have some minor gold deposits that have been mined in historical times, so there at least should be a possibility to find something.

So, any recommended reading or yt videos on the technique? Possible deposits would also be nice, but given that I studied that stuff, I should be able to remember where to look, but I would prefer it to not find anything because of the inherent rareness of gold, and not because I am stupidly panning away all the stuff because I'm doing it wrong.

>>969284
You can't do shit unless you have permission from the claim owner.

Not all areas are claimed. YMMV.
Some states (US) permit panning on public lands. I would highly recommend looking up the relevant laws for the location you intend to pan. I am not a lawyer, or familiar with specific states laws regarding gold panning, so you'll have to use your own Google fu

>>969199
Thanks, I'll look into that one too. I just want something that I can toss in my pack. I'm not super serious about it, but more for casual fun.

>>969309
This is on public/crown land.

>>968222
First, checked
Secondly, It was maybe 30-45 minutes? Just wasting time when I was younger.
Thirdly, it was about 25 minutes drive outside of town.

>>969698
Yes and public/crown land can still be claimed and or restricted in other ways. Not to mention there is specific equipment that can't be used in some places, and you may have to reclaim the area after.

>>969783
gtfo

>>969783
>Yes and public/crown land can still be claimed and or restricted in other ways.
Can't really comment on the situation in Canada (I assume, because crown land…), but I would guess some small scale panning should be OK. And even if you get caught, you probably still can talk you way out of it, unless you are in the middle of a known and commercially mined gold field?
>Oh, I just read some stories about the 1723 gold rush, and I thought I just try some panning for a few hours to see how those poor sods back in the day earned their money.
>No, haven't found anything worth mentioning, but it's a nice activity in this great nature…

>Not to mention there is specific equipment that can't be used in some places
If you start running a sluice box or if you have large shovels or even mechanical equipment you probably will run into trouble or if you are at the same spot every single weekend. But showing up with a pan and a tacticool folding shovel, I can't imagine too many problems.
But I really gotta research my local laws on this. Now I'm curious.

>>969881
Here DNR would seize your equipment, your vehicle and charge you.

>>969802
Kys

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Holy shit you made my day.
this is freaking cool.

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Ok Anon, if you are looking to catch nuggets or flakes that really depends on the region you are located in. I work for a mining company in Indy and I test alot of dredge sand and find flakes on the daily. I run them through a Gilson shaker and a stack of sieves (#4 - #200) with decant. I usually spot flakes when I wash the sand (GOLD FLAKES FLOAT BTW).

The problem is that most flakes near me are so small they do not warrant the effort to remove them. I probably find .0006 G per 300g sample I run.

The best place to find sand is in black sand deposited located on the edges of rivers. Nuggets like to deposite on the inside turns of rivers as well.

I would recommend a good set of water boots, and a couple of 5 gallon buckets to fill with sand and bring home and run in your bathtub/sink/shower. I would also recommend buying a #8 sieve and a # 200 sieve to catch any flakes or nuggets that might wash over as you are panning.

>>969881
>But I really gotta research my local laws on this. Now I'm curious.
Turns out that it is perfectly legal in Austria, with only a few caveats:
-Only hobby level (no real definition for it, some folks seem to run sluice boxes and pumps without issues)
-not on private land (often hard to "see" if a land is private or public)
-not in national parks or similar protected areas

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I pan all the time. I would ditch the magnifying glass. I would get a snuffer bottle to suck up the gold out of the pan and I would get a small bottle of dish soap mixed with water to break surface tension in the pan. Sometimes I bring a hard drive magnet in a plastic bag. A lot of black sand is magnetic and if you run the magnet over the pan after you're almost done it gets most of it and leaves the gold. Then just pick the magnet out of the plastic bag and the sand falls to the ground.

>>970085
They float on surface tension, slap the water and they drop. Do you even know anything?

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>>970187
Great photo! The dishsoap is a good idea, I'll make sure to take a small bottle with me.

I ordered some tweezers and vials off of eBay. Dirt cheap with free shipping tho takes 30 days to arrive. (Which is fine as it's still winter here.)

>>970085
>The best place to find sand is in black sand deposited located on the edges of rivers. Nuggets like to deposite on the inside turns of rivers as well.

Good info, thank you. When you say the inside turns, do you mean the point bar in the attached photo?

>>969698
Here in Nova Scotia you just have to pay ten bucks for your prospectors license. Then they give you a USB stick with maps of the claims on it so you don't step onto someone elses.

At home in Ireland you can pan but not commercially so you gotta keep the gold. No prob I guess

>>971842
You live in the hrm or valley?

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>>968194
I do lots of gold panning. its my job. literally any pan will do, make sure to scrub the manufacturing oil out of a new metal pan, preferably let it rust a bit before using it. I like pans from Keene, just from familiarity, I use them a lot. also, you wont find any amount of gold worth anything by panning, you must pan to find spots to hit up with a sluice box, high banker or suction dredge, then you pan the concentrate.

>>972014
just a couple curious questions.

how does one go about separating the gold flakes from all the other little bits of things? also around how much is the amount of gold in your pic worth?

>tfw live in MA and looking for prospecting for gold or anything else is gigantic waste of time

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>>972021
>how does one go about separating the gold flakes from all the other little bits of things?
I do this for a job, so im fucking good at it, but I have various tools in my lab to help me, I screen all the material so I'm panning similar sized sediment, and careful use of a knudsen, knelson and a buddle really helps to strip the shit away.
> how much is the amount of gold in your pic worth?
thats just over 2 grams. fuck all, but a good place to drag the test screen over too with the digger and run a couple cube through her.

>>971436
No dish soap in streams lakes or rivers, causes algae bloom and/or suffocates fish.
>>>a little won't hurt
Kys

>>972021
The recreationist can use a finishing pan to carefully get it down and back tap to leave nothing but gold in your pan. Or build a cheap recirculating sluice box in a tote like I did.

>>971935
Yeah hrm you just go to their office on Barrington st

>>972249
I'm aware. I have several of my own claims and lease a few more.

>>974328
A hah, living the life! Good for you Bro may your life be full of nuggets. Alas im moving away soon and got no panning in in time here.

Look forward to it back home tho