Paying for PayDirt....Its time to get a fair deal

afreakofnature

Full Member
Nov 16, 2010
166
39
Being that I live quite far from prospecting most of the year and I know we all have the winter blues when it comes to panning, I have set forth to find all that offer paydirt for sale. I am going to start a website that will show how much gold ones gets (in grams) vs amount paid and lbs of dirt received. I belive that if one is going to pay a large some for these they better get at least their monies worth, otherwise these people are just "mining the miners." Before I venture on this quest I have put together a list, after extensive research, companines/people who sell onine and people who sell via phone or email. I want to run this list out to all of you to see if I have missed anybody. When I am back in the the house for the fall I will begin to order and process the material the same way every time. My method will be to first classify to 1/8 of an inch everything above that I will pan out, everything under that I will do what I pasted below:

A.) Dry out the gold by pouring it into a metal pan and heating it over a hotplate outside. Don't get it so hot that any pieces of lead which are still with the gold will melt. Heat it up just hot enough to dry it out. It is a good idea to stay upwind anytime you put gold in a pan and heat it up. Mercury attaches itself to gold in different amounts. Often it's there but you can't see it. When heating the gold to certain temperature, the mercury vaporizes off. These vapors are very dangerous. So it is good practice to heat your gold outside and downwind of you, even when heating it up just enough to dry it out. Also, the pan you use for heating up gold during cleanup should be used only to cleanup, not for cooking.

B.) Once the gold is dry, we begin the process of getting out the black sands. Using a 16lb pull magnet. First dump some of the cons into a small dish, but the magnet over it and shake the magnet up in the square pan, then put the magnet over this container and drop the black sands, repeat this same process again in the 2nd dish with the new black sands. Everytime you do this in a new container you are breaking up the black sands releasing the gold, do this in about 6 different dishes until you get very clean black sand. Do not discard the black sand yet, this will be use later in the wheel. Combine the non black sands in one square pan for the wheel later too. You can now pick out the larger gold with tweezers. Then use the sieves to super classify your material and keep separate in pans or jars for use on the wheel. Use the sieves too to super classify your clean black sands as well.

4.)Now Use Your Wheel

It is very important to go through the above steps before attempting to use your wheel to process your non black sand and black sand super concentrates from above. Remember, the wheel works on the principles of weight, angle (pitch), and water-flow. The first separation should be done using your wheel's fastest speed if you have a variable speed wheel at a 45 degree angle. This split will take a little time. At this stage, you'll want to pull the black sands and gold from the blonde sands. It's okay if a small portions of black sand are still there your magnet might not have got all of them

When running the wheel it will pack just like the riffles of a dredge. When this occurs, for better results, you can spoon material from the bottom of the wheel up onto the riffles. We also seem to get better results by spooning material onto the drier section of the wheel so that it passes into the flow of water as the wheel turns. Watch yourself very closely because this is the step where many of the larger flat flakes are lost simply by scooping the material out of the wheel too soon. Once complete, you should find that you have cut your material in half or more.

Now you should have what we call salt and pepper sand and gold. If you have only black sands at this point, you have probably lost some of the finer gold already. Look closely; and if this is the case, stop, back up and rerun it again. Remember, the wheel will only recover as well as the skill of the operator permits. So take your time and make sure you're not losing your fines at each stage of the process. Make sure to dump the center hole material into separate pans to run again so you do not have to reclassify through the sieves wet.

Round 2. This time you'll only have half as much material so it will go very fast. Now it's time to tackle the material from the center hole. When using a variable speed wheel, this time it should be processed at the slowest speed, and the pitch of the wheel should be set at a steeper angle. Use a moderate-to-slow water flow, adjusting the wheel to pull just a little black sand, and all the gold. Once you've run it through, simply adjust the wheel a bit steeper and rerun this gold-laden material once more, only this time just pull the gold.

This process will leave you with all your gold, and perhaps just a very very small amount of fine black sand. I find that if you dry this final product, it is very easy to blow the remaining black sand of by sorting through it on a clean piece of paper and blowing gently with dry snuffer bottle. It is a nice way to end your day!
5.)Dry it out and weigh it.


Not only will I give a review and a worth on my website, but I also will allow other users to state their comments too for each company or person. For now here is a list of who I found that sells PayDirt, please add to this list if I have missed anyone and again in the Fall I will start the reviews. Thank you in advance to all you will help me fill in some people I missed or advice on how to make it better.

People/Companies selling PayDirt:

Jim Miller www.panningpaydirt.com

Felix Paydirt Gourmet Gold www.felixpaydirt.com

R and R www.rrpaydirt.com

Prospector John www.goldpan-alaska.com

Gold Adventures www.goldadventures.biz

Gold Fever Prospecting www.goldfeverprospecting.com/goldpanning.html

Gold Getters www.goldgetters.net

Alaska Discount Gold (could be the same owners of Felix) http://www.alaskadiscountgold.com/

Crisson Gold Mine http://www.crissongoldmine.com/

Tom and Perry’s Golden Dirt Bag http://www.goldprospectors.org/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_27&products_id=27

CMJ Mining http://www.cmjmining.com/

Gold and Gem Grubbin http://www.goldngem.com/

Arizona Gold Fever http://www.arizona-gold-fever.com/



Ebay sellers that over 100 feebacks and alot on paydirt

Jandjprospecting1998 http://www.jandjgoldprospecting.biz/

steepcanyonpaydirt

whiskey_petes_gold www.whiskeypetesgold.com

ljaprospecting

tsclover345678

ron0346

jbiadventures

sundancegoldmine

jarhtay

prospectorruss

goldfeverusa

g-manthebossman

idgold25

knicks2525

treasure_valley_minerals

atomicbear

smaprospecting

jckesl

931lovemusic

alaskadredgeman



Not online

Nome Alaska Gold Concentrate, LLC [email protected] 1-877-6663465

DreaMail-GP, P.O. Box 1790, Fairview, NC 28730 (write for information)

J. Wammack P.O. Box 2263, Bentonville, AR 72712 (write for information)

B. Sullins P.O. Box 1031, Meadview, AZ 86444 479-220-7754

[email protected] (email for prices and ordering)
 

Upvote 0

Lanny in AB

Gold Member
Apr 2, 2003
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Well,

The best way to get great panning gold, and to maximize your panning experience is to order the size of placer gold you want to pan (perhaps a variety of flakes, pickers, and a select nugget or two), pay for exactly the gold you want in your order--then, get some gravelly dirt and mix your own!

That way you'll never get less than what you expect. In fact, you'll get exactly what you expect. So, there's no surprise right? Exactly, but you won't get a bad surprise when you've paid for shipping, handling, and you get a measly grain (g-r-a-i-n) of gold instead of a gram or more.

If you read the fine print carefully on the panning dirt suppliers that are forthcoming enough to include it on their ads, you will notice that they guarantee a minimum amount of gold. They do that for a reason--so you can't complain that you didn't get some unexpected bonanza in your dirt. A lot of suppliers sell you on the "sizzle" that you "might" get an unexpected bonanza of gold. Unrealistic hoo-hah--an old fishing tactic to get you to bite.

The reality is if they did that on any kind of a regular business--they'd go broke in a big hurry.

So, if you want to buy pre-mixed panning dirt, get a statement on the minimum amount of gold they guarantee and don't be surprised if you don't get a micro-grain more!!

Buy your own placer flake, picker, nugget gold--mix it with gravel and enjoy exactly what you've paid for. You wouldn't order a car off the Internet with the "chance" that there'd be an engine in it, or a computer with a chance that there'd be a harddrive in it. No way. You want to get what you've paid for--not gamble that you might get what you want.

Do the same with panning dirt--buy the gold and mix your own--satisfaction 100% guaranteed! (Nothing romantic, or pie in the sky bonanza about it, but it's reliable each and every time.)

All the best,

Lanny
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
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Primary Interest:
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Well,

The best way to get great panning gold, and to maximize your panning experience is to order the size of placer gold you want to pan (perhaps a variety of flakes, pickers, and a select nugget or two), pay for exactly the gold you want in your order--then, get some gravelly dirt and mix your own!

That way you'll never get less than what you expect. In fact, you'll get exactly what you expect. So, there's no surprise right? Exactly, but you won't get a bad surprise when you've paid for shipping, handling, and you get a measly grain (g-r-a-i-n) of gold instead of a gram or more.

If you read the fine print carefully on the panning dirt suppliers that are forthcoming enough to include it on their ads, you will notice that they guarantee a minimum amount of gold. They do that for a reason--so you can't complain that you didn't get some unexpected bonanza in your dirt. A lot of suppliers sell you on the "sizzle" that you "might" get an unexpected bonanza of gold. Unrealistic hoo-hah--an old fishing tactic to get you to bite.

The reality is if they did that on any kind of a regular business--they'd go broke in a big hurry.

So, if you want to buy pre-mixed panning dirt, get a statement on the minimum amount of gold they guarantee and don't be surprised if you don't get a micro-grain more!!

Buy your own placer flake, picker, nugget gold--mix it with gravel and enjoy exactly what you've paid for. You wouldn't order a car off the Internet with the "chance" that there'd be an engine in it, or a computer with a chance that there'd be a harddrive in it. No way. You want to get what you've paid for--not gamble that you might get what you want.

Do the same with panning dirt--buy the gold and mix your own--satisfaction 100% guaranteed! (Nothing romantic, or pie in the sky bonanza about it, but it's reliable each and every time.)

All the best,

Lanny

DING!-DING!-DING!-DING! We have a Winner Folks! :notworthy::occasion14:
 

AlwaysBusyJ

Jr. Member
Feb 9, 2013
94
44
Washington State
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Felix is the way to go. If I don't have time to be out in the field then I call Felix.
I will go ahead and tell you NOT to go to JandJgoldprospecting, they will straight up steal your money, by this I mean either they will send you a broken item or nothing at all. Good luck trying to call them they never answer their phone, let alone return a call. Leave all the messages you want, they will never call you back. They don't return emails either. They have a 3 day return policy on ebay which means if they DO actually call or email you back, they will wait until the 3 day period is over, but that's like a 1 in a billion chance that they will return your call. If you check them out on Ebay, look at their feedback. Ridiculous. I had to open a case against them. And I will be turning them into the Better Business Bureau this week. I have never had this much trouble dealing with a business although Kelly Co. was pretty close. I suggest doing a little bit of research before spending money and avoid these two companies. Check out my post on Kelly Co. falsely advertising products. If they deny it, I still have the recorded conversations of them telling me that no one would ever believe me. Ha! That's why I recorded the conversions. No one has to believe me I have them saying it on tape. But trust me when I say don't deal with Kelly Co. or JandJgoldprospecting.

I've used JandJ several times and had zero problems with them. They answered my calls and emails right away. The products arrived in time and they even went out of their way to do some special requests for me. The paydirt I've used from them wasn't crazy rich, but it's advertised as untouched and unsalted. I feel like I got what was advertised and was satisfied with my purchases.

It also seems a bit odd that this is the only post made by this person. Not saying it's impossible for someone to have had a bad purchase with them, just thought I'd share my experiences with them.
 

Oct 28, 2013
2
0
Tennessee
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Buying commercially prepared concentrates is absolutely the way to go. Believe me, you do not want to go out into the wilds and prospect for gold. While it may seem alluring, reality is quite an eye opener. It is nothing like what you see on TV, or in the movies. For the most part, it is back breaking work for less than fair pay. I have found Alaska Nome Gold to be the fairest in the market when it comes to money paid versus gold received. The other big companies have a very high overhead with their advertising. Usually the ones that complain about others prospecting "the easy way", have never done it the hard way.
 

Doitlaynstyle

Hero Member
Feb 21, 2013
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Paydirt is only good for the novice panner. It's good practice and I would recommend buying some actual gold like doc does. He pays 90% of spot and then you can put it in your own dirt and learn to pan. But if your just hoping to get lucky on paydirt I wish you luck. This database type approach will shed some light on the who's who in the paydirt market. Good luck
 

wild eyed willey

Full Member
Oct 25, 2012
187
56
Southbridge, MA.
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Time for me to weigh in on the subject. When I first became interested in the idea of prospecting for gold, I truly had many of these same thoughts. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of paying the shipping cost for sending pounds of dirt across the country. It made more sense for me to order some sample gold and get my own dirt to use for panning practice and when needed to test out my sluice box contraptions and designs. By purchasing the gold alone, I knew what I was getting, no surprises and felt very protected from being ripped off. At the time I was living in South Carolina and traveling for work from western NC, down to southern GA. I was literally in the gold belt as well as the bible belt, so finding paydirt of my own to process was within the realm of possibility. However my health went sour and my lady and I were forced to relocate to the north east, Southbridge MA. where I have no idea if there has ever been gold found. If so it would probably be placer gold and very deep. ( dredge stuff) Like I said, my health has taken a hit and although I hope to recover towards Christmas, Going out prospecting isn't looking possible until spring ( if the good lord is willing and so kind).. Then I came across this thread and I thought, what a brilliant idea!!!! I could order some paydirt and play during my none DR visit days and still have some fun. ( It might even help to keep my spirits up). And not knowing exactly what I might find would add to the excitement for me. So I can't wait to see some results. Great idea!!!!!!
 

keitha43

Jr. Member
Jun 14, 2013
61
39
Moore, Oklahoma
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I just saw an episode of gold fever and Tom was talking about meeting someone at an outing who said that the all-purpose sand at local hardware stores in LA have gold because the sand comes from the base of the mountains there. So he bought 3 two dollar bags and ran them through a sluice during the show. There was actually gold in there. He said it was about 30 dollars of gold from 6 dollars of sand. I had visions of driving a uhaul truck to LA and loading up and hauling it back to Oklahoma. I could get gold and turn my back yard into a sand dune recreational area (for Tonka toys).
 

G.I.B.

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Since the thread is alive again...

I've purchased paydirt. I buy it knowing I will not make money on the amount of gold in the dirt.

If a seller checks the dirt and finds $5 of gold a pound, and can sell the dirt for $20- uhhhhh.... think about it.... come on, it will make sense... give it a minute...

So, knowing this, I bought it to refine my skills with gold in dirt. I've added sand, rocks, lead and the like and had a good deal of practice.

If you think the seller has gold bearing dirt worth $30 a pound, and he is going to part with it for $20 a pound...

Seriously- your original question.
 

omnicron

Bronze Member
Jun 14, 2012
1,017
409
Caldwell, Idaho
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I tried selling my dredge cons on ebay but had no takers. What I was trying was this...I ran the dirt through my clean up sluice and recovered the gold. Then I would dry out the cons and remix them together -18,+20,-20,-30 and then would weight out the gold at 1.1 grams and remix with the cons. I was trying to sell at 100% of spot plus shipping of $6 but after 3 weeks I had no takers so I gave up. I guess people don't want a guaranteed thing, they would rather spend more money on chance. Granted I had no feed back on selling cons but have 100% positive no the less.
 

AzViper

Bronze Member
Sep 30, 2012
2,038
2,250
Arizona - Is there any other state worth visiting
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Can't remember what state it was but Home Depot had a run on their 1/2 ton bags of sand they sale. Seems someone was finding a good amount of gold. Before long HD had ran out of bags as the purchasers were not returning the bags that they had left a deposit on. Ok everyone go buy your sand at HD so my 17,000 shares of HD stock continues to climb, its a +$0.72 per share as of 7:44am. Keep buying the sand as my wallet is growing without digging.

Your paying a huge price buying paydirt, do the math. As Lanny mentioned go buy your gold and pepper your own dirt if you need the thrill of panning offseason. You will be further ahead and the outcome is the same. If this does not work for you have someone else do the peppering so you have no clue how much gold is in the paydirt.

HD Sand.png
 

Last edited:

Scout160

Newbie
Jan 11, 2014
4
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Blake, Thank you for your reply and for finding this post.

I posted yesterday, looking for good paydirt. I have a vacation rental property, I want to give free paydirt to my guests, giving them an awesome panning experience with their vacation. Something for them to do on rainy days.

I'm experimenting with how to do it and sourcing material. I'll go through a decent amount creating this idea and then should be consistent ongoing.

Any honest info on sourcing paydirt, cons, and placer/pickers/nuggets is very much appreciated. I'll probably be using all three strategies.

Thank you, Scout160
 

Aufisher

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May 12, 2013
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Going out into the wilds prospecting is as good as life gets!
 

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