Panning Bags of Dirt?

[NicktheMainer]

I was watching Gold Fever the other day and the host bought a bag of all purpose dirt like you would buy from a store and tried panning it and he found a few specks of gold. I want to start panning but It's now winter in Maine so I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to buy a few bags of dirt to try my luck and get some practice. I'm also wondering if anybody else has ever done this.

 

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[smokeythecat]

I've done this a lot. Two things to consider: if you're doing it for fun, it's fun. If you're thinking about either an investment or "getting your money's worth", as in getting $50 in gold in $50 of dirt, forget it. I do it repeatedly for the fun.

 

[NicktheMainer]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[lastleg]

A few specks is no fun for the effort. Felix in Fairbanks, Alaska sells concentrate that is not dirty and has good pickers and well
as fines.

 

[smokeythecat]

I like Felix's stuff the best. Rumor has it some of the gold is from Australia, but for my "fun in the living room" I don't really care. I've tried stuff from other areas, always got some gold but it was always tiny stuff.

 

[wa-au-nut]

My older sister had a bag of Paydirt she bought someplace out of Orville,Ca. 15-20 years ago that she just stuck on a shelf and forgot about. She got interest in Prospecting last year and had me pan it for her. First off you got to understand that all I have been getting is a few tiny flakes and flypoop in my pans. Gold must have been A LOT CHEAPER THEN!! I told her that if I got a pan like that I would do something nasty in my pants. Dumped it back in the Panning tub and told her to dry the cons out and use it over for practice. LOL.

 

[enamel7]

My older sister had a bag of Paydirt she bought someplace out of Orville,Ca. 15-20 years ago that she just stuck on a shelf and forgot about. She got interest in Prospecting last year and had me pan it for her. First off you got to understand that all I have been getting is a few tiny flakes and flypoop in my pans. Gold must have been A LOT CHEAPER THEN!! I told her that if I got a pan like that I would do something nasty in my pants. Dumped it back in the Panning tub and told her to dry the cons out and use it over for practice. LOL.

Gold was a lot cheaper then.

 

[russau]

goto a sand and gravel plant that pulls their material from a river/stream that you can determine has gold in it. ask to buy the NON-proccessed material.its really cheap if you can haul it yourself on a trailer or a pickup truck.the unproccessed material has everything in it still and thats a good thing. look for semi-precious stones,agets,pertrified wood,gold,silver,arifacts.im planning on doing this from the Missouri/Mississippi Rivers this winter when its to cold out to dredge.let them do it!

 

[NicktheMainer]

Good idea, i'll have to look into that!

 

[Tenn-Coinhunter]

I have several bags of pay dirt that I have either won or been given from the gold producing mines in Georgia. Our local GPAA chapter is located on Coker Creek in Tn. and all of the bags came from them. At some point I intend to pan them just to see what amount of gold if any is contained in them. I expect to find some, not enough to get rich LoL but at least enough to have in a vial. I also have a nearly full 5 gallon bucket of concentrate from Coker Creek in Tennessee I need to pan. So you may find some gold by buying bags, but don't expect to get rich. The folks who sell them know what the value of gold is and they are not going to consistently sell a bag worth more than what they are selling it for. They have to let someone score big every once in awhile or no one would buy squat.

 

[NicktheMainer]

I may load up a few buckets of dirt and store it in my garage next summer so ill have something to do come winter.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Gold Fever Prospecting - Mining Equipment, Gold Panning Paydirt & Nuggets

I've ordered gold from these guys before for my wife and mother-in-law to pan. That's the way to do it--pay for the gold you want, choose the size of gold you want; they'll put it in regular sand, or heavy black sand and then ship it to you. That way, you get close to what you're paying for (they have to make a profit on packing it, etc.). You can even buy bigger nuggets, all pickers, fines, whatever you want. The bigger stuff costs more, the smaller less--because you're buying gold--not dirt. It's a great way to guarantee you'll get consistent great gold in your pan. You'll be paying a bit over spot price, but you'll be sure to get your money's worth in gold.

A lot of the other places will guarantee a minimum amount of gold (usually in grains!) and you'll be paying for mostly dirt! Don't fall for the trap that you may get lucky--the key word is may, not will. If you want to guarantee what you'll get--pay for the gold and you'll have guaranteed fun--not guaranteed disappointing dirt.

As someone else told you--the retailers of panning dirt know the value of gold and they're not going to give it away to you when they could sell it (the gold) themselves.

All the best, and have fun,

Lanny

 

[Canuck]

I've heard some very good things about dirt hog pay dirt. A friend of mine ordered a bag and he said he was blown away at the gold he was getting compared to other companies that offered similar services. I'm thinking of ordering a bag myself.

Gold Concentrates - Dirthogg Paydirt

 

[Lanny in AB]

I've heard some very good things about dirt hog pay dirt. A friend of mine ordered a bag and he said he was blown away at the gold he was getting compared to other companies that offered similar services. I'm thinking of ordering a bag myself.

Gold Concentrates - Dirthogg Paydirt

All the best, and I hope you have fun panning the dirt you eventually order,

Lanny