New to Panning

[Shenandoah Digger]

Just got a couple of the Hex gold pans. Don't know if they're any good but seem to work ok, for what little I know. I've got a few very small creeks close by that produced gold many years ago. I was wondering where in the creek was the best place to start. Like I say, the creeks are small. In most places you can jump across, and they partially dry up in the summer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

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[AZ-Mtnman]

Shenandoah, you've fulfilled the first rule of finding gold, search where it's been found before. Travis (the designer of the Hex pan) is a personal friend of mine, so I have everything he's ever made. I've also been testing all the latest and greatest prospecting equipment to come out to see how well it works in a real world environment for some time now. I have a simple rule, it better not lose any gold or I will let folks know how well it did. When I first got the Hex, I of course spent the time to get it "seasoned" before trying it out. I watched Travis use it in person, saw the video more times than I can count, so gave it a go. Spent six hours trying different techniques with the pan, in a controlled test with a known amount of gold of different sizes and panning into a catch pan, and could never get it to catch all the gold. I used every "trick" I knew to try and get it to work, but it never would. Before anyone asks, yes, I did each test twice with the same technique to make sure of it. A pan only takes me a couple of minutes at the most, so that should tell you how many different ways I tried. After all that, I even placed a call to Travis to ask him about what I might have been doing wrong. Never heard back from him. So, I can't give that pan my endorsement. You didn't mention what type of gold was being found there, whether larger, rougher pieces, or if it was all small gold. The two pans I use for rough panning depending on the size and amount of gold in the area is either the ProLine "Pro" pan or the Garrett Super Sluice. Both will get you +99% recovery if used properly. That <1% isn't worth the time to go back and get since you could be doing a new pan by then. If the area only has very small gold, the Proline really shines. If the gold is bigger and rougher, or you have alot of material to process, then I'd go with the Garrett. Panning isn't any different than any other type of gold recovery, it's all time vs reward. The more material you move, the more you'll get, if you're in the right spot. What I do when I'm out and getting ready to work an area I've already tested, is to use my time on the creek to the fullest. If you've done your testing, you'll know it's there, if you haven't, you shouldn't be growing roots to that spot. I should mention that I'm very experienced in this and don't mean that you should try to match these times if you're just starting out. A full pan of material for me will take less than one minute to get down to my cons (concentrates-only the gold and black sand). I take that and dump it into a bucket to work back at home so I can take my time and make sure I'm not loosing anything. This is where I should say that testing an area and working an area are two different things. Testing is more run-and-gun, working is when you slow down and try to find the most. It would be impossible to write out just how I pan with each pan. What you have to do is spend some time around experienced panners and try out their techniques for yourself. There is no one way to pan, you have to find what works best for you after doing a controlled test. And more testing, and......well, you get the idea. I'm not proud, I'll try anything, no matter how goofy it looks or sounds if it's going to help my gold recovery. I don't have gold fever, I'm in it for the money, so it's like they say, time is money. I'd be more than happy to show you how I use each pan for each stage if you happen to end up on my doorstep, but won't get into it here. Best way I've found to describe it is "if you can pat your tummy and rub your head at the same time, you have hope". No matter what technique you decide to use, practice ALOT! I've seen "experienced" prospectors lose gold.
As far as where to prospect in those creeks, I'll give you a general run-down of where to go. First things first, as far as placer gold is concerned, the only time the gold is getting moved along the creek is during the flood stage. Everyone says to hunt the inside bends of the creek. Yep, that's true, but where the inside bend is during a flood is different than where it is during the low water period, so you have to adjust your thinking. It goes without saying that if you have any exposed bedrock on those creeks that has cracks in it, check there. The gold (flood gold) will tend to drop out wherever the water slows down and in a straight line. Since it isn't any different than anything else in nature, it'll try to find the path of least resistance. If you're working flood gold, you'll find pay streaks, and pay layers. A pay streak is where it dropped out in that straight line. A pay layer is how deep below the surface the gold settled. Even tho it's gold, and really heavy, if the water stops moving, so does it. I live in AZ and made my living on gold for several years (till I got this plushy job), and concentrated on the flood gold aspect of things since all the well known teaching said otherwise. Even here, with old hands at it, I still run across guys that don't look for those areas. I've had guys that were working the same area of creek as I was stop and watch me to see what I was getting. I don't lie or deceive, so had no problem showing them what I had found in the area I was working. One guy that is a friend of mine watched for over two hours while I panned one spot I had. He was sitting there when I pulled out 23 pickers (1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces), four small nuggets, and almost a dwt of fines in one pan. Not saying that was an average, only one pan. In this spot, you'd hit those little pockets like that a few times a day. When he walked away, he was still scratching his head about why I was working that area since there was no bedrock (his thing), or obvious signs about why the gold was there. I only had one pay streak there, but I was working four pay layers. I'm sure there was another even deeper than what I went, but the creek got flooded and filled in that pickup-sized-hole I'd dug before finding out. One of these days... The thing is, and I didn't even know it then, is I'd found one of those areas where two or more factors came together to deposit the gold there. I have alot of "oldtimer" friends around here that have been a big help, but not one of them ever mentioned it. Got too many hours into research about where and how to even think about it, but never ran into a reference to this type of area till not too long ago. Fifteen feet from where we'd found a normal flood gold occurance, I hit this spot. The first spot, we'd taken over an ounce out of, and thought it was spent. I started working the other one on a whim after testing and ended up, all told, with 1.407 ozt. That came out to be about a dwt (pennyweight) per day with a pan. Pretty good wages in my book, but first things first. Learn how to pan really well, that will help you no matter what type of prospecting you decide to get into later on. Brave the storms if you're not familiar with water dynamics and see just where that "inside" bend is. Then, do alot of testing, as to where that straight line is, or how deep it is. Another big help is learning how to recognize the trace minerals associated with gold. Not necessary if all you'll be doing is panning, but it does help narrow down where you'll be hunting since some of them tend to have a higher specific gravity than normal rocks and minerals. And no, I'm not talking about black sand. There is an old saying, "wherever you find gold, there will be black sand, but not necessarily will there be gold where you find black sand". Gotta perfect example of that half a mile from the house. Do some research and you'll know what I'm talking about. Good Luck.

Randy

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Thanks Randy, I appreciate all the information. I understand what you're talking about regarding inside bends and the like. I'm a fly fisherman and fish seem to congregate in areas such as inside bends and areas where the current slows. I've got a long way to go in this hobby. I've always been a metal detectorist and the natural progression is gold panning. Just seems like there's more to learn in this hobby. The creeks I'm hunting had gold found in them 50-100 years ago. I'm not sure what size of gold may have been found. But my dad said his father found enough to get his first tractor. So I'll have to give it a go. Sorry to hear about the hex pan. I looked at the video and it looked promising, but what do I know? Any, I appreciate your help and all the information you conveyed. Take care.

John

 

[AZ-Mtnman]

No problem, John, didn't mean to talk your ear off. There is no short way of answering something like that if you don't know what area of the country you're talking about. Anyway, feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions.

Randy

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Thanks Randy, I'm in Virginia, which was supposed to be a hot spot for gold before the gold rush moved things west. Your long reply was welcome and appreciated.

John

 

[kuger]

Good info there,sample sample sample,also I recommend any of Dave Mccrackens books.Panning is the bottom line to any operation practice and practice some more.The spot I am dredging now doesnt look like a bend at all but reading the creek at MAJOR flood stage tells of a pretty significant bend.I figured there was a paystreak there because of physics and Sampling.I started on the tail end and am working forward on it now......the bigger gold is usually at the head which is again proving true.Any obstructions in the waterway like a large rock will also cause a vortex and deposit gold on the down stream side.