Need some advice? New to Panning?

[FiresEye]

This tube video shows a great technique.... I actually found this video AFTER I spent tons of trial and error time and finally came to about the same conclusion.

Just thought I'd save some people some time wading through the load of videos, or any new people. There's bound to be a huge wave of new readers in the future with the "modern day gold rush" just kicking off.
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[strickman]

blue berry bounce .

[Frank1960]

Great video. Another word of advice for us newbies is when we get down where all the heavy rocks and such are gone to put a pan under our pan as we clean the rest off just incase we goof and lose something it will fall into the other pan for repanning.

[strickman]

it's a good habit for seasoned panners as well . you would be surprised at what can slip over the edge. also remember some gold can be coated and be black,some larger pieces of black sand have gold inside as well.

[FiresEye]

Great advice all, I've never seen black gold, but then again, I wouldn'thave know it was gold, because it was black! haha... But there's always some real fine black stuff left with larger pieces of gold flake when I pan, so this could be gold, it goes into the cons anyways.

About the video, the real purpose was to show the backwash method.. that's how I pan fines, and the only really good way IMO, the tap and backwash works wonders, but you HAVE to be patient and slow, and have good light to see the tiny gold. Even still, I loose some of the fine gold during this process, and I add it back to the cons to get later.

I met this panner on the river a few weeks ago, and he was totally awesome showed me great tips had a good time, etc. And he also recommends this method.

IMO, panning is a very valuable tool that some people don't focus on refining... With panning you can precisely sample, where as with a sluice, you don't really know anything till you clean it up.

Well enjoy the video an post more tips here!
And if you live in the south, isn't it funny to see how people freak out about a little bit of snow and ice Stay off the roads if you can! it's gonna be a nasty one here in Atlanta.

[kuger]

Great advice all, I've never seen black gold, but then again, I wouldn'thave know it was gold, because it was black! haha... But there's always some real fine black stuff left with larger pieces of gold flake when I pan, so this could be gold, it goes into the cons anyways.

About the video, the real purpose was to show the backwash method.. that's how I pan fines, and the only really good way IMO, the tap and backwash works wonders, but you HAVE to be patient and slow, and have good light to see the tiny gold. Even still, I loose some of the fine gold during this process, and I add it back to the cons to get later.

I met this panner on the river a few weeks ago, and he was totally awesome showed me great tips had a good time, etc. And he also recommends this method.

IMO, panning is a very valuable tool that some people don't focus on refining... With panning you can precisely sample, where as with a sluice, you don't really know anything till you clean it up.

Well enjoy the video an post more tips here!
And if you live in the south, isn't it funny to see how people freak out about a little bit of snow and ice Stay off the roads if you can! it's gonna be a nasty one here in Atlanta.

Panning is the basis to ALL mining,if you cant mine you aint a miner

[Gravelwasher]

With panning I have noticed each brand/type of pan has its own technique, i.e. the bottom can be flat or raised slightly in the mid. which requires different method to finish the pan. I have one pan that has a flat bottom that I can tilt forward and back to work the black sands almost like waves on a beach compared to my Keene pan that is raised slightly in the center of the bottom, I have to use a more swirling motion to work the black sands by dipping one side up and down. Don't know which one I like best have found areas they all perform well in, like the Garrett super sluice nice big green bottom easy to spread out more cons and still see the gold seems to work well for test panning to can work a large amount of material and has good traps/gravity riffles for the gold to hold. For panning out just cons of black sand I like a blue color pan to see the gold and see the black sand and it has to have a good size bottom to spread it all out in. Just what i have found, oh ya the texture of the pan adds to it characteristics too i.e. how material slides on the pan. good luck!!! Gravelwasher

[mlayers]

Really enjoyed the video thanks for posting.....Matt

[tapoutking]

Great video. I just got my panning kit and am going out this weekend to get some "dirt" to practice with from a dry stream bed.