IS THE PROCESS THE SAME FOR SAMPLING OPPOSED TO PANNING A KNOWN SOURCE?

[geolover]

I'm relatively new to all of this.
Right now I am strictly sampling material from my property. I run it through a sluce then I pan it out. My question is do I pan sample material the same way I would a known source? I think I take way too long (I'm working on building the confidence to pan faster). At this sampling stage (I have yet to find a speck) I feel like I should move faster, after all, I'm sampling an area I have yet to find anything. Right or wrong?

I know a lot of people are going to suggest that I go to a known gold bearing area, and I could through my GPAA membership. But I don't want to, I'm dead set on discovering my own source. I'm really into geology, I like to identify and study rocks as well as the geological history of an area. For me, I like the hunt, that's what I love about this. After I determine whether or not I have gold on my 20-acre metamorphic mountain, then I will systematically search the BLM land within walking distance. I'm really trying to speed up my processes right now.

Pan faster sampling?

 

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[GoldpannerDave]

I guess my loke wasn't so obvious- you see, where Kevin lives is in his username KevinINCOLORADO Sorry guess that wasn't funny, Although I still think it was, but I'm hard-headed. By the way, Colorado is a beautiful state.

Colorado is big, so perhaps that is why the joke did not come through. And for the western two-thirds of the state, there is gold. Actually there is gold in the South Platte and the Arkansas to the state boundaries, so there is some gold even in the some of the eastern third of the state.

 

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[SoCalDesertFox]

Hey, Geo. I live near you (Riverside.) If you want to learn some extra stuff, I'll teach you everything I know and show you some serious tools for improving your chances of finding gold!

 

[goldenmojo]

You are on the right track. Someday you will be able to clear a pan in 2 minutes losing very little gold, bore people at parties with incessant historical facts of your area and converse with the best geologists about the untested theories you have. Just not yet. It will take years of study and research and gathering every bit of info you can and putting it into practice as often as possible. Its one big puzzle that you must decipher mostly on your own and this forum has some of the best and brightest who have years of experience that will help you do it. I want to thank them all for their input and help and special thanks to Lanny who publishes very practical info in his posts which I use every time I go out. Hope this wasn't to long winded. Good Luck and keep asking as many questions as you can. You will soon be there.

 

[Goldwasher]

On vacation right now a few miles away from you. Checking out a small lesser know district. No water no panning found some areas with quartz and feldspar. Got some pieces with black tourmalime. I'm sure if we looked harder we could have found some decent crystals. I haven't been out in those hills for almost 20 years so it was hard to stick to one spot. Plus there was trash dumped in several areas that used to be relatively remote so I was pissed and depressed so we moved on.

 

[Goldwasher]

You can keep wasting your time panning but if you really want to find gold you need to look where the decomposing granites and pegmatites are. look for the soft rotten stuff is that looks like it has pyrites. you need to keep in mind that in your area you are lucky to see color without a loupe.

 

[QNCrazy]

Here is a method I use when sampling an area. When I locate a spot that looks good to me, I dig up a five gallon bucket of material removing larger rocks. I fill my Super Sluice and begin stratifying it, running my fingers through to loosen the material (this also helps the heavier material sink to the bottom of hte pan) and find large rocks for removal. After stratifying it, I sluff (scrape) off half the material, stratify again and sluff off half of that material. then I refill the Super Sluice again leaving hte remaining material in the pan. I continue this process until I process the whole bucket. If there is good gold, I set my sluice, highbanker, etc. and work the area. If not, I find another area and do the same thing until i find gold im satisfied with. It takes me less than 10 minutes to process a bucket. Keep in mind I'm sampling and not worried about any losses at this point. I'm trying to locate a good concentration of gold.

 

[geolover]

Here is a method I use when sampling an area. When I locate a spot that looks good to me, I dig up a five gallon bucket of material removing larger rocks. I fill my Super Sluice and begin stratifying it, running my fingers through to loosen the material (this also helps the heavier material sink to the bottom of hte pan) and find large rocks for removal. After stratifying it, I sluff (scrape) off half the material, stratify again and sluff off half of that material. then I refill the Super Sluice again leaving hte remaining material in the pan. I continue this process until I process the whole bucket. If there is good gold, I set my sluice, highbanker, etc. and work the area. If not, I find another area and do the same thing until i find gold im satisfied with. It takes me less than 10 minutes to process a bucket. Keep in mind I'm sampling and not worried about any losses at this point. I'm trying to locate a good concentration of gold.

Thanks, I think you answered my question.

 

[geolover]

Hey, Geo. I live near you (Riverside.) If you want to learn some extra stuff, I'll teach you everything I know and show you some serious tools for improving your chances of finding gold!

I was busy the last few days so I didn't see your post. That sounds great, I'll send you a private message with my phone number.

 

[geolover]

You are on the right track. Someday you will be able to clear a pan in 2 minutes losing very little gold, bore people at parties with incessant historical facts of your area and converse with the best geologists about the untested theories you have. Just not yet. It will take years of study and research and gathering every bit of info you can and putting it into practice as often as possible. Its one big puzzle that you must decipher mostly on your own and this forum has some of the best and brightest who have years of experience that will help you do it. I want to thank them all for their input and help and special thanks to Lanny who publishes very practical info in his posts which I use every time I go out. Hope this wasn't to long winded. Good Luck and keep asking as many questions as you can. You will soon be there.

Thanks for the inspiration and good advice. It's funny, I can't wait to get my work done so that I can settle down and do some research. Evenings are the highlight of my day. I appreciate all of the great advice from these forums.

 

[geolover]

On vacation right now a few miles away from you. Checking out a small lesser know district. No water no panning found some areas with quartz and feldspar. Got some pieces with black tourmalime. I'm sure if we looked harder we could have found some decent crystals. I haven't been out in those hills for almost 20 years so it was hard to stick to one spot. Plus there was trash dumped in several areas that used to be relatively remote so I was pissed and depressed so we moved on.

I wish I would have seen your post earlier, where were you at? Were you anywhere near Vail Lake? I found an area near Vail Lake with huge chunks of black tourmaline and feldspar or quartz. Just went outside to take a picture of one. Where was the smaller, lesser known district?

Yea, sucks about losers dumping their trash in such a beautiful area. I made a few clean up rounds this week, mostly cleaning up my view. Sometimes I run into areas that are pretty bad, even on BLM land.

 

[geolover]

You can keep wasting your time panning but if you really want to find gold you need to look where the decomposing granites and pegmatites are. look for the soft rotten stuff is that looks like it has pyrites. you need to keep in mind that in your area you are lucky to see color without a loupe.

When you speak about D.G. and pegmatites are you specifically referring to this area, or in general?
I have loupes everywhere! Ones with multiple levels, with lights.... but my favorite is a real large one that I recently picked up at American Prospectors. Actually picked up a few to give as Christmas presents (along with 20 pans). Most of the big loupes never made it as gifts because I need them! I like to identify minerals and rocks, gotta have tools.

 

[Goldwasher]

I wish I would have seen your post earlier, where were you at? Were you anywhere near Vail Lake? I found an area near Vail Lake with huge chunks of black tourmaline and feldspar or quartz. Just went outside to take a picture of one. Where was the smaller, lesser known district? View attachment 1254158 View attachment 1254159 View attachment 1254160

Yea, sucks about losers dumping their trash in such a beautiful area. I made a few clean up rounds this week, mostly cleaning up my view. Sometimes I run into areas that are pretty bad, even on BLM land.

Up by Perris.

 

[Ragnor]

When sampling I don't use a sluice.

 

[motohed]

You have had all the good advice you can get , I too have been hard headed through my life , that's how we made our money . Since my accident , I depend a little on others to show me the way . I suggest you also listen some , as you maybe your getting the Gold you seek , and just not realizing it . It may be so small that it just does'nt register . Maybe a rod mill would help in your endever . Seek and ye shall find , so let someone help you , even if you take some buckets of your material to have them help you . JMHO