Intermediate to Advanced Panning Tehcniques?

[MrGneissGuy]

Hey guys I wanted to start some discussion about panning techniques for people that have just learned to pan and want to take it to the next level. For me, I am finally able to pan down to black sand consistently, but I feel like I'm missing important details and thus losing gold.

For example...how steep should one's pan be when washing? Some people hold it steeper than others...is there a "best" way to do this or a "best" angle? How fast do you shake back and forth? How deep should your pan be in the water when doing all of these things? How much light material should be washing off? Do you "throw" your material out of your pan or let the water "suck" it out?

Anyways, these are just some example of the kinds of things I'd like to learn. Feel free to just add anything to the discussion.

This video so far has been the most helpful for me. I basically try to replicate him and shake for 3 seconds followed by 3 "washes".

 

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[Johnnybravo300]

Practice in a catch pan and you can see if you're losing gold, then refine your technique. It's the only way to know for sure.
You'd be surprised how fast you can actually pan and not lose gold. If you keep the gold buried it won't go anywhere, that's the only thing to remember.
It's not about being "good" at panning, it's only about science. Gold sinks fast.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Double post.

 

[MrGneissGuy]

Practice in a catch pan and you can see if you're losing gold, then refine your technique. It's the only way to know for sure.
You'd be surprised how fast you can actually pan and not lose gold. If you keep the gold buried it won't go anywhere, that's the only thing to remember.
It's not about being "good" at panning, it's only about science. Gold sinks fast.

Exactly. I've been going faster since I'm just trusting science, but then every once in a while I see some black sand that appears to be leaving my pan and even shiny stuff. Obviously it's possible that it's just black looking, and not actually heavy, but I don't know. My initial thought was I am doing everything right, but maybe when washing I had my pan at too steep of an angle, thus allowing the heavy stuff to get washed out too.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

You're on the right track for sure. Just be careful as you get down to the last little bit. The gold can wash out if it becomes uncovered so maybe one light rinse and one or two half rinses, just halfway up but not to the gold, then shake it down again. Works for me.

 

[Terry Soloman]

 

[mytimetoshine]

there is know correct answer. Just takes practice practice practice. Salt your own pan with 3or 4 small flakes of different sizes and then pan into a catch and you can really get a feel for how hard it is to lose gold out of your pan. unless your panning concentrates. Just RIP it and don't worry about losing a flake the time you save will result in more gold in the long run

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[MrGneissGuy]

You're on the right track for sure. Just be careful as you get down to the last little bit. The gold can wash out if it becomes uncovered so maybe one light rinse and one or two half rinses, just halfway up but not to the gold, then shake it down again. Works for me.

I see. Thanks!

 

[MrGneissGuy]

there is know correct answer. Just takes practice practice practice. Salt your own pan with 3or 4 small flakes of different sizes and then pan into a catch and you can really get a feel for how hard it is to lose gold out of your pan. unless your panning concentrates. Just RIP it and don't worry about losing a flake the time you save will result in more gold in the long run

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Unfortunately I don't have any spare flakes of gold that I feel like risking but I met a nice guy over the weekend who gave me a tip about crushing up some lead pellets down into nice flat pieces like gold would be. I guess if I can pan lead I can probably pan gold.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Unfortunately I don't have any spare flakes of gold that I feel like risking but I met a nice guy over the weekend who gave me a tip about crushing up some lead pellets down into nice flat pieces like gold would be. I guess if I can pan lead I can probably pan gold.

your not risking anything. I said pan into a catch. I.E another pan or a plastic tote.

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[MrGneissGuy]

your not risking anything. I said pan into a catch. I.E another pan or a plastic tote.

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I was merely jesting I was thinking about buying some test gold anyways.

 

[bobw53]

I have to ask... What type of panning are we looking at here??

Are we creating concentrates, or are we cleaning concentrates?

I don't have water where I play, except for what I bring with me, so panning straight from the stream is not something I know much about..
Though panning in the field, I would concentrate on making concentrates.. Get down to the black sand, maybe a shake and a swirl to
make sure you are on the gold, and dump the concentrate into a bucket and keep processing as much material as quick as you can...

Deal with the concentrates when you get home.. Move more material... Get more gold.. Those are the rules, I didn't write 'em.

Here are some good vids on how to clean up your concentrates..
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/459664-art-gold-panning.html
From The Gold Cube Man..

I think everybody's technique is going to be slightly different, but the basic rules in those vids applies across the board.

THE GOLDEN RULE: If everything in your pan is the same size.. GOLD RULES!!!!

My technique is similar, I don't bother pulling the black sand, I find it to be a pain in the arse, and I classify to different sizes.. And to
get "Squeeky" clean gold in the pan I use a funny little finger tap on the side that walks the gold up along the rim and leaves the black sand,
similar to The Gold Hog guys "bump" technique, 'cept different.

The one thing that blew my mind early on in my gold quest.... I had too many cons in my pan to pan easy, so I shook it down and literally
just dumped the top 2/3 to 3/4 into another pan.. Got some moderate gold and I was all excited to get to the majority of the material
I had dumped... Turns out that in the majority of the material I had dumped off the top, there was only 2 little pieces... All the gold
had stayed in the pan.... I was bummed, but I learned a valuable lesson... GOLD IS HEAVY!!! can't forget that...

On the classifying thing.. When I first started, I was using 20,40,60 mesh, it was what I had... Then I got some 80 and 120 screens, and the
world changed... I had been losing a TON of tiny gold... remember: THE GOLDEN RULE: If everything in your pan is the same size.. GOLD RULES!!!!
Then I went got some 250 and 400 and realized I was losing even more... The really tiny stuff isn't all that fun to play with, so I just put it on the
side to deal with on a rainy day..

Practice practice practice.. I would also suggest doing STUPID things to prove to yourself that gold really is HEAVY.. things like quick stripping the
top 3/4 of the pan off, just to see how much gold you lost... It won't be much, if any, but its something you need to see to believe.

 

[KevinInColorado]

What Bobw53 said! And this:
http://findinggoldincolorado.com/finish-processing-your-concentrates-after-a-day-of-digging/

 

[goldog]

Practice. Learn a tap or bump. Find a couple sizes of classifiers that work for you. Window screen (around 10 mesh). Maybe 30-40 mesh. And go to town. You'll need to pan off a lot of the black sand. Some is lighter so don't worry when there's black in the lighter material.

Learn your own way. My action seems to put most of the gold in a pile where I expect it. I can show you but it may work differently for you. I'm left handed so it may be opposite.

 

[johnedoe]

Quick, easy, and efficient..........



After that you may find this vid of interest........

 

[N-Lionberger]

I like to keep my pan angled so the forward edge of the pan is higher than the crease, the gold then has to walk up a hill to escape.

 

[MrGneissGuy]

I like to keep my pan angled so the forward edge of the pan is higher than the crease, the gold then has to walk up a hill to escape.

Ya the angle is what I've been wondering about the most. I have been tilting the pan quite far to the point where gold could easily walk out...but it seems to still work most of the time...

 

[johnedoe]

You may also find these short videos enlightening.....
Panning is easier than a lot of you are making for yourselves.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/459664-art-gold-panning.html#post4490903

 

[goldog]

Those are pretty good. I agree with most of it.

Panning is easier than the eight Mike Pung videos show, but it's a good idea to watch them all.

Once you've got a feel for the techniques and how the gold acts for you , you'll be able to pare down to a simpler method.


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[johnedoe]

Those are pretty good. I agree with most of it.

Panning is easier than the eight Mike Pung videos show, but it's a good idea to watch them all.

Once you've got a feel for the techniques and how the gold acts for you , you'll be able to pare down to a simpler method.


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Exactly..... But like anything you have to have a good foundation to start from, you then learn where you can make changes to speed up the process.