Need a little help

FlippinRocks

Tenderfoot
Apr 6, 2013
5
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello fellow treasure hunters.this is my first post im from so cal and have caugh the fever.So I recentely started searching for gold and have been luckily enough to find some.I was wondering the average time it takes to pan out a half filled pan?It takes me about 10 to 15 min.Am I taking to long?i just don't want to lose any gold.Also how long should I leave the black sand in the extractor?any info would really help. Thanks
 

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vpnavy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2008
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York County, PA (USA)
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Welcome aboard from the great state of Pennsylvania!
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Until someone pipes in with an answer - you might consider browsing Sub-Forums: California for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state.
 

Terry Soloman

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May 28, 2010
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Hello fellow treasure hunters.this is my first post im from so cal and have caugh the fever.So I recentely started searching for gold and have been luckily enough to find some.I was wondering the average time it takes to pan out a half filled pan?It takes me about 10 to 15 min.Am I taking to long?i just don't want to lose any gold.Also how long should I leave the black sand in the extractor?any info would really help. Thanks

It should take you around 5-minutes or so. You'll get better and faster. Watch this, and just keep practicing!
 

kazcoro

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Feb 11, 2013
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I think it takes me about two to three minutes. I spend more time than that swirling the pan to look under the black sands, and then resettling everything again after snuffering to make sure there wasn't anymore gold hiding under the balck sand.
 

Goodyguy

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Mar 10, 2007
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Hello fellow treasure hunters.this is my first post im from so cal and have caugh the fever.So I recentely started searching for gold and have been luckily enough to find some.I was wondering the average time it takes to pan out a half filled pan?It takes me about 10 to 15 min.Am I taking to long?i just don't want to lose any gold.Also how long should I leave the black sand in the extractor?any info would really help. Thanks

If you are working in a gold bearing area that only allows panning and no motorized equipment or even a sluice then just hurry up and pan down to the black sand as fast as you can and dump it into a bucket. You'll be surprised how many more pans you can go through in a day by not wasting your prospecting time by panning each pan all the way down. Take those black sand concentrates home to process at night or during bad weather, don't waste the day panning and you'll get at least ten times the gold maybe even more.

Now if you're panning to find a pay streak so that you can set up some sort of production equipment such as a sluice or highbanker then you only need more practice at panning and learn to trust the technique. Use a safety pan to pan into while you are speeding up your technique. Once you're down to mostly black sand turn your pan to the smooth side and carefully wash away the black sand that is on top. Just re stratify the black sand more often and trust that the gold is on the bottom. Keep the edge of the pan resting in the water while you are panning, it wastes a lot of time picking it up and going through it before you're down to about a tablespoonful or so of material. Also if your butt isn't waggling like a duck you are stratifying too slow. :tongue3:

Once you have that mastered, then you're ready to learn to make all the gold walk out of the black sand and over to the edge of the pan .............learn to waggle the pan by tipping it back and forth from front to back with your left hand and at the same time tapping the back edge of the pan with your right hand downward on the same angle as the side of the pan on the tip toward you stroke. It takes a little practice but WOW it sure is a pretty sight to see that crescent of gold form at the edge of the pan. I learned that technique from Mike Pung developer of the Gold Cube, he calls it the "Pat your head rub your tummy" technique.


Secret to the proper tap the edge of the pan angle.......

THIS......................................................................................NOT THIS
rightpan.jpg wrongpan.jpg

GG~
 

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FlippinRocks

FlippinRocks

Tenderfoot
Apr 6, 2013
5
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for all the advice. Gonna go give it a try.
 

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FlippinRocks

FlippinRocks

Tenderfoot
Apr 6, 2013
5
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Any advice on a good dry washer ?that not to expensive.
 

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