Noob questions

[guitarguy62]

Hey guys,
I've been a member of this site for a little while but never have really done any hunting or prospecting. I just love to see what you guys dig up!! However I have always found gold prospecting interesting. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on how to get started. I just want to do this as a hobby and I don't have gobs of money to spend. I saw the nugget bucket thing on the Internet, I don't know much about it but it looks good for beginners, what's your thoughts on that? Also, is there even gold in my area? I live around Hermatige, MO. From what I understand the glaciers didn't come down to my area, but is there still a chance of finding placer gold in the rivers and streams? There's several small streams that branch off of the Missouri River that are pretty close to me but that's about all I know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


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[Terry Soloman]

Best advice I can give you is to find a local gold prospecting club and join it. See what the members are finding, where they are finding it, and what equipment they are using. DO NOT buy ANYTHING until you do this. Google or Bing "gold prospecting club" in your area. Good Luck!

 

[delnorter]

guitarguy62, I highly recommend you get and use a plastic gold pan, a snuffer bottle, a garden trowel, flat screw driver, no. 2 shovel and perhaps some kind of screen to begin with. Find out where gold has been found before close to where you now live and do some panning. Keep searching this site for pointers on the where and hows of improving you skills.

You're going to love what you dig up a lot more than what we dig up. Good luck,

Mike

 

[Bonaro]

I have used the Gold Rush Nugget Bucket and it basically simplifies the process of screening your material. This is already a very simple process so I would not suggest spending north of $100 for a device that you can easily make out of some screen from the hardware store and a couple boards.
You need to learn how to pan. You cant do this by watching a youtube video. Find a club or individual that can show you how to do this. Then go out as start testing until you find gold.

 

[425jesse]

Your pan is your greatest tool. Learn to use it well, and then conquer the river!

 

[guitarguy62]

Thanks for all your feedback guys! I found a club about an hour north of me I'm looking into..I'm sure I'll learn a lot from them! Also do you guys have any favorite screening devices that aren't mechanical? I think it's illegal to use mechanical stuff here but I'm not 100% sure on that..guess I'll learn soon! Haha


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[russau]

Welcome to the site guitarguy! I see your below the lake . do a goggle search on the Showmegold prospectors its a gpaa club but you don't need to belong to the gpaa to belong to this club. Its free! their website with all the info is: www.showmegold.org they hold their meetings at Wellington Mo. on the second Saturday . I belong to this very active club but don't drive over there much because of the time/fuel. you would be welcome there and fit right in! plus they are also on https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/moprospectors

 

[Bonaro]

Thanks for all your feedback guys! I found a club about an hour north of me I'm looking into..I'm sure I'll learn a lot from them! Also do you guys have any favorite screening devices that aren't mechanical? I think it's illegal to use mechanical stuff here but I'm not 100% sure on that..guess I'll learn soon! Haha

Well, there is your first lesson even before you buy a pan or screen. Learn the Rules!
You need to get whatever regulation book there is in your state and study it until you fully understand it.

Screens are available in all sizes of mesh from any prospecting store, usually $20-$30. Google will help you find the store near you.

 

[425jesse]

It's also easy and cheap to make your own screens if you have a few old buckets. They nest together nicely and you can classify ALOT of material at once!

 

[Skiddum]

Step 1 Buy either a garret deluxe kit. comes with everything you need to pan and some books and such. or you can buy My favorite pan is a keene dual riffle a sniffer bottle and a scoop. just easier to use in my opinion to get all the tiny gold out. but the garret is great for regular or dry panning. Step 2 get good at it. Step 3 get better equipment such as a sluice and so on. I can work a hole bucket down extremely fast with either the dual riffle or the garret.
Thinking about trying out the EZ pan. I hear it's extremely fast for both wet and dry and works well for finishing as well. but will have to try it out

 

[Skiddum]

Yes and Learn the regulations and rules of your area. some places you can only pan. others you can use more equipment. some places won't let you use a classifier that's how strict there rules are. 1 thing I like to do is test different pans. I have tested the turbo pan, works well with gold larger than 50 mesh.
Trinity bowl. not a bad pan at all. works well with gold close to 100 mesh. the smaller the gold the higher you want to keep the tip on the sluice side.

Garret gravity trap pans. extremely good pan for all sizes you just have to get good and be careful once you get it down. you have to work the side of the pan carefully to make sure the you don't loose any gold and get the sand and black sand out. personally I work it down to the black sand aND that's it. just to save it. cause you go home and you can clean it and you'll find there is more gold than you thought sometimes.
Dual riffle keene. favorite pan still you use both set of riffles and you can work the light sand out very easy without worrying about loosing gold.

Le trap. and maverick pan.
both great pans very useful very easy to use.
And the way you separate the black sand and the gold at the end is very easy and very good. you can work it down very nicely and clean the gold very well.

There's allot of good pans out there. you just have yo learn them. I'd say find 1 you like and stick with it. get very very good and fast with it. I've seen some people use a garret or keene or allot of others and they can work a bucket down almost faster than a sluice. so that's the best advice I can give. learn the laws and rules and get great with a pan cause you'll always need it.

 

[yodi]

First as other members above have said is learn the rules and regs for your area get your self a good quality pan and start prospecting. I made up back packs for my sons for Christmas this year and they included a 12 in keene pan, snuffer bottle, screw driver, trowel, spoon, and a turkey baster. Add a couple buckets and get out there. Good luck.