looking for some help gold panning

[utah_ty]

I live in vernal,UT and want to start panning for gold. I am completely new to this so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, also looking for someone in the area to help if possible.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Watch videos on YouTube to get panning tips. Get the book "A Guide to Gold Panning in Utah" by Alan J Chenworth ...great detailed info on where to go all around the beautiful state of Utah. I have it and love it!

Practice panning with lead shot/shavings including very very small bits of metal.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/366956-panning-videos.html

 

[goldhog]

I live in vernal,UT and want to start panning for gold. I am completely new to this so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, also looking for someone in the area to help if possible.

Listen to Kevin's tips, they are good ones.
I have always said great miners are great panners.
For most, it starts with the pan and ends with the pan, regardless of the production level you are running.
Also, the better you become at panning... the less cleanup equipment you will need.
I put up some finishing videos here... How to Pan for Gold
Doc

 

[QNCrazy]

I recommend Doc's videos. I watched them over and over then practice, practice, practice. You get better with time.

 

[utah_ty]

Thanks all, is there a regulation to when u can pan gold? Like a season or something?

 

[KevinInColorado]

I recommend Doc's videos. I watched them over and over then practice, practice, practice. You get better with time.

Me too! Doc from Goldhog and C0017A on YouTube have the best panning instructions. The shake and tap method will get you the really fine gold right out of your cons with just a pan and a classifier! My 50 mesh classifier is a key panning tool!

As to seasons, there are some rules in some places, you have to ask about that based on which land mgmt agency or owner you are dealing with. The book I mentioned covers that as relevant. He has a chapter on the Green River talking about decent gold just a few miles south of Vernal at Horseshoe Bend.

 

[utah_ty]

Last I knew horse shoe bend is closed to the public as it is an actual gold mine claim

 

[KevinInColorado]

Last I knew horse shoe bend is closed to the public as it is an actual gold mine claim

Yes, that could be at least partially true. However, people tend to exaggerate that sort of thing. A check with the local BLM office might show that some of the claims have expired or that there are some areas which remain unclaimed.

 

[utah_ty]

One more question, is it better to dry pan versus wet pan?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wet is always better. Also using a classifier is always better. Dry panning will not an effective way to actually find fine gold. It is a good way to reduce how much material you haul home from a dry site. A lot of Utah gold is still out there waiting for you due to lack of water for the old timers to use.

 

[utah_ty]

What's a classifier?

 

[DizzyDigger]

Ty, take a bit of time and watch a few of the panning
video's that were posted. That should give you a basic
understanding of panning, and also you'll pick up on the
common terms associated with it, and how they apply.

 

[KevinInColorado]

What's a classifier?

And you can do a google search on "gold prospecting classifier"

In the field I use a 1/2 inch and an 8 or 12 (holes per inch) mesh. All of the heavy material comes home with me to get further processing. In my shop I use a 20 and a 50 mesh routinely...and occasionally/annually a 100 mesh to get the really fine gold out of my accumulated material.

 

[ALewis]

KevininCol has Great advice....Listen to him

 

[Doitlaynstyle]

One thing you may also wish to consider is to purchase some pay dirt that has guaranteed gold in it. I tried my hand at sending some out this last year for the price of shipping but made the mistake of not stirring the dirt when I got it home and no one found anything in it except fly poop specs of gold. SO I ran what was left of the bucket and found almost a gram. It had all settled to the bottom of the bucket due to the vibration of the road travel LOL.

Anyway the guaranteed pay dirt will allow you to pan over something like a walmart tote and you can get some practice at it so you can understand how the gold reacts in the pan.


Youtube videos helped me out a ton and I also made some of my own

 

[stephen583]

The best advise for a newcomer is don't spend a boat load of money on gimmicky equipment found on the internet.. most of it is way overpriced and it's usefulness is at times very dubious. The people who made the most money during the Gold Rush days were selling equipment to miners, not mining themselves.. it's the same today.

Take for instance "Clay-B-Gone". It works, it will emulsify (liquefy) red and blue clay, however it's expensive. I learned a neat trick from an Archeology friend of mine at Tulane University as to how they liquefy clay. All you need is a free ion of hydrogen and a free ion of fluoride. Find a one gallon milk jug in the trash. Wash it out and fill it with water. Squirt in some fluoride tooth paste and pour in a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Shake the jug, if it turns blue like the sky, the mixture is perfect. Cost ? A little bit over $2 dollars a gallon. This stuff will work as good as, or better than "Clay-B-Gone".

Building your own sluice box will generally result in better equipment than the pricy sluice boxes you'll find on the internet. Whatever you build, include "Razor Hog" rubber mats, they're the only thing I'd buy off the internet.. They actually work !

In fact, for prospecting purposes.. you're best off with nothing more than a "Poop Tube" sluice. Go to a Walmart garden department, or Ace hardware and buy three foot of 6 inch wide flexible plastic ribbed drainage pipe. Cut it in half and glue it into same size thin PVC pipe if you desire a more rigid design. Cost minimal, weight minimal. It will perform as well, or better than a $250 dollar Keen "Stream" Sluice Box.

 

[Goldfleks]

https://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Deluxe-Gold-Pan-Kit/dp/B000H85WV2/?tag=treasurenet01-20

Also get:

https://www.amazon.com/s/?tag=treasurenet01-20

You don't need much, the cheapest bag is fine IMHO. You can pan, and re-pan in a tub of water to practice.

The rest is up to you 5gal bucket, shovel, and the will to succeed.

If you can't find gold with a pan, you won't have much luck with a sluice.

use mylandmatters.com and look where historical/current placer claims are on the rivers around you. Expired/Historical claims next to current active claims are a great place to start panning. Who knows, with a little prospecting it might be worth claiming again as a small scale miner. Or ask permission from a claim holder/private property owner if you can prospect their claim/land.

Maybe join a local club.

Boots on the ground and pan in the water is the only way to get started.

 

[Hunt4gold]

What everyone said above... great advice. Just started prospecting last October - what I found really helpful was to watch Doc's video on panning, take some of my material and try and pan it out just like Doc. Then watch the video again, and again, and, well, you get the picture. Each time you watch it you'll notice more subtle aspects of the technique. Pay attention to the angle/tilt of his pan during different parts of the panning, watch hand movements used to move the water around the pan, notice where and how he taps the pan, etc. After a few dozen times of panning out sample material (like Goldfleks and others mentioned), you will start to understand the physics behind the techniques and how gold (and other heavies) move in the pan. You'll begin to trust the physics and get faster at panning. For now (especially with bought sample material) pan over a catch basin so that you can check the material you remove during panning and verify that no gold escaped in the process.

Will be on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Reservoir this coming July on a fly fishing/prospecting trip for 4 days. Let me know if you want to meet up for a day of prospecting in the area.

 

[Kenmitch]

lol....Thread was dormant from Oct 2013 till today so I'm guessing he's either figured it out or has given up by now. Good advice none the less so others may benefit from it in the end.