Nice little Superior trip

Capt Nemo

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Had a day off, so I headed up to Superior. We had a nice black sand band near the waterline so I tried there. I started with the Flow Pan and did about a 5 gal bucket worth with 3-4 cleanouts (quick rinses) before full cleanout. I took the cons and panned to see how I was doing. NOT A SPECK!!! I then tried about 5 10" pans from other areas nearby. STILL NOTHING! I then dumped the cons, and moved about a tenth of a mile down the beach, and tried again. First 10" pan had 2 specks. I then ran about ten pans worth before stopping. Panout of the cons yielded about 20-30 pieces, so about 2-3 pieces per Flow Pan fill, which was about right for what I saw in the first test pan.

The no gold spot.
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Here's roughly the amount of beach sand you want in the Flow Pan.
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Start beach sand by sinking the pan slowly and stratifying the sides first. Then finish the center. Get the sand moving so it covers the logos and you can see the high spots in the mat. When panning in the lake, keep the front of the pan pointed into the waves. They'll help clean your pan out.
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Here's about what you should have left.
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Spent the rest of the day picking rocks. Had to leave by 3PM. On the way back, I decided to have a picnic at Rapid River. After chowing on freeze dried meals and chips, I hit the river with a scoop and the 10" pan. Didn't have crevice tools and couldn't pick the limestone bedrock for glacial gold. Just panned what I could catch with the scoop. Hit 3 taconite pellets, possible tungsten shot, a sinker, and some lead birdshot.

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The taconite pellets were a little off color, so I crushed one of the three found. No gold, but digging in the right spots!
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Thanks for sharing your adventure. :thumbsup:

Why would you look for gold in a taconite pellet? :icon_scratch:

Heavy Pans
 

I thought at first that the taconite was relatively fresh lead buckshot. So I gave it a crush test. The pellets normally have a reddish tint to them. Submergence must change them like the way lead turns white.
 

Tungsten shot is good, goes for about $25-$35 a pound.

Are those pellets banded? If they are it is likely bismuth shot, but it could be a tungsten matrix or IXT.
 

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