Placer mining and fine gold recovery - your must have tools?

[jdlev]

Toss up question!

What are your 3 must have tools when you head out to the creek (not including a shovel and bucket, lol)? What are your top 3 tools when recovering fine gold?

 

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[goldenmojo]

Fine gold? A paintbrush, a large and small spoon. The most plentiful fine gold isn’t in the water.

 

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[N-Lionberger]

My fine gold setup is such I get my screened super concentrate I dry it in a big steel pan, when its cool I spread it out on a big aluminum backing pan and take out the magnetic sand with a spin it off magnet on a cordless drill, the not magnetic concentrates go in my big cast iron mortar and pestle and is reduced to dust. Next it goes into a kiln where it gets screaming hot at which point it is removed and poured into a bucket of water. This fine powdery roasted stuff is pretty dang easy to pan, you just need a good smooth pan heavy scratches or rust makes it difficult, my weapon of choice is a copper pan somthing about the texture of the metal works for me.

 

[arizau]

My fine gold setup is such I get my screened super concentrate I dry it in a big steel pan, when its cool I spread it out on a big aluminum backing pan and take out the magnetic sand with a spin it off magnet on a cordless drill, the not magnetic concentrates go in my big cast iron mortar and pestle and is reduced to dust. Next it goes into a kiln where it gets screaming hot at which point it is removed and poured into a bucket of water. This fine powdery roasted stuff is pretty dang easy to pan, you just need a good smooth pan heavy scratches or rust makes it difficult, my weapon of choice is a copper pan somthing about the texture of the metal works for me.

Newly out of college and a couple of years of active duty time in the Navy, I was panning one day back in the late 60's and was approached by a retired couple from Minnesota who asked me to teach them how. I did and they had a copper pan which I coveted and offered to buy from them. They refused but took my name and address and said they would send me one when they got back home to show their thanks for showing them the ropes. Truth be known, I had only recently been shown how to pan myself by a local who was from a nearby ranch. I received my pan a few weeks later. It is stamped "Hudson Bay Limited", "Hand Made", "Herters Waseca Minn." and is 14" in diameter and has a beautiful patina now. I displayed it prominently on a bookshelf for many years and have never used it. Brings back fond memories of when I was a young man. Sigh.

PS I think the main use of copper pans back in the day was for fine gold recovery however it was by coating them with mercury then scraping the amalgam off to run in a retort.

 

[N-Lionberger]

The copper pans are used for amalgamating, I know some one that still does it. The pan needs to be polished bright and shiny for the mercury to stick nicely, my copper pan has developed a nice dark patina which makes the gold easy to spot and since I don't use it for anything except fine finish panning it is pretty safe from rubbing off. It is a 14" as well with a nice wide bottom doesn't have any stampings I picked it up at Lunds in Nevada, neat place to check out if you're ever around Virginia City area. You don't see copper pans everyday I know someone that has a similar teaching story as you except he managed to get the pan it was a big old one it was at least 17" and all bashed up from use, I was just a little envious I like the bigger pans.