Requesting advice regarding equipment for a summer of prospecting

[Dovregubben]

Alright, so I'm a norwegian student who's contemplating using my summer break prospecting for gold in the woods of Sweden. I've got no experience prospecting, so I'm still in the researching stage of my trip. I'm planing to live in a tent and primarily fish trout/bass for food to live as cheaply as possible while I'm out there prospecting (I also do love fishing)

I'm making this thread to ask for help regarding the prospecting equipment. I've used google a lot to get some info, but can't really find what I'm looking for. The area I'll be prospecting is relatively gold-rich, but it's mainly tiny pieces and nuggets are uncommon from my understanding. I'm therefor not interested in buying any metal detector, but rather some washing equipment. I've looked at several different sluices, dredges and highbanks, but can't seem to find any solid info to help me decide what I should invest in for my trip.

Some info:
- Budget for just the prospecting gear: about 600$-800$. If there are some significant arguments for investing 100-200$ more, I'll seriously consider it.
- Area consist of mostly tiny gold, but I would like the equipment to also be able to catch nuggets if they should occure
- Portable; I'll have no access to car/ATV once I'm in the woods, so I would like to be able to transport the equipment by foot. Walking 3-4 times to transport it all isn't a problem, but I cant carry anything heavier than 10kg (20lbs) or so by hand for longer distances.
- I'll be washing in a small creek
- Would like the highest outcome possible relative to time, energy and money invested. (I'm not expecting to get rich, but to break even in the total would be nice)
- Probably be prospecting for 5-6 weeks in total, hopefully averaging 8 hours a day
- I'm young and healthy, so long days with hard work isn't a problem

This is where I would like your expertise. From my understanding a plastic sluice or two might be my best option as "main washer", considering it's lightweight, cheap and quite effective. I'm also considering buying one of those manual "super pumps" to collect material from between rocks and such.

- Are there any benefits from choosing a metal sluice, rather than plastic?
- Is it beneficial to buy two, or would I only be able to operate one at a time either way?
- Should I consider some of the other options as well? If yes; please tell me what and why?
- If no; please let me know which sluice box you think would be ideal for my use.
- What are your thoughts on those manual pumps, is it worth it? I'm expecting it to be a "decent" alternative to a proper dredge pump, please tell me if I'm wrong.

Also; this is my current list for other prospecting related equipment, tell me if I'm missing any or if there's room for any improvement:
- Digging shovel
- Smaller plastic shovel
- Stone pickaxe
- 2 Pans (What size should I buy? What are the difference in the shapes?)
- "Snuffer" bottles
- Bottles for storing the collected gold
- Buckets
- Classifier(s) (Which size would be ideal?)
- Digital scale
- Miners moss, if my sluice requires it
- Loupe
- Book with prospecting knowledge / notes on prospecting in general
- Journal, for keeping up with the progress
- Gloves and vaders (not sure if that's what it's called in english, i'm referring to those pants used in flyfishing to keep you dry. I already own a pair, so no need to buy new one)

Am I right in my reflections regarding the equipment? Please recommend and let me know what you think, every input is highly appreciated! I would also like to apologize for long post and grammatical errors, english is not my native language :-)
Lastly I would like to thank you all for any help in advance
Dovregubben

 

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[rockbar]

First you need to be able to pan for gold. Do you know anyone who can show you how?
Buying paydirt online is a good idea only if you can't go learn somewhere nearby in the field.

Once you know how to pan, you may choose to hike in with minimal gear a few times and prospect first. Equipment for this would be a small shovel, pick, scoop, bucket, classifier, snuffer and gold pan. This should all fit in a backpack (except the bucket). Find some color, then pack more stuff in (camping gear, more buckets, sluice box, larger digging tools) to spend some time and work what you hope is a good deposit.

I believe you would do well to get an idea of what the gold is like and what the area might yield first. Sluice boxes are fairly inexpensive and can even be found used. Run properly, they will all catch gold. The plastic ones are nice for the weight savings and are known for good fine gold recovery.
The aluminum ones with miners moss and riffles are more forgiving and as been mentioned can be customized.
If you think you're into prospecting for life, then it doesn't hurt to get a couple sluice boxes (eventually) as they will pay for themselves in time.

 

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[Dovregubben]

Thanks again guys, really helpful!
I don't know anyone who could show me panning, but I guess there are some informative YouTube-videos out there I could watch? That Alaskan flair looks good, but seems to be sold out. I think the goldhog sluice will cost me a lot in the total, considering it's weight. The grizzly looks promising though! How are those traps at picking up superfine gold? Do they require a lot of water flow to work? I'm really sorry for not having the opportunity to do proper field-research atm(and thus making it harder for you to give advice), but I do know geological studies conducted in the area have shown great gold concentration, all though the size of each piece is generally tiny.
I will pick up on your advice rockbar, to hike and prospect the area with minimal gear before I bring in the bigger equipment, but I'll probably have to wait until early May

 

[rainwolf75]

My advise to you in regards to weight and price is to....

1. Make some of your own stuff, i.e.
1.A A good example would be a black sand magnet = empty pill bottle with two small holes drilled side by side on the bottom and a round craft store magnet. Now take a piece of string and thread each end in the holes you drilled on the bottom then even them out and take some very strong glue and glue the ends of the string to the magnet, put the lid on the pill bottle and you can use your finger (from the bottom of the empty pill bottle) to pull up on the string to release the black sand.
1.B You can also use this bottle to keep an eye dropper in if it fits.
1.C I agree with what a previous poster mentioned about using empty pill bottles to keep your gold in while in the field, they are very durable and if you get the ones that the lid just snaps on (the ones that are NOT child proof) may work out better.
1.D You can search the internet or better yet search Youtube for Dan Hurd and Gold Hog, you will find some good diy videos by them, not to mention they both have some extremely informative how to videos on how to pan as well as other prospecting topics.
1.E Join Gold Prospectors Space, it is free to join. They also do a live podcast on Wednesday and Sunday that is very informative, not to mention great information on their forum (including some DIY stuff).

2. Gold Hog
2.A Gold hog has a Hog Pan that is portable and is cross between a high banker and a gold pan that is very durable and comes with a gold hog mat in it. You can see the video of how to use it by going to their website. Now I recommend this because you might want to just use it and not take a high banker with you, however if you do decide to get one to take you will want to buy a large storage tub to fill with water so that you can do your panning in the tub instead of in the creek if it is shallow.
2.B I would recommend any and all of their products, however I would start with the hog pan or even the new flow pan. (I must admit that I am a bit partial to GoldHog, after all they are based in my home state.)

3. Practice Practice Practice
3.A just as others have mentioned practice with your round pans by buying some concentrates, however do not throw out your paydirt/concentrates reuse it to keep practicing. You can do this in a large storage tub that I previously mentioned, not to mention it can be used out in the field. (You can easily make a wheel base to put the tub in to pull it to your site with most of your equipment in it which would mean less trips)

4. Good to know
4.A If you can keep your snuffer bottle (or eyedropper), gold vail, loper, tweezers in a waterproof bag with a zipper somehow attached to you, whether it been around your neck or clipped to your belt this way you can keep these items handy without fear of lost. If you have a bag with a zipper at least use a safety pin to keep contents from exiting the bag in some way.
4.B If you can - bring another bucket, reason is you will get tired of squatting and bending over, that way you have another bucket that you can not only use to sit on but also use to keep concentrates in as well.
4.C Also don't forget to season your round gold pans once you get them.
4.D Before buying any equipment it is best to look into the local prospecting laws for the region for which you will be prospecting. This is not optional! The reason is that you need to not only know the local prospecting law but you need to understand them as well. By doing so you will learn if you need a permit, license, or find out that some equipment is not permitted or legal for where you are prospecting. Just know that not all equipment is legal everywhere. It is best to keep it legal!

You seem to have a very good head on your shoulders and have given a considerable amount of thought and planning, as well as research to your upcoming adventure and you tend to take the 6P's seriously, as you should with such an adventure ahead of you.

I hope we all have helped you and I truly wish you the best of luck, and please keep us posted.

 

[Dovregubben]

Thanks a lot for your in-depth advices rainwolf, truly appreciate it!
I would also like to apologize for my late answer, this month has been crazy at school. Finally got some holiday spare time!
I've almost decided on buying the Grizzly Explorer, seems like a promising investment for my needs. only thing still keeping me on the fence is worrying about the fluid bed potentially discriminating bigger nuggets. Have you got any input on this KevininColorado?
Happy holidays everyone!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks a lot for your in-depth advices rainwolf, truly appreciate it!
I would also like to apologize for my late answer, this month has been crazy at school. Finally got some holiday spare time!
I've almost decided on buying the Grizzly Explorer, seems like a promising investment for my needs. only thing still keeping me on the fence is worrying about the fluid bed potentially discriminating bigger nuggets. Have you got any input on this KevininColorado?
Happy holidays everyone!

Virtually anything will catch the big nuggets! On the Explorer, a larger nugget won’t even make it past the sampling riffles where you will SEE it! A heart pounding moment indeed