Take a look in my first pan for me?

[TankerRobbie]

ok now im smart enough as a newbie to know there is no noticeable gold in this pan, iv been goin a little stir crazy and decided to freeze my but off to get some material to practice panning, i would have just dumped it but i noticed a couple things, first of there is magnetic material in the pan, i took an earth magnet to the underside of the pan and i can drag it around, secondly when shaking or tapping the pan with the material as you see it the "black sand" separates from everything else but there is a lot of twinkle that also stays with it but separates out with the magnet, am i over thinking this and wasting my time?

 

[kazcoro]

Yes, you are overthinking. Looks like you got the hang of it. If you really want to practice, get some little pieces of lead and work on speed pannning. A lot of people spend so much time panning that isn't needed.

 

[TankerRobbie]

Yes, you are overthinking. Looks like you got the hang of it. If you really want to practice, get some little pieces of lead and work on speed pannning. A lot of people spend so much time panning that isn't needed.

you are right it took me a considerable amount of time to get down to whats in the pan, i have one of those prospecting kits with the screens and pans so my final product is just the finer material, i think that took alot of time but the end result was a nice light material in the final pan. how do you speed pan? how do i know where to pull my material from to pan it out what are the tell tale signs? i grabbed two buckets one right from the "stream" past a waterfall the second from the same vicinity but from the bank where it was washing out.

 

[BIGSCOTT]

some of whats in your pan is magnetite which is magnetic by itself(it will stick to steel tweezers) the earth magnet will atract it and any other iron in your pan.

 

[TankerRobbie]

magnetite... what is it? im not very well versed in geology so does that mean that the material is useless for panning or is it an encouraging sign? im planning on spending the day playing with the material i have just for haha's but it will be good to learn something from it all if i can

 

[fowledup]

By the time you get to that amount of material in the pan, the blonde sands should just about be gone. As you stratify (agitate and shake) the heavies go to the bottom. When you tip the pan forward to work off the top layer (the blonde,sands), the pan forms a "V" the bottom of the "V" should be the low point of the pan. Focus on keeping the heavies (black sands) in the bottom of the "V". Keeping that "V" as the low point is key to keeping the heavies on the bottom. Stratify, pick off larger pebbles and rocks, take off the top lighter layer -repeat. There are some good panning videos on YouTube that better show what I poorly explain. Best of luck and keep at it.

 

[TankerRobbie]

thanks fowledup, im running some material and im trying out the turbo pan i have and im working through the courser material that didnt make it into the pan and i manage to pick out something with the tweezers once it dries ill throw it up for you guys to have a look at, its probably nothing but i got season six of americas got talent going and im having a ball so thanks everyone for putting up with me

 

[kazcoro]

Get your pan full. Get your hand in there and mix it all up. This is so you can get ALL of the material wet. Then, shake the crap out of it. Side to side. How long it takes to stratify depends on your pan and how you shake it. I get 6-8 side to side shakes, and everything is good and stratified.
Now, drain the water off. You should see pretty much all the stones sitting on the top. Now, fill it up with water again. Then, while tipping the pan slightly, shake the water off of it. You should see material Running off the end of the pan with the water. Those are the stones. Remember, the whole time, you are shaking the pan side to side.
Now, fill it back up with water, give it a few more side to side shakes while keeping the same angle, but not lettting water run off it. This re-stratifies your material again. It also is driving the heavies down,down,down into the pan.
Now, fill it with water, and steepen the angle. SHake it and let the water run off with more stones. Keep repeating this process until you have a small pan of material. ( What I like to do at this point, is to wash this material off into a second pan. That way, I can get 3 or 4 pans of material at the same time. It is a huge time saver, and the visual effects of seeing 3 or 4 pans of black sands and gold at the same time is a lot more fun as well.)
When you have only a cup or so of material in the pan, lessen the angle of the pan, fill it with water, and shake it again. And again. Let most of the water run off. Now, reverse the angle while you are shaking the pan lightly. This should wash the lightest material to the back of the pan. Keep shaking the pan lightly and the black sands should walk back as well. Your gold will be on the leading edges of the black sand at this point.
A couple of tips. First off, you have to be continually shaking the pan. The entire time. When you are picking up the pan out of the water, you are shaking it. As the stones wash off, you are shaking it. You should have water splashing over the sides of the pan! If your tub is full, water will be splashing over the sides of it as well.
Next tip, you don't need the fanciest pan on the planet. I literally started out with a Marie Callenders pie tin. I don't feel handicapped with it to this day. The only problem is that it is small. But, if I am in the desert, and am pannning my concentrates in a 5 gallon bucket, it works great.

 

[TankerRobbie]

the one piece looks like copper

 

[goldenmojo]

Get your pan full. Get your hand in there and mix it all up. This is so you can get ALL of the material wet. Then, shake the crap out of it. Side to side. How long it takes to stratify depends on your pan and how you shake it. I get 6-8 side to side shakes, and everything is good and stratified.
Now, drain the water off. You should see pretty much all the stones sitting on the top. Now, fill it up with water again. Then, while tipping the pan slightly, shake the water off of it. You should see material Running off the end of the pan with the water. Those are the stones. Remember, the whole time, you are shaking the pan side to side.
Now, fill it back up with water, give it a few more side to side shakes while keeping the same angle, but not lettting water run off it. This re-stratifies your material again. It also is driving the heavies down,down,down into the pan.
Now, fill it with water, and steepen the angle. SHake it and let the water run off with more stones. Keep repeating this process until you have a small pan of material. ( What I like to do at this point, is to wash this material off into a second pan. That way, I can get 3 or 4 pans of material at the same time. It is a huge time saver, and the visual effects of seeing 3 or 4 pans of black sands and gold at the same time is a lot more fun as well.)
When you have only a cup or so of material in the pan, lessen the angle of the pan, fill it with water, and shake it again. And again. Let most of the water run off. Now, reverse the angle while you are shaking the pan lightly. This should wash the lightest material to the back of the pan. Keep shaking the pan lightly and the black sands should walk back as well. Your gold will be on the leading edges of the black sand at this point.
A couple of tips. First off, you have to be continually shaking the pan. The entire time. When you are picking up the pan out of the water, you are shaking it. As the stones wash off, you are shaking it. You should have water splashing over the sides of the pan! If your tub is full, water will be splashing over the sides of it as well.
Next tip, you don't need the fanciest pan on the planet. I literally started out with a Marie Callenders pie tin. I don't feel handicapped with it to this day. The only problem is that it is small. But, if I am in the desert, and am pannning my concentrates in a 5 gallon bucket, it works great.

Marie Callenders Pie and then gold panning afterwards. Why didn't I think of that....

GM

 

[Lanny in AB]

Magnetite is a form of iron ore that's magnetic. It is usually black. As you've found out, it's attracted to a magnet.

Hematite is also a form of iron ore, but it's not magnetic. It will also sit in the crease in your pan with the heavies. You will sometimes get semi-precious gem stones (garnets, etc.) in the crease with your heavies too.

All the best, and it looks like you're off to a good start,

Lanny

 

[mxer47]

There is a video on utube that is titled 40+ years of panning. Or 40+ years panning in British Colombia. Or something like that. It is helpful. And I agree when I see gold there is no blond sands in the pan at all.

 

[kazcoro]

Here is the pan I use. I work it on an angle, and it helps drive the gold even further down into the black sands. It is big, too. Gold Mining Equipment Hex Gold Pan - Gold Pans - Equipment

 

[TankerRobbie]

wow kaz that is a good size pan , how do you like it vs a round pan?

 

[kazcoro]

It kicks some serious butt. I can get 4-5 of the metal detecting scoops in it at a time. It stratifies RIGHT NOW. And, being able to use the corners really helps. I use two hands until it gets down to the last third of the pan, then I one hand it. The pan never leaves the house, because it doesn't fit in a 5. I have a couple of the Garrett style pans, but only use them as storage pans here at the house. That's that point where I said I like to get 3-4 pans of black sands together before I finish wash them.

 

[TankerRobbie]

is it summer yet?! i got a sluice box , i hate ny weather cant metal detect cant prospect cant do anything outside atm