The Flow Pan and Sand

[Capt Nemo]

I finally tried my Flow Pan with beach sand. I ran with concentrate that had just the blond and garnet removed but intact gold. I was hitting a average of 2 pieces per scoop with the Garrett 10". I was panning in a 6-7 gal mixing tub. The scoop used is the red handled one found in the Lowe's garden area. (1 scoop = 10" pan full)

I started by adding a total of 3 scoops to the Flow Pan. When I submerged the pan, the sand immediately slumped and filled the pan to a depth perfect for panning. I began using a steering wheel motion to stratify the pan. A circle about 3" in diameter formed in the center of the pan, and did not stratify. I then started a jerky front to back rocking motion, which made the circle stratify, and then a side to side motion which also kept the center stratified. I kept stratifying for about 15 seconds using a combination of the three motions, before washing out the pan. I washed out by letting the pan fill with water, and lifting the front of the pan upward. It was slower than I'd like, but then I had no current in the mixing tub to provide crossflow for the pan. I did get more aggressive towards the end of the washout. I then preformed a full cleanout and panned the result. The result was 8 pieces from #150 to #200 in size. From what I was seeing before with the Garrett, she's not loosing anything. It was still faster than using the Garrett.

So the Flow Pan CAN run Lake Superior beach sand!

When working sand, watch the contents carefully to make sure they stratify. Do not use just one stratification method. Take 10-15 seconds of stratification time. 3 scoops are the perfect amount of sand. A squirt bottle is useful for cleanouts. A 7 gal mix tub does not work well for this pan (water everywhere!).

I do wish that Doc will come out with a narrower version that could fit in a 5-6 gallon bucket of water for faster cleanouts. The Flow Pan is about 1" too wide.

 

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[Capt Nemo]

Just got back from a trip to Nugget Lake. I wanted to see the Flow Pan in stream conditions. Went back to my old hole and found it filled about halfway with sand and gravel up to 4" in size. Didn't seem like anyone did any real digging, but there were new dams built. Someone did dig the crappy side of the stream where there was only a speck per pan instead of 5-10 on the other side. The rock at the head of the hole had a good sand tail behind it again, and upstream there were many new sand tails behind the larger rocks and plants. Debris on the bank says that the stream was at least 3 feet higher sometime this spring. So more than likely, the material in the hole is fresh flood material and not tailings. So I dug the new material in the hole and classified 5 buckets to 1/2". Two buckets were nothing but sand.

With all the gravel, I ran 4 scoops per pan. I started filling the pan and used front to back motion to progressively stratify from the sides to the center as the pan filled with water. I kept everything stratified for about 10 seconds and then began cleanout. I found that the easiest way to clean out was to keep the pan flat, and on the return stroke use a pitching motion which causes the water still in the pan to blow the sand out. Did a full cleanout after each bucket. Didn't see any visible gold in the pan out there, and it did make me question whether I was being too rough on cleanout.

I just got done panning before I jumped online, the trip bagged 3 visible specks at #150-200, and about 30-40 specks of #300-400 that I could only see with the magnifier. If those were sluice tailings, they're LOOSING!!!

LOVE THE FLOW PAN!!! Even with sand she can capture everything! The Flow Pan will work on Nugget Lake material.

 

[placertogo]

Doc is pretty conservative about making extravagant claims about his products but I, too, have found the Flow Pan works well with finer paydirt and sand. The trick is to keep the material fluidized so it moves down to the mat. Sand is notorious for packing especially getting down to the heavier stuff. I have also had some good experiences replacing Doc’s mat in the Flow Pan with a piece of vortex (conveyor belt) mat which keeps the fine gold in place and cleans out easily when removed. The Flow Pan and Hog Pan are two of the best non-motorized concentrators I have seen on the market.

 

[Capt Nemo]

That's the whole trick to panning...Stratify, stratify, stratify! No matter what pan you use, if it doesn't stratify, you lose it.

As for speed with the Flow Pan, my whole Nugget Lake trip was 2 1/2 hours in the park. I got to the park at 3 PM, paid the fee, drove to the parking spot, got into and out of my wetsuit, made 2 trips hauling gear each way, reconed the river, classified 5 buckets and panned them, drove back to the entrance, checked time 5:30 PM. If I had panned those 5 buckets with my 14" Garrett, it would have taken me 2 1/2 hours of panning alone.

While I'm kinda down for not getting as much volume of gold as I wanted to see, I'm totally blown away by the amount of superfine that it did capture. I'm also glad I soldered those tray corners up, as those superfines could have easily slipped out the open corners. Seeing that as a problem on the early pans was a good call on my part. (see Flow Pan Mod in prospecting section)

 

[Capt Nemo]

Got a day off, so I headed back to Nugget Lake. I decided to try digging just upstream of the rock that makes the sand tail in my old hole. Did a test pan with my Garrett 14", and came away with 15 colors. I classified 4 buckets before everything became shaded by clouds. I got through the first bucket with the Flow Pan, and thought I heard jets in the distance. As I cleaned out the pan, the sky got darker, and I heard jets again. Uh oh! THOSE AREN'T JETS! Everything just became a race against time! Got the 4 buckets done and packed everything up. Was just getting the car when I got hit with the first drop. In and out in 2 1/2 hours. Digging and classifying the buckets took a lot longer as the surface rock was hardpacked and real hard to get the shovel through. But once through I got into the light gray clay/sand mixture where the gold is, digging was easier. On the last bucket, I caught a 1/4" split shot sinker that the Flow Pan wouldn't let go of. The pan out is real nice! There's at least 3 pieces of wire gold that I saw in the pan, but one likes rolling and keeps hiding in the black sand. And on the way back I got a silver dime as change.



Gotta love the Flow Pan's speed for keeping me out of the storm!

 

[Capt Nemo]

Here's some drawings of the motions that I'm using.

In the first drawing, I found that the front to back motion seems to work best for stratifying. Put your sand in the center of the pan, and begin the front to back rocking motion (yellow arrows) while slowly letting the pan fill with water. The sand (brown arrows) will begin to stratify as it slumps to the sides. This keeps any gold from escaping while the sand slumps as it must travel through a stratified zone to get out of the pan. Once the center stratifies, keep the motion going for 5-10 seconds. While stratifying, rock it hard enough to cover the logos.



For cleanout, begin by holding the pan flat in the water and drag it through the water. At the end of the stroke, lift the front end up as you begin the return stroke. This will trap water in the pan, and at the end of the return stroke the water will run down the mat and wash material out. Sand does like to hold at the tail, but as you continue, you will watch the material grow darker as the black sand concentrates there. This method cleans out the pan on each part of the stroke. The amount of tilt needed is a little exaggerated in the pic. You can clean until the last mat section is still covered.

 

[goldhog]

Thanks Capt.....
Good to see people playing with all types of material... and yes, I've ALWAYS been conservative on making claims.
When it comes to the FlowPan... 90% of its efficiency as far as capture rates comes from USER TECHNIQUE.
The last video I posted REALLY stresses that.
If you're working in a creek with strong flow... sometimes I don't even turn the pan UPSTREAM... I just work it
facing down. Also, I really urge people NOT to blow out the mats. Keep some cons in them.
Great posts... keep us informed.
Doc

 

[Capt Nemo]

Here's about what a pan looks like when finished.



The nugget trap up front does not blow out, and the first section holds fine sand. The second section gets the brunt of the cleaning action and gets blown out, but you do see some fine sand. Sections 3-5 get progressively more filled, and black sand is seen. The sixth section is covered and black sand is seen concentrated at the tail.

While It may look like there's too little in the pan and I'm probably blowing out, the result was the same as what I should have seen with normal panning. Actually, it was better than my old hole, as this would have come from 6 buckets not 4. So from what I'm seeing, the losses, if any, are very small.

One thing that Flow Pan owners should experiment with is matting choices for different materials. While the current matting seems to be working well, a different mat might work better for sand. The Flow Pan has only been out 6 months, and the knowledge base for it is still small. We still need to learn how to handle this pan for all possible situations.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Tried something new last night with some of the Superior cons I still had. I tried just stratifying, adding fresh material, stratifying again, and letting the material overflow during stratification. After the 6 gal bucket, I cleaned out the pan and panned down. I hit 33 pieces ranging from #150-400. That number seems very low, as the last bucket ran around 150 pieces from #20-150. Might be that I had dug a dead spot, but I'm going to pan the cons again with a regular pan to see if I was loosing. That'll take time! We'll see.

 

[arizau]

I'm speculating but I think that if you load it with less, enough to cover the riffles but not up to the lip, your results will be more positive. I imagine that you pan for final recovery in small quantities so, same, same.

Good luck.

 

[Capt Nemo]

The production panning didn't work well at all!!!

The first pan of the tailings found a #50 and a #200, so I was loosing big time. It works with 3 scoops max, then cleaning down to the mats, before adding any more material. I don't think that the lower parts restratified, and the fresh material just worked it's way out of the pan taking the gold with it. It's kinda the same as overfilling the pan.

Well, I just learned what not to do with a Flow Pan!

 

[Capt Nemo]

Headed back to Nugget Lake again today. Ran 10 buckets from behind a clump of plants in the stream, and did a little of the roots. Found a surprise in the pan...a .22 cal tracer bullet. It sat right down in the mat and refused to move. Good pic on how tiny the gold can be, and the Flow Pan still nails it. Classifying and busting hardpack took forever today. Was digging up really vuggy sandstone chunks that took a long time to clean up. Have to remember to bring a parts brush next time.