Theres gotta be one better than the others....

bottlecap · Apr 3, 2016

Sounds like you're all set up! I was doing some research with topography mapping software(google maps :thumbsup:

) last night and I think I may have found a pretty good spot. It's in Wisconsin a little over an hour away but it looks really good, really deep ravines on both sides and gravel bars, taking off in a couple minutes!

restless spirit · Apr 3, 2016

gooluck

bottlecap · Apr 3, 2016

restless spirit said:
gooluck

The initial spot I found was crap, looked absolutely perfect, everything you would want to see when prospecting but no gold, oddly enough though I did find a small piece of granite that had gold in it, really strange I couldn't pan anything. After giving that spot a couple hours I drove about 15 miles to a different spot and it turned out great, first pan had 3 colors in it! After that first pan I started moving material and putting it in a bucket to run through whatever sluice I end up getting. Unfortunately I found that spot right at the end of the day so I didn't get to gather that much material. Little note on that Pyramid Pro Pan, if you run shovel after shovel in it without cleaning it out the fines that sink to the bottom end up getting packed in really tight, almost makes me think if you kept going with it you may end up washing gold out that is unable to settle because of the packing in the bottom, I could be wrong.

arizau · Apr 4, 2016

bottlecap said:
The initial spot I found was crap, looked absolutely perfect, everything you would want to see when prospecting but no gold, oddly enough though I did find a small piece of granite that had gold in it, really strange I couldn't pan anything. After giving that spot a couple hours I drove about 15 miles to a different spot and it turned out great, first pan had 3 colors in it! After that first pan I started moving material and putting it in a bucket to run through whatever sluice I end up getting. Unfortunately I found that spot right at the end of the day so I didn't get to gather that much material. Little note on that Pyramid Pro Pan, if you run shovel after shovel in it without cleaning it out the fines that sink to the bottom end up getting packed in really tight, almost makes me think if you kept going with it you may end up washing gold out that is unable to settle because of the packing in the bottom, I could be wrong.

The material that is packed in the bottom likely is fairly loose when you are agitating the pan (when you are agitating you are, in essence, creating a fluid bed) and will only pack up when the motion stops. If what you are talking about is mostly black sands then it is probably a good idea to dump and start over with new material. As to the collected cons you take home.....If you have enough you can re process them in the pro pan to reduce them down to a super concentrated state (less concentrate=less classifying and finish panning). You can save and check the rejects from super concentrating to satisfy yourself that you are not washing out gold if you are worried you are.

Good luck.

restless spirit · Apr 4, 2016

pro pan is interesting .I seen a video on it. I do like the hog pan its wicked cool,

bottlecap · Apr 9, 2016

I ended up getting an Alluvial sluice from Prospector's Choice. Can't wait to run some of this material!

restless spirit · Apr 10, 2016

this one is 10 inches wide and 18 inches long.it is all self contained and I dig these springs to level it from one side or the other if I need the water to move one ide or the other. like if I take it on an outing and the ground isn't super level I can adjust the sluice.im pretty stoked. I ran it last night and used dirt ith gold in it, I placed .it caught it ,the prospecors choice is a great unit for sure as well

bottlecap · Apr 10, 2016

Hey looks nice!! Good you can level it in the field, the PC one I got should be nice but I think you have to feed it pretty slow. Still faster than panning though!