what pan?

[NorCal 6er]

what pan do you use?

I like the GPAA green one.

 

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[enamel7]

If you don't want the black sand I'll take it. You're throwing away a lot of color.

 

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[Nugget Hunter Smith]

I like the Klondike pan. It comes in blue which has been proven to be the best color for contrast between the black sands and the gold. Why do you think more companies are making their pans in blue? It comes with a life time warranty. It has a wide base and 5 riffles plus a rough side for panning your fines. Pro Mack South imports them from Sweden.

 

[DanielWestman]

I use a blue Klondike pan and I like it. It has some nice riffles and seems sturdy enough. I want to try some other pans and will probably buy a Garrett 14" in the near future, I hear they're good.

 

[Goodyguy]

I watched and then participated in a demonstration at a GPAA gold show that proved that a straight edged (squared off ) pan recovered fine gold easier than a round pan.

Made a believer out of me

 

[maui]

Good Guy, thanks much for the info. don't think many people know or tried the square pan
and that it cleans out the black sand quicker. i had no idea how well they work. which pan were you reffering to with the square end? just wondering. any how, again thanks much for the info.
take care and be safe out there. ron

 

[bedrock bubba]

The pan min question is rectangular, called a LeTrap, or an imitation of it.

You dont even have to screen stuff to use it! Just pan more carefully, is all.

The only problem with it, is putting a round seive on top of the pan, you will lose a bit of gravel. Too bad they dont make a rectangular seive for it.

You do need to learn to use it correctly, tho. Le Trap comes with instructions. Piece of cake!

 

[Goodyguy]

Good Guy, thanks much for the info. don't think many people know or tried the square pan
and that it cleans out the black sand quicker. i had no idea how well they work. which pan were you reffering to with the square end? just wondering. any how, again thanks much for the info.
take care and be safe out there. ron

Thanks Ron,

It was called the 'Maverick'
I do not own one yet, but it will definitely be my next pan!
Should have bought one while I was there.
Price: $19.95



http://www.goldpanprospectors.com/maverick.html



THE MAVERICK FINISHING PAN

Finally after a year an a half of prototypes and experiments a new square pan design
has been brought into the 21st century.

The Maverick Finishing Gold Pan has taken out many of the problems inherent with
older designed square pans to bring you a more efficient, productive product.

Yes, there are other square pans on the market
and they do a good job for what they are – just not as good as the Maverick.

What’s the difference?

* More riffles (12) to capture as much of the desired heavies as possible, plus the elimination of
curved ends on riffles that wrap around, which cause heavy water flow lines that interfere with
your concentrates.


* Deeper recess in front of the bottom to collect and hold more of your
concentrates and to detour the flow of water from washing your concentrates
out. (A very annoying problem with past designs.)


* Longer floor length for easier laminar cleanup control plus the removal of any
bump lines and other obstructions inside the pan.


* Bottom front of pan has a 150 grit finish to help retain heavies in cleaning off
unwanted material. This area is also used to apply various grit strips that can
be interchanged according to the coarseness of the material to be separated.
(This is a big plus!)


* Outside finish is gritted for easier griping.


* The Maverick is made from high density polypropylene which can take almost
anything you can throw at it.


* Satisfaction guaranteed.




Go for the Gold
GG~

 

[Okiedigger]

I've been using my Garrett pans for 25 years and they're still working well. But seriously, any pan will find gold. I'd be more worried about location.

 

[bedrock bubba]

The maverick works just like a Le Trap pan. Its just bigger is all, and has a bigger capture area.

I dont see the need for a bigger drop into the bottom, as that just captures more material, and makes ity harder to wash overboard the extra
material you dont need. All those extra riffles are overkill!

Le Trap has a hole at the lip of pan which makes it easy to tie it to your backpack or belt. Maverick doesnt have a carry hole. Le Trap fits easily into my back pack, and the hollow space allows me to put a lot of tools, etc. into it. Maverick may be too big to fit into a back pack.

The washing process is fine, but I dont want ANY Bsand to get sucked into my snifter bottle! I wash down to nothing but gold! Just my preference.

Hey, by all means go buy one! Or a Le Trap. Its the best, quickest process there is! And, YES, you will get more gold than the round pan!

A little story: I went to a mining buddies trailor one day. I said: "You still got that LeTrap pan I told you to buy?"
He says: "Yep! But it don't work right, its behind the trailor, I used it for a crapper!" "You can have it"

I washed the crud out of it, and had me a free LeTrap!!! He just didnt know how to use it was all. One man's crapper is another mans pan!

 

[Goodyguy]

The maverick works just like a Le Trap pan. Its just bigger is all, and has a bigger capture area.

I dont see the need for a bigger drop into the bottom, as that just captures more material, and makes ity harder to wash overboard the extra
material you dont need. All those extra riffles are overkill!

Le Trap has a hole at the lip of pan which makes it easy to tie it to your backpack or belt. Maverick doesnt have a carry hole. Le Trap fits easily into my back pack, and the hollow space allows me to put a lot of tools, etc. into it. Maverick may be too big to fit into a back pack.

The washing process is fine, but I dont want ANY Bsand to get sucked into my snifter bottle! I wash down to nothing but gold! Just my preference.

Hey, by all means go buy one! Or a Le Trap. Its the best, quickest process there is! And, YES, you will get more gold than the round pan!

A little story: I went to a mining buddies trailor one day. I said: "You still got that LeTrap pan I told you to buy?"
He says: "Yep! But it don't work right, its behind the trailor, I used it for a crapper!" "You can have it"

I washed the crud out of it, and had me a free LeTrap!!! He just didnt know how to use it was all. One man's crapper is another mans pan!

Some pans aren't worth a crap.....evidently the Le Trap is!

 

[Dave45]

Ever tried the gold magic spiral wheel, its sweet, garret 14

 

[Joe Hoo?]

I use a old fashion wooden salad bowl........ lmao HH

 

[FiresEye]

Heck guys, I was out in the wild one day and found and old shoe in the woods by a steam, I said what the heck and scooped up some dirt from behind a big rock... using the old shoe, I panned out the handfull of dirt, and low and behold, it had caught atiny flake... Boy if I had a dinner plate, an old bottle, or a bottle cap I coulda panned much better than the old shoe././.

THis story^ could possibly be true.

Point is, once you get the basics, just about anything can be used to hold dirt and use water to wash off the heavies..
But since you asked, I use black plastic with 3 riffle lips.... all scrated up inside, and the little scrathes work wonders like a mini miller table when slow backpanning cons for the untra fly poop fines.

Use wotha can! I once heard of the Alaskans using the bowl of old elk skulls to pan, because there was tons of them, because of the overpopulation of wolves at a certain time I think it even caught on a a tribal sensation!

Merry Christmas

 

[Gravelwasher]

The aussies have a turbopan there is a video on you tube of it, the pan itself looks like a dessert fox's panning wheel sort of has lots of grooves in the bottom and a swirly pattern and riffles. Anyone ever try it? thanks Gravelwasher

 

[Vance in AK]

Use wotha can! I once heard of the Alaskans using the bowl of old elk skulls to pan, because there was tons of them, because of the overpopulation of wolves at a certain time I think it even caught on a a tribal sensation!

Merry Christmas

Hmmm...
Only problem with the story is there are no elk on the mainland of Alaska & even the ones on the islands were inported after the trurn of the century...
I primarily use the GPAA pans (have about 6 of the things. I think they breed) but am considering trying a hex or rectanguler pan.

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: what pan? & Rectangular Classifer/Sifter

Comments about "Rectangular" gold pans, bedrockbubba wished there were rectangular classifiers/sifters, well there are. Some stores that sell Drawer Dividers carry rectangular ones that are made from small gap expanded metal. They are used for forks and spoons and come in various sizes.

Here in California a store called Bed Bath & Beyond has a nice selection of them and they could have them on-line.

Attached picture shows a square Drawer Divider along with two other types of sifters, the round one being the most High Tech!!

63bkpkr

 

[bedrock bubba]

That square divider look pretty good! It looks like 1/8" mesh. I usually use 1/4" mesh for my LeTrap.
Ah, I don't get out much anymore....old age, bad back, the mind is shot! I could have a sheet metal shop form me a good
rectangular seive, but I would probably lose it!

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: what pan? & Sifter/Classifier

Hi Bedrock,
Actually it is about 1/16" and is typical for "Drawer Dividers". It actually works well if the dirt is "dry" or if you have easy access to water, either way it works well. 1/2 way Fill your gold pan with water, set on ground, put dirt in sifter, swish sifter through the water and all the fines go to the bottom of the pan. Check the larger material left in the sifter for gold and then dump (if you have a metal detector check the dump pile for gold you can't see)

Other things to check out: BBQ tools/baskets/perforated pans for BBQing vegetables in, I even saw a BBQ vegetable basket with about 1/4" mesh gaps that will just about fit the top of a 2.5 gallon bucket, stainless steel ~$10 and well made. Kitchen strainers for taking floating things off the top of a broth, usually they have a short handle on them, $3 - $5. Most of these strainers are now made in china though the BBQ perforated pan was made in the U.S. Depending on where you are at you might find a Restaurant Supply store and they will have all sorts of classifier items and usually strong ones.

Summer's Coming, summer's coming..........63bkpkr

 

[Goodyguy]

I use discarded 5 gal buckets to make classifiers.

Cut the top 6" off of a 5 gal bucket then place a screen across it and use a small torch or soldiering gun to melt the screen into it! Then trim the screen. Makes a great classifier and fits nicely into another 5 gal bucket. You can make them with differing mesh sizes for cheap! Perfect size for classifying into your pan too.




Another idea is using non breakable plastic saucers for flower pots and just drill holes in them.


Classifier fits into 5 gal bucket.




Go for the gold!
GG~

 

[63bkpkr]

Mornin GoodGuy,
Nice ideas for classifiers! I always enjoy seeing new to me ideas from folks that have been at this longer than I.......63bkpkr