Using the Gold Pan:

The gold pan is a great placer sampling tool. A good gold panner can process about 1 cubic yard in a day. Although you can produce a fair amount of gold with the pan, it is still a standard sampling and finishing tool. If you have found a pay streak or a rich deposit of gold, you would be better off using a tool that can process more material in a day. Even though it is mainly a sampling tool, a gold pan is inexpensive and still a lot of fun for the entire family.

You will also need to pan out your gold concentrates from other gold separating machines, such as a suction gold dredge, sluice box, high banker, dry washer, etc. It is always a  good idea to learn efficient gold panning techniques. If you already know how to use a gold pan , teach someone else and pass the legacy on!

If you want to learn how to use a gold pan, then read on!

Gold Panning Process:

Step 1. Put the dirt into the Gold pan,then submerge it and thoroughly soak it.  Use a classifier sieve to sift the soil to a more uniform mix of sizes less than 1/4 inch.

Step 2. Pick the big pebbles out and pull all the moss/weeds apart and get the dirt out of them, then toss them out of the pan. Not too far, because you don't want to lose that nugget.

Step 3. Break up any clay or hard packed dirt. Squeeze any clay lumps until they completely dissolve. Gold loves to hide in clay! Remove floating sticks and organic material after scrubbing out any clay, dirt and sand.

Step 4. Start shaking the pan slightly and mix it up with your hand at the same time. This will loosen up and agitate the dirt so the heavy gold will sink down to the bottom of the pan freely. This step is called "stratification." Repeat stratification after any disturbance of the pan contents or layers, such as when picking out pebbles and rocks. 

Step 5. Tip the pan nose down slightly and pull the pan back gently. Do this over and over again so the top layer of dirt comes out of the pan. Some people call this step "shaving."  Don't be so afraid of losing any gold that you keep all the dirt in the pan. That defeats the purpose of panning which is to get all BUT the very heavy stuff (Gold) out of the pan.  Again practice helps with your speed and confidence.  If you are getting really sore and still have a lot left in the pan you are probably shaving too slowly and lifting the pan out of the water.  If lots of fine gold is present you may have to slow down though.  Less than a drop of bio-degradable soap will keep fine gold in the pan better. Remember, do not release any soap or surfactants into the stream!

Step 6. When you see the gravel in the pan start to pack up, you must bring the pan back into stratification or layers. Repeat step 4. over again and keep stratifying as you go. When you start to see black colored sand you should stop, shake the pan back and forth until you see lighter sand come up on top again, then shave the light sand off gently. When you get enough sand out so that all you see is heavy black sands and possibly some gold, you are pretty much done.  Use a "snuffer bottle" to suck up the gold particles and your fingers or tweezers to pick out the nuggets.  Place these "gold finds" carefully in your water filled vials.  In the field it is best to use plastic vials for safety. 

Save the clear glass vials for showing off your finds at home. Useful Trick: Fill the vial with water drops right over the top. Wet your finger tip slightly and stick the smaller gold particles to your damp finger. Touch the water filled vial with the gold tipped finger and viola, the gold will rapidly drop right to the bottom. Bigger pieces will even clink! If the vial is glass, shake with care. Caution a bigger nugget will shatter the glass if shaken hard enough! Some prospectors have been known to burn their carpet to get the fine Gold dust out when a glass jar full of Gold was broken.

Step 7. There are also ways for separating black sand so you can get to the gold easier, because there can be a lot of black sand in the pan with a small amount of gold. Black sand tends to be magnetic so you can use a magnet in a plastic container to get rid of some of it, but be careful not to get any gold caught up in the black sand.

You can pick up a decent pan for between $5 to $20, depending on the brand, type and size.  Light plastic pans work very well after scrubbing well with soap and water.  Be careful, the oil on plastic will make gold dust float right out of your pan! See our affiliate link to BlackCatMining below for more info on gold panning and other Gold Prospecting Equipment.

BlackCatMining Gold Pans