Panning for gold in the wilderness

[dipbait]

Ill be taking a two week trip to Yellowstone and other places this year. One of the items I want to take is a gold pan. Ive never used one before and may never use one again. Any suggestions on what kind to get?

 

[ajcz]

just get an aluminum pie pan

 

[texastonydobbs]

get a plastic one with ridges designed for panning gold, gold is heavier the the sediment with the right amount of water the gold gets trapped in the ridges and sediment gets washed away... and if there is gold it will be in the bottom of the pan or trapped in ridges and the guys I have talked to prefer the green plastic ,easier to see gold from dust to nuggets. just my 2 cents..

 

[blazink]

A buddy of mine uses an old VW hubcap. It is very rounded, almost like a half sphere. He has had some success with it.

 

[kr1]

get a plastic one with ridges designed for panning gold, gold is heavier the the sediment with the right amount of water the gold gets trapped in the ridges and sediment gets washed away... and if there is gold it will be in the bottom of the pan or trapped in ridges and the guys I have talked to prefer the green plastic ,easier to see gold from dust to nuggets. just my 2 cents..

I have a black one. I have seen one used but I have never used mine yet but it was cheap enough.

KR

 

[Dannyboy Leather]

First, you need to do some reading. No one was ever worse at gold panning than I was. I finally smartened up, located some good books at the library, and eventually panned (and sluice boxed) with some old boys who knew their stuff. Good luck!

http://www.keeneeng.com/pamphlets/goldPan.html
http://www.icmj.com/GoldPanning.htm

 

[dipbait]

Thanks. Ill get a 14 inch plastic pan with ridges and practice before the trip. Ive always wanted to do some panning.

 

[Snakedoc]

You might also want to read up on laws concerning panning. Not sure if your state has regulations or not. I was looking into it for a while and I got a little burned out on all the state regulations in Washington.

 

[andrew7978]

Sounds like you made a good choice on which pan to go with. Not quite when your going, but let us know if you find anything. That is something I have always wanted to do.

 

[DeadeyeLefty]

Definitely check out some books as well. You'll also want a folding shovel and one of those folding 3-legged stools. Good choice on the plastic pan. The metal ones work a little better IMO, but they need to be seasoned (think cast iron frying pans) to turn them black. The sharper ridges in the plastic ones do seem to be more aggressive at catching the sand though. Dunno about elsewhere, but around here black sand is the indicator.

Just a thought if you haven't bought it yet...a 14" pan can get tiring after a while. Maybe try a 10" instead for the first time out. Heck , they're cheap enough....

 

[bladefan]

Get a good metal detector! Panning is too much work!!!

 

[North61]

The LeTrap green rectangular "pan" is a better mouse-trap than the old round pans. Easier to use and more efficient. The green plastic round pans with ridges are good too,

Haven't got much gold but I can recover lead bird shot in practice sessions pretty well.

 

[KiljoyKutlery]

get a plastic one with ridges designed for panning gold, gold is heavier the the sediment with the right amount of water the gold gets trapped in the ridges and sediment gets washed away... and if there is gold it will be in the bottom of the pan or trapped in ridges and the guys I have talked to prefer the green plastic ,easier to see gold from dust to nuggets. just my 2 cents..

What Tony says...this is the way to go. Gene

 

[mckrob]

I used to teach gold panning years ago as part of my summer job with the Ontario Geological Survey. I always had the best luck with the large black plastic models with ridges like the one on the bottom left of page 122 of this catalogue from Canadian Forestry Equipment.



.

 

[zman308]

The Black Hills have some very productive panning and are on your way to Yellowstone from Missouri. Get a state guide book from some of the Gold Panning Groups They tell you the productive streams and areas. Winter meltwater brings down new sediment and the possibility of gold.

 

[rebeltf]

First, you need to do some reading. No one was ever worse at gold panning than I was. I finally smartened up, located some good books at the library, and eventually panned (and sluice boxed) with some old boys who knew their stuff. Good luck!

http://www.keeneeng.com/pamphlets/goldPan.html
http://www.icmj.com/GoldPanning.htm

Great advice.

When I was younger we did some up in the Sierra's here , if you are going in blind you will be even more disappointed that you find nothing because chances are , even if you do know what you are doing , you are not going to find jack for the first few tries.