Has anyone here done any gold panning?

[Bally002]

@"Michigan Swamp Buck"#32 

G'day.  Lately I've been sussing out a sluice, pan and detector.  Just getting bored perhaps.  I'm lucky to have a large water source flowing though the property.  (A small trib to a larger river).  

It flows flat at first then drops is small steep water falls and has several flows into it from the hills out the back.  Very rocky and is cut through at points by hard black rock and quartz veins particularly near the drop offs.  It is heavily forested.  Not much in the way of sand or loam but I'm going to give it a go.

As far as history of the property no panning or detecting has taken place here.  Your interest has spurred me on somewhat.  Just gotta get fit.  Lots of up and downs.

Might start by filling some buckets with whatever I can dig from the sides.  Bringing that up home and panning it.  Have done it before in the 70's t another location but only ended up with specks.

Kind regards,

Bally)

Sounds excellent. If no one has tried, there may be gold there, because "gold is where you find it". It sure sounds pretty good the way you describe it, perfect in fact, I want to try too! Quartz veins sound really good! I found some pieces of quartz with what I believe is pyrite, but that is a good sign because gold and fool's gold are found together in quartz. A very good sign.

My little creek is seasonal, but I like panning in the flowing creek water. Otherwise, I'll set up a plastic bin, fill it about halfway with water, and pan it there from the sluice material. There is one spot where there is another little waterfall over some roots upstream and a fairly big "hole" behind it, like a small pond. When it dries out, I'll build up those falls and dig material out to put aside for later processing. Anywhere I think the creek needs work, there will be a pile I will process next time the water is flowing after a dry spell.

I'd love to find a spot with a small pay streak of gold that has built up over the years. Just a handful of flakes would be great. This last go round got me two of the biggest flakes yet, compared to the majority that are more like flecks of gold rather than flakes. Still, that color, that shine, the way it stands out in my pan, makes every little bit incredible.

Yeah, I'm gonna start small with pan and buckets and sus the area out.  The quartz veins are imbedded in solid rock.  Who knows, I'll chip away.  Sick of cutting and splitting wood.

Bally )