The Basics: How to Pan

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You have: your tools, time to prospect, you are traveling along a stream which looks unregulated, curves and has what appears to be a good amount of elevation drop, there appears to be a good selection of mineral diversity in the surrounding rocks and you are ready to find gold! 

     Find a spot in the waterway earlier discussed and imagine how the area looked in the spring flood.  Go to an area above the mid-summer waterline and estimate the height of the winter flood level above present water level.  Look for rock formations (bedrock) with various sized crevasses or large obstacles that created eddies where the heavy materials fell out of the turbulence of the spring flood.  

     ---> NOTE: Keep track of the general height above present water level where you are looking. The heavy material may be concentrated at a particular level or a different one. By doing this, the prospector will begin to develop a "feel" for the future location of gold in that area. 

     Now comes the fun, the panning commences!  Remove all material from the spot you have chosen and sweep it clean.  This includes the live organic material on top (grass, weeds, moss etc.), the material in the area all the way to the bottom.  The material on the bedrock and in the cracks is most likely to contain gold.  Be very careful to save the dirt attached to the moss and roots.  Remember, gold has a much higher density than the normal river material and will seek the lowest level of the area in which you are looking.  Load this material into your pan.  Fill it to about 2/3 capacity, or to a physically comfortable level.  

     The next step is to perform the panning.  This can be better described as separating the materials into layers based on their densities, removing the less dense materials at the top and then extracting the gold.  Locate an area in the water where it will be comfortable to do the panning.  The water should be flowing but not at the full force of the waterway.  A flat rock in slow moving water about a foot deep is ideal.  Sitting on the rock is much easier on the knees and back.  Summer temperatures may offer a wading technique that will be both easy to perform and refreshing. 

     Fill the remaining space in the pan with water and locate the rim about the level of the water.  Remember, what you are about to perform is a separation of material based on the different material densities, then the removal of the common materials (less dense, on the top) leaving the most dense on the bottom.  Hold the pan level and agitate it sufficiently to create a homogeneous mixture where all the material seems to be suspended.  The key here is all the material must be moving.  I stick my finger in the mix as I agitate it to feel if everything is suspended.  Almost immediately the organic material will rise to the top surface.  As this is being performed, slow or stop the agitation and in a level position, gently lower the entire pan into the water, 1 or 2 inches below the surface.  A gentle circular motion will cause the least dense materials to be carried away by the water.  

     Continue the agitating procedure until all the muddy silt and organic materials are removed.  It also is a good idea to sift the entire pan with your fingers to remove large stones and other non-gold items.  Be sure to break up and dissolve all clay lumps if any.  Not only can they hold gold, they may be sticky and pick up some free gold in your pan.  Also, break up any moss clumps and thoroughly clean any grass roots as they sometimes hold a surprising amount of gold.  It is easy to know when the low-density organic material and silts have been removed.  The water is no longer muddy while you are agitating the pan.  

     While you pan, stop to sift through the mixture and remove the largest stones.  As the panning proceeds, the size of the removed stones will become smaller and smaller.  How long should this part of the panning last?  This is a very difficult question to answer, as there are many variables to take into account.  If the prospector remembers that the function of the agitation is to separate the materials into their respective densities, the heaviest on the bottom and so on, the time needed to do this will be easier to estimate.  A good rule to first start out is to agitate no longer than one minute.  

     Now comes the time to start removing the less dense materials - and hopefully, the gold. Lift the pan out of the water just about one to two inches in a level fashion. Start agitating the pan as before and tip the pan to an angle that will allow the most dense materials to collect in the lowest corner of the pan.  When you are satisfied that the most dense material is collected there, it is time to remove all the rest of the less dense materials.  While the pan is still tipped on the angle, dip it into the water and lift slowly upward.  This action will create a small wave.  If done correctly, the wave will take with it an amount of the undesired, low-density materials on the top.  The key here is only the top layer of material is moving. Repeat the wave, taking away the low density material several times.  

     Alternate between the horizontal agitating motion and the tip and wave removal process until roughly 2-5 tablespoons of material remains.  Since small gold particles can float on the surface tension if exposed to air for any length of time, it is important to keep the material submerged as much as possible.  If you see any black sand or gold during the tip and wave removal process, it is definitely time to go back to the horizontal agitating motion.  The black sand or gold will appear along the line between the bottom of the pan and the material.  Do not hesitate to continue to remove the stones which are now large pebbles (at this point, I have always referred to the pebbles as boulders).  

     The process is now almost complete!  There should be a small amount of fine material resting in the lower corner of the pan.  This material is called concentrates because you have concentrated all the material in your pan down to this small amount. You may notice the presence of a high concentration of black sand.  This is probably magnetite, which is a form of iron and other heavy material.  The presence of this indicates that you have performed the technique properly as iron is 3 times as dense as the common sand and rocks that make up the majority of the river bed material. Some other things you may notice are old fishhooks, lead sinkers and perhaps mercury.  These are all indications that your search is being performed properly. You have successfully separated a small amount of highly dense materials from the stream. 

     At this point, the importance in the size of the pan is obvious.  The large pans will allow a significant amount of total material to be panned and the effort may cause your arms to want to fall off.  The smaller pans are easier to use but yield a smaller amount of dense materials.  

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