I can't pan for s!%t

[Yobs1980]

Ok so I have been keeping all my sluice concentrates after panning in a big garbage bin.
Well yesterday I went and bought some gear to sieve down my smalls and to make a gold recovery mini sluice. So I bought some flyscreen and cut the bottom of a bucket out, riveted the screen mesh to the bottom of the bucket and presto I have a sieve. I bought some ribbed rubber matting and a 1m long drain section for the gold recovery mini sluice - figured it should work.
So I sieved all my leftovers and ended up with a bucket of sand to run through the mini sluice, and a bucket of rocks to sort through and find some gems once I know what the hell I'm looking for - so before i spent ages getting it all right I just quickly ran a couple of scoops worth of my sand and just run water from the tap - bugger me I had missed a whole lot of gold and it really shows with the black rubber matting in the background.
I know people say to be bloody careful with the fine gold - I thought I had been but I guess I haven't been careful enough.
So now I will set it up properly with a circulating pump etc.
Once I have it set up right I'll post some pics. Could be a couple of weeks.

 

[Ramjet]

I'm hearing you Yobs. My panning skills are very limited. Still got all my concerntrates at home to re process.
You don't have to rivet your mesh to a bucket. Bucket sieves made in the topic below by Ag Man are easy to make and you can remove the screen easily to change mesh size or replace it when damaged.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=541

 

[Yobs1980]

oh damn - thats a nice looking bucket sieve - beats the crap out of mine - however it did do the job this morning

 

[Nugget]

I'm not sure that I follow, did you miss the gold in your cleanup sluice or pan? If the pan, which pan are you using? I'd be using a riffled style pan as they're pretty well foolproof.

 

[Yobs1980]

I only have 2 pans, I bought the $70 garrett kit, came with 2 pans, 1 classifier, 2 viles, a snuffer bottle & a magnifier/tweezer set.

the gold i am getting is flour gold - what i think has happened is i put too much into the pan and didn't shake it enough to settle the gold to the bottom of the pan - it was stull probably mixed up with the lighter stuff when i started to pan it.

i am happy that i found this out though, it teaches me to be more careful with my panning.

i think i will first pan my concentrates from the river sluice, then run that panned material through my new gold recovery mini sluice to see what i miss - this way i will know if i am getting better at panning.

 

[XIV]

sorry but those pans ( gold rush kit ) are nor the best pans
the classifier is ok and everything that comes with it will do the job
the two pans that i think are really good are the garrett super sluice or the Klondike pan
both have really good riffles and a large base

on another note to practice panning
file down some lead and put that in your pan, as lead is half the weight of gold and if you can capture the lead you will capture the gold.

 

[Nugget]

I'm pretty sure that kit comes with the 14" Prospectors Pan, personally I can't fault it.

 

[XIV]

I'm pretty sure that kit comes with the 14" Prospectors Pan, personally I can't fault it.

compared to the other two it is not the best pan
but hey thats my opinion
each to there own, i have several pans here and always go back to those two

 

[Nugget]

Not going to argue that, use whatever works best for the individual I say.

 

[Twapster]

Hi Yobs, I watched a few panning techniques on you tube and then developed my own style using the theory. Practiced at home with a tub and some dirt and that helped a lot to gain confidence. I'm surprised you would say that you are no good at panning because its quite hard to loose the gold if you keep giving the pan a little movement so the gold keeps dropping down. What's important is washing the top layer off each time, the gold is always under the light stuff unless you are jerking the pan too much. Sounds like you just need to practice that side of panning. While I used to hate panning, i'm now starting to enjoy it...sort of calming meditation!

 

[Yobs1980]

Yeah Nugget i think its the 14".

I don't have issues with the pan - as Twapster suggests its probably my technique - i've always been the over eager type that thinks i get the gist of things too early - but i always try to improve what i do - i just think i wash too much off at the start - its still early days for me - just 2 or 3 weeks into it so i'll keep learning and keep getting better at it.

it was just a big surprise when i was putting the already panned material through the new gold retriever that i was getting so many little specks of gold - initially i was annoyed at myself - but now i see it as a lesson and i have come up with ways to improve so its all good.

XIV - thanks for your input aswell.

 

[slowflow]

Yobs, you can it just takes a bit of time & just a little jetdry for really fine gold to make it easier.
Watch some youtube, then take the best from there that suits you.
Patience too!

 

[Twapster]

Yep id be willing to bet its your first half of the panning than needs the attention then. Shaking too much "overburden" from the top of the pan that may still have gold bits stuck to it...they haven't been shaken clear and sunk to the bottom.

 

[casper]

I only have 2 pans, I bought the $70 garrett kit, came with 2 pans, 1 classifier, 2 viles, a snuffer bottle & a magnifier/tweezer set.

the gold i am getting is flour gold - what i think has happened is i put too much into the pan and didn't shake it enough to settle the gold to the bottom of the pan - it was stull probably mixed up with the lighter stuff when i started to pan it.

i am happy that i found this out though, it teaches me to be more careful with my panning.

i think i will first pan my concentrates from the river sluice, then run that panned material through my new gold recovery mini sluice to see what i miss - this way i will know if i am getting better at panning.

Don't worry your Garrett pans are fine, they all incorporate the famous 90 degree gravity trap feature, from the small Backpack Pan, to the Prospector Pan, to the Super Sluice Pan you just grade your washdirt to suit the size pan you are using and practice, practice, practice... I have kept all my sluice concentrates and more than a coupla days a week i'll settle at my 65 litre tub and practice. I'll always find gold - flyspecks for sure and always more than one ( and in nature 2 will eventually become 3 ) i reckon either they're reproducing or i've missed them previously - not sure about which way i lean on that score
The tub is a $12 65 Litre storage tub from the big Red and Green sheds that are popping up in every other town (remember what i said about nature) and i bought it so i could fit my turbopan in it but the Garrett Super Sluice is my fave pan (my thoughts on that are in another post).
So Yobs it's practice practice practice.......

casper

 

[Guest]

I have done the same Yobs, I panned concentrates bought home from 2 days highbanking and pulled 2.6gms.

Just for fun I started to re pan the old concentrate, only one handful at a time, with a few drops of dishwashing liquid and was much more careful. Over the next 2 days I extracted another 0.3 of a gram of gold. I noticed that some gold flakes were floating on top of the water in the pan and then I remembered reading something about dishwashing liquid reducing water surface tension.

I too learnt that my panning is less than perfect from my Garrett Super Sluice pan.

I can only imagine how much I tipped back into the creek whilst trying to reduce the concentrate to a manageable amount to take home in the bucket???????

Next time the highbanker cleanouts will be panned into a tray and all gravel kept for a more patient panning process at home!

As you say lesson learnt!

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Yobs and others having a hard time panning cons..

Type this into youtube. "How to find gold #2"

[video=480,360]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEc3jc7ifjY[/video]

The video should get you started.

I note in the first post you said you where using the pan under the tap?? This will put to much pressure on the fine gold and wash it out. Use a tub or large plastic container if you can.

Tips I can offer are:

1. keep the gravel under water as much as possible. - try and imagine every grain of sand and gold in a bubble of water. This way all the heavies fall to the bottom.[/*]
2. soak the whole pan load to get rid of air, use you finger and stir up the pan gently.[/*]
3. dip the pan no more than than three times between stratifying. [/*]
4. slow down.. the gold is going nowhere once in the pan speed will come with skill.[/*]

Cheers Tone

 

[G0lddigg@]

sorry but those pans ( gold rush kit ) are nor the best pans
the classifier is ok and everything that comes with it will do the job
the two pans that i think are really good are the garrett super sluice or the Klondike pan
both have really good riffles and a large base

on another note to practice panning
file down some lead and put that in your pan, as lead is half the weight of gold and if you can capture the lead you will capture the gold.

this kit comes with the best garrett pan in my opinion.