Gold Pans information and questions

[WalnLiz]

Lot of good pans out there at the moment. Best in my opinion is one with a large backwash area like the traditional old metal pans. Garrett Super Sluice is best of all the new pans in this department, and in my opinion the only pan out there can be used successfully for Dry Panning as well.

Quite a few varieties of "Speed Pans" out there as well that have their place in quick testing scenarios, but lack in final clean up work.

Wal.

 

[Tathradj]

Yep, Garret Super Sluice.
I also have a small 8" sampling pan for cleanup.
The turbo pan is great in certain situations but I rarely use it.
Like any thing else, It has it's place amongst the arsenal.

 

[Chewy]

Hi all,
With the range of different pans available I was wondering if we could discuss the pros and cons of different pans.
I understand it is going to be subjective but would welcome all views so I can make an informed decision.
Bear in mind I am a relative newcomer to panning but have had a little success.
I currently use a black plastic 10 inch pan brand unknown.
Have seen ads for the Turbo pan and have discussed options with Another fossicked who swears by the garret pan.
Happy to take all views on board.
Terry

I'm new to this to so still learning, but I think it takes a bit of trial of different pans to get a feel for what you like and what works. What I have found is that I suck at panning. So lots of practice is needed for me. I bought a turbo pan to start of with, and didn't like it. Bought a traditional type black 14", and had better success. (I found 2 fly 5hit size bits) and heaps of pyrite. Starting to realise all that glitters is not gold, but gold tends to sit where it is when pyrite travels around the pan very easily. I think the turbo pan might make a good clean up pan though. Experiment with some different pans and see what you like. A Garrett super sluice pan is what I plan on buying for my next pan to check it out. I've talked to a lot of people and they all like the super sluice.

 

[AtomRat]

Turbo pan is great for chunky gold and doing a quick pan withought classifying gravels ( using sieves ) but the motion can take a while to get used to.

Get yourself like everyone is mentioning, you cant go wrong with a garret super sluice pan as it has very deep riffles and a handy thumb hole to avoid panning fatigue.

You want a pan with deep riffles that go into the pan, not bumps that come out like the basic black pan.

You will find after experience and time that it doesnt matter what pan you use, they all catch gold as long as the person holding it knows how to use it.

I started with the base plate off a pot plant and then bought an old metal pan ( very heavy ) and then onto plastics

 

[Zorgs]

Thanks guys as well, something I have been wondering about.

 

[OzzyDigga]

my partner and mostly myself did about 10 buckets in 1 hour with super sluice. heaps of cons to go through though my back is thanking me. have about 2inches in the bucket of black sand to go through now. Larger surface area at base of pan is what i look for.

 

[Chewy]

my partner and mostly myself did about 10 buckets in 1 hour with super sluice. heaps of cons to go through though my back is thanking me. have about 2inches in the bucket of black sand to go through now. Larger surface area at base of pan is what i look for.

Yeah a good base area helps I have found to.

 

[Explorer385]

Wal,
I realize there will be info to be found about dry panning and will do some research, but how do you dry pan?

Terry

 

[blisters]

Terry google "garrett dry panning" and follow the youtube link "Gold Panning is Easy - Garrett Gold Pans - Instructional - YouTube". You get this on cd plus a book in the garrett pan pack.
Jon

 

[WalnLiz]

Wal,
I realize there will be info to be found about dry panning and will do some research, but how do you dry pan?

Terry

Several vids on You Tube showing the method, but it's no different to wet panning in that the agitation is the same only instead of of washing the surface gravel over the pan lip, you push it over by hand.

Basically you agitate from side to side settling the gold towards the back of the pan first, then tilt the pan forward and re-agitate to get the gold into the first deep grove of the Super Sluice. Then tilt the pan to between 30 to 40 degrees whilst still agitating. We then push about half the pans contents over the edge of the pan and repeat the process one more time. ( Same principal as using a nugget scoop to retrieve the nuggets when detecting.)

This method once practiced will gain you close to 100% of the coarse gold and better than 85% of the fine gold. A must in this process is to put the dry wash through a set of sieves and vigorously rub the wash over the mesh to break away the dirt and clay from the majority of the gold.( 1/8" and 1/4" sieve is what we use personally). A piece of gold within a chunk of dirt will not stay at the bottom of the pan.

Wal.

 

[Explorer385]

Thanks Blisters,

Will check it out tonight after work.

Terry

 

[Explorer385]

Thanks Wal,

Explanations in everyday English are very enlightening and much appreciated. Thanks for the reply.

Terry

 

[AtomRat]

Ive also achieved some temporary dry panning by placing one pan on the ground, and dropping the wash from the pan at elbow height slowly in each gust of wind.
The wind blows aways thelight materials while the heavies drop below.

From here the pan can be picked up and shuffled in a manner like flipping a pan cake to the height of your head, also a left and right flip. You can use wind, blow or vigourous pan movements to blow away more light materials.

The pan should only contain a small amount of material now, mostly heavies, and with a light blow from the mouth, whats left will move away from your breath, leaving mostly gold stationary, unable to shift as its heavy.

It does work, I had to read it from text as well, no vid online so far but you will prob see it in a documentary. Its meants for coarse gold, but ive managed to keep some fine gold in the pan when the process works correctly..

 

[Goldtarget]

I use the garrett pans, my preference is the prospector (slightly smaller than super sluice) to work through samples and cleanup cons. I'm quite a few pans per hour faster with the smaller pan. The super sluice is amazing for the really fine flour gold with a big broad base as explained above. Cleaning up eldorado black sands and fine gold it becomes almost a necessity to reach for the super sluice.

When I first got my turbo pan I hated it. But for extreme fast sampling or very short adventures it is by far the superior pan, once you have the technical side of how it operates it can move an amazing amount of sampling. You can leave the classifier in the car, but it does require a second pan to really capture and clean up cons from. I use it with my highbanker to to see if where I'm digging is still producing. Others have noted it may throw a decent nugget out of the pan. I suspect this may be true. But small chunky and fine gold it will do fine.

I also had a pyramid pro before someone thought they needed it more than me. Pricey.Again it has its place I used to use it for puddling up and to do deep sampling. Biggest drawback was it needs deeper water to be useful. I did get alot of gold from the bottom of this pan over the time I had it though, mostly from old timers holes in the winter from the mullock. In that scenario it was definitely the best tool for the job due to its simplicity and ability to trek it in to hard to reach places when it was extremely wet. If I saw one for sale at half price I would buy it no question.

I have a thread on the turbo and another which pan and why if you do a search, some good info in these. Cheers mate a good pan is the most important part to get right in this game.

 

[Pawny]

I run the 15" garrett super sluice and it's awesome. I tried a turbo pan without much success lol I think it requires that certain knack which I wasn't in the mood for teaching myself at the time lol.
For a clean up pan I'm looking at the falconblue 10" pan it's meant to have super fine grooves around the sides of it to allow the fines to drop into or at least hold to.
Cheers Justin

 

[Nanjim]

We use the Garrett pans as well....
Bought the set for about $ 90 or so ....
Wet panning as well as dry panning ....
Not much colour been found ....
Just getting out bush relaxing and having a bit of fun...
That is the Gold ....just my opinion.....

Cheers Nanjim
Jim

 

[Explorer385]

Hey Blisters,

Watched that video and both the dry panning and the wet panning in that Garrett seemed to be pretty easy.

I think I might be off to Detect a Den tomorrow for a purchase!

Thanks for the link.

Terry

 

[G0lddigg@]

Ive bought just about every pan on the market and some of them have a special specific purpose that is exclusive to them like the gold grabber square pan. Its perfect for panning out cons from drywashing all day. It fits well into an oil drain pan with minimal water. For areas with lots of specimens or white sands i like the blue keene pans. For everyday panning sampling and drypanning you cannot go past the super sluice.

Personally i can pan a 20 litre bucket down in a super sluice in about 3 minutes when using the right sieves. No other pan has the same surface area which allows for better stratification.

If you have alot of black sands the aussie disposals black pans with two lips are great.

Between you and me i think im a pan hoarder

 

[G0lddigg@]

Hey Blisters,

Watched that video and both the dry panning and the wet panning in that Garrett seemed to be pretty easy.

I think I might be off to Detect a Den tomorrow for a purchase!

Thanks for the link.

Terry

If you can mate get the kit. The guzzler snuffer bottle is awesome and the large sieve fits in a bucket better than any other

 

[Chewy]

Yeah I think I'll get the kit when I can afford it to. MJB showed me his, he reckons its good value to.