Test Panning

[TheWolf]

Hi guys,

When test panning, how many specs would generally indicate a good spot to continue with vs an indicator to move on?

I've been panning around Oberon area, and tend to get between 1 and 4 specs per pan in the areas of tried so far.

I'm really new to this hobby, so any advice would really be appreciated.

Kind Regard,
M

 

[Tathradj]

4 specks to me warrants more investigation then bring in the sluices or banker.
How big are the specks. ?
Fly Poo or a bit chunkier.

 

[TheWolf]

yeah - fly poo.

Sounds like a need to make myself a WalBanker to get volume through?

I made one of those bucket classifiers, filled it with dirt and stones, then poured water through it as I worked it from side to side (washing the rocks quite well). I then panned the sludge left behind. Got a couple of chunks, but mostly specs.

 

[TheWolf]

Hey Tathradj, have you done much prospecting around Cathcart/Bombala/Craigie/Delegate/Bendoc areas? I was brought up around Bendoc, and my folks now live north of Cathcart. Just wondering whether the Bombala river (just south of Brown Mtn) produces anything as it runs through my parents' property.

Regards,
M

 

[Twapster]

In very general terms, if an area is giving a couple of specs..... here and there....... then id move on. Obviously it means you are in a gold area but its not enough to warrant having a crack. By moving on I mean walking another 5 or 10m and trying again.

Having said that, you may be only a few feet away from something more special. Gold can be tricky like that and full of surprises....like the time we must have done 30+ surface test pans in a 50m spread for almost no visible specs in any sample.....but we knew we were in a gold spot so then picked a likely "concentration" spot and dug down. Must have been the 3 foot mark when we hit "picker" territory....... still no specs, just pickers. Go figure.

If all of a sudden I get several specs or the size changes to larger specs then time to investigate. On most occasions if you are not getting flood gold...ie right near the surface less than 1 foot down, then move on. But the above scenario broke all the rules. On the flip side I've had a picker in the first surface pan then bugger all further down......that's the more likely scenario. Surfacing is often more productive than digging deep holes. Its finding what layer the gold's at, usually 6inches to a foot not deeper.

Finding good alluvial gold spots after a while tends to become more of an art of reading the ground, looking at the flow of the river if near water, looking at what's under you feet for indicators, finding the "clay", or finding the bedrock close to the surface. After a while you can walk into a new area and see all those indicators and be more easily able to walk straight to the likely concentration spot. Unfortunately that just comes with a lot of test panning and putting in the yards.

I've heard some people say they wont bank unless there are 30+ colours in the pan. I disagree, if 3 test pans in a row reveal more than 3 or 4 specs each pan you are probably good to go unless the specs are literally gold dust if that makes sense.

 

[mdv]

There are no hard and fast rules for sample panning a creek - just a lot of sound principles. One important principle is that sampling should be systematic, not random. Sampling determines two things: 1) is there 'worthwhile' gold being deposited in that location; and 2) where is the highest concentration of deposition.

Fly-poo sized gold is not a good indicator of localised deposition because it tends to be widespread and, if deposited in any quantity, is more highly concentrated in the first 5-15cm. Where I prospect, I could take a sample pan from the surface just about anywhere and find 1-4 specks of fly-poo gold 8 times out of 10.

On the other hand, if a sample pan contains 20-30 fly-poo specks, then I'll stop and investigate further because this indicates a localised deposition rather than the general wide-spread deposition. I will sample close by to try and identify the highest concentration, and then sample deeper to see if there are any heavier bits also being deposited. If I do not then find anything larger than fly-poo specks, I will move on because there is not much to be gained by highbanking for just ultra-fine gold.

Therefore, I use sampling primarily to find where fine gold (or larger) and not fly-poo is being deposited.

If your sample pan throws up a few bits of fine gold (or larger), then continue sampling close-in around that spot, at intervals less than 30cm and in all directions, again to try and find the highest concentration. As a general guide, such sampling may cover an area of several square metres, and may go down more than 30-50cm. I look for sample pans with more than 10 bits of fine gold, before I would consider breaking out the highbanker.

If your localised spot throws up some fine gold (or larger), your sampling should systematically cover the entire immediate vicinity, perhaps going out more than 5-10 metres (and possibly even more depending on sample results).

Even if I have a bonanza sample pan (20-30 bits of fine gold), I will continue to sample pan to define the extent of the deposition before breaking out the highbanker. And even then, there is no guarantee that the highbanker results will be a true reflection of the sample panning results - "gold is where it is."

And I agree all that Twapster has written in the previous post.

Good luck.

 

[TheWolf]

30 specs! I'd be hopping around yellin' "Eureka!".

 

[mdv]

30 specs! I'd be hopping around yellin' "Eureka!".

As I did when I was a newbie. But now I am wiser.

"Size matters" - just think about how many fly-poo specks it would take to match a 0.1g picker? 100's, possibly 1,000's?

 

[TheWolf]

Do you guys tend to do recon weekends, then go back with the heavy equipment, or do you take everything up front with a view to pulling out the heavy equipment as soon as you've found a streak?

 

[AtomRat]

Any dot of gold is a sign to start chasing. 30 - 50 spek pan = a good work area.
Some try to dig over a weekend and some do it very well, I personally study an area over long durations before digging big and test pan everywhere.

 

[mdv]

I have the luxury of prospecting private property (in-law's farm) so don't have to worry about anyone else 'moving in' on my sampling areas. So I will spend one or more weekends sampling (leaving the highbanker at home). Once I have identified a suitable area from sampling, and subject to water availability in the creek, I will then come back for a weekend of highbanking.

For example, I have one particular gravel bar area that I have been working on and off for over 12 months. It produces more flour gold than fine gold, but is always good to come back to every now and again when I get the itch for a 'quick fix'. Having said that, highbanking all day for 1g of flour gold is not as satisfying as finding a good crevice with some nice little pickers.

If I were to prospect in a public area, such as Tuena Creek, then I would be looking to highbank as soon as I have found a good spot from sampling. But I would leave my highbanker in the vehicle until I have found that likely spot.

I often spend the last hour or 2 of a prospecting day just sampling. If the sampling is good, I can think about it overnight in anticipation, and then hit it up with highbanker first up in the morning.

 

[AtomRat]

I like that mdv. Even two extra pans before you hop in the car, gives you something to think about.
I usually bring a bucket home

 

[Guest]

Some sound advice given here, advice i would take note of. When i start a new area it can take up to 12 months before i get serious with the location. I test, record and map what and where gold was found what type and at what depth. This gives me a pitcher of were to start and where to finish.

 

[Twapster]

Do you guys tend to do recon weekends, then go back with the heavy equipment, or do you take everything up front with a view to pulling out the heavy equipment as soon as you've found a streak?

Most times I have the gear but it doesn't come out. However if i'm with a mate we often force ourselves to Highbank the best pick of the panned spots as we only have a day or 2 then back to city slickin! Usually for only half a gram to a gram high-banker workout. Its not always about the gold its about getting out there!!! The good days come once in a while, and they usually come when you have revisited the same location 3 or 4 times and start to really tune in to where its coming from.

Usually 2 or 3 weekend visits and I start to know what's off limits and what's ok, pub chat with locals if there is one or bumping into others enjoying the hobby.

You would be surprised how many secret spots can be found with a bit of chatting with locals and sniffing around. On the flip side, some of my best gold has come from the spots other people might say have been well and truly "flogged" or seem "too obvious". I still have to smile as I drive past my fave spot central west. Why it hasn't been more flogged I don't know It just gets ignored yet gives up gram+ every-time. Id be there more often if I didn't like to find new spots all the time!

 

[TheWolf]

I like the idea of exploring + test panning.

Some of you guys sound as though you go deep - what tools do you tend to take?

The last time I went out I had a small shovel (like you'd use to dig a toilet hole), a geologists pick and a pan (and food, water, first aid kit). It was fine until I got anywhere near clay. I chose those just so that I could remain mobile without carrying the weight of a mattock (which just happens to be my all time favourite tool).

 

[mdv]

My sampling kit comprises:

• small pointy nose all-metal shovel and metal hand spade (gardening variety)[/*]
• miners pick (one that can be used either both hands or single-handed)[/*]
• Garrett super sluice pan and deep-sided 1/4 inch sieve [/*]
• snuffer bottle[/*]
• 2 ft jimmy bar (for moving boulders and prying apart decomposing bedrock)[/*]
• first aid kit, PLB, and plenty of water[/*]

Once I have found a good location, I often bring along the big crowbar instead of the jimmy bar (provided the walk is less than 1/2 km)

If the general location has rockbars and outcrops, I will also bring my crevicing tools.

I reckon most of my sampling takes place in the top 30cm; sometimes I might go deeper to get to the bedrock or clay bottom but then only if it's not more than 50-60cm deep. The only exception for me is crevicing, where I insist on getting to the bottom, no matter how deep.

 

[jethro]

I've got to say that mdv is on the money regards size, or more specifically weight per speck/ coulor matters. I have a spot that looks absolutly great per pan with the number & size of specks / colours but at the end of the day when its cleaned, dried & weighed it has never given me more than half a gram per day.
I guess it all depends on how much sweat you want to expend, if you want to make wages, fuel money, beer money, or just run the sluice for fun. or all of the above at once.
In the area I work I generally work on about a 1/4 gram a day with the pan only before I think about the size of the deposit & the best way of working it. IE river sluice, power sluice or, god forbid the trommel.

 

[nucopia]

Great advice here form every one cheers !
the side kick and I are just starting to figure some of these things out our selves and seeing others making the same observations and comments is reinforcing the lessons we are slowly learning every time we are out paning the creeks.
Thanks

 

[Hunting the yellow]

specks are good but if your getting small nuggets in the pan get the sluice out and crow bar and break up that bedrock. for gold trapped in the cracks

 

[Guest]

I like the idea of exploring + test panning.
Some of you guys sound as though you go deep - what tools do you tend to take?
.

Throw in a crowbar and thats about it. Oh i always run with my full prospecting kit also. cheers