panning technique question

[Hurg]

Got asked this today by my wife and I thought I'd ask you guys.

If at the end of a pan there's black heavy sand in the bottom, can we assume that that means that if there were gold present then it would have been caught?

In other words, are you panning correctly if you're catching black sand (despite seeing no colour)?

Cheers

 

[WalnLiz]

You certainly need to have heavies and black sand remain in the bottom while panning. You also need to release black sands from the pan while panning as well, without releasing any gold flakes. If you start off with say 2 handfuls of black sand at the beginning of the panning sequence, you need to pan out 90% of it whilst still retaining any gold flakes with it, before back washing the last little bit.

The best way to test that you're doing this right, is to throw a couple of shot gun pellets into the pan at the beginning of the sequence, and watch how they react with the forward panning action. You need to be reasonably aggressive to wash away the heavies, yet slow the aggression down as you get closer to the end tailings and black sands. If you're testing in reasonably clear water you can easily see how the pellets behave, and adjust the water wave action accordingly.

Cheers Wal.

 

[SWright]

G'day

Wal's method is very good, however depending on how much black sand and other heavies you have in the pan and if the gold is fine like at Oallen, then panning right down while out there can take a long time. Sometimes in order to get through more dirt, I will wash the entire concentrate - all the black sand and gold and other heavies into a plastic container (with a screw top so it does not spill out) and take home to pan off at my leisure.

Araluen