What Is Gold Panning?
Let’s have a look at the most common method of finding gold, by panning with a gold panning kit.
As a weekend or part time fossicker, using a gold pan is a fun way to find gold and can create a great deal of excitement in the final wash. If you are a beginner purchasing the best gold panning kit is an option simply because a kit contains every item you need.
Learning How To Pan Well Takes Practise
Panning for gold is an art form, and unless you practice so you know how to use the pan, or if the pan is used in a careless manner, you just may lose any gold at the bottom! A gold panning kit is an easy way to begin gold panning and spending a weekend looking for that speck or glint of color can be exceptionally rewarding on many levels. Find out the best times to go panning.
Be Patient….
Gold panning for beginners is demanding, and yes, it requires a fair amount of patience. Do not expect to recover gold from your very first attempt. You may be lucky, but it all takes time and skill. After a while, your body will become accustomed to the physical demands of continually bending over and using the top half of the body. Here’s 4 Useful Tips To Honing Skills and Finding Gold
The Best Gold Pan Kits
I review each of the gold panning kits towards the end of the article. Here are my 7 Insider Panning Tips
Gold Pan
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What Color Gold Pan Is Best?
Most prospectors these days have chosen to use plastic pans over the heavy, old fashioned steel pans prospectors used to use. The durable lightweight nature of plastic makes them easier to use over a period of hours.
The best gold pan to buy are those 10-12 inch sized pans. They are an easy diameter to handle, great for all ages and experience levels.
Now, what color gold pan is best to show those specks of color? It’s personal preference, but black is best. The tiniest specks of gold are far more visible against a black background. Next up would be green, followed by blue. There are other colors to choose from such as terracotta, red, even pink and yellow.
What Does A Gold Pan Look Like?
The steel or plastic pan itself is an extremely versatile piece of equipment and after a while, you will be able to recover a very high percentage of materials heavier than others. The pan is easy to carry about, costs very little, and will take an exceptional amount of abuse.
The sides of the pan slope inwards. Just inside, below the lip, is a groove which runs around the pan. The pan should not have a highly polished surface or be greasy as this will not allow retention of the fine gold specimens you are seeking. An old accepted method used to break in your steel pan is to burn it over a fire, removing any grease.
Personally, I don’t mind if the steel pan is rusted ( it will eventually anyhow) and my favorite pan is not only battered but quite rusty and very old.
How To Pan For Gold
Once you have found a site you think will suitable, put your sand and gravel in the pan but do not fill it right up. Place the pan with its contents just below the surface of the water in which you are working. The whole lot must be covered by water, and make sure it is still water, not running water. Still and clear. Do not place it in fast running water as you will lose the lot.
Break Up Any Large Lumps Of Dirt
Using both hands, under the water and in the pan, break up the bigger bits of earth and rubbish. Continue using your hands to break up clay and earth and at the same time give the pan a few turns. This causes the heavy material to move to the bottom of the pan whilst the coarse material will move to the top.
Discard Larger Stones
Discard the large stones. Continue this process until the only fine material is left behind in the bottom of the pan. During all this time, the pan is still under the water. Now incline the pan at right angles to your body allowing the lighter rubbish to pass over the edge. This is the purpose of the rim. The rim will retain any finer heavy material you would otherwise lose if the rim was not there.
Rhythmic Movement Is Essential
All the time the heavy contents will be settling on the bottom. Keep the angle and continue to move the pan to and fro rhythmically below the surface.
Stop every now and then returning the pan to the horizontal. Continue this careful washing now bringing the pan up out of the water allowing the water to run off. By now a small amount of concentrated material will remain including gold.
Keep A Pair Of Tweezers And Small Bottle To Store Gold Finds
It’s a good idea to carry with you a small bottle and a good pair of tweezers to remove the grains and what are known as ‘slugs’ that is small specimens about match head size. Be patient, take care, and make yourself comfortable by sitting on a rock. I find a complete wash takes me about fifteen minutes if done with care. Happy panning folks!
1) The Deluxe Gold Pan Kit By Garrett Metal Detectors
Garrett metal detectors are amongst the most popular metal detectors on the goal detecting scene and they also make excellent gold panning kits such as the Deluxe Gold Pan Kit for metal detecting beginners, as well as seasoned gold prospectors. If you have children and thinking of going metal detecting with kids, gold panning is a lot of fun.
I would advise buying gold panning kits from well know companies such as Garrett and Fisher. They have years of research and experience behind their names. The customer reviews and feedback make this kit one of the best gold panning kits available to buy on Amazon
Deluxe Gold Panning Kit:
- 15″ SuperSluice Pan
- 14″ Prospector Pan
- 10″ Backpacker Pan Classifier
- Gold Guzzler bottle
- 2 gold vials to store gold nuggets
- Tweezers, Magnifying glass
- How To Find Gold field guide by Charles Garrett
- Gold Panning Is Easy book by Roy Lagal
- DVD of Garrett’s world-famous gravity trap Gold Pan series
Garrett’s gold pans are specially designed with a 90-degree riffle on the edges which ensures safe and rapid gold recovery in wet or dry conditions.
Tough Pans For Tough Conditions
The Garrett pans in these gold panning kits are lightweight to reduce hand strain and are colored green to enhance the visibility of gold nuggets and small flecks of gold. They are exceptionally durable and virtually indestructible and are a vital component of every gold seekers kit. I have bought several gold panning kits over the years and I do have my favorite pans.
If you are a beginner, please take the time to read the books and watch the DVD before you rush out and start panning, as excited as you are. They will give you valuable information on how to pan, what to look for any number of very useful hints.
This is an easy to use pan and the provided instructions are very thorough which is especially useful if you are a beginner. Many shared how easy it was to trap the gold nuggets without losing any!
2) Gold Pan Kit By Garrett Metal Detectors
Garretts Gold Pan Kit is another very popular gold panning kit for beginners. This gold panning kit is extremely affordable which makes in a good choice for beginners, families wanting to get started all the way to more experienced prospectors.
Garret Gold Pan Kit:
- 14″ Prospector Pan
- 10″ Backpacker Pan
- 1 classifier
- Gold Guzzler bottle
- 2 gold vials
- Tweezers
- How To Find Gold field guide by Charles Garrett
- Gold Panning Is Easy book by Roy Lagal
- DVD of Garrett’s world-famous gravity trap Gold Pan series
Deep Trap Keeps Gold In
When conditions require professional high-quality grade gear, the Garret Metal Detector Gold Pan Kit has a deserved reputation as being the best gold pans ever made. The deep trap design which means heavy materials stay in the pan even after vigorous panning.
90° Angles Allows Gold To Settle Easier
The 90° angles on the lip of the gold pan allow the gold to settle easily without being lost. The green color of the gold pan allows you to see the bright glitter of gold and can be picked out with the tweezers.
Included are 2 gold panning books and video which provide excellent instructions on how to use a Gold Pan and where, and what to look for when gold panning for beginners.
3) Minelab PRO-Gold Gold Panning Kit
Minelab are another great company for buying gold detecting equipment from.
Their Minelab PRO-GOLD pans are available in a high contrast rich blue color for seeing gold at first glance. These pans are extremely well designed as they feature both large and the smaller mini riffles for recovering fine gold.
The design of the kit is a smart one as each of the components neatly fit inside each other so they are easy to pack away and store.
15-inch Dual Riffle Pan
The rich blue colored 15-inch pan offers a useful combo of individual panning areas.
This combo is far more efficient retaining all gold with its flat sidewalls and large and small riffles. The larger riffle has a 90° angle to better retain gold as you use different washing methods.
The Single Riffle Pan
The smaller sized 10-inch pan doesn’t have small riffles, only the large 90° riffles plus the flat sidewall. This is the best gold pan for children and beginners to begin learning the basics and get the excitement of seeing the specks visble against the blue color. Being smaller, it’s lighter to use.
What Does The Hex-Mesh Classifier Do?
The Hex Mesh Classifier is used to remove larger rocks by sifting them out. The 2 handles make it easier to use and balance with a load of paydirt, plus it fits onto the top of a 5 gallon bucket perfectly.
Benefits of the Minelab Pro Kit:
- 15-inch Dual Riffle Pan and 10-inch Single Riffle Pan
- Iron-Separator Magnet
- Classifier with Hex Mesh
- Micro-Gold Storage Vials
- Gold Transfer Pipette
- Double-Loupe Magnifier (3x and 5x)
- Convertible Carry Bag
- Iron-Separator Magnet
- Panning instruction booklet
4) Fisher Deluxe Gold Prospecting Kit
The Fisher Deluxe Gold Prospecting Kit is another great gold panning kit for beginners as it includes everything you need as a beginner gold “panner” with gold fever, or as a more experienced gold seeker. Many customers commented they were beginners at gold panning and how happy they were with their kit when they received it. Many shared how they had immediately found gold and were surprised at how easy it was to use.
Red Is Easier To Find In Green Grass
This gold panning kit has an advantage as it is red! You can’t lose any pieces in this kit as they stand out which I feel is a great advantage as I have previously misplaced gold pans because of their green color and they have faded into the background!
Store The Kit In The Included Backpack
Fisher has made a tough, strong and durable beginners gold panning kit and an added bonus is you can store all the pans and accessories in the accompanying backpack to keep it all together.
2 Kits To Choose From
### You have a range of choices in this gold panning kit from Fisher: Gold and Deluxe Gold. Each of these packs come with a different range of accessories, please look at each choice carefully to decide which gold panning kit best suits your needs.
Benefits of the Fisher Deluxe Gold Prospecting Kit:
- 10.5″ Fisher gold pan
- 14″ Fisher gold pan
- Classifier with 5/16-inches square holes
- 2 shatterproof 1-ounce gold vials
- top hat black sand magnet
- Treasure scoop
- Angle tip tweezers
- Fine point magnifier
- Crevice tool
- Rock pick
- Panning instruction booklet
- Drawstring backpack measures 14.2 by 14 by 6.5 inches
Where To Buy A Gold Pan
Thinking about where to buy a gold pan? There
Buying The Best Gold Panning Kit – Fisher Or Garett
I am sure if you have watched movies on gold detecting or read books and caught the gold fever, I just know for sure that you’ll enjoy this relaxing, fun and rewarding way of finding gold. Spending time in nature, knee deep in water with the excitement and anticipation of finding gold, panning can become addictive.
I know many people who love to go for a weekend on their own, or with the kids and the family and spent hours prospecting for gold with their gold panning kits.
And, while I have reviewed what I think are the best gold panning kits, I always urge you to read the reviews and make your own decisions. By purchasing the best quality gold panning kits from the top metal detecting companies such as Garrett and Fisher, you are guaranteed quality, durability, and satisfaction. It is really important you buy good quality pans and accessories as there is nothing worse than having your gear break on you when you’re out in the field.
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