Classifiers Are Your Most Important Tool

When you are at the "old gold claim" or just out kicking rocks you will want to do a quick sample to see if you are kicking in the right place.

You will be carrying your pan, maybe 2 pans, a big one and a smaller one for the final preview. I am amazed that not many people carry a simple sieve or classifier.

You can sample probably 6 or 7 times as much material if you put it through a screen before you pan it out. All the big junk is gone and you will be looking at the most likely material to contain gold.

There are tons of good classifiers for sale or you can use any of the free plans available and make your own.

It is fast and easy to use a screen and sort the gravel down to a size that is best to hand pan. The other nice thing is that you will be more likely to see some gold in your pan once you have classified and panned your samples.

You can do your screening at the site and put the resulting material into a labeled bag and carry it back to camp to do the panning. This will give yo an idea where to go the next time you head out.

Always label and indicate with a drawing or map where yo tok the dirt from, include water level if you are gathering from a creek or river. If you can you should try to mark the site to make it easy to find when you return. Don't put up a sign but figure a discrete way to mark so no one will notice and start wondering what is happening. 

I am linking here to a couple of good classifier plans.

Basic Gold Mining Equipment for Recreational Prospectors

Image via WikipediaGold panning and mining is a great hobby, and the good news is that the basic gold mining equipment for the weekend recreational prospector is not going to cost you a fortune.



So if you are hankering to get out there and find some gold for yourself, you can round up your basic gold getting equipment quickly and cheaply.


Online stores can show you the basic gold panning tools you need, and save yourself the trouble of finding a local store that actually stocks such things. Even in gold country, it can take a bit of research to find a store.


So, what are we looking at for the basics?


Obviously, a gold pan. Can't get more basic than that. Gold pans come in different shapes and sizes and features. A real simple little black plastic pan can be had for about three and a half to five dollars, depending on the size. The larger green or blue plastic pans can range from maybe eight dollars up to over twenty, depending on the kind of built in features the pan has - and its size.


One feature that is a must for any good pan is that it have riffles formed into one or more sides of the pan. These make it much easier to retain the gold as the gravel is passed over the lip of the pan in the panning process to reduce the amount of material in the pan.


I recommend the space age durable plastic gold pans over metal pans.
Plastic is lighter, doesn't rust, and is much easier and faster to learn on than the metal pans.


You may already have some of the equipment you need. A sturdy bucket,
like a five gallon one. A digging tool, like a garden shovel or garden trowel. Some people like the small folding GI shovels.


A nifty little gold panning tool is the plastic snuffer bottle. For maybe two or three dollars, you have a little suction device to slurp up the gold that appears in the bottom of your pan.


You might want to use a gold screen, called a classifier, to reduce the size and amount of gravel you will be panning. Placed over the top of your big bucket, you screen out the larger rocks, so your panning material is more concentrated. Your panning is now more efficient and you will lose less gold out of your pan.


Finally, a gold vial in nice for showing off your gold. These can be glass or plastic. With a little water in them, your gold will have a pretty bright color, and you can tantalize your friends with your findings.


One last thing. If you are new to gold panning, it's always a good idea to get good information to help you become more knowledgeable. There are a number of good prospecting books out there that offer great tips and guidelines to make your outdoor gold adventure more fun - and productive.




And that about sums up your basic gold mining equipment needs.


Edwin Brown is a long time chaser of gold in the outdoors. To learn more about how to find gold and see some videos of people getting gold, check out his website at http://goldpanningsupplies.net/

Related articles

• FEATURE-Gold fever strikes mom and pop prospectors in U.S. West (reuters.com)
• Prospectors find thrill in hunt for gold (seattletimes.nwsource.com)