Panning For Gold: Techniques For Separating Gold Dust

Gold panning is a great way to prospect for gold, but it requires some knowledge and practice to perfect. Gold is heavy, so the right techniques will allow you to agitate your pan and allow the gold to sink to the bottom, while lighter materials like dirt, sand, clay, and gravel wash away. You can also use a magnet to separate gold from magnetic black sand in a plastic pan. However, gold dust is the hardest type of gold to recover and requires the right tools.

Gold is heavy, so agitate your pan to let the gold sink to the bottom

Gold panning is a simple process that anyone can do to extract gold from a placer deposit using a pan. It is one of the simplest ways to extract gold and is popular with geology enthusiasts due to its low cost and relative simplicity.

Gold is heavy, with a specific gravity of 19.3, so agitate your pan to let the gold sink to the bottom. This process is called stratification, which helps dense materials, like gold, sink to the bottom of the pan. Materials with low specific gravity will rise upward, allowing these to be washed out of the pan.

• Find a suitable placer deposit, scoop some alluvial deposits into your pan, and fill it about 3/4 of the way to the top.
• Choose a spot where the water is at least six inches deep and flowing mildly. This will help sweep away any silty water that may be washed from your pan.
• Carry the pan to the determined spot and submerge it underwater.
• Use your fingers to knead the contents of the pan to break it up fully and cause all of the material to become saturated with water. The pan should be underwater while doing this. Remember, gold is heavy and will sink deeper into your pan while lighter materials float out and away.
• After the contents of the pan have been thoroughly broken up, take the pan in your hands and shake it vigorously using a left-to-right motion just under the surface of the water. This action will help break up the contents even more and start to separate the heavier and lighter materials.
• As the shaking causes rocks to rise to the surface, sweep them out of the pan using your fingers or the side of your hand. Don't worry about losing gold while doing this, as the same action that brings the lighter rocks to the surface will cause the gold to sink deeper.
• Continue steps 5 and 6, shaking the pan and sweeping out the rocks and pebbles, until most of the medium-sized material is removed.
• Tilt the forward edge of your pan downward and shake it back and forth using the same left-to-right motion. Be careful not to tilt the pan too much to avoid spilling any material. This action will cause the gold to work its way down to the pan's forward-bottom edge while lighter materials surface.
• Carefully use a forward and backward or slight circular motion just below the water's surface to let the water sweep out the top layer of worthless, lighter materials. Watch closely for the heavier materials to be uncovered as the lighter materials are swept out. This step requires judgment to determine how much material to sweep off before shaking again to avoid losing gold. With practice, you will develop a feel for how much material can be safely removed.
• Continue the above steps of sweeping and shaking until you are left with only the heaviest materials in your pan, including gold and black sand concentrates.

With patience and practice, you can effectively use gold panning to extract gold dust from a pan.

Use a sniffer bottle to suck up gold dust

Gold dust is a highly valuable substance due to its high specific gravity, making it the heaviest element that can be recovered from a river. It is important to be cautious and meticulous when handling gold dust, as the small particle size can cause it to float right on top of the water, leading to potential losses. To effectively extract and collect gold dust from a pan, a sniffer bottle, also known as a sucker bottle, can be utilised.

The sniffer bottle acts as a handheld vacuum, employing suction to efficiently remove gold dust from the pan. Its design includes a siphon tube that extends into the body of the bottle, ensuring that once the gold enters, it remains securely inside and cannot flow back out. This feature provides a safe and convenient means of storing your gold until you are ready to remove it from the bottle.

To use the sniffer bottle, start by carefully squeezing the flexible plastic bottle. This action creates a vacuum, generating the suction force necessary to lift the gold dust out of the pan. Release the squeeze to capture and securely store the gold inside the bottle. The process can be repeated as needed until all the gold dust has been successfully removed from the pan and collected in the bottle.

For optimal results, it is recommended to have multiple sniffer bottles on hand. You can modify one of the bottles by cutting off the tip to create a slightly larger opening. This modified bottle will be particularly useful for retrieving larger gold pieces or nuggets, ensuring that they can pass through the opening without getting stuck. Additionally, you can utilise plastic suction tweezer pipettes, which are ideal for the very fine gold recovery process.

Use a classifier to strain out big rocks

Gold classifiers, also known as sieves or strainers, are an essential piece of equipment for gold panning and come in a variety of screen sizes. Classifiers are used to 'classify' material, that is, sort the material you are going to pan by size, which makes the whole gold panning process easier. They do this by straining out larger rocks and gravel, reducing the weight of your pan and making it easier to work with.

The best classifiers for gold panning and prospecting include the Stansport Gold Panning Classifier, which is made of durable plastic with a 3/8-inch mesh and fits on top of a 5-gallon bucket. Another good option is the SE Patented Stackable 13-1/4″ Sifting Pan, which is lightweight, has a stainless steel mesh, and comes in various sizes.

When choosing a classifier, it is important to consider the size of the holes in the screen, which is referred to as the 'mesh size'. Mesh size is usually expressed in fractions of an inch, but can also be expressed in 'mining terms' as the number of openings per linear inch. For example, a 1/4-inch mesh allows for the separation of all rocks and pebbles down to 1/4 of an inch, while a 1/2-inch mesh will have larger holes. Most prospectors have several classifiers of varying sizes to pick the optimal size for the site they are working in.

Classifiers are also useful if you are collecting streambed material in a bucket and moving it to your panning location, as they allow you to toss away heavy rocks and only carry the valuable smaller material.

Pick out gold nuggets by hand

Picking out gold nuggets by hand is the fun part of gold panning. Once you have followed the steps of gold panning, you will be left with a mixture of gold and black sand at the bottom of your pan. Tilt the pan towards you and swirl the water and materials slowly in a circle. This will allow you to spot any larger nuggets or pieces of gold that can be picked out by hand. If you do find nuggets, place them in a container for storage. This could be a legitimate gold sample bottle, or a jar or pill bottle found at home.

Gold nuggets are easier to pick out with tweezers, so it is worth investing in a pair of tweezers before you start gold panning. You can also use your finger to push the little bits of gold together into one spot, out of the bulk of the black sand mass, before picking them out.

Use a magnet to separate gold from black sand

Gold panning is a common way to extract small amounts of gold and other fine minerals from a specific area. These heavy minerals are often called "black sands". Black sands primarily consist of magnetite and hematite, both of which are highly magnetic. Therefore, a magnet can be used to separate these black sands from the gold.

To separate gold from black sands using a magnet, ensure that the black sands are completely dry, as moisture will prevent the magnet from attracting the black sands effectively. Place the black sands on a flat, non-metallic surface, and use a neodymium magnet or a rare earth magnet to attract the black sands away from the gold. It is important to note that some gold can be attracted to a magnet if it is a large enough piece, so be sure to inspect the black sands that are attracted to the magnet for small bits of gold.

Another method to separate gold from black sands is to place the gold pan containing the black sands and gold in water and use a magnet to stir the material. This will cause the black sands to be attracted to the magnet and jump out of the gold pan, leaving the gold behind. Repeat this process several times until most of the black sands have been removed.

It is important to use a strong magnet, such as a neodymium magnet or a rare earth magnet, as black sands are very magnetic and a weak magnet may not be effective in attracting all of the black sands. Additionally, ensure that the black sands are either completely dry or completely soaked in water before attempting to separate them from the gold, as this will reduce the risk of gold particles being attracted to the magnet along with the black sands.

Frequently asked questions