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Panning for gold

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 02:02:41 No.2860725 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>2860726 >>2860729 >>2860730 >>2860734 >>2860738 >>2860765

Due to being a dwarf (5’8), my proximity to a major river known for having gold and spots to look for it, and the current gold prices I have decided to dwarfmax. Anyone here ever panned for gold? I’m not thinking of getting much to start for supplies just a mesh sifter a shovel and a pan. Anyone who pans for gold around here have any input for supplies or tricks?
>don’t quit your dayjob
I’m not

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 02:07:22 No.2860726 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860725
Don't quit your nightjob either.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 02:28:43 No.2860729 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860725
>5’8
mmm I'd explore your goldmine lil' buddy

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 02:52:10 No.2860730 Report

Quoted By: >>2860731

>>2860725
Pan(14in, second 12in pan suggested)
1/2in classifier(optional but I highly recommend, 1/8in classifier(optional)
shovel and some sort of pick and/or crevacing tool
knee pads(also optional but highly recommend)
Japanese style gardening gloves with cloth body but palm and fingers have a rough rubber coating will save your finger tips!
waterproof gloves are also a very nice addition if you're panning in cold water

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 02:54:11 No.2860731 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860730
Oh! and a cheap set of waders are another nice QOL addition.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 03:44:49 No.2860734 Report

Quoted By: >>2860735

>>2860725
if youre going to be sitting in the same spot for more than 20 minutes youd be better off getting a sluice box and not a pan
you can run 5x the material through it and the downsides are that you need to set it up first and need flowing water
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placer_mining#Sluice_box

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 03:58:52 No.2860735 Report

Quoted By: >>2860825

>>2860734
Spoken like someone that's never been gold prospecting. You need to find gold before you set up a sluice box. Panning is for prospecting sluicing is for "mining" once you've found a decent concentration of gold. You can also pan many places you can't sluice. You need moving water, right speed /angle to get the correct flow based on the individual sluice and riffle material/type.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 04:49:32 No.2860738 Report

Quoted By: >>2860747

>>2860725
5'8" isnt even dwarf status. I wish you were 5'4".

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 07:10:13 No.2860747 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860738
anyone under 6' is a dwarf

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 09 Feb 2026 17:08:04 No.2860765 Report

Quoted By: >>2860809

>>2860725
All the gold-bearing rivers and creeks near me already have claims up and down them. Are you sure you won't be poaching on someone's stake?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Feb 2026 01:08:36 No.2860809 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860765
NTA... You can usually find BLM and BOR land that is unclaimable. In my area, for example, the main river is unclaimable, only tributaries have claims. You will be potentially competing wit ha lot more people on unclaimable land, but if you know when and where to look, you can find good spots.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Feb 2026 05:43:33 No.2860825 Report

Quoted By: >>2860828

>>2860735
he said he knows where the gold is and where to look for it
he skipped the panning stage

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Feb 2026 06:16:39 No.2860828 Report

Quoted By: >>2860857

>>2860825
>Tell me you know nothing about gold prospecting without telling me you know nothing about gold prospecting

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 10 Feb 2026 15:08:31 No.2860857 Report

Quoted By: >>2860904

>>2860828
Not that guy but I've only panned a few times.
Why is it bad to classify half a bucket at a promising spot, sluice it and pan the heavies? I have a mini sluice that takes very little to set up

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 11 Feb 2026 00:42:46 No.2860904 Report

Quoted By: >>2860907

>>2860857
Because you want to sluice ground that has good gold in it. Otherwise you're wasting your time. You could spend a few hours sluicing and end up with an unweighable amount of gold or you could spend that same amount of time and end up with a gram or two. You need to test pan to figure out where the higher concentration of gold is. If I'm going up to one of my claims, I know there is gold there. I know where it "should" be concentrated based on geology/hydrology but I don't know if the ground actually has the gold I think should be there unless I pan. And if you're on public, unclaimable, land you don't know that that spot hasn't already been hit by someone else(assuming they filled in their holes like they're supposed to) So I could be digging in a spot that has one speck/flake per pan or 20. But I don't know until I test pan. If you're only going out there to get out of the house and you don't care if you actually find good gold and any amount will make you happy, sluice without test panning. But if you actually want to find gold and you're going out to find a couple grams, you need to test pan.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 11 Feb 2026 01:38:56 No.2860907 Report

Quoted By:

>>2860904
Guess it makes a big difference if there is the potential for a lot of gold.
I'm in new england and am definitely happy to find specks and flakes when not on a trip to a better area. My immediate area is pretty gold poor

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