It took me over 32 years to find one of the coolest hobbies I have ever done! Gold panning can be one of the neatest things you can do! The first time I went panning was about 3 months ago. Me and my dad decided to go to Dahlonega, Ga for our first prospecting experience. It took about 3 hours to get there from Alabama and we were shocked!
Atlanta has spread all the way into Dahlonega and there were houses on every block. We drove around for a few minutes and finally found their empty lake. It was a great idea; people have probably never been to some areas in many years! The levels were super low and we instantly felt the importance of water.
We parked at the doc and walked down the lake side and found a really nice outcropping of Quart. We pecked around for awhile hoping to find a Gold band. We ended up walked about a mile down the lake and turned around and decided to leave. We drove east of Dahlonega and found a really nice flowing stream.
As soon as I got in the stream I could see that there were many different kinds of rock and minerals in the water. I sunk the pan in and pulled it up and let the water wash the top sand off. That is when I saw this very pretty yellow on the bottom of the pan. I screamed "I found gold!" My dad come over and he laughed and said that is fools gold. It was everywhere and if you tried to break it would crumble apart. We didn't find any Gold but we did have a fun day and got to see a very awesome river for a short time!
If you didn't know about gold here is a little info to get you started.
First, is a very heavy yellow metal. It has a specific gravity of 19.3 which means a quart of gold would weigh 19.3 times as much as a quart of water. As a comparison, lead has a specific gravity of about 11 so gold is almost twice as heavy as lead.
Malleable and Ductile. It can be hammered so thin that 250,000 sheets would be one inch high! One ounce can be drawn into a wire thirty five miles long.
Gold is never found pure in nature. It is usually alloyed with copper, silver and/or platinum.
Gold is so heavy it will act differently than the other material. So if you pan correctly it will stay in the bottom of your Pan!
Gold has a shiny structure and looks about the same in and out of the light.
Not sure you if you found gold? Take a hammer and if it breaks, you're out of luck. If it is Gold It will bend and not break!
Not recommended for beginners -get some Nitric acid and drop it in there. If it doesn't react then you may have Gold! Nitric acid is dangerous if it gets on you or you breathe the fumes it can hurt you! Research how to use it!
Where to find gold
1. A Stream passes through many miles of different minerals.
2. The density is ten times that of common sand! Therefore it naturally falls to the lower place in a stream.
3. A new supply can be found annually. Spring showers always wash new Gold down creek.
4. Being on the river can be a way to spend day.
5. It can be hard to get on properties these days, stick to public bridges. We do have the right of way in the streams!
6. The placer gold sometimes may lead a trail to the mother lode. If you find it you may never have to work again!
Which Streams contain gold?
There are 4 characteristics that you need to find gold!
1. The Stream can not be damned and flow freely.
2. You need to have rich mineral content in the area.
3. The creek needs enough elevation to churn in spring floods.
4. Stream path and rock formations facilitate the deposition of the dense materials (gold, lead, iron, mercury etc.)
Gold is found as the free metal and in tellurides. It is widely distributed and almost always associated with pyrite or quartz. Gold veins can be found in alluvial deposits. If you find a vein of quart peck around on it and be sure and look very good! People have found Quart rocks with gold all through it.
I have read that if you find black sand that is a great place to look for Gold! Another place to look is around a big rock or by an old log! That is where you may find a nice nugget that has been hiding for years!
Go find you a pan and plan a great get-away and go Panning Today!
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