DISCOVER THE ADVENTURE
PANNING FOR GOLD IN CALIFORNIA

You've come to the right place! Panning for gold is becoming more popular again - for several reasons.

Gold Panning 1849

What used to be called Recreational Panning is taking on a more serious slant! It's said that, in spite of all the gold that was discovered and extracted during the California Gold Rush, as much as 80 percent of California's gold remains in the ground.

And there's the rub... most of it is underground. However, what's underground often gets brought to the surface by heavy Winter and Spring storms. So gold panning in California is still a worthwhile adventure!

Here's a demo video that shows how you, too, can pan for gold:

To recap the video's gold panning instructions:

1. Find a Good Spot; Don't Claim Jump
   It's very important that, in finding your special spot to pan for gold, you don't work someone else's claim! Also, if your spot is on private property, be sure to get the owner's permission first.
2. Dig and Classify
   Use of a classification screen to rid your gravel/dirt mix of the larger rocks and stones, leaving behind mostly dirt, will speed up the work.
3. Load the Pan
   Now you have lots of dirt and some smaller gravel bits to load into your pan and take to the water.
4. Loosen and Liquefy
   The point of the process is to keep the gold in the pan while getting rid of all the extraneous stuff. Washing your pan load in the water is what turns the trick for you because gold is heavier than water, dirt, and pretty much everything else in your pan.

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5. Shake Down Heavy Stuff
   Start shaking your pan, kneading the dirt, and washing the water over and through your pan to shake the heavy stuff to the bottom.
6. Sweep Out Light Stuff
   Wash, shake, swirl - whatever it takes to sweep the light stuff out of your pan. You really don't have to be too careful at this stage, as the gold will be sinking more and more to the bottom.
7. Use the Riffles to Catch Black Sand
   You don't really need a true gold panning pan, but it helps because of the ability of the riffles to trap the black sand and the gold. Now the gentle swirling begins.
8. Black Sand at Bottom
   Now we're getting serious! Keep gently swirling and moving more and more of the black sand out of your pan, leaving the gold flakes and nuggets behind.
9. See the Gold?
   You can decide for yourself when to stop - if you have any nuggets in the pan, you can generally pick them out with your fingers.
10. Use Sniffer Bottle to Pick Up Flakes
    Don't make the mistake of thinking the flakes aren't worth bothering with! At $1513 per ounce, they can add up - so make sure you get them all!!
11. And finally - Good Luck to You!!

First of all, you want to find a stream or creek with a history of producing placer gold. It means that somewhere along it's course there are gold deposits. And that's important when you're panning for gold!

Your spot should be on public land where recreational prospecting is allowed, or you should have the owner's permission if the land is privately owned.

Big Chico Creek

The area you want to dig and the place you choose for panning will most likely not be the same place, or even close to each other, so plan on getting a little exercise.

For digging, find a spot where the water has been forced to slow down - that's where the gold will have dropped to the bottom because of its weight. Try the inside of a bend, under and behind a large rock, or downstream of a fast-moving rapids where the water has slowed back down.

For your panning operation, choose an area of your waterway with deep enough water that you can submerge your pan completely. You'll also want the water to flow enough to move the silty stuff downstream, but not so fast as to make panning difficult.

That's all there is to it! If a spot you've chosen doesn't seem to be panning out (now you know where terms like "it didn't pan out" come from), try somewhere different next time. That's what the 49ers did!

Ever wonder if you would recognize real gold if you saw it? Me too! I was also afraid I'd throw out what I thought was Fool's Gold only to have it be the real thing!

James Marshall and John Sutter tested the gold found by Marshall
by various means such as pounding it with a hammer, boiling it in lye, and dunking it in aqua fortis (nitric acid). Apparently they weren't anymore sure how to identify gold than you or I!

Vile of Gold; © Jane A. Sawyer

These more modern tips should help you distinguish between the real glitter and the faux glitter when you're panning for gold:

Use a gold testing kit, which will contain test acid, a gold test stone,
a test needle set, and salts

So there you have it! Grab that pie plate and off you go! Try panning for gold and see if you can't find a little something extra to help you out in these hard times.

Interested in the history of the California Gold Rush? Here you are!

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