(Part one of a series.)
So there I was, sitting on a rock beside a fast-flowing mountain stream, crystal clear waters tumbling over the moss-covered rocks, the warmth of the sun at my back and a blue sky above, thinking to myself, can summer days get any better than this?
How many times before had I sat on a rock somewhere beside a river or stream, rod in hand, waiting, hoping to catch a momentary glimpse of silver in the water, casting to any rainbow trout that just might happen by. Things were a little different, however, on this particular afternoon. Instead of a fishing rod in my hand, I was holding a metal gold pan, hoping for a flash of gold instead of silver.
Because of high water temperatures and low water levels, fishing had been curtailed in the East Kootenay area where I was staying last summer. That was when I decided to try my hand at gold panning.
There is an old adage: gold is where you find it. Now I won’t say how well I did or did not do, but I can say without hesitation that over the course of the summer I had one heck of a lot of fun – once I got the hang of it.
At the beginning I went out after supper almost every evening for two weeks. It took the better part of the first week before I finally found a couple of gold specks about the size of a grain of salt. As small as they were, I was still pretty excited. Three weeks into my panning, I met Will. He mentioned he had been panning for more than 20 years. I learned a long time ago that one of the best ways to learn how to do anything is to watch and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about. Needless to say, I listened. After that, Will and I went out panning on a regular basis and I have to say I learned a lot from him.
One thing I do know for sure is that when you see that flash of gold (no matter how small) at the bottom of your pan, it’s like getting a three-pound rainbow on the end of your line.
Gold panning is not really all that complicated and, like most things, practise makes perfect.
Once you’ve found a ‘placer deposit,’ scoop some gravel into your pan, immerse it into the stream and then begin agitating in a side-to-side motion. This will cause the heavier materials within the mixture of rocks, pebbles, mud and sand to sink to the bottom. It is important to note that gold is 19 times heavier than water.
In the old days, prospectors used panning to determine where the most productive areas were along a stream bed. They would then shift to equipment such as dry rockers and/or wet sluices that could process larger volumes of sand and gravel more quickly and efficiently. Early sluice boxes were constructed from wood. Most modern sluices are constructed from light weight aluminum. Will and I purchased a used, three-piece break-down aluminum sluice that is highly portable.
The principal is the same regardless of design or material. Water is used to wash potentially gold-laden material along the length of the box, which is positioned at a slight downward angel. Gravity separates the gold from the lighter rock and sand as it moves along. Modern sluice boxes use riffles or obstructions that slow the free flow of sand and gravel. These riffles form pockets behind which gold will accumulate.
The gold recovered is mostly in the form of small nuggets, flakes and flour gold. Another piece of equipment, used both back then as well as now, is a dry rocker which is also capable of processing a much greater volume of material than a gold pan.
Gold panning is a popular outdoor activity, for no other reason than it is a lot of fun. A gold pan, whether metal or plastic, will cost around $25 to $30. The metal one I bought was probably the best investment I ever made.
