Getting started gold prospecting in
creeks near you
Perhaps you have thought about trying to pan for gold in a creek near you, but you didn't know how to get started and the equipment you would need. I faced those same questions when I started prospecting. In this article I will show you the items you will need, depending on what level you want to go after the gold.
If you just want to try your hand a gold panning a creek in your area, you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to get started. In fact, I would suggest that you start with a small gold prospecting package to see if you will enjoy it.
Be sure and check out my YouTube videos using some of the equipment I recommend in this article:
Episode 186 - "There's Gold in That Thar Creek"
Episode 193 - "The Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator"
Here is some of the equipment that I use.
BASIC EQUIPMENT
I would suggest you begin with the Garrett Deluxe Gold Pan Kit.
These items in this kit will continue to serve you no matter how involved you get into gold prospecting.
The classifier (sifter) allows you to "classify" material, in other words, eliminate the big rocks and material so you can get down to panning the finer stuff which contains the gold. The Garrett 14” Classifier / Sifter is designed to fit on top of a standard 5-gallon plastic bucket which will capture the sifted material that you can later pan out. You also can get a variety of different size gold pans and some other extras, but these will get you started.
INTERMEDIATE EQUIPMENT
Once you spend a little time in the creek panning for gold, you will realize that it takes a lot of time to "classify" and pan out material pan by pan. There is a piece of equipment that will greatly reduce the work of working material one pan at a time. It is called a sluice box and it allows you to let the flow of the creek do the work for you as you add material to the sluice box and let the flowing water separate it for you. With water flowing through the sluice, as you add material to it, the heavy material (gold and lead) will get trapped in the sluice, while the lighter material (sand and rocks) will be washed on through.
An excellent choice is the Keene Super Mini Sluice Box which is light weight and easy to carry in a backpack, but still does a great job.
ADVANCED EQUIPMENT
If you want to get real aggressive and process a lot of material in a short time (and after all, the more material you process, the more likely you are to find gold) them you might consider the Keene 2.5" Power Sluice Combination Kit.
Then there is the matter of processing the small flour gold. Even after panning out your processed material, there can still be small bits of gold mixed in with the black sand that is nearly impossible to pan.
As you work each pan of gold you will be left with fine "concentrates" (cons) which you should save after you have retrieved any gold nuggets, pickers, or flakes. You can then run the "cons" through the Blue Bowl Concentrator which will separate the fine flour gold from the black sand.
You can purchase the Blue Bowl with pump and levelers alone, but this package deal is the best bargain because you also get a set of classifiers that you will need in sizes 20, 30, 50, and 100.
Some Parting Thoughts
When I first started, I bought a lot of things I really didn't need. My aim in this article is to help you not make that mistake. Start with the basic panning kit, and perhaps a sluice box. If you enjoy it, and think it might be productive, then you can add the Blue Bowl Concentrator, and eventually the Power Sluice if you are really serious.
There are several videos you can watch that will show you how to use each piece of equipment I have recommended. Good luck and have fun!
