The Gold pan or the Batea

The extraction of gold by washing or dressing alone using a pan or batea is the oldest recovery process employed by the man. The recovery of gold was used in civilized countries and the main disadvantage was the gold loss, which was around 40-50%. This problem was partially solved when gold panning was coupled with amalgamation. In California, gold prospectors used a pan to test gold-bearing rock and to extract the finest gold on a small scale. It was made of black sheet iron, usually Russian sheet iron; in Australia the pan was generally made of sheet tin. In Mexico and South America a wooden dish in the shape of a flattened cone 16 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep was known as batea. Similarly shaped wooden dishes were used by uncivilized or semi-civilized tribes in some parts of the world (e.g. Borneo, Malay Penninsula, and Africa).

The gold pan was used in prospecting for gold in cleaning gold-bearing concentrates and in the hand-working of very rich deposits. It is a shallow pan which varied from 15 inches to 18 inches in diameter at the top, and from 2 inches to 2 ½ inches in depth, the sides having a slope of about 30^o. it weighed from 1 to 1.5 kg. Most the time, the pan was made of heavy-gauge steel with the rim turned back over a heavy wire to stiffen it. Where amalgamation was to be done in the pan, it was either made of copper or had a copper bottom. When used by a skilled operator, it has a capacity of from half a yard to 1 yard in 10-11 hours.

The object of panning was to concentrate gold and heavy minerals by washing away the lighter. To do this most efficiently, all material should be of as even size as possible. The pan was filled about three quarters full of gravel to be washed, and then it was submerged in water. The first large gravel was picked up by hand, then the clay was broken, up, after which the operator raised the pan to the edge of the water, inclining it slightly away from him, moving it with a circular motion combined with a slight jerk, thus stirring up the mud and light sand and allowing it to float off. This was continue until only the heavier material remained, such as gold, black sand and other minerals having a high specific gravity. These concentrates were stored until a large quantity was obtained, after which the gold is separated from them. It was picked out by hand, amalgamated with mercury, sometimes in a copper-bottomed pan. In some case where the separation was extremely difficult and the quality and quantity justified, the concentrates were shipped to a smelter. Basically, panning was learned by watching an old miner or experienced operator at work, learning certain tricks in the trade from him. A clean six or eight inches frying pan made an excellent prospecting or clean-up pan. It was well to burn out an iron pan after having used mercury in it, and then polish it with a soft rock or piece of brick, otherwise it was difficult to see small colors or flakes of gold.

The batea was cone-shaped and was the equivalent of the pan. Basically, it was made of wood or sheet metal. It varied from 15 to 24 inches in diameter and had an angle from 150^o to 155^o at the apex. Many prospectors claimed that wood could hold fine gold better than metal. A shallow wooden chopping bowl was used as a substitute for the batea. This was used in the same manner as the pan.

                                                                               Pan                                                                             Batea

Nuggets Found in Arizona

Gold Nuggets Found in Arizona

By Tom Lutzenberger, eHow Contributor

updated: November 9, 2010

I want to do this!What's This?

1. 
   Gold Nugget image by roger from Fotolia.com 
   Finding gold in its raw form involves either digging for gold veins or finding the metal in rivers and creeks.
   Finding gold nuggets involves hard, dirty work either inside caves, on the side of rock hills or more commonly in mountain rivers where rock is washed down from higher elevations. In Arizona, finding the precious metal tends to be impacted by the natural behavior of the desert. Understanding how this topography and its environment work can help in more easily finding gold.

Water-Driven Locations

2. Deserts are primarily dry, however, many Arizona deserts have flash floods when it does rain. The water goes into what are called desert washes or drainage gulleys. These are common places to find gold nuggets unearthed by the water and deposited in the gulleys.
   
   In those areas where moving water can be found, Arizona creeks and rivers also have the potential for gold nugget discoveries. The work usually involves sifting through the river silt and dirt, which can be a bit of a production to find small nuggets moved by water.
   
   Yavapai County provides a good location for creeks and dry washes. Numerous rain gulleys and creeks exist all over the Bradshaw Mountain foothills. Named creeks and washes that have potential for gold nugget finds, however small, include French, Big Bug and Agua Fria.
   
   In Greenlee County, three locations can provide water-prospecting for gold washed down by rivers: Eagle Creek, Chase Creek and San Francisco River.

Mountain Areas

3. For dry harvesting of gold, Mohave County includes a number of locations for gold-digging. The Red Hill placer diggings and Printer's Gulch both have potential for nugget finds. They are found in the Mohave Mountains, a little less than 20 miles outside of Topock.

Spelunking for Gold

4. In terms of traditional gold-hunting --- going into caves and mining for gold in Arizona --- there are few options. Most of the old mining locations have been stripped from previous activities. Additionally, much of the land is on public government zones where you need prior permission to mine.
   
   Private mining claims basically mean the property is off-limits unless you get the owner's permission. Many gold digging areas are already claimed in Arizona. It would be easier for person to join a mining association and use their claims for recreational nugget finding than to attempt to weave through property rights of various owners.     

Dont pass up the pretty Rocks they may be worth more than the Gold

FINDING GOLD III (Gold & Sapphires)

 

www.treasuresites.com Location guides & tools. Do not discount the
"pretty" rocks found along with gold. The sapphires you see are worth many times
more than gold. Sapphire (& Ruby, (corundum), is like garnet, a relatively
high specific gravity that will catch in a sluice readily. These gems act as
gold, they will drop behind a boulder, in bedrock cracks, and set up in the
stratiform layers of a bar on the inside bend of a stream. In a perfect
(laboratory world) a river bar sets up from front to back: Gold, Platinum, Lead,
Iron Ore (black sand), Gems, Sand. and in a stratiform layer (top to bottom)
Sand, Gems, Iron Ore, Lead, Platinum, Gold. In the real world big gold drops out
at the head of the bar and as the bar is formed, it forms an airfoil shape which
sucks light gold flakes (and gems) to the back of the bar. What you want to look
for is concentrations of black sands at the back of the bar to know there is
gold (and gems) likely. At the front of the bar will be the heaviest gold
(nuggets) and gems, but they may be too deep or covered by massive layers of
boulders to get to. Just remember to follow the black sands and move slightly
ahead of them for the richest concentrations of fine & flake gold (and
gems). More info at my website on the Gold and Gems info page.

The Lucrative Hobby Of Panning For Gold

The current price of gold is out of this world.  Many people can’t believe that it’s gotten so high but analysts are expecting it to go even higher.  This means that those people who know how to find gold stand to make a lot of money.  If you’ve always been interested in panning for gold, now is the perfect time to learn. Believe it or not, there’s still plenty of gold in them there hills.  It’s just  out there waiting for you to go find it.  This article will discuss how to get started in this lucrative and exciting hobby.
Many people who get started in the hobby of gold panning especially appreciate how inexpensively it is to get started.  You probably have some of the things you’ll need to get started laying around the house  like shovels and plastic buckets.  Some of the other things such as a gold pan, a snuffer bottle, and a couple of other knickknacks that you can pick up will still cost you less than $50.
If you want to go out and buy everything that you need to get started and gold panning, that’s fine and you won’t have to pay much money but it’s even less expensive if you subscribe to a one year subscription to an organization called Gold Prospectors Association Of America.  It will only cost is $67.50 for a year subscription.  Basically you will be signing up to what they call the buzzard subscription.  This will give you everything that you need to get started in the hobby of panning for gold as well as a bunch of extra items like magazines, hats, bumper stickers, window stickers, dvds, and more.
If you are looking for gold, the best way to know where to look is to look where other people have already found it.  People in the gold mining hobby are usually very secretive about where they are finding their gold but there is a way to discover their secrets.  The way to discover their secrets is to use a web site called www.goldmapsonline.com and purchase some gold prospecting maps from them.  These maps contain the exact locations of every registered gold mining claim in your state

Teen beats old-timers to win national title

Click photo to enlarge

Amelia Gatward-Ferguson (14), of Queenstown, became the youngest winner of the New Zealand gold-panning championships yesterday, outclassing panners with 40 years more experience. Photo by Lynda van Kempen.

Seven flakes of gold gave Queenstown teenager Amelia Gatward-Ferguson a glittering advantage yesterday when she became the youngest winner of the New Zealand gold-panning championship. Amelia lined up in the final at Cromwell beside the category winners and the next three top panners from the day's competition.
Her father David was one of the finalists, as were defending champion Bill Lind, of Haast, who had won the event for three successive years, his brother Artie, of Timaru, and John May, of Ettrick, both former national champions.
Competitors were each given a bucket of soil "salted" with a certain number of gold flakes.
They had no idea how many pieces of gold were in the soil and had 10 minutes to pan it, retrieving as many flakes as they could.
The time taken played a part in their overall mark, but finding all the flakes was crucial as a five-minute penalty was given for every flake they did not retrieve.
Amelia was surprised to take top honours, although she hoped she might do well when she realised she had found more flakes than most of the finalists.
Her prize includes the right to represent New Zealand at the Australasia Goldpanning Championships in Ballarat, Australia, in March 2012, and $1000 to go towards her expenses.
Organising committee member Margaret May, of Ettrick, said Amelia was the youngest national winner in the 19-year history of the event.
"It's been a long time coming.
We've never had anyone from the under-16 category being the overall winner before but she'll do us proud in the Australasian championship," Mrs May said.
Amelia said representing New Zealand overseas would be "pretty cool".
She has been gold-panning for about six years, starting when her parents David and Amanda took up the pastime.
"The best thing about it is the feeling you get when you see one of the gold specks in your pan."
Although she has not been "training" for the competition, the family occasionally panned in the Arrow or Shotover Rivers.
"It's more of a hobby for us, than a sport."
Technique, skill and the kind of pan used determined the end result, she said.
Amelia had little time to celebrate her victory - she had to catch a bus to head back to Dunedin, where she attends Columba College.
The championships are run by the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust and this year attracted more than 40 entries.
Category winners were.- Under 16, Connor Chubb (Wellington); veterans, Paul Chisnall (Queenstown); women, Alison Marsh (Wellington); men's section, classic and open, Bill Lind (Haast).
Mr Chisnall was runner-up in the national championship and Artie Lind (Timaru) was third.

Japanese Mining sewage for GOLD

A sewage treatment facility in central Japan has recorded a higher gold yield from sludge than can be found at some of the world's best mines. An official in Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, said the high percentage of gold found at the Suwa facility was probably due to the large number of precision equipment manufacturers in the vicinity that use the yellow metal. The facility recently recorded finding 1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash from incinerated sludge.

That is a far higher gold content than Japan's Hishikari Mine, one of the world's top gold mines, owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd (5713.T), which contains 20-40 grammes of the precious metal per tonne of ore.

The prefecture is so far due to receive 5 million yen ($55,810) for the gold, minus expenses.

It expects to earn about 15 million yen for the fiscal year to the end of March from the gold it has retrieved from the ashes of incinerated sludge.

"How much we actually receive will depend on gold prices at the time," the official said.

Some gold industry officials expect prices this year to top the all-time high above $1,030 per ounce set in 2008, on buying by investors worried about the deepening economic downturn.

How Can You Tell the Difference between Mica Flakes, Pyrite Flakes, and Gold Flakes?

Whether you’re gold panning or shopping at a garage sale or digging through your attic, when you see gold flakes it’s an exciting moment, especially if they turn out to be real gold.  But how can you be sure it’s gold and not mica or pyrite (also known as fools Gold?  Here are some things you can try:

• Take tweezers and bend one.  Gold will bend, but pyrite and mica usually will not.  If the flakes shatter or break, they aren’t gold.  Gold will simply bead up.  Note that if you don’t bend it far enough, mica might spring back since it does have SOME flexibility.
• If you poke pyrite or mica flakes with a pin, they will usually break apart into even smaller flakes, whereas gold will dent and spread like soft lead.
• Rub the flakes between your fingers.  If they disintegrate, they aren’t gold.
• If you’re gold panning, pyrite and mica are much lighter than gold and will usually float out in the panning process.  Be more excited about gold flakes that stay at the bottom of the pan!
• Gold flakes will still look like gold in the shade whereas pyrite and mica won’t.
• If you scratch a larger piece of pyrite, it will produce a sulfur smell.
• Gold is a metal, pyrite and mica are not, so see what your metal detector has to say!  However, keep in mind that the detector won’t always detect flakes because they’re so small.
• Gold shines, but pyrite and mica (due to their crystalline structure) tend to be more glittery in appearance.  In the sunlight, gold nuggets or flakes will continue to shine as the specimen is turned to different angles and remain the same color.  Pyrite and mica will glitter as the different sides of their crystal-like structure reflect light differently.  They will also change color when tilted in a different direction due to its color coming from reflected light.