ive seen folks selling it
id just find a spot, dig out some dirt, and then look through it at the house.
but i kinda like the idea of being outdoors
You pretty much have to do some classifying and panning on site to get the concentrates you want to go through... and there's the "prospecting" phase once arriving at the site to try and figure out where there are specks of gold that everyone else missed. Or new deposits.
Off the top of my head, here is some of the best advice I have:
1. Folding shovels suck. Bring a real shovel.
2. Folding chairs are wonderful. Bring a folding chair. Folding chairs can be set up in the water to get you close for panning- so you're not bending over at the waist all day trying to work in ankle deep water.
3. Muck boots are a great idea. However, after you step in the first underwater hole and your boot becomes an aquarium, they're really uncomfortable. Summer time it's nice to have an old pair of tennis shoes to wear in the water. Shoes are a must because of broken glass here and there.
4. Bring a lunch and lots of drinks.
5. Bring a flashlight. This is particularly helpful because we always seem to find the best hot spot right about the time we're going to leave. And then it gets dark. And then you have to find your way back to a vehicle... and there are briars and holes and shit.
6. 5 gallon buckets are handy.
7. Since you've probably noticed the list is adding up, you're going to need a backpack.
8. Plastic sheet or a rain fly- because rain loves gold panners.
9. Put your remote key fob, cell phone, wallet, etc. in a zip lock bag before you get out of the car. This will help in the long run- I promise.
10. If possible, set up to pan on a river where they rent canoes and kayaks and tubes and such. Set up just above some rapids so you get to watch drunk people in kayaks and canoes flip over all day long- it doesn't get old.
11. Oh- and when you decide to dig your first hole in the creek/river bed, make sure it's not at the only easy place to enter/exit the river. I did that once. We stepped in that damn hole all day. Eventually the river fills it back in, but still- that was stupid on my part.
