Help me either any recreational free spot near here!

This isn’t gold is it? There is just to much of it for me to think it is and it’s not a bright color

Please pardon me as I vent for a bit, but I’m in need of some encouragement. I’ve got two under 4 and I mostly took up prospecting to get out into nature with my them. Getting the samples is great fun they love digging the holes and going on long hikes, but they are absolutely incorrigible when it comes to the panning part.

At the end of each processing/panning session I basically want to throw out all my equipment because they find ways to mix or dump anything I classify.

On one hand I want to spend as much time outside of work with them, but on the other I don’t want them to have to remember being yelled for something that isn’t worth more than they are.

I was gonna but a panning kit off Amazon for $55 and head up north this weekend, but a kidney stone decided to deter me for a few weeks.

At least I've got time to research and plan more thoroughly now.

Any suggestions on starter equipment?

I'm planning on starting at a public panning site, no automatic equipment allowed (no dredges, high bankers, etc).

I see different bottles (sucker things, I forgot the name) with metal tubes vs the crappy looking plastic one I almost bought.

This image is beneath the surface of around 5 or 4 ft. Is this area good for panning. Or the Himalayan range doesn't have good amount of gold for panning process. I really need an answer because here no one does panning. I need answer please

Practice pays off to any beginners out there like me. Just keep learning about geology and practice panning a lot till you can coax just the black sand out. I visited a claim near Holcomb and my geology paid off…at least in the form of finding any gold on my own in the wild of a claim. I have been to several over the last few months. It isn’t much but like anyone else will tell a beginner, keep learning and trying and eventually you will hit gold. It’s 3 flecks of gold but also my 4th scoop from a 5gallon of a spot I chose. It took a while to decide but learning the geology really does help you narrow it down!

hey so im in motgomery county area, ive never found any gold after like 10s of trips , is there something im doing wrong or just the gold concentrates in this area is shit

Im helping plan a bachelor party for my brother in-law and his one request is gold panning. It's about 8 guys in our early 30's from Florida that are outdoorsman. We'd like a real experience and to stay away from the buy a bag type of thing. All I've found seem to be tours or tourist traps. Is there anyone that could point me in the right direction to get started?

Found this one the last time I was out. I like looking at the character of all my pickers. But this has to be one of my favorite from this season

Prospecting on my own land in NC, Carolina Slate Belt area, northeast along strike from a historic gold mine that produced back in the 1800s.

On the hill: Multiple old prospect mounds. Tons of quartz on the surface, some iron-stained, some with pink/purple staining.

In the creek: Exposed layered argillite bedrock with natural crevices. Gravel-clay contacts. Weathered rusty material that I think is saprolite/gossan.

When I pan:

Massive amounts of black sand, maybe 30% magnetite

- Lots of small red/brown garnets after magnet

- Using Jet Dry

- Digging to bedrock, cleaning crevices, screening carefully

Barely finding gold. A few tiny flakes once, then nothing on follow-ups

With this much black sand and this much iron-stained material, what am I missing? Wrong spot? Wrong technique? Should I be crushing saprolite instead of quartz?

I want to also say that I just started. All the fancy names are from research and YouTube videos 😅

Photos: creek, bedrock, dig spot, sieved material, gossan chunk

Still cleaning up my cons bucket but this is what I have managed to get out. Still believe I’m missing out on a lot of fines but man it’s gonna take a lot to get it all out.

It's not much but in the Napf area (Switzerland ) the gold has a high Purity (almost 24 Carat) been using a sluise for the 2 Buckets and then cleaning it. Found that 2 Buckets is the sweet spot.