Gold Panning Methods That Can Be Rewarding
Thursday, June 4th, 2009Any ordinary individual who does not know anything about panning for gold can do simple gold panning methods. But were you aware that there are methods for gold panning that require intricate processes?
Standard Panning Method
Part of gold panning methods needs the use of standard pans with a diameter measuring 16 inches and depth measuring 2.5 inches. Some may favor smaller pans, particularly for beginners, to easily spot the tiny bits of gold pieces compared to bigger pans.
However, larger pans are used when trying to scour a large area of gravel to be panned. Others may use iron pans because iron turns blue when heated. The gold bits, having a bright luminous yellow color will be easily seen.
A professional gold “panner” having the accuracy and speed can pan up to one cubic yard in a day – only thru the use of gold pan, heater and tweezers. In order to extract more gold, some folks adopt their own techniques. The technique mentioned above is used when the gravel is wet. On the other hand, if it is dry, some may use the elements mercury and magnetite. Since the systems are intricate, when gold pieces are few, it may not be worth all the hard work.
The Potato Method
One of the most simple techniques is the “potato method.” this strategy uses the potato vegetable in removing the gold. When the procedure uses mercury, the potato is suited to remove this element. Potato can soak up the mercury and the leftover from the mercury-black, sand-gold amalgam will be gold itself. Others may use the nitric acid to wash away the mercury through heating the water with the amalgam.
Vaporization
Another strategy is to eliminate the mercury through the vaporization, which is called “retorting.” it employs a pipe-shaped material where the amalgam is placed on one end and the other end is heated.
Depending on the selected gold panning methods, ensure that it is done carefully and effectively. Always take care to respect and preserve the environment in which you are panning. And to guarantee you’ve got a successful experience, always use the right Gold Panning Tools.