Gold Panning Methods That Can Be Rewarding
Any ordinary individual who does not know anything about panning for gold can do easy gold panning methods. But were you know that there are methods for gold panning that require intricate processes?
Standard Panning Method
Part of gold panning methods requires 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 simply spot the little bits of gold pieces compared to bigger pans.
However, bigger pans are used when attempting to scour a big 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. To extract more gold, some folks adopt their own techniques. The strategy discussed above is employed 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 complicated, 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 plant in removing the gold. When the process uses mercury, the potato is suited to remove this part. 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 clean away the mercury thru heating the water with the amalgam.
Vaporization
Another strategy is to dispose of the mercury through the vaporization, which is known as “retorting.” It uses 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, make sure that it is done thoroughly and effectively. Always take care to respect and preserve the environment in which you are panning. And to ensure you have a successful experience, always use the right gold panning tools.
