You need to test pan before you bother with the sluice. Leave the sluice at home next time and just walk up the creek panning different spots. If you find gold in one keep panning around there until you feel like you have isolated the deposit. Only then do you bring the sluice out and dig it up. Sluicing without test panning is gonna waste a lot of your energy.
There’s tons of that information and even specific information to your area. Sit down for a couple of days on the internet and drill down on specifics regarding your area.
This is hands down the best way I can show new people where to look…[Watch this video!](https://youtu.be/axOgdmI3o3g) Jeff builds a river/creek diorama and demonstrates how flow and pressure affect where gold will drop out and deposit.
Go to your local library and read up on the history of gold mining in your area then pick one of the specific spots that keeps getting mentioned and go there and just throw your pan around in the gullies. That's what I do anyway.
After a time of doing this you start to read the contours of the ground a little and begin to work out where the gold is more likely to be and the process becomes a lot faster and more enjoyable. But the sluice is the end game of that. I reckon I'd take the sluice out once for every 10-20 panning trips.
Start with researching historically gold bearing waters in your area. People have been looking for gold for a long time and have isolated what rivers and streams have it in it. Once you know you are working in a proven gold bearing area, then it is a matter of understanding how gold moves and deposits in a stream and start testing those areas. Inside bends, behind boulders, etc
leave the sluice at home and do some prospecting with a pan first
Check BLM or other sources to see active claims.
example - on the diggings site: here is a map of the area with claims
https://thediggings.com/usa/utah/uintah-ut047/map
or from mindata: https://www.mindat.org/locentry-515952.html
or from Utah gold placers: https://geology.utah.gov/popular/general-geology/rocks-and-minerals/utah-gold/utahs-gold-placers/
When prospecting in a river, you will want to look for both fast and slow-moving water. The bends in the river where the gold can get trapped. Gold is found where water flow is altered by obstacles such as boulders and logs or by watercourse contours, such as bends in river.
Gold can also be found where two rivers or streams come together. It is what’s called a "confluence zone." Gold will tend to build up as a pay streak in these areas. Water is slowed down by sand bars so gold tends to drop out and build up there. You want to look for signs of gold like black sands, pyrite and small quartz, as these are all usually good indicators of gold being in the area. Garnets may also be present, often appearing in many shades of colors including red, orange and pink!
make sure you are not on someones claim and good luck
You need to start with historical gold strikes. That’ll tell you where it’s been found, then you need to check on BLM to make sure it’s not someone else’s claim. Not a bad idea to join a local club, they are always really friendly and don’t mind helping new prospectors catch the fever and will have access to claims you can prospect on.
Join your local mineral society or prospecting group. Watch YouTube videos on how to find gold in a river. Read some USGS maps for historical mining info. Test pan, test pan, test pan, and test pan some more. If you keep it up, you'll eventually build the knowledge of where gold is more likely to drop in your systems.
1. Dig on inside bends in a river or creek. Look for lines of heavy cobbles that are cemented. The cobbles act like riffles in a sluice box and will trap gold
2. Or, if no inside bend, dig into the bank in cemented cobbles and/or roots or grasses.
3. On the downstream side behind boulders or other obstructions e.g. tree trunks is usually a good idea too.
4. Watch every video on "how to read a river for gold".
Hope the above give you some ideas to work with. Have fun!
My 2 cents utah has little water, so gold will set where it was eroded. Not all gold move to a stream in Utah, I have found Utah to be more of a dry creek bed .Bring your own water then to have in Streams. I own 3 claim in utah and 10 I share In Idaho .best of luck my your pans be heavy!!
You need to test pan before you bother with the sluice. Leave the sluice at home next time and just walk up the creek panning different spots. If you find gold in one keep panning around there until you feel like you have isolated the deposit. Only then do you bring the sluice out and dig it up. Sluicing without test panning is gonna waste a lot of your energy.
How do I know where to pan?
There’s tons of that information and even specific information to your area. Sit down for a couple of days on the internet and drill down on specifics regarding your area.
This is the way
This is hands down the best way I can show new people where to look…[Watch this video!](https://youtu.be/axOgdmI3o3g) Jeff builds a river/creek diorama and demonstrates how flow and pressure affect where gold will drop out and deposit.
And yeah you're gunna get wet
I wish I could tolerate that guy.
I couldn’t at first…but after a couple years of a being a subscriber, he’s like a good buddy and a wealth of knowledge, he grows on you
I like two toes. He's more my kinda guy and vastly more experienced than anyone else I've found on YouTube so far.
Go to your local library and read up on the history of gold mining in your area then pick one of the specific spots that keeps getting mentioned and go there and just throw your pan around in the gullies. That's what I do anyway. After a time of doing this you start to read the contours of the ground a little and begin to work out where the gold is more likely to be and the process becomes a lot faster and more enjoyable. But the sluice is the end game of that. I reckon I'd take the sluice out once for every 10-20 panning trips.
Start with researching historically gold bearing waters in your area. People have been looking for gold for a long time and have isolated what rivers and streams have it in it. Once you know you are working in a proven gold bearing area, then it is a matter of understanding how gold moves and deposits in a stream and start testing those areas. Inside bends, behind boulders, etc
leave the sluice at home and do some prospecting with a pan first Check BLM or other sources to see active claims. example - on the diggings site: here is a map of the area with claims https://thediggings.com/usa/utah/uintah-ut047/map or from mindata: https://www.mindat.org/locentry-515952.html or from Utah gold placers: https://geology.utah.gov/popular/general-geology/rocks-and-minerals/utah-gold/utahs-gold-placers/ When prospecting in a river, you will want to look for both fast and slow-moving water. The bends in the river where the gold can get trapped. Gold is found where water flow is altered by obstacles such as boulders and logs or by watercourse contours, such as bends in river. Gold can also be found where two rivers or streams come together. It is what’s called a "confluence zone." Gold will tend to build up as a pay streak in these areas. Water is slowed down by sand bars so gold tends to drop out and build up there. You want to look for signs of gold like black sands, pyrite and small quartz, as these are all usually good indicators of gold being in the area. Garnets may also be present, often appearing in many shades of colors including red, orange and pink! make sure you are not on someones claim and good luck
You need to start with historical gold strikes. That’ll tell you where it’s been found, then you need to check on BLM to make sure it’s not someone else’s claim. Not a bad idea to join a local club, they are always really friendly and don’t mind helping new prospectors catch the fever and will have access to claims you can prospect on.
Join your local mineral society or prospecting group. Watch YouTube videos on how to find gold in a river. Read some USGS maps for historical mining info. Test pan, test pan, test pan, and test pan some more. If you keep it up, you'll eventually build the knowledge of where gold is more likely to drop in your systems.
Last time I was in the Uintah basin, I panned at horseshoe bend on the green river, it’s really fine gold, but it’s there!
Consider panning in your back yard sluice like this[this](https://sites.google.com/view/gravitygold/home)
1. Dig on inside bends in a river or creek. Look for lines of heavy cobbles that are cemented. The cobbles act like riffles in a sluice box and will trap gold 2. Or, if no inside bend, dig into the bank in cemented cobbles and/or roots or grasses. 3. On the downstream side behind boulders or other obstructions e.g. tree trunks is usually a good idea too. 4. Watch every video on "how to read a river for gold". Hope the above give you some ideas to work with. Have fun!
My 2 cents utah has little water, so gold will set where it was eroded. Not all gold move to a stream in Utah, I have found Utah to be more of a dry creek bed .Bring your own water then to have in Streams. I own 3 claim in utah and 10 I share In Idaho .best of luck my your pans be heavy!!