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First time prospecting

W

Waynos

New member
Hi all!
In May I'm going to try panning and sluicing for the first time.
Picking up a Garrett panning kit but still unsure which sluice I should get.
So far feedback I got turned into arguments between people over bazooka,Keene and le traps and which model was the cats meow lol

Also looking for places near Keene,NH to prospect. (Or less than a 2 hour drive)
I was told about a place in Bath,NH I could pay a daily fee,and a guide who will charge $250 for me and my father inlaw for 1 day.

I'm hoping to find a place within reasonable distance and avoid all the fees.
I just wanna pan and sluice to find my first color lol

Any thoughts,tips or advice is welcome
 
Waynos said:
Hi all!
In May I'm going to try panning and sluicing for the first time.
Picking up a Garrett panning kit but still unsure which sluice I should get.
So far feedback I got turned into arguments between people over bazooka,Keene and le traps and which model was the cats meow lol

Also looking for places near Keene,NH to prospect. (Or less than a 2 hour drive)
I was told about a place in Bath,NH I could pay a daily fee,and a guide who will charge $250 for me and my father inlaw for 1 day.

I'm hoping to find a place within reasonable distance and avoid all the fees.
I just wanna pan and sluice to find my first color lol

Any thoughts,tips or advice is welcome
Click to expand...

FIRST: join the GPAA. Don't have to wait till May to do that. You'll receive a book showing all the GPAA claims and instructions on how to follow the rules regarding those claims. And, a list of GPAA-affiliate clubs. Join a local club if there is one. By the time May rolls around, you'll have some idea what the heck you're actually doing, without needing to have spent a lot of money.

Regarding equipment, nearly everyone here is a real prospecting enthusiast and will probably be telling you "get this, get that!" I'm gonna parse 'em arf by tellin' ya precisely the opposite. Because you said, "I just wanna pan and sluice to find my first color lol".

You'll see that color a lot sooner if you stick with panning, because with a pan you're very mobile and can sample spots until you find a paystreak. If (emphasis on "if") you get a sluice set up right, you'll get a lot more than by panning, but unless you're incredibly lucky it won't be anything like a paying proposition. And it's a lot like work.

You can learn to pan right there at home. Can't do that with a sluice. And, don't get caught up in trying to chase down the world's best gold pan: they all work, and what's important is to have a bit of skill in using the one you've got. Come May, you'll be ready to go out, have fun, and if there's gold there you'll see color. All without having spent a lot of money on "stuff". And if perchance you somehow strike out and no color, well at least you still had fun, you didn't turn it into a work detail.

--Dave J.
 
Excellent advise from Dave J. I have been a member of GPAA/LDMA for 23 years and can say it is the best orgi. I have ever belonged to. A real family group and IF there is gold where you are looking you will find it. I have used several Dave J designed detectors to find several beautiful nuggets---the best a 3/4 oz pure nugget that my wife wears. Good luck.
 
Waynos, if you can find a feeder creek that gos into the place that charge to prospect and get permission to hunt it, you might do better than when you pay.
 
Great advice on the panning...

When I first started out I loaded myself down with all sorts of equipment; different sluices, detectors, pans, etc. It was definitely a lesson, you can do just as well with the pan starting out as anything else for a minimal investment.

The biggest tool at your disposal is the wealth of knowledge at your fingertips online. Do a lot of research on gold deposits, geology, etc and you'll find your transition into the field much easier.

Best of luck! Once you get a little gold you have the disease for which there is no cure.
 
Took advice from you guys and bought this panning kit to get me started for now
Saving some money till I decide on a sluice lol
 
Waynos, my First Sluice, in 1974, was a 10" x 36" piece of 1/2" plywood, with 1x4" sides. The carpet was a folded up gunny sack, with a piece of window screen over it, and held down with some 1/2" wood 1/4 round. All nailed down with some finish nails. Use a 5 gal. bucket to carry the sluice in with your "Crevicing Tools", hammers and chisels and screwdrivers +++. Find some bedrock and start cleaning out the crevices and pan or sluice if too much gravel to pan. I use an old external pack frame to carry the bucket and tools with. If you want you can screw on a Door Handle to carry the sluice with.
 
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