Panning for gold
 

Has anyone ever done any gold panning in any Alberta rivers and have you had any success? I don't mean stiking it rich, just a few flakes to make it interesting. Iv'e panned a little in the nsr and got some flour gold, just some color in the bottom of the pan.
Any suggestions in B.C where a guy could try for a weekend trip?

thx Conan

p.s any pics?

I've had some alright luck in the North Saskatchewan & Athabasca river. It's only placer gold though(flakes). If you are looking for nuggets, your best bet is in BC.

gold
 

I have the pan, haven't tried it yet. It is a good excuse to be outdoors along with fishing and hunting.

Haven't tried in Alberta, but it was sure a great way to spend some time in the spring mid day when we were bear hunting in B.C.

If you are going to try panning Barkerville would probably be your best bet. Gold is hard to find,so some of the creeks will have some color [gold] in this area. You will probably get skunked trying to find it on your own so the tourist thing will work out better.

http://www.barkerville.ca/default.htm

Don`t get caught panning on some ones claim.Around here pretty much every foot of every creek is claimed up.If you do pan,find a monster boulder in the current and dig out some of the gravel on the downstream side.

I have heard the Little Smoky and the Peace River has gold ....I never tried it but allways wanted to. Good luck.

If you are looking to just do a little recreational panning, you can do it anywhere, no need for a claim. It's just common curticy to inform a claim owner if you intend to try panning on their claim. Think of it as yourself going hunting in a guides territory, he might not like it, but he can't stop you. He has the righs to do it comercially, but you don't, you can just do it for fun.
I've been prospecting off and on for 25yrs, Gold, Copper, Calcite, ect. Havn't done much in the last few ys though. Mostly BC and Yukon.

Here are a few pics:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...d/DCP_2069.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...d/DCP_2071.jpg

Have you ever seen Gold float on water?
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...d/DCP_2072.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...d/DCP_2073.jpg


RD

Under Boulders is good, but if you can find a spot where the creek is washing over bedrock, you have it made. Cracks in the bedrock act like a natural "Slouce Box", break the bedrock apart and get the material from in the cracks. THAT's real paydirt:sHa_shakeshout:

cool pictures rd how much gold would you say is in that pan???? in the first picture

That is so right ,we call it sniping.Dig out to the very bottom of the cracks.That/s the good stuff.

I used to go with my dad when I was younger and we'd find flour gold in the creeks and river in the Edmonton area. :)

That's 68 grams, in a glass vial, topped with a bit of water. 28 grams to an ounce, 32 grams to a Troy ounce.

The nugget in the lower pic is 16 grams


RD

For a few months I had that last pic as my desktop background. I've done some recreational panning around Likely BC.

wicked pictures!!! would rivers in southern alberta even have some gold?

Very neat!

You can find color in about any river if you pick the right places. I've panned some out of the Old Man and Little Bow just for fun for a bit flour, generally it's a lot of work for very little in AB. A old acquaintance used to run demo's of his equipment on the NorthSask River, and there always seemd to be more up your way. It you really want to get your feet wet and have some fun head out to Fort Steel, it's a great place, lots of history, it great for the family and you're bound to find some gold. Here's a couple hrs hand work from around there :)http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/pictu...pictureid=2786
it's always fun looking, I'd do it for a living if I could.

I got to try this someday!

RD what kind of rig you using for that kind of payout? Musta been a 4-6", or bigger. If that was hand panning I'm trackin down your IP and following you:sHa_shakeshout: That's getting my blood going man can't this snow start melting ant faster.:)

Wicked pics and I have to admit I have gold fever..lol

Im going to try panning the Athabasca this spring..

Where is the best place to pick up a Gold Pan in AB?

Valemont BC. Between the town gravel pit and the river. Enough to keep you interested.

B.

General info
 

There are no claims in Alberta, and a permit is required for anything other than a pan. Only $50 for a 5 year permit.

Pans can be found in lots of sports stores, may take some searching, found some in Sundre and Calgary. Plastic pans are nice and light, just sand the inside bottom to catch the flour gold.

Gold is found in most of the major rivers, but don't expect lots.

Clean up your mess as you leave so us panners dont start getting heavily regulated as inBC.

Good luck and maybe see you on the rivers.

Always had a curiosity, about the tiny streams that come off the Livingstone range, particularly in the Willow Valley. Have always had an interest but have never tryed.

Is that really gold FLOATING????????

Could you expand on that one?

I think it's called "Bedrock Supply" its in Edmonton. Also there is a Prospecting Club in Edmonton. I ran across it on a fifferent site where they had a panning day, I kinda think it was out by Devon. Was a good story with pic's.

+1 on Ft. Steele = Wild Horse Creek.

Wild Horse has several active hobby claims, with guys using vacuum dredges to work vertical bedrock seams. There's also is a fairly large commercial operation on the E. side of the creek, reworking 100 year old tailings and using payloaders to move the gravels.

On weekends, Wild Horse is a beautiful quiet place to while away a sunny afternoon doing some recreational streamside panning.

There's a great little historic site above the creek, a signed interpretation trail, a chimney and apple orchard from the 1800s, two graveyards (one for the Chinese who did most of the work and stayed the longest), and a canalization ditch from which water was sold to the miners 'by the inch'.

I'm guessing the pork & beans, water and shovel merchants made most of the money.

Re: panning. What I was told is that placer gold is generally associated with black (hematite) sand deposits. Black sand is heavy. If there's black sand, there likely is gold in the deep crevices, under boulders, etc. Beware the proverbial mica flake shining in the sunlight. lol.

I've panned a bit in the Peace River.
I learned it from the outfitter I worked for, we used to set our hunters up for the evening hunt and then pan for gold until last light when we would pick up our hunters.
I got a few flakes but they were so small I had to use a powerful magnifying glass to see them. My boss had about half an ounce he had panned along the Peace. He told me that was his take from thirty years of panning.

On neighbour had a power sluice, He did quiet a bit of work with it along the Peace but eventually move his operation to BC. He claimed he couldn't even make expenses along the Peace.

I have not tried panning anywhere else.

Just stumbled on this little tid bit, the other day.:lol: No real gold geology here. The gold we find in Alberta, was deposited, along with the gravel, by the glaciers of the last ice age. Some guys actually pan in gravel pits.

Grizz

Bedrock Supply in edmonton has just about everything u need

James abd i panned in the Peace and we found some gold flakes. Enough to color up a small medicine bottle

Im still working for a living tho......was just enough to keep a guy interested

Panning the Peace
 

It was my understanding that the Chinese panned quite a bit in the Peace River?

Greg

And the Saskatchewan at Edmonton. Chinese miners developed a reputation for getting the most out of poor pay dirt. In the Fraser, they managed a living, long after every one else had moved on.

Grizz