Panning for gold

[conan]

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?

[burblecut]

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.

[chimpac]

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

[Redfrog]

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.

[NoKlu]

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

[Fisherpeak]

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.

[Ianhntr]

Hello Conan
Quesnel Barkerville country is the best area you can go to in BC for panning, but at the price of gold you need to make sure you get permission from the guys holding the rights to the area. Summertime they are usually there. The crreks are pretty much panned out, you need to look for an area close to one of the creeks that looks to be an old portion of the creekebed and work that material.
When you leave Quesnel and get on the Barkerville highway just north of Quesnel on the outskirts of the town. Stay on it through a little town of Cottonwood, and the road will begin running alongside a creek known as Lightning creek. A little further and you hit a major logging road called the 300 rd. Turn off on this and follow it up, lots of little productive creeks, don't expect to get rich, but it's alot of fun.
Good luck with the guys, you'll find them rough around the edges, but pretty big hearts in most of them.

[Red Bullets]

North Sask. gold is very pure, usually close to 24 carat. For every 10 to 15 ounces of gold you get , you will get about 1 ounce of platinum.

In recent years, the all gold reported recovered from the North Saskatchewan by gravel operations and miners is quite a bit.

2009 - Approx. 60 KG. = 60,000 grams = 60,000 x 43.75 = $ 2,625,000

2008 - Approx. 70 KG. = 70,000 grams = 70,000 x 43.75 = $ 3,062,500

2007 - Approx. 60 KG. = 60,000 grams = 60,000 x 43.75 = $ 2,625,000

Considerable amounts.


If you can find gravel with 20 dollars (todays prices) to the yard of gravel, you are on the best ground you will find. Roughly 144 shovels full per 1 yard of gravel. You have to move alot of gravel in a day.

Going to BC for gold nuggets can be done, but wandering onto someone elses claim there can result in serious consequences. Especially with the price of gold. Most of the ground has been claimed there too. You can get a free miners certificate but still have to get access to good ground by asking claim owners.

Remember ..gold is where you find it. Ausrtralia is the next gold rush. Some very big nuggets have been found there. Google the "hand of faith" nugget. 875 troy ounces found with metal detector in 1980.

Good Luck.

[big-river]

Good post, thanks.

[jack2russell]

Has anyone heard of people panning in the James and or Raven Rivers near Sundre

[nsr]

i did a little better than a gram of gold in a day with my highbanker on the bank of sir wilfred laurier park.

[Dunezilla]

Originally Posted by nsr

i did a little better than a gram of gold in a day with my highbanker on the bank of sir wilfred laurier park.

Have you ever tried panning for Gold near the bridge in Devon? I seen guys there with the whole set up. Running water and all.
I should give panning for gold a try.

[elkfriend]

hi, if a guy found a few grams, where would you sell it?

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by elkfriend

hi, if a guy found a few grams, where would you sell it?

Any gold buyer. Without assaying it the buyers will try to pay lowest value possible. The NSR gold is very fine so it is very pure. Usually in the 900 fine class, with .999 being pure 24 Kt.. There is also platinum in the NSR too so it is a good reason to assay any larger amounts. There might be 1 ounce of platinum for every so many ounces of gold. Jewelers, or dentists might be interested buyers too.

Save the gold for a new set of teeth in the future.

Any quantity over an ounce and a person is supposed to pay a royalty to the govt.

[Varun]

Looking to learn how to pan for Gold. I live in Hinton and if anyone is going panning for Gold around Hinton or Jasper area I would really appreciate going along to learn. Please contact me at: vargreen@yahoo.co.in

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Varun

Looking to learn how to pan for Gold. I live in Hinton and if anyone is going panning for Gold around Hinton or Jasper area I would really appreciate going along to learn. Please contact me at: vargreen@yahoo.co.in

I see this is your first post. Welcome to the forum.

Study up on what raw diamonds might look like while you learn gold panning. The Hinton area has shown to have some free diamonds in prospecting samples.
(refer to the first link i posted above your post.) Get a good color picture book of rocks and minerals.

Sorry I don't pan the area. I have panned the Mcleod river closer to Edson. That area has been sluiced and panned for decades. Panning is a quick learn. Any panner along a river you might meet most likely would show you how to work your pan. Youtube can be your friend for instruction too.
Have fun. Good luck.