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Guidebook for Alaska Adventure Travel |
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gold pan (plastic with
riffles or metal); 14" size is
best.
shovel to loosen gravel from
creek bottom.
grizzly pan with 1/2-inch holes
in bottom; this pan helps
separate coarse gravel, speeding
up the panning process.
magnifying lens (at least 10X
power) to identify minerals.
sluice box, approximately 3 feet
long; (construct or obtain
commercially; aluminum version
is available.)
tweezers for picking up gold; a
dry finger will also work.
small magnet for separating out
magnetic black sands.
small glass vials to hold gold.
rubber gloves to protect hands from cold water.
rubber boots to keep feet dry while wading in creeks.
Mining Guidelines:
Here are a few simple guidelines that all recreational gold
panners should know and follow.
Follow all national forest rules such as camping limits,
discharge of firearms, use of trails, etc. These regulations are
found in Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), with
general prohibitions in part 261. Copies are available at
Chugach National Forest offices in Anchorage, Girdwood, and
Seward. Regulations may or may not be posted.
Gold pans and manual-feed sluice boxes are allowed year-round in
streams listed in this article. Four-inch or smaller suction
dredges are allowed in salmon streams from May 15 to July 15
only with a permit from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
No hydraulic mining or use of earth moving equipment is allowed
without an approved mining plan of operation.
Work only the active stream channel or unvegetated gravel bars.
Do not dig in stream banks!
Recreational gold panning does not allow you to build
structures, cut trees or dig up archaeological historical or
paleontological objects. Nor does it give you the right to
obstruct others in recreational pursuits.
Mining Law :
The 1872 Mining Law, although amended
several times, remains essentially intact. The law allows a
person to locate a mining claim on federal land and to mine that
claim. However, when certain lands are withdrawn from mineral
entry, no claims can be staked there (although there may be
preexisting claims). The four designated areas in this
publication have no mining claims. Any other federal lands in
the Chugach National Forest not covered by claims are available
for recreational panning. Remote areas are less likely to have
active mining claims.
Rights
: As a recreational panner, you do not have the right to
keep others from panning. You can walk, fish, hunt, and recreate
on a federal mining claim, but you must respect the claimant's
equipment and operation. The claim owner has an exclusive right
to mine his/her claim. You must have permission from the
claimant to pan on his/her claim.
How to pan for gold:
The key to recovering placer gold from gravel is the weight
difference which allows gold to move downward (concentrate) when
agitated. The simplest placer mining tool for this purpose is
the pan. Scoop some soil from the river bed. Totally submerge
your 1/2-full pan in water. Panning may be done from a squatting
or sitting position at the stream edge, in gently moving water,
holding the pan between the knees.
Keep pan riffles pointed away from you to catch any gold that
might slip over the lip. Liberal water, agitation, and patience
are required to persuade gold to settle to the bottom of the
pan. While the pan is submerged, break up any clots of dirt and
wash any cobbles that may have clay that can trap placer gold.
The clay has been removed when the water in the pan starts to
clear. Pick pebbles from the pan to get them out of the way.
Look for heavy pieces with unusual color or shape. You might
find a gold nugget or a gold-bearing piece of vein quartz.
Hold the pan level under water and shake it with a sideways or
circular motion. The gold will settle to the pan bottom.
Occasionally tilt the pan, to let the sand-sized material wash
out. Dipping the pan in and out of the water with a slightly
forward motion while tilted, will wash lighter material away.
Alternate underwater swirling and dipping until only a few
spoonfuls of heavy minerals remain. When dark, heavy mineral
grains (black sands) are present, the panning is being done
right. Black sands may be a variety of heavy minerals including
magnetite, garnet, scheelite, zircon, cassiterite, and platinum.
If it's heavy, keep it and seek identification from a geologist
or miner.
Beginners are often impatient to find gold quickly. Take your
time. During the panning motion, black sand and other fines
concentrate in the crease or riffles of the pan. Gold can be
separated from black sands by rolling water in the pan with a
combination swirling and rocking motion. Lighter material moves
to one side, gold stays put. For safety, do the final panning
over another container to keep gold from being lost. Dry the
fines. Use a magnet to separate magnetic grains and tweezers, a
knife blade, or a dry finger to pick up small gold pieces. Save
the gold in a water-filled vial.
Examine your gold. Rough, nuggety gold is near its source. Gold
that is flat and smooth has traveled some distance from its
point of origin. Flour gold has been flattened to a few microns
thickness and will float on water.
Panning is a relatively slow method for recovering gold.
Experienced panners can process about 10 large pans per hour. A
sluice or suction dredge can increase productivity. Good Luck.
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