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A gold pan with gravel

Gold panning, or simply panning, is the process of extracting gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts because of its cheap cost and the relatively simple and easy process involved. It is the oldest method of mining gold.^[1] The first recorded instances of placer mining are from ancient Rome, where gold and other precious metals were extracted from streams and mountainsides using sluices and panning.^[2]

[edit] Technique

The gold panning technique is relatively simple. First, a stream or some other type of running water needs to be found with a placer deposit in it. Then, the miner needs to take some of the sediment from the bottom of the stream and scoop it into the pan with some water. Once this is done, the water and sediment are swirled in a gentle circular motion around the bottom of the pan, and while gyrating the pan, the miner tilts the pan so as he swirls some water and sediment starts to spill out. This is done until almost all the sediment has fallen out, leaving behind only heavy metals such as gold dust or nuggets.

The gold stays in the pan because it is heavier then the water and sediment around it. So, everything that is not a heavy metal like gold or platinum spills out and leaves the gold behind.

Gold panning usually turns up only gold dust that is usually collected as a souvenir. However, nuggets and considerable amounts of dust are occasionally found, although panning mining is often not lucrative. However, panning for gold is used to locate the larger parent veins of gold that most placer deposits originate from.

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Pan

Pans are measured by their diameter in inches. Pans are manufactured in both metal and plastic, with metal pans being traditional. The advantages of metal pans is that they are stronger than plastic pans, and that they are heavier. Pans are usually quite large, and are made out of lightweight alloys to ensure structural stability.

[edit] References

1. ^ History of Gold, 2007-10-18, http://www.e-goldprospecting.com/html/history_of_gold.html, retrieved 2009-12-14 
2. ^ Lynn Cohen Duncan (1999-12-9), Roman Deep-vein Mining, http://www.unc.edu/~duncan/personal/roman_mining/deep-vein_mining.htm#Types, retrieved 2009-12-14