I went gold panning in Colorado and the river was FULL of gold dust, but it was way to small to get out of the pan

Thats a bummer shottherapy!

Rafterman, indeed that is a good spot! Good luck on getting some!

I'm in NY, we have it here, but alot of it found is in such small amounts people think it is not worth, but there are places where there is supposed to be some large deposits Plus NY's laws once again can our freedoms with the laws about prospecting for gold! Supposedly all the gold in NYS whether found on private or state lands belongs to them?

I cant wait to go up north and find some!

Once I start doing it, I will definitely post some pics.

How do you get the gold out of the aluminum then?

You can squeeze the mercury through a coffee filter to separate the gold from mercury. Then burn the filter and pan out the ashes leaving the gold..or so I've heard. I have peen panning a few times out here in AZ. Twice at Lynx Creek in N. AZ and several times down here in the Sonoran Desert east of Phoenix. I have never found any gold, but have recovered lead bullets, shot and other "heavies". My co-worker found a "picker" up at Lynx Creek a few years ago so it IS out there. Worth it? Well, it's a fun hobby, but don't quit your day job.
Like posted above, getting to bedrock and crevices as well as deep pockets under a fall is where it will most likely be.
I have two Garret pans. A green 14 inch and a black 10 inch? fines pan. The larger pan is used first to remove the bulk of the overburden and then transferred to the smaller pan to finish. A sniffer bottle is key to picking up the gold dust from the pan.

I took the kids panning for gold just north of yellowstone for the day. My 8 year old daughter was very exited.

When she found her first bit of gold, I sucked it up with an eye dropper and put it in the vile, when she exclaimed

And I quote:

" that is it, that is what we have been looking for? We can't buy anything with that!!!!!"

Dahlonega in Georgia. This is where the gold rush actually started. There was also a US gold mint here, so there is a lot of history besides panning activities.

Pretty sure mercury is illegal to use these days in the US..

I had the opportunity back in July to drive down to Oregon and meet up with two of my friends (well, one I knew, the other I'd met once or twice), who were spending a couple months driving around to different areas dredging and panning.

I've never dredged or panned for gold before, so I loaded up 3 kayaks, wetsuit, mask and snorkel, mountain bike, tent, etc, and hit the road.

Had a blast. This thread needs some pictures, so here.

Struck it rich we did. I actually found a little flake in a crack among the exposed bedrock along the shore whilst going for a stroll and rockhounding. Dug out the surrounding stuff and panned out two more micro specks.


The spiral separator machine


Me helping toss rocks while he worked the dredge.


Lots to go through.


Handling the dredge.


Me messing around exploring the deeper area below us.

I have panned for gold before, found a few flakes. Enough to make it fun and exciting, but couldn't imagine actually doing that to earn a living.

It is my understanding that panning was a way to determine where to set up a dredge or a dig a mine, not as a means to earn a living.