Gold Prospecting Equipment Buyers Guide What's the best way to find gold? It all starts by choosing the right gold panning tools and equipment. Recreational gold panning requires a few basic equipment plus some optional ones which you can add to your gear. Beginners could greatly benefit from knowing which tools to prioritize in buying so they can save up for the more expensive ones later.

Protective Gear and Clothing

Like in all outdoor hobbies, it is very important to always put your safety first. Gold panning could sometimes take you to locations which may pose a threat to your health if you do not consider taking safety precautions. Aside from your usual outdoor get up, these items are essential in keeping you out of harm's way.

Goggles

Goggles protect your eyes from rock particles when you are digging with the pick or using tools to crush rocks.

Wetsuits

When gold panning in the colder water, wetsuit jackets made of neoprene may be necessary. These give optimum thermal insulation and protects your body from the cold water environment. There are quite a few different types of wetsuits available such as wetsuit tops, wetsuit vests, shorty wetsuits, spring wetsuits, short john wetsuits, long john wetsuits, and full suits. Choose the one which mostly suits your needs and give you the best level of comfort.

Snake Chaps and Snake Gaiters

An important protective gear that should be in every gold prospectors possession is a snake chaps or snake gaiters. These are specifically designed to protect outdoor enthusiasts from venomous snakes like copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. They provide the best puncture-proof protection available for gold panners as well. Snake chaps are like full length pants which attach to your belt and have an open front and rear. Snake gaiters simply go around your calves and buckle together with a plastic buckle. Snake gaiters are much more light weight compared to snake chaps but offer less length protection.

Informative Materials

For beginners and experienced gold panners alike, these are helpful tools in directing you to the right track when planning to venture outdoors.

Gold Maps

These are important sources of information for hobbyists and adventurers who are interested in recreational gold prospecting or panning. There are maps which show known occurrences gold lodes and placer deposits of the past and of present. Choose a gold map which is up to date and features relevant information to your site.

Gold Prospecting, Rockhounding, and Treasure Hunting Books

Books on tips and techniques on gold and treasure hunting are a valuable resource for the gold panning beginners. These books will provide you information on maps and locations where one can find rock and mineral specimens. These books also help beginners identify specimens and distinguish one from the other.

Basic Gold Panning Tools

In recreational gold panning, you do not need a lot of fancy equipment. Beginners can browse through our store and get inexpensive tools to start off with. Available here at FredsGoldPanning.com, theses tools and equipment listed below are the most important to take with you when panning for gold.

Gold Pan

Available in either metal or plastic, the gold pan is the basic miner's tool. These may be square or round in shape, with the round shape being by far the most common in general use. Plastic gold pans are recommended especially for beginners. They are lighter, do not rust, nor do they conflict with the use of a magnet.

Bucket

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A bucket is used to haul material from the location it is being dug out of the ground, to a location where it can be panned. Buckets come in many sizes. Choose one which you can easily carry when filled with material for panning. Some buckets can also double as containers for carrying panning equipment then changing locations.

Shovels

Shovels help to loosen and get rid of gravel on top of your working area. These tools are also necessary in digging up dirt into your pan. When buying, make sure you choose a strong, sturdy shovel whose handle won't break easily.

Trowel

A trowel is used to dig material from locations where a large shovel will not fit.

Scoops

Aside from shovels, scoops are used to transfer dirt and panning material into your gold pan. Scoops are more convenient to carry around as they are lighter and more portable. Scoops with holes or slots help save you more time by separating the finer and smaller materials from some of the heavy stuff you don’t want in advance of doing the actual panning.

Crevice Tools

A crevice tool is usually a thin piece of metal with a narrow scoop on one end. It is used for scraping and digging out material from very narrow crevices between rocks. Crevice tools are available in a variety of lengths, colors and materials and you can find them here at FredsGoldPanning.com.

Pry Bars

A pry bar is used to move large rocks to allow panners to get to the material underneath them. In areas of harder soil such as bedrocks or cemented gravel, a crow bar or pry bar can be used to break open cracks to find untouched gold panning material.

Rock Hammers and Picks

A rock hammer can be used to break up rocks so that they can be more easily moved. A pick, similarly, is used to break up hard-packed soil material. It can also be used to open the cracks wider so you can get inside them easier. Rock Hammers and Picks are part of the essential tools that every gold panner must have.

Magnets

Magnets make clean up a lot faster and easier. Since gold is not magnetic, magnets can be used to remove magnetic black sand in a plastic pan.

Magnifiers

Magnifiers such as hand lens or magnifying glasses are useful in observing your pans for the presence of gold. These tools make it easier to identify and spot smaller gold particles. There are hands-free magnifiers which are more convenient to use. You can find them here plus other kinds of magnifiers at FredsGoldPanning.com.

Mortar and Pestle

These tools are used to crush bigger lumps of ore before they are panned. The process of crushing the ore makes panning it much easier. Choose a set made of cast iron which is stronger and much more efficient compared to other materials.

Tweezers

These tools are used to pick out the very small flecks of gold from your pan. Tweezers are made for different types of industries, however some of the best ones are the ones made for jewelers. Get yourself a pair of jeweler's tweezers here at FredsGoldPanning.com.

Vials and Containers

These are used to store and display gold which have been panned and separated from the dirt. Glass vials are very nice for displaying gold, but they will break if dropped on a rock, use plastic vials when in the field.

Scales

Gold panning, prospecting, dredging, and nugget hunting all require you to have a scale in handy to weigh your finds. For an easier and more accurate measurement, get a digital scale. A digital scale is the reliable choice, compared to the traditional weighing scales.

Optional Equipment

These equipments can also be employed to make your recreational gold panning faster and much easier.

Spiral Gold Pans

These are fast becoming the most sought after piece of recreational prospecting equipment on the market. It takes the hassle out of panning by hand and concentrates your gold from black sands quickly and easily. Spiral gold pans are optimized for the highest recovery rate, giving you more gold, in less time.

Classifier

This is a screen that is used to classify material to be panned. It aids in separating different sizes of material and is usually used to remove large rocks prior to panning. Classifiers are available with screens having holes from 1/2 inch down to 1/100th of an inch in size and are identified by the size of the holes in fractions of an inch.

Sniffer Bottles

Also called snuffer bottles or sucker bottles, these are small hand-sized flexible bottle with a small sucking tube attached to the end. Sniffer bottles are very handy for removing even very fine gold from your pan.

Sluice Boxes

Sluice boxes are the next step up from panning. A sluice box channels water from a river or stream over gravel to allow faster and more efficient production compared to using a pan. Traditionally made of wood, there are now modern sluice boxes which are constructed out of lightweight materials like polypropylene plastic. Metal sluice boxes which can be folded up for portability are also available.

Metal Detectors

As the name implies, these devices are used to detect metals, such as gold, buried underneath the ground. There are different types of detectors for coins and jewelry, for relics, for prospecting and for use in the water. Different brands of detectors will have various characteristics and features. Look for models with ground balancing and discrimination modes for black sand deposits and alkaline soils and for optimal operation in heavy mineralization, and maximum sensitivity to locate even the smallest

gold flakes at greater depths.

Pinpointers

Like metal detectors, pinpointers are designed to help locate small gold nuggets, coins and other relics in piles of dirt and sand. These devices have proven to be extremely effective and precise which have made pinpointing much easier.

Gold panning can be a very enjoyable activity, not only from the value of the gold you find, but just as much for the opportunity to be out in the fresh air and experience nature. We wish you all a fun and rewarding venture into gold prospecting!