Saturday surprise-Gold panning in arizona

@MnLare Dude, Rattlers feed on small rodents…The small rodents out here carry the Hunta virus which basically causes you to drown in your own blood, so a snake bit I can handle……

@Propanner I use a Garret Supersluice pan, and can clear the pan down to gold and black sand in about 30sec. I have done numerous experiments with a counted, say 5 flakes in there, and go mad with it and at the end the 5 flakes are always still there. It doesn't lose any. These 'go slow' folks that take 30mins per pan make me laugh

@combatwombat71 Agreed

omfg that is nice to see, i am gonna take my pickaxe and my panning stuff and go to arizona!

@Propanner So digging with a back hoe won't yeild anymore gold than using a shovel? Or using a dredger won't yeild more gold than just panning? Are you sure about that? How could that be?

@buyerofsorts Sure….If it were legal here. I think you'll find that those good old backhoe days are over with very few acceptions.

@Propanner So you're saying that the more you dig, the more you find? Becuase you stated that "the more you dig, the more you find" is the biggest fable out there. I'm still not sure what you mean. Thanks for the reply.

@buyerofsorts All depends on "Where" you are digging. Yesterday I dug a spot on Lynx creek, the richest gold stream in Arizona. The bedrock I was working was a soft clay type shist, very rare for the area I was working, I found 2-3 dollars worth of gold. Why? Beacuse gold forms in streaks, the area I was working was about 70 feet from bank to bank, a streak is usually from 6-8 inches wide. If the streak had been running across this bedrock Im sure it would have been a 2-3 hundred dollar day.

@Propanner So the point is, not all the gravels in a streambed contain gold. Specks and small pepper sized flakes are common, and can be found scattered throughout the creek. I think I'll go out tomarrow and make a video just for you and try to explain this a little better. Thanks for the question.

@Propanner Well pound for pound, it sounds like the more dirt you move, the better you're chances are overall.

I have another question for you. During the rainy season, doesn't the floods wash away most of the existing gold and deposit new gold? So wouldn't most areas kind of be reborn with new gold to find?

So its sort of like brand new land with gold after each rainy season? So in theory, a hundred years vs a year would be the same? Sort of anyway? I suppose its not but how??

@buyerofsorts On lynx creek we just dont get enough rain to move 4 feet of overburden. The last big move on Lynx was 7 1/2 years ago, some areas got striped out and pocketed alot of gold, others didnt change at all. Some areas on Lynx are so wide that its likely the overburden will never move unless someone moves it with a shovel. Smaller washes pocket gold more often with alot less rain and thats why I hunt them. The wider the creek, the more water you need to get the same result.

@Propanner Ok, forget lynx creek. How about other rivers and creeks? I mean the ones that get so huge, they wash away houses. After the river goes back to normal, wouldn't there be a lot of brand new placer gold?

@buyerofsorts Depends…. There are three factors involved with your question. How much gold is in the area, how wide the creek is, and how much water runs through it. Gold drops here the same way it does in California or Georgia, the only differences are the three things I mentioned above. If you havent yet, check out 4 of my videos, The Flood, and After the Flood parts 1,2 and 3. Huge flood and yes we found ALOT of gold for several weeks after.

@Propanner Great! I'll check out you're videos right now! I just bought some gold equip at a garage sale yesterday so thats why I'm looking into it. Its a small but complete set up. Ya know, dredger, sluice, pans, etc. Probably a dumb question but do you HAVE to have a claim to use this stuff or are they any open areas where nobody cares? Heh.. again, probably a dumb question.

@Propanner Watched the videos. Pretty cool. Very exciting. I'm very curious as to why so many people post videos on youtube about how to find gold. Aren't you all afraid that you're making competition for you'rselves? I mean, why give away the techniques that you all worked so hard to learn? Seems odd.

@buyerofsorts Dredges are iffy, depending on where you are at. In California dredging is illeagal now, same here, unless your on a private claim so I woudl'nt use it until you know the rules. Panning is legal in all national forests and BLM areas UNLESS they have rules stating otherwise. If your new start off small, just learn how to find gold with your pan and work your way up. Alot of guys give up shortly after they start because they just cant find the good stuff. Be Patient and use ur head.

@buyerofsorts I have told these "secrets" to so many people over the years, and for some reason it just does'nt stick. I'm at almost 20 ounces since 2005 because my hobby has become an obsession, its very challanging and most people just give up or are content with finding a few flakes. Theres alot of gold out there, but do you have drive and the sense to find it?

@Propanner Hmm… How much is it to buy an average small claim in AZ? I'm sure it depends on a lot of factors but just a ball park figure would be good.

@Propanner Yeah, I can imagine most people giving up if they don't hit it big on the first day. lol. Do you think the price of gold will continue to rise?

@buyerofsorts DONT BUY A CLAIM!!!! If you do the research and stake you own claim it's $150.00 per year upkeep fee. If you BUY a claim it can cost thousands of dollars and there is NO guaratee there is any gold on it. Steer clear of people who sell claims, most just stake a claim and never set foot on it, then sell it to some poor fool.

@buyerofsorts Dunno, As gold gets higher the dollar gets weaker, so not sure wishing for $2500.00 dollars per ounce is such a good idea.

@Propanner So to stake you're own claim is only about $150.00 per year? No initial fee? Nah, I would never buy a claim from someone for the very reason that you say.

I'm curious as to why you don't have a claim and go dredging?

@Propanner What is a small piece of gold like the man found in this video worth?

@AccessDenied55 That piece of gold is worth about $60.00 right now.

Im getting gold feaver just watching . I live in BC and im surrounded by creek beds with lots of black sand ..my question is does black sand mean there is gold neer