A Beginner's Guide to Gold-Panning...

[khiemtran]

So, you'd like to go gold-panning at Sovereign Hill?




Believe it or not, almost all of these people will have at least some specks of gold in each pan. But they'll never find it without the right technique...



Here's the man to show us how to do it. First of all, check your equipment. Hold your pan up to the light to check for any holes. Next, let the creek do some of the work for you - the gold is heavier than the sand and rock, so it's going to settle in the middle. Take a shovel-load from the middle of the creek and put it in your pan.



Next, immerse your pan in the water and jiggle it to let the small, heavy things fall down between the gaps in the bigger stones. Think of the way the small pieces always end up at the bottom of a box of cornflakes. Keep shaking until the big stones have all come to the surface and then sweep them off with your hand.



Now, you need to swirl the pan gently, with plenty of water, so that only the lightest sediment will go over the edge. The idea here is to separate the remaining minerals by weight. Swirl too hard, or don't use enough water, and the gold will go out too. Keep going until you're down to about two tablespoons of material.



Once you're down to the last dregs, start tipping the pan back and forth gently, with just a bit of water, to sort the remaining contents by weight. The sand will shoot all the way across the pan, while the gold will stop and get stuck along the way. Can you see the glimmer?



A darker, rustier pan actually seems to be better at catching the gold. Plus, it's easier to see.



Liem's first fleck of gold...



Liem and his grandpa hard at work...



Suitably informed, the panners attack their task with renewed vigour....

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

That first shot with the tilt-shift effect is very convincingly model-like. :)

That gold panning enterprise seems very well organised. They've had to ban gold panning on the river by our local gold mine because people had started turning up with crowbars and heavy hammers to attack the river bed. :( When the mine was, briefly, open as a tourist attraction, they set up some artificial panning in a big wooden trough and the kids enjoyed it. There were real gold flakes in there, just enough to keep people happy. But the venture was doomed due to not getting enough visitors and, as I said, the National Park have had to ban freelance gold prospectors because of the damage they were doing. But before this happened, I remember meeting an old chap in the forest happily panning for gold. He explained that he managed to find enough gold each year to pay for his travel and accommodation. It didn't sound like much of a holiday to us, but on the principle of "a change is as good as a rest", I suppose he felt it was worth it.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Sovereign Hill is actually a recreated Gold Rush mining town in Ballarat and it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Victoria, so they get lots of people in. They charge enough money to get in though, that I can guarantee that no-one is funding their own holidays... :) I'm not sure what the rules are for panning in our National Parks, but there are plenty of people who go prospecting in the area. Actually, looks like it is allowed in some national parks as long as you have a permit and don't do any damage.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Heh. I did that at Disneyland when I was a few years older than Liem. I still have the flakes of gold I panned. Can't remember whether they were planted upstream or naturally occurring, though...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

In this case, I think they just use old mine tailings (of which there are literally tonnes in Sovereign Hill) to make sure there's enough gold for people to find. It was quite a thrill finding even a few specks after we'd had the right instruction, after going through a few fruitless pans beforehand (and no doubt throwing out the gold by accident). My father had a great time showing off his gold to some of the other tourists who hadn't worked it out yet.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered about the word "tailings"--is it because it's the tail end of what you find in a mine, or the tail end of what the process of mining produces, or because it flows like a tail from the mine... I guess I could always use that mysterious thing, the dictionary, to find out...

: residue separated in the preparation of various products (as grain or ores) —usually used in plural

Heh. Well then. More like choice no. 2, but different.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, in this case it's what they've dug up out of the mines after they've extracted most of the gold from it. There's still a small amount of gold left if anyone has the time and patience to look for it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Those are good-sized glimmers and flecks!


(And that first shot really does look like a diorama.)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I think it's starting to dawn on Liem now, just how long it would take to get enough gold to make something.

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

I had to study that first photo hard to be sure it was real. :) Looks like a lot of fun.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a fun place to visit. It's one of the big tourist attractions outside Melbourne, and I think just about every Victorian schoolchild has been there at least once. It seems a lot smaller than I remember though!