Gold Prospecting and Panning: Where, How and What Rules

How gold panning works

Gold panning works because gold is very heavy. Gold has a density of about 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter, roughly seven times that of quartz sand, so when you shake a pan of wet gravel the gold sinks to the bottom and the light material can be washed off the top. The basic sequence:

1. Fill the pan about three-quarters with gravel, ideally passed through a classifier (a screen) to remove large stones.
2. Submerge it and break up any clay with your fingers.
3. Shake the pan side to side under water so heavy material settles. This is the step most beginners rush.
4. Tilt the pan away from you and wash the top layer off with a gentle swirling or dipping motion. Repeat the shaking every so often.
5. Stop when you’re down to black sand (mostly magnetite and other heavy minerals). Any gold will show as bright yellow flakes in it.

Gold doesn’t tarnish and stays yellow in shade, while pyrite and mica glint and break up when pressed. Our gold panning guide for beginners has more on technique.

Where placer gold collects

Placer gold is gold that has weathered out of rock and been moved by water. It drops out where the current slows: on the inside of river bends, behind large boulders, at the downstream end of gravel bars, and in cracks and crevices in bedrock. Layers of clay in the gravel can act as a “false bedrock” and hold gold above the true bedrock. The best time to work a stream is usually at low water, when more of those spots are exposed.

Before you go, look at where gold has been found before. State and provincial geological surveys publish geology maps and records of historic mining districts, and the USGS keeps national mineral occurrence data. A gold panning map from a club or a government recreation area is a good starting point. Our list of gold panning spots for recreational miners covers popular locations.

Land access, claims and permits: the general rules

Rules on recreational gold mining vary by country, state and even by stretch of river, so treat what follows as a general outline and check with the land manager before you dig. Three questions decide most cases: who owns or manages the land, whether someone else holds a mining claim on it, and what you plan to use.

United States

Much federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service is open to casual panning with hand tools, but an active mining claim gives the claim holder the mineral rights, so panning on someone else’s claim without permission is trespass. Claim status can be checked in the BLM’s online records. National parks generally prohibit collecting, and private land always needs the owner’s permission. Motorized equipment and suction dredges are where permits come in: several states restrict or ban suction dredging, and California has not issued dredging permits for years. Our article on gold panning laws in California covers one state in detail. In Alaska, hand panning is allowed in many areas of state land and in designated recreational mining areas, while motorized equipment, larger operations and work in fish-bearing streams generally need state permits from the Department of Natural Resources and Fish and Game.

Canada

Minerals are managed by the provinces and territories. Staking a claim usually requires a prospector’s license (British Columbia calls it a Free Miner Certificate), and existing claims are shown on online registries such as BC’s Mineral Titles Online, Ontario’s Mining Lands Administration System and the Yukon mining recorder. Recreational panning areas exist in some provinces. See our guide to gold panning on Vancouver Island and in BC.

Australia

Fossicking and prospecting are regulated by each state. Western Australia requires a Miner’s Right for prospecting, Queensland requires a fossicking license, and New South Wales sets rules and designated fossicking areas. Landholder permission is needed on private land and on most leases. Our NSW fossicking guide lists areas and rules.

Recreational gold mining equipment

A pan, a classifier screen, a small shovel, a snuffer bottle to suck up flakes and a vial to hold them are enough to start. A sluice box processes more gravel by letting running water do the shaking, and a highbanker pumps water to a sluice set back from the stream. Metal detectors find nuggets rather than fine gold: VLF detectors are lighter and cheaper, while pulse induction models cope better with mineralized ground. Check local rules before using anything beyond hand tools.

What to expect on a day out

Most recreational panners find small flakes and fine gold, and many days end with a few “colors” in a vial. That’s normal. Treat it as a hobby with an occasional good find, not as income. Fill your holes, keep gravel out of the main channel, and avoid streams during fish spawning seasons where rules protect them.

Recreational prospecting versus exploration

Placer gold comes from somewhere upstream, and finding the hard-rock source is a different scale of work. Exploration companies and license holders combine geology, geochemistry and remote sensing to decide where to sample and drill. Our satellite mineral detection service ranks Exploration Targets across a license area from satellite data, ahead of a JORC or NI 43-101 resource estimate. It’s built around licensed exploration ground, and like any exploration method it narrows the search without promising a find.