People have searched for gold for thousands of years and done a great job finding where it lives. You are most likely to find some gold where it has been found before. We’ve also got recommendations for your first pan and river sluices and expert tips on how to put them to use. Skip ahead to equipment if you know where you can prospect, or Top River Reading Tips if you're ready to wash rocks. You can find some using just a pan and water!īefore we get to the gold-finding gear and techniques used to separate gold dust and flakes from sand and gravel, let's start at the beginning. Gold doesn't rust or dissolve, and it is really heavy relative to other rocks and minerals-so it may be easier to find than you think. But mainly, we're talking about finding placer gold-gold that has been liberated from the rock it was initially deposited in and moved around by water.

So we’ll start with the basics: where can you look for gold, what equipment gets you started, and some tactics for the hunt. Prospecting has always been about a good pair of boots, a shovel and a pan, and the desire to explore. You don't need a bulldozer and a team of roughnecks to find a bit of gold. If you already have some experience under your belt, we have recommendations for more advanced prospecting tools as well. I’ll help you start in your gold prospecting adventures and find your first few flakes of gold.

I enjoyed crystal hunting in our garden as a kid, coming back in with a pocket full of cool rocks-and looking for gold is another fun way of spending time in nature. Now, I’m a gold panning guide in Colorado. These days, rockhounding and gold panning-and sharing that skill with others-are two of the ways my exploratory itch gets scratched. Learning about geology and our natural environment is enjoyable and rewarding and a great way to share some playtime with family and friends. It's exhilarating - like a bonus for playing outside and making mud pies down at the river. When you tilt back the pan and become the first person ever to lay eyes on pieces of gold, well, there's nothing quite like that feeling.

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