How to Pan for Gold

Panning for gold comes down to one idea: gold is heavier than everything else in the pan, so if you shake and wash patiently, the gold stays and the rest goes. Here is how to do it, from the first shovel of gravel to the flake in your vial.

What do you need to pan for gold?

A gold pan is the only must. Something between about 14 and 18 inches across suits most people, in plastic or metal. Beyond that, bring a small shovel, a classifier (a screen that sits on top of your pan), tweezers, a small vial filled with water, and a magnet for the black sand at the end. Our gold panning overview covers the full kit and where you are allowed to pan.

How do you pan for gold, step by step?

1. Pick your spot. Find gently moving water at the edge of the stream, shallow enough that you can sit or squat beside it with the pan under the surface. At home, a big tub of clear, still water does the same job.
2. Screen your gravel. Set the classifier on your pan and shovel gravel into it. Shake it under water so the small material falls through. Look over the big rocks left on the screen for a nugget before you toss them. Material of a similar size pans much more easily.
3. Fill the pan about halfway. Half to three quarters full is plenty to start with.
4. Soak it and break up the clay. Put the whole pan under water. Work the material with your fingers, crush any lumps of clay and rub the pebbles clean, because sticky clay can hold onto gold and carry it away. When the water over the pan runs clear, the clay is gone. Check the pebbles for anything heavy or oddly colored, then throw them out.
5. Shake it. Hold the pan level, just under the surface, and shake it hard from side to side with a bit of a circular motion. This is the step that sends the gold to the bottom.
6. Tilt and wash off the top. Tip the pan slightly away from you. If it has riffles, keep them on the far side, pointing away, so they can catch any gold that creeps toward the edge. Dip and swirl the pan so the water carries the light top layer over the lip. Every so often, level it and shake again to settle the heavy material back down.
7. Pan down to the black sand. Keep washing until only a few spoonfuls of dark, heavy material are left. That dark streak is black sand, and seeing it means you are doing it right. Leave a little water in the pan.
8. Lift out the magnetite. Pass a magnet slowly over the wet black sand, right there in the pan, and the magnetite jumps up onto it. Release it into a separate container and keep it there until you have checked it, because a tiny flake can now and then ride along stuck to a magnetite grain. Keep the magnet away from steel tools, phones and cards, and read our magnet safety warnings before you start.
9. Give it a quick final pan. Work over a second pan or tub so nothing that slips over the edge is lost. Swirl the last of the material gently, rocking the pan, so the lighter grains move off to one side and the gold stays put. Then swirl it into a crescent across the bottom of the pan and look for the gold.
10. Pick out the gold. Lift each piece with tweezers, a snuffer bottle, the tip of a knife or a dry fingertip, and put it straight into your vial of water.

Some panners dry the black sand first and run the magnet over it dry, which is how the Forest Service and BLM describe it. A magnet works either way. Doing it wet in the pan just saves the drying time.

How do you know you are panning right?

You end up with black sand. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, in their recreational panning guide, treat a band of dark, heavy grains in the bottom of the pan as the sign of good technique. If your pan washes out to nothing, you are tilting too far or swirling too hard, and gold may be going with the sand.

What do beginners get wrong?

They rush. The Forest Service and BLM say it directly: beginners want to find gold fast, and they should slow down. Washing off the top too hard, or skipping the shake, sends gold over the lip with the sand. Go slower than feels necessary, and shake the pan again whenever you are unsure.

Even skilled panners are not fast. The same guide says an experienced panner gets through about 10 big pans in an hour, and California's state report on placer recovery adds that panning is best learned from someone who has done a lot of it. Our Field Guide is written with Randy DeNucci, who has panned for gold since he was 13.

What will the gold look like?

Usually small. Most of what you find will be flakes and specks, with the odd larger piece. The shape tells you a little about where it came from. Rough, jagged gold has not traveled far from its source, while flat, smooth gold has been tumbled a long way downstream. The very finest gold is beaten so thin that some of it floats, which is why our guide to flour gold is worth reading before you pour anything out.

Watch out for fool's gold. Pyrite is a brassy, light yellow and crumbles when you press it. Mica is light and flaky, so it washes around the pan easily. Real gold is soft and heavy, and it stays put in the bottom of the pan.

Which gold pan should you use?

Any sturdy pan of about 14 to 18 inches will do. Many modern pans are plastic with riffles built into one side, which help hold gold while you wash. A new steel pan comes with an oily coating from the factory, and the Forest Service and BLM suggest burning it off over a fire before you use it. A little rust on an old steel pan actually helps hold fine gold.

No official source recommends a color. A USGS laboratory method uses black plastic pans because most minerals show up well against black, and it notes that plastic scratches easily and small grains can lodge in the scratches.

Can you pan for gold without a gold pan?

Yes, in a pinch. The Forest Service and BLM note that a frying pan or even a hubcap will work. A proper gold pan is easier, because its sloped sides and riffles are made for the job.

Can you pan for gold at home?

Yes, as long as you have gravel or concentrate to pan. A large tub of clear, still water works well, and California's state geologists list it as a good place to pan. Work over a second tub so anything you spill can be panned again.

What to read next

Once you can pan down to black sand, the next skill is getting the gold out of it. Our black sand separation guide covers that, and a black sand magnet takes care of the magnetite step.