I am 13 and would like to get into sluicing/panning for gold, where do i start?

Hi,

I am 13 and own a Garrett Ace 250 metal detector for finding coins and finding lost stuff on the beach. I understand my metal detector is probably not suitable for detecting gold nuggets which is why i would like to get into sluicing and panning for gold. i live in Bayview, Nsw which is about one hour north of the City. Can anyone suggest anywhere i could go? And also i do not have a big budget for sluice boxes and panning sets. I Was thinking of buying my gold pan but making my sluice box.

If you have any suggestions on where to start, please leave some suggestions.

Thanks.

Good to see young people getting into prospecting. When I was a kid I used to wash the gravel down in a bucket and pan the bottom with an old hubcap. It worked ! I have made a couple of sluices now out of junk including a really handy back pack sluice. If ya can get your hands on a welder then you can make your own riffle tray, otherwise use expanded mesh. Look on hard rubbish pile etc for rubber matting, mesh, angle iron,carpet, what ever you can get your hands on.
Pans are cheap on ebay and I'm sure that once you find a bit you will buy more gear.
Google "Blue bowl" too as they are easy to make and they do really work.
Anyway good luck and happy hunting.

Welcome Goldwhale
I guess you must be in High School if you do metal work check with your teacher if you can take in some alluminium sheet to make up your sluice (teach would most likely be impressed with your initiative) there are plenty of examples on youtube, have fun I can buy a sheet of 1mm alli 2.4m x 1.2m for $45 this will make a lot of sluices.

Sydney is sand stone country - no gold !    You have to go  out to Sofala  - Hill End, on the Turon  River.   If you go south, you can find gold around Braidwood. Keep looking for info. and when you have your own set of wheels, you will be able to take off for the week end.  You will also need some camping gear.

I suggest you buy Gold Gem and Treasure from your local newsagent. There is a lot of useful info. for any body starting out. You could start out by crevicing , that is cleaning out cracks in the river bottom. There is also a mini- concentrator that fits in a 20 lt. bucket. This can save a lot of panning. I would leave the sluice until later.

There is a book called, Prospecting For Gold by Ion Idriess. You should be able to get a copy on E-Bay or ABE books for less than $10.