easy gold---pan it

If u want to save yourself a heap of time in new areas try panning some creeks or washes.

If u find color then the area needs further investigation.

If u find nothing then causiously move on to the next area.

just food for thought..

thats what the old timers did and it worked for them.

Regards
Oneday69

The old timers had one great advantage? Untouched rivers and creeks running at the course nature intended, No blackberry's, Quartz veins braking the surface which could go for hundreds if not thousands of meters. To name a few!
But your right oneday69. The trusty gold pan doesn't lie.

Good advice there Oneday69,
I took out one of my old metal pans to some creek diggings a few weeks back. Tested all the rockbars and drop-out points for not a colour
Went up into some diggings about 15 mtrs above the creek and got some nice colours from an exposed slate bar the old timers had uncovered.
The moral of the story is if I had just panned the creek,I would have left the area and thought it was barren.

That is a good idea.

I will often do the reverse. After trying an area with the detector with no result I will finish the day with the gold pan to try to go home with at least a bit of colour. But it makes sense to start with the pan.