Latest News: » Making a Profit » Explorers » Civil War How You Can Pan for Gold, Make a Profit Back around 1849, gold panning was the major source of income for thouands of prospectors, and the average daily find was about half an ounce per person. If you could do as well today (and there's no reason why you can't), such a seemingly small amount of metal would provide you with a pretty impressive day's wages, considering the current world prices of gold. Your most important piece of "mining" equipment is a good gold pan. Such a utensil can be as large as 18 inches across, but its probably best to start with a 12-incher. There's a new plastic pan on the market that simplifies the art of gold panning a bit. In addition to being lightweight, themodern device was built-in ridges, which help to trap the gold. Gold CAN be found in large quantities all over the western United States. Lesser known, however, are the gold fields of the eastern U.S.- including some particularly rich deposits that have been reported in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. The inside curve of a river or stream, crevices, tree roots, and rough bedrock can snare substantial amounts of gold, which is 20 times heavier than an equal volume of water. After you've located a promising spot, dig up a couple of handfuls of sand and gravel and put them in your pan. Then cover the accumulated grit with water and remove all the bigger rocks and pebbles, first making sure that no dirt (and, therefor possibly, gold) is sticking to them. Now you're ready to pan. Hold the shallow receptacle, containgin enough water to put all the ingredients in a state of liquid suspension, in one hand and tilt it away from you at about a 30-degree angle. Then move the pan rapidly back and forth with a slightly oval motion. (If you're using a plastic container, make your movement more like a seasaw.) Keep the action vigorous, but be careful not to spill the sand. About 30 seconds of this agitation will sift all the gold and heavier materials to the bottom of your pan. Next, find a calm stretch of water and submerge the handles sand-laden end. THen draw the pas out slowly, allowing the water to carry the light sand, sticks, moss, etc. over ots edge. You can usually do this three times before you have to shake down the gold again. (It may take a few tries to get the hang of this panning technique.) CONTINUE to remove any bigger pieces of rock, while you keep an eye out for nuggets. Work the contents of your pan downuntil you have mostly black sand left. Swish the sand back and forth, watching carefully for minute speck of "color". Its been said that seven flakes of gold in one pan is a mark of a good spot-and don't let the tiny size of those flakes get you down. They'll add up fast-10 troy ounces of gold take up only one cubic inch of space! Use twizzers, a wet, narrow camel's-hair brush or a wet Q-tip to remove each golden flake from your pan. Put your flakes and nuggets in a vial filled with water. Since gold is usually formed in quartz veins, always check for metal in any pieces of quartz you run across. Such attractive gold-bearing rocks are particularly valuable to collectors and, like large nuggets, often bring in several times the price of pure gold. You can sell your panned riches to jewelers, collectors, rock shops, dentists and various companies. You can make jewelry, with tiny flakes suspended in the inside fluid of clear, crystal lockets. Or, of course, you can simply save your bonanza and watch its value grow. Afterall, what else is "as good as gold?"