Blogs

I recently purchased a 45 qt. tote with lid, to store my panning gear in during the off-season, in order to keep it dry. I never knew until a few days back that it would come in handy for another good purpose.

I was in one of those areas where water is scarce, if not non-existant. Anyways, I was digging along an exposed vein of quartz that I had found near a campground in the Zunis. I had brought along a couple of 5 gallon jugs of water, mainly for drinking,(I usually take that much along, in case I run into trouble, and get stranded)

With no running stream near to pan in, it suddenly occurred to me, that, hey, I have the perfect place to pan, right by my tent. I emptied the contents from the tote into the tent, and began filling the tote with one of the 5 gallon jugs. Perfect, and I could re-pan the stuff later on, if I didn't use the other jug of water.

I found about 1/2 a gram of fine Gold that day.

When putting together a kit for panning, some things to remember;

1: A good pan, a classifier, and a 5 gallon bucket.

2: A Black Sands Magnet, a vial, and a snifter bottle.

3: Your Mining Permit, and membership card.

4: Lots and lots of water, and,.....

5: A nice big tote, to store it all in, and to use for panning where there is no stream.

Just a little food for thought.