GOLD PROSPECTORS ASSOCIATION OF NEW MEXICO
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How-to and demonstrations

​This section has a number of videos that demonstrate how and what goes on in the processing of gold bearing dirt down to just the beautiful yellow gold.
​

How to Pan for Gold

As was mentioned in The Equipment section, how to pan is a skill that every gold prospector should learn and use. BUT, if you have a brand new pan - a pan that has never been used - you need to "season" your pan! This is very important as you'll soon see. These next two videos show you why you need to do this, and how to prepare your pan so it will work the way it is supposed to work. Chris Vogus shows how here, and Dan Hurd's video here.

Now with a well-seasoned gold pan, you are ready to pan for gold!

​​Chris Bogusis, through his Vo-Gus Prospecting YouTube channel, has an excellent instructional video titled "How to Use a Gold Pan | Complete Guide". You can watch it here. In this next video, titled "How Gold Pans REALLY Work", he describes some of the subtle points in the panning process.

Gary Honan, on his YouTube channel called Two Toes Adventures, has an excellent instructional video titled "How to Pan for Gold", and you can watch it
here.


Dan Hurd, on his YouTube channel, has created a great video titled "10 Tip and Tricks to become a better gold panner!!". You can watch it here.

For those of us who live in dry climates, like New Mexico, Jeff Haynie provides some advice on how to pan for gold with just a small amount of water. You can watch his YouTube video titled "Special Gold panning technique" 
here.

And if you want to see more demonstrations of gold panning techniques, check out the videos below.

How to use a Dry Washer

In New Mexico, where the ground often has very little moisture, dry washing is a very useful gold processing ​technique.

This first
video has Jeff Haynie describing what a dry washer is and how he uses it.

This second video shows GPANM members dry washing at one of our local claims.

Recirculating Sluice

This next video shows an example of a recirculating sluice in action. This type of device is used when there isn't convenient access to water. You bring the water, use it, and reuse it, over and over again until it gets so dirty it can't be used any more. Recirculating sluices are popular with DIYs, because the design uses readily available parts. 

Gold Tube

​The device shown below is a Do-It-Yourself project. The designer and builder calls his device the Gold Tube. It is a device that will separate gold from dirt.

Processes to finish cleaning your gold

At this point you should have a very high concentration of gold in your dirt. You can actually see the gold, but there is still some dirt around it - it's not just gold.
Dan Hurd has a nice series of videos, which he calls "Finish panning, cleaning gold concentrates.", where he describes the various processes of cleaning up your gold, in other words, how to get to just gold. The list of his videos starts here.

Gold Prospectors Association of New Mexico

Our mailing address: 
GPANM
P.O. Box 25472
Albuquerque, NM 87125-0472
Copyright © 2021
  • Home
  • About
  • Activities
  • In the News
  • Education
    • All about Gold
    • Where is Gold in New Mexico?
    • Laws and Regulations >
      • 1872 Mining Act
      • How to file a claim?
    • Learn to Prospect >
      • The Equipment
      • Propspecting Checklists
      • How To and Demonstrations
    • Companies of Interest
  • Contact Us
    • Request for Information
    • How to Join
  • Members Only
    • The Billboard
    • From the Newsdesk >
      • Paul & Eddy's March 2025
      • RedRocks Trip Feb 2025
    • Administrative Forms and Documents >
      • GPANM Overview and Leadership
      • By-Laws
      • Operating Rules
      • Meeting Minutes
      • Forms
      • Reference Documents
      • Surveys
      • GPANM members
    • Newsletters
    • Events Calendar and Outing Sign-ups
    • The Claims
    • GPANM History >
      • Past GPANM Activities
      • stories from the earlier years
    • Photo and video gallery >
      • A Moment to Remember
      • old stamp mill near our OREE claims