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Gold Panning in Oregon
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Recreational Gold Panning
Because gold is heavier than most sediments and gravel in a
stream, it and other heavy minerals called "black sands"
(including pyrite, magnetite, ilmenite, chromite, and garnet)
can be collected in a gold pan when the right panning
techniques are used.
First, get a gold pan from a hardware or department store
or a store that specialized in mining equipment. Gold pans are
flat bottomed, usually about 2 or 3 inches deep, with the
sides sloping at an angle of about 45º, and should be at least
15 inches in diameter.
Take your pan to a likely-looking location along a stream
in a known gold-bearing area. You are looking for a gold
trap-a place along the stream where the current slows down
enough for the gold to settle out. Good possibilities are the
insides of curves of streams (called point bars), areas where
streams have overflowed, and on the downstream sides of
boulders or other obstructions in the water.
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Panning for Gold -- Step-by-Step
Once you find a good place, follow these steps to pan for
gold:
- Fill the pan about half or two-thirds full of soil,
gravel, and small rocks from the stream channel.
- Put the pan under water, break up lumps of clay, and
discard the stones.
Still holding the pan level under water with your hands on
opposite sides of it, rotate it halfway back and forth
rapidly to wash out the clay and concentrate the heavy
material at the bottom of the pan.
- Still holding the pan under water, tilt the pan forward,
away from your body, and down slightly. Rotate and shake it
to let the light gravel and sand dribble out the front. Push
top material and large chunks of rock out with your thumbs.
Repeat Steps 3 and 4 several times until a deposit of
fine-grained dark material overlain by a smaller layer of
light material remains at the bottom of the pan.
- Take the pan with the residue and some water out of the
stream. Rotate the pan in a circular motion, and watch
carefully what is happening. The water is separating lighter
from heavier material-and gold, if it is present and you are
doing the panning properly, is lagging behind the other
material at the bottom of the pan.
- Stop the rotation. If you are lucky, you will see a few
flecks of gold in the dark material that remains in the
bottom of the pan. Carefully drain out water and let the
black sand and gold dry. Lift out most of the black sand
with a magnet, and separate that gold from the remainder of
the sediment with tweezers.
Where to Pan on Federal Land
Gold panning is permitted on nearly all streams and rivers
running through campgrounds on Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
and USDA Forest Service (USFS) land in Oregon. Maps showing
locations of campgrounds may be obtained from:
- Local
BLM and
USFS
offices
- Nature of the Northwest Information Center
- Nature of the Northwest
online store
- BLM Oregon State Office
PO Box 2965, 333 SW First
Portland, OR 97208
(503) 808-6002.
Where to pan for gold on Oregon
federal lands:
To find gold, you should go where gold has been found beforein
northeast Oregon, southwest Oregon, and the Western Cascades.
These areas have many streams and rivers that can be
successfully panned for gold.
Mining claims on Federal land are not open for gold panning
unless permission has been granted by the owner. However, four
areas have been set aside on Federal land in Oregon for
recreational gold panning:
Area 1. Quartzville Recreational Corridor:
Located in the Western Cascades, Salem District, Bureau of
Land Management (free site).
Salem District Office
1717 Fabry Road SE
Salem, OR 97306
(503) 375-5646.
Area 2. Butte Falls Recreational Area:
Located in southwestern Oregon, Medford District, Bureau of
Land Management (free site).
3040 Biddle Road
Medford, OR 97504
(541) 618-2200.
Area 3. Applegate Ranger District:
Located in southwestern Oregon, Rogue River National Forest
(four fee sites where there is a charge of a dollar a day for
panning in areas adjacent to campgrounds).
Applegate Ranger District
6941 Upper Applegate Road
Jacksonville, OR 97530
(541) 899-3800.
Panning on State Lands
In Oregon, areas below the vegetation line on navigable
rivers and streams and ocean beaches belong to the State of
Oregon and are therefore open for recreational gold panning.
Gold Viewing
A large collection of gold is on display in the lobby of
the Baker City Branch, US Bank, in Baker City in eastern
Oregon. Included in the collection is the famous Armstrong
nugget, weighing 80.4 ounces.
All that Glitters is not Gold
All the shiny gold-colored material in you gold pan may not
be gold. Pyrite, known as "fools gold," has fooled many before
you. On close examination, however, pyrite does not really
look like gold. Pyrite has a brassy color, is sometimes
tarnished, and, because it occurs as crystals, changes shades
as you rotate it in the sun. Gold is always gold colored,
soft, and malleable or bendable. If you see gold-colored
flecks that either float on the water or are so light in
weight that they easily wash out of the pan, you probably have
small pieces or "books" of mica, a mineral that because it is
transparent and heat resistant was once used in doors of
stoves so the fire could be seen. Mica has a tendency to break
apart into flat sheets. It comes in several colors, and the
the gold-colored variety is sometimes mistaken for gold by
inexperienced gold panners.
If you are lucky enough to find gold in your pan, it can
come in many shapes: small lumps or nuggets, wires,
feather-shaped crystals, or flat flecks. Pieces can range in
size from almost microscopic "colors" (very small pieces) up
to fist-sized nuggets, but your chances of finding the latter
are pretty remote. However, gold panners are optimistic, and
you never know what the next pan will produce.
Golden Rules for Recreational Gold
Panners
- If you are unsure about land status, check with the
nearest appropriate State, BLM, or USFS authorities.
- If you open a gate, close it.
- If you must cross private land, get permission first.
- If you make trash, take it home
- If you drive, stay on established roads.
- If it is growing, let it grow
- If you make trash, take it home
- If you drive, stay on established roads.
- If it is growing, let it grow
Information source:
Nature
of the Northwest
Cracker Creek Museum of Mining
2465 18th Street, Baker City, Oregon 97814, phone: (541)
523-3381, email:
info@sumpteroregongold.org
Tours
Cracker Creek Mining Camp
Cracker Creek Road, Sumpter, Oregon 97877, phone: (480)
834-7454, email: info@sumpteroregongoldmining.com
Oregon Gold Trips, LLC.
P.O. Box 285, Grants Pass, OR 97528, toll free: (877)
672-8877, email: golddust@oregongoldtrip.com
Clubs
Beaverstate Coinshooters
P.O. Box 1711 Albany, OR 97321, phone: 541-791-1164, email:
TMBRBUG@AOL.COM Bohemia Mine Owners Association
Cottage, Grove, OR, phone: 541-942-0870 or 541-942-7134,
email:
bmoa@rio.com
Coil & Diggers Club of Lane Count
P.O. Box 87, Dexter, OR 97431, email:
CDCLC@msn.com
Eastern Oregon Mining
Association
P.O. Box 932, Baker City, Oregon 97814
High Desert Treasure Club
Bend, Oregon, phone: 541-389-5102
Northwest
Mineral Prospectors Club
Milwaukie, OR, email:
support@nwmpc.com
Pacific Northwest Treasure Hunters
80014 Riker Lane, Hermiston, OR 97838, phone: 541-567-5863,
email:
jkoppany_1@hotmail.com
Rogue
Valley Coinshooters
Grants Pass, OR, phone: 541-476-2371, email:
readyed@rvi.net
Willamette Valley Miners
PO Box 13044, Salem, OR 97309-1004
Products
Accurate Locators Inc.
1383 2nd Ave. Gold Hill, Oregon 97525, phone: (541) 855-1590,
toll free: (877) 808-6200, email:
accurate@accuratelocators.com
Armadillo Mining Shop
2041 N.W. Vine Street, Grants Pass, Oregon 97526, phone:
541-476-6316
BELDA'S
60442 Zuni Road,
Bend, OR 97702, phone:
541-389-8552, toll free:
866-301-8552, email: goldbummin@bendbroadband.com
Black Cat Mining
PO Box 129, Halsey, OR 97348, phone: 541-255-3391, email:
support@blackcatmining.com Blue Bucket Mining Company
61230 S. Hwy 97, Bend, OR 97702, phone: 541-318-1131,
email: info@bluebucketmining.com Boulder
Patch Mines
P.O. BOX 54, Sumpter, Oregon 97877, phone: 541-894-2544,
email: diggerdan44@msn.com
D & K Detector & Prospecting Sales
Inc.
13809 SE Division Street, Portland, Oregon 97236,
phone: 503-761-1521, email: Sales@dk-nuggget.com
Fitzgerald's Professional Precision Locators
585 South 22nd Street, Reedsport, OR 97467, phone:
541-271-5630, email: sales@treasurenow.com Gold Rush
Trading Post
PO Box 751, Dallas, Oregon 97338, email:
info@GoldRushTradingPost.com J.E. Metal - Gold Cradle
P.O. Box 237, Banks, OR 97106, phone: 503-357-3697, email:
JEM@goldcradle.com Jobe Wholesale
1618 SW Veterans Way, Redmond, OR 97756, toll free:
866-838-5623, email: info@jobewholesale.com
Lucky Dog Supply
Oregon City, OR, phone: 503-656-6778, email: mksparks@bctonline.com
NorthWest Detector Sales
7905 SW Elmwood St., Tigard,
Oregon 97223, phone: (503) 936-1443, email:
bob@nwdetectors.com Oregon Prospecting /
Rita's Relics
1045 Main Street, Sweet Home, Oregon 97386, phone:
541-367-2237, toll free: 866-367-4061, email: gold2@centurytel.net
White's Electronics, Inc.
1011 Pleasant Valley Road, Sweet Home, Oregon 97386,
phone: 541-367-6121, toll free: 800-547-6911, email:
sales@whiteselectronics.com back to top
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