The Black Hills of South Dakota has a rich history of gold mining and gold panning. In fact, the Black Hills Gold Rush is what built up the surrounding cities! Since 1892, Big Thunder Gold Mine has been finding gold in the Black Hills. Now, you have the opportunity to learn all about gold mining, gold panning, and placer mining.

Gold panning is an easy process. Once a suitable placer mining deposit is located, some gravel is scooped into a pan. There, it’s gently agitated in water. Doing this allows the gold to sink to the bottom of the pan. Because gold has a high specific gravity, it sinks to the bottom with other materials that have a high specific gravity. The materials with a lower specific gravity spill out of the pan. The gold panner then examines and inspects the sediment collection at the bottom of the pan. Usually, the sediment comprises dense materials like black, magnetite sand and whatever other gemstones or metal dust gold panning might uncover from the source material.

Gold panning can be an effective method with certain kinds of deposits and is essential for prospecting. However, even skilled panners can only work with a limited amount of material. In many situations, gold panning usually turns up only minor gold dust that is usually collected as a souvenir in small clear tubes. Gold nuggets and considerable amounts of gold dust are occasionally found. However, placer mining and gold panning is used to locate the parent gold veins, which are the source of most placer deposits.

Want to learn more about how to pan for gold? Join us for On-Site Gold Panning or get your feet muddy on a Claim Panning Adventure!