Gold panning in Idaho

"Golden Dreams and Silver Linings"

A History of Mining in Idaho

In the Fall of 1860, a party of ten prospectors led by Captain E.D. Pierce entered the Nez Perce Reservation in search of mineral wealth. After a month of frustration, one of the men, Wilbur Bassett, found what he'd been looking for. Gold!

Bassett's discovery along Canal Gulch was far more significant than the Pierce party could have ever imagined. It was destined to set off one of the largest migrations in American history, and it would change forever this part of the country that would become known as Idaho.

Read more of this article here

According to the Idaho Department of Lands, they say:

"RECREATIONAL GOLD MINING
If you plan on using a gold pan, you can pan just about anywhere as long as you are not trespassing. You can pan for gold in the beds of navigable rivers and streams, which are under the control of the State of Idaho, if no one has filed an exploration location or mineral lease on your area of interest. If you want to prospect in a small river or stream, be sure to check the ownership of the property. If the creek is privately owned you may be able to obtain permission from the landowner, and if it is within public land administered by the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, check with the BLM for any mining claims which may have been filed.

A number of navigable rivers have been withdrawn from mineral entry. For additional information concerning these withdrawals check with the Idaho Department of Lands. IDL administers state endowment lands and the beds of navigable streams, and you are free to file exploration locations and apply for mineral leases on any of these state lands not already located, leased or withdrawn. The mineral status plat books in the Department of Lands office will give you current information on what state lands have been located or leased, or visit our website. Once you have identified your area of interest, review county records in the county assessor's office or maps to determine ownership. If the land is privately owned, contact the owner. If it is federal land, contact the Bureau of Land Management or the US Forest Service. If it is owned by the state, contact the Idaho Department of Lands.
"

Gold can be found in many different streams and rivers throughout Idaho.

There have been over ten million troy ounces of gold recovered in Idaho to this date.

If your looking for "placer deposits" full of gold, the Boise Basin northeast of Boise is a great place to look, as well as the Salmon, Clearwater and all their tributaries.

The Snake River has some really fine gold, tiny little pieces often called flour gold, probably because it has to be sifted out.

The best counties to look for gold in are; Ada, Adams, Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonneville, Camas, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Idaho, Kootenai, Letah, Lemhi, Nez Perce, Owyhee, Power, Shoshone and Valley County.


Learn more about the Gold in Idaho at Idaho Geological Survey

Gold is heavy! Gold is 19 times heavier than anything else you will be likely to find in your pan. This is the key to locating and recovering the precious metal. Au, is the scientific symbol for Gold. Gold, silver and platinum were deposited as an intrusion by volcanic pressures into fissures in harder material such as granite. Gold is associated with quartz because the same geologic forces of heat and pressure are necessary to create both. Other indicators created by the same geologic factors would include orange to yellow colored stains in the rock created by iron and copper oxides. These oxides create what is known to prospectors world wide as "black sand", and being heavy, will be mixed in where you find the gold. Water and weathering erode the deposits and the gold being dense works it's way down to the lowest levels ultimately sitting on the bedrock. Look for places where the stream has cut down to the bedrock, Gold will find it's way down to an impenitratible level.

Complete article from the Gold Prospectors Basics

I have always been told that where there is gold there is black sand, but where there is black sand, there is not always gold!

Panning Georgia's Gold: The Gold-Panner's Guidebook
Panning Georgia's Gold: The Gold-Panner's Guidebook


Panning Georgia's Gold: The Gold-Panner's Guidebook



Gold Fever and the Art of Panning and Sluicing
Gold Fever and the Art of Panning and Sluicing


Gold Fever and the Art of Panning and Sluicing

First you will need the following equipment:

1. A gold pan

2. A bottle to put the gold in (usually any tiny perfume or other bottle will do)

3. A shovel

4. A bucket

5. Tweezers

6. A pick

7. tiny bottle of dish soap

Some great buys on gold panning equipment can be found at /p">

I'm always one not to re-invent the wheel when I can simply share with you some awesome links to gold panning instructions:

This is a great page, with full colored photographs depicting each step:

GOLD PANNING INSTRUCTIONS

Here is another good one:

How to Pan for Gold