Gold Prospecting Equipment

To embark on the exciting adventure of gold prospecting, you do not need a lot of equipment, and you can get inexpensive gold prospecting equipment start off with. Naturally you can go all for broke and purchase heaps of gold mining equipment, including sophisticated gold metal detectors, gold metal sluice boxes and end up being a gold miner rather than a gold prospector.

But to start with you only need a few simple gold prospecting tools which will not cost the earth and you can have heaps of fun panning for gold in small streams and fields.

In fact many of the gold prospecting tools you can even find around the home. There are a few tools, you will need to buy, such as a good gold pan for example, but they are usually inexpensive.

Gold Pan. A light weight plastic pan with deep riffles or gravity traps to help to hold the gold is ideal. Try to avoid the steel or metal pans as they are heavier and harder to use and can also rust with the continual immersion in water. You can get a 10 or 12 inch black gold pan for around three to ten dollars. Color wise the pan should be black or as dark as you can get, as it is then easier to see gold flecks in it then. Use the time at the river beds for panning and you can use the bucket to take home any black sand concentrate to sift at home for gold.

A small pick and shovel. This is a good idea for digging out gold from crevices. The pick can be used to open the cracks wider so you can get inside them easier. You will be amazed how much gold one can find at the bottom of a small crevice or crack. Also small tools such as paint brush, screwdrivers, tablespoon, garden trowels and similar. Gold is heavier and denser than earth or rock and these tools will help to dig out gold from crevasses and small fissures.

A small bottle. This is for storing the gold you find. Just about any small bottle will be suitable provided it can be closed tightly and is water proof. Clear Plastic is ideal although glass will do also. Also 35 mm film containers work well although you cannot see inside them of course.

Various equipment such as a torch, spare batteries, a compass, plastic bags, a bucket to put all your gold prospecting equipment in, goggles to protect the eyes from rock when you are digging with the pick axe. A magnet also can help extract those tiny fleck of gold from sand.

Other optional items include a classifier or screen, sniffer bottle or suction tweezers. Sniffer bottles are also called snuffer bottles or sucker bottles, are handy for removing even very fine gold from your pan.

There are many other gold prospecting tools such as sluice boxes, miners moss and many others tools and equipment that can be used but the above is a good basic gold mining or gold prospecting tool kit to start with.

Many gold prospectors have found thousands of dollars worth of gold nuggets with just the simplest of gold prospecting equipment, lots of patience and being thorough in their panning.