How to Pan for Gems

Identify a location where panning for gems is allowed. Before panning, ensure that legal access is given to use the location. The surface of the water being utilized for panning should have bedrock, more-specifically composing of coarse crystal-like rocks similar to granite. Use the Internet to search for prospective locations where legal panning is done and allowed, also commonly referred to as mineral localities.

Begin panning by proceeding to the section of the water that has slow flow. Look for areas of the water, where you can dig out sand and gravel. Take a plastic pan and place a classifier sieve in the pan. Use the classifier sieve and dig 8 inches deep into the bedrock with your trowel. Using the trowel, scoop up the gravel and fill the classifier sieve lined-pan halfway with the gravel.

Lift the sieve out of the pan and shake the sieve to separate any coarse gravel. Look carefully through the separated coarse gravel to see if there are any gems. Run your fingers through the gravel to clean some of the overlying dirt to see if there is any shine underneath.

After the initial look through, take the pan with the finer gravel and submerge it into water. Only submerge the pan just below the rim. The pan riffles should be facing away from you. While the pan is in the water, shake the pan so that the heavier pieces sink to the bottom. After a couple of seconds, take the pan out of the water and continue to swirl the pan.

Tilt the pan and submerge the front edge of it in the water. Move the pan up and down to separate and remove any lighter dirt, sand or gravel. Repeat this step multiple times until a majority of all lighter materials have been removed. Swirl the leftover water and gravel concentrate while keeping the pan tilted. The remaining mixture in the pan should mostly contain dark-colored minerals and rough gems. Using a pair of tweezers or similar tools, remove gems or any wanted minerals from the pan. Place any gems or minerals in a storage container.

Repeat this procedure multiple times to acquire the necessary or wanted gems. Try to scoop from different sections of the bedrock each time, to ensure maximum ground coverage and to avoid getting the same sample of gravel and dirt each time.