How to Pan for Gold Step-by-Step

Scoop sediment from the bottom of a shallow creek or river into a pie pan or other shallow pan.

Submerge the pan completely in still water.

Stir the sediment in your pan slowly with your hand. This saturates the materials with water and helps break up clay and dirt clods.

Shake the pie pan back and forth under the water, holding it slightly tilted. This encourages the heavier sediment to sink to the bottom of the pan and allows very light sediment to float out of the pan. Continue shaking until most of the lighter sediment has left the pan. You will likely still have some sand and other light sediment in the pan; leave it alone for now.

Lift the pan out of the water, tilting it to drain as much of the water as possible without losing any of the sediment.

Pick out pieces of gravel and pebbles and discard them.

Examine the remaining sediment for gold nuggets. If you find any, set these aside.

Examine the remaining sand for flecks of gold. If you see any small gold flakes mixed in with the sand, place some newspaper on the ground.

Shake the pie pan gently above the newspaper to allow the gold flakes to sink to the bottom. Tilt the pan and shake the sand over the rim. Continue in this manner until you can pick out the gold flakes with tweezers.

Examine the newspaper for any errant gold flakes. Pick them out with tweezers.