Gold Panning Adventure Day!

I can't believe it has been a month since my last post.  Of course it is summer and everyone is super busy.  Ken has been working 6 or 7 days a week almost every week so we haven't had much opportunity to get down to the river.  We did get out once on an adventure.  We took off out of town on June 30.  We needed some down time so we packed up our gold panning equipment and a picnic and headed west.  Using Google Maps we looked for creeks and rivers.  Ken really wanted to check out the McLeod River so we headed in that direction.    

   

The river was beautiful just north of Peers.  We really enjoyed our time there rock hunting and having a picnic lunch.  We didn't find any gold though.

We stopped in Whitecourt and checked out the river there and watched some of the people tubing on the river.  We noticed that there was a lot of log build up at the bridges in Whitecourt.

We did check out some other creeks and rivers.  We even pulled out the gold cube and ran it for awhile when we found a creek with gold in it.

We moved about 1yd of dirt but only came up about 0.1g of gold so we determined that there is better gold to be found in the North Saskatchewan.  Looking forward to our time off in August so we can spend some real time on the river.

Happy Panning

Angela

Gold In The Pan

Saturday was an iffy day weather wise but I decided to go for a pan anyway.  Ken had to work so I was on my own.  It was the first time I went out panning by myself and really was looking forward to some quiet time with nature.  I decided to take a bus to Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park to do my panning.  One of the good things about Edmonton is that we have decent bus service even on the weekend.  Because the weather wasn't great and there were a lot of various events going on in the city the park wasn't busy.  On the way down to my panning site I took the time to notice the blossoms on the choke cherry and saskatoon bushes.

The spot that I chose to pan at this week had a fairly good gravel bed as well as deposits of other things in the gravel.  Various stones and coal dotted the gravel bed.

I panned about 10 pans in about 3 hours before the weather started to turn bad.  The clouds got dark and from where I was I couldn't tell how bad it was going to be.  I also want to get up the muddy slope before I got stuck on the river.

On the 20 minute walk back up to the bus stop I was very amused by coming across some Mallard Ducks that appeared to by making themselves comfortable in the front yard of a home on Laurier Drive.

The rain didn't last long and didn't come down hard so next time I think I will chose a panning spot where I'm not as worried about getting stuck on the river.

Happy Panning.


Angela

Finally got some GOLD!

So this past month has been very busy with life.  We had Easter Weekend and spent some time with family.  It was good but didn't make it down to the river that weekend.  The next week we had a measles outbreak declared in our province.  I am currently working as an immunization booking clerk and that has made for a very busy 3 weeks.  There was overtime to work as we scheduled thousands of appointments for people to immunize their children that hadn't been immunized or needed their MMR booster.  During all of this Ken started back to work and is working 12 and 14 hr days/6 days a week as well as catching a cold that he couldn't shake for more than a week.  Finally this weekend we made it down to the river on Victoria Day.

 We went down to William Hawrelak Park for a few hours on Victoria Day to check out the gravel deposits that we had spotted last time we were down there.  We set up the gold cube for the first time on the river.  We only set up for about 4 hrs.  Setting up the gold cube does take a little bit of time but it makes the process easier.  Ken brought with us a large tote to set it up in and a level to make sure it was level.  The hardest part was carrying all of the equipment down to the river.  The battery that runs the pump is quite heavy to carry that distance.

To process material with the gold cube we first use a 5 gallon bucket and a classifier to remove all of the larger rocks and stones.  The next step is to check the screen for any nuggets.  Although nuggets aren't likely in the North Saskatchewan River they are possible.  Usually all you will find in the screen are average looking rocks from the area mixed with a few larger garnets.

The next step once your bucket is a full as you want it to be is to turn on the pump for the gold cube and get the water flowing.  One the water is flowing you add the concentrates from the bucket a little bit at a time.  After you have run all of your concentrates through the gold cube you are left with nothing but the heavy materials to finish in your pan.

We have found that washing out the trays into a tote is effective for rinsing out the gold cube.  After about 4 hrs down at the river we had chatted with 4 different groups of people that had happened along and 1 very curious international student from China who couldn't believe we had gold in our river until he saw it.

We brought home our fine concentrates and Ken did the final pan on them.  After panning it all out and drying it and weighing it we found .3 grams.

Days total:  5 very interesting conversations and $12.00 worth of gold.  Not bad for a day off.

Happy Panning.

Angela

Gold found in Welland?

You would think that every Gold Panner would need a gold pan to get started but that isn't absolutely true.  In October of 2009 Ken came out to Edmonton for a visit from Welland and was determined to try a hand at gold panning.  It was the beginning of October and with the real gold panning season over we couldn't find a gold pan anywhere.  With Ken the determined kind of person that he is he went through my kitchen stuff and found a colander and a cereal bowl and off we went the river.  

We spent our vacation together visiting various parks in the city gathering samples for Ken to learn how to pan with.  It was quite exciting when Ken found the first pieces of colour.  Using the colander as his classifier we went to White Mud Park, Hawrelak Park and Terwilligar Dog Park.  He was so patient as he was learning to swish the dirt out of the cereal bowl.  As he removed layers of dirt and mud it revealed garnets, black sand and eventually gold.  

When it was time for Ken to go back to Welland we gathered concentrates and poured them into 3 pop bottles for him to practice with over the winter.  Damn if there wasn't a mini gold rush in Welland as Ken sat out in the garage panning out his concentrates.  He gave the garnets and the gold he brought back to Edmonton when he returned the next spring.  

When Ken came back out the next spring I had acquired a gold pan that I found at a local fishing store and he had a real pan to work with.  Between the 2 of us we now have 4 gold pans and a gold cube to work with to find the gold but the experience gained working with that silly cereal bowl in irreplaceable.  We still have the cereal bowl and it reminds us of how we started out in gold panning.  We can hardly wait for the river to be ready.

Happy panning

Angela

When are we finally going to be able to get some gold in the pan? Shout out to The BroHoof Army!

So this weekend we were down to William Hawrelak Park  It had snowed again so the river banks were slippery.  We checked out the river and there is still so much ice blocking our pans from getting the at the gold bearing gravel.  We did spot a few gravel deposits we want to check out in a few weeks.  We figure on being back at the park for Mother's Day in May.

Checking out the water levels this week they seem to be between 3.6 and 4.9.  I can't hardly wait until they dip down beneath 3.2.

We were down to the river with the BroHoof Army a My Little Pony fan group.  The kids made the most of the snow by barbecuing and building a snow pony.

Everyone had a great time.

Happy Panning !


Angela

Is There Gold In The North Saskatchewan River?

So this week I had several people ask me if there is really gold in the NSR?  I said "Yes" gold and more.

The river is as source of so many interesting items.  Remember when you were a small child and every rock you found was pretty and interesting?  There are beautiful stones in the river.

The first picture is stones peppered with Mica that glitter with any hint of light.  The second picture is stones polished by the river and I used a dime to show you the size of the stones.  We picked up these during a panning trip and maybe I will turn them into jewelry.

The river is also like a time capsule and we have found pieces of history right down at our own river.  Check out the Mary Had A Little Lamb spoon and the bullets in the next set of pictures.

You can also find semi-precious gem stones in our river such as Amber and Garnets.

There is this little piece of Copper we found.  Not sure if it is a piece of something like a buckle or a drawer pull or if it is a natural formation.

Of course there is the Gold.  It is mostly flour gold but it is there and panning is a great way to spend the day.

Yes there is Gold and so much more in the North Saskatchewan River.

Happy Panning

Angela

Ice is nice?

We went out and explored along the path between the Fort Edmonton Foot Bridge and the Terwillager Dog Park this weekend.  The trails were pretty muddy but it was a beautiful day on Sunday.

The ice is still pretty well covering the river.  There are some places where the ice has pushed right up on the river bank and uprooted small trees.  The spot where Ken was panning down there last year is under about 3 ft of water.  The sandbar where we spent a week in May of 2009 (my vacation week) panning is still under a lot of water and ice.

It isn't looking hopeful for this week as the temperatures are not supposed to come up to double digits.  We will be down to the river at least one day this coming week though just to see how it is thawing.

Hoping this week brings warmer temperatures than they are forecasting.

Happy panning


Angela

Mercury and Water Rising

Finally hit double digits on the plus side of 0 this week. Yay!

With the higher temps the ice is melting off the river.  I've been checking the Environment Alberta website this week and have watched the water flows go from 3.784m to 5.704m at the Edmonton monitoring site.  With all the spring run off the water is running high and fast.

If you are going out to the River Valley this weekend be aware of the water levels and the slippery muddy slopes.

We plan on taking a hike down the trail between the Fort Edmonton Foot Bridge and the Terwillager Dog Park.  Last year Ken spent a day down there and found some colour and a busted cell phone ready for recycle.  Wonder what the ice has scraped up this year?

Will let you know on Monday what we found.

Happy Panning

Angela

There Is Always Money Down At The River

So Ken and I made a trip down to the river this weekend.  We had to take a look and hoped to get some concentrates to pan out at home.  This is how it turned out.

We headed down to Sir Wilford Laurier park.  The barricades are still up so parking was at the entrance.  The Valley Zoo wasn't very busy so there was plenty of parking.  We left the equipment in the van because we wanted to see if it was worth carrying the equipment down to the river.  Still lots of snow and water in the park.  When we got to the spot where we usually use the path to get down to the river it was closed due to the embankment collapsing.  We had to see what had happened to one of our favorite panning sites so we went around it.  The path we took down was a little steeper than usual but wasn't too muddy.  Making our way over toward our panning spot we found it was completely washed away and the water level was high.

Laurier Park is one of our favorite panning sites in the city for a couple of reasons.  It has great   picnic spots for picnic and bbq's with the family.  We always find decent colour down at the river.

It was a great hike down there and back.  The woodpeckers were busy with the little red crests on top of their heads standing out bright against the still wintery back drop.  The ducks were out on the river where there was no ice.  The sun was shining and in our journey we found a 5 gallon bucket that we filled with recyclables that were along the way.  So the weekends take comes out to $1.50.

There is always money down at the river.

Happy panning

Angela

Ready to find gold!

After a long winter here in Edmonton, AB I'm ready to get down to the river and find my gold for the year.  Unfortunately the river still has a lot of ice on it.  So I'm doing my equipment check.

In the backpack I have:

• 2 gold pans 1 is a traditional round pan with riffles
• the other is a LaTrap - it is rectangular in shape
• a trowel or a shovel - because I'm just a hobbyist I use a small garden trowel for digging out my gold bearing gravel
• a classifier to help get rid of the larger stones.  The one that I'm using now is one that my man Ken made about 5 1/2 years ago out of a flower pot and some stainless steel screen with a 1/8th inch mesh
• a scoop - to pour water over the material in the classifier to wash material through
• a snuffer bottle - to suck the gold out of my pan
• a bucket with a lid and a handle to carry it with - this is important because I won't pan all of my concentrates out down at the river
• a small first aid kit - with some disinfectant, band aids, pain reliever and antihistamines
• sun screen - sunlight really reflects off of the water
• bug spray - mosquitoes are the bane of my existence
• a couple of bottles of water and a few granola bars
• garbage bag - to keep my panning site clean
• latex gloves 
• rain poncho
• hand sanitizer - that water is dirty

For the basic hobbyist you don't have to spend a lot of money but to get the gold you do have to be persistent.

Are you as anxious to get down there as we are?

Happy panning  :)

Angela