The Grizzly Gold Pan is not your ordinary gold pan. Its square design may look similar to the Le Trap Gold Pan, however the Grizzly Gold Pan is based on its own system for gold recovery. Unlike most gold panning techniques, it is not necessary to remove the gold concentrates from the Grizzly Gold Pan after each pan full of material. With the Grizzly it is quite possible to process 1/2 to 1 full bucket of material before removing the concentrates. This is do the the steep v-shape and riffles that channel the gold to the bottom of the pan where the gold will settle. The Grizzly Gold Pan is easy to operate, though it can take a few tries to get used to.
Once submerged, the gold pan is moved side to side with the pan remaining level. This side to side motion can be performed vigorously without fear of losing even the fines. At first, I was hesitant to be aggressive with this pan as it doesn’t take much for the material in the pan to be washed out of the pan. After a few tests, I realized that I could really speed up the side to side motion and quickly wash the lighter material out of the pan without much loss of fines. In fact, I was able to process much more material with the Grizzly Gold Pan than I could with a conventional gold pan.
Emptying the Grizzly Gold Pan is different than traditional gold pans in that you remove a rubber plug in the bottom of the pan. A quick dip into a bucket of water and the heaviest of the concentrates drops into the bucket for processing. This means that as a gold panner, you do not have to spend as much time panning the material before getting to the gold.
A drawback to this method is that the plug can fall out. A simple way to prevent this is to use a bungee chord that goes from one side of the pan to the other with enough tension to keep the plug in place. Also, it is a good idea to have a spare plug or two. Another disadvantage of the Grizzly Gold Pan is that the gold panning area must have enough water to submerge the pan. Traditional gold pans can be used in shallow creeks that are unsuitable for the Grizzly Gold Pan.
Finally, because of the v-shape, the Grizzly Gold Pan does not sit level if you need to set it down temporarily. This can make the pan kind of awkward at times. Overall, the Grizzly Gold Pan can process material faster than a traditional gold pan and does a wonderful job keeping the fines. Though not suitable for all locations, the Grizzly Gold Pan is a welcomed addition to my gold panning equipment collection. Tip: classify the material to less the 1/4″ as anything larger than this has problems passing through the hole in the bottom of the pan during cleanup.
Visit my Gold Pan Buyers Guide for other types of gold pans.
Gold Miser Sluice Review
The Gold Miser Sluice is a small 10″ blue colored plastic sluice that fits in your pocket and can be used to sample or for cleanup. The Gold Miser is made by the same company that makes the Grizzly Gold Pan. Due to the small size of the sluice , I do not think that this is the best option for serious sampling. That is all for the negative.
On the positive side of things, the Gold Miser Sluice is portable, has a stronger build than the Grizzly Gold Pan, and does a good job of keeping the fine gold when doing clean ups. It is a quick and efficient way to separate the gold from the black sand as the black sand just washes out of the sluice with little water flow.
Before getting the Gold Miser Sluice, I had a blue bowl, but found that the blue bowl was over kill for me since I don’t accumulate large amounts of concentrates like the dredgers out there. Instead, I use the Gold Miser. I can easily take it with me when gold panning or I can use it at home.
This is a fairly inexpensive item that does not require a pump or much set up. All you do is hold it in your hand at a slight angle, put a spoonful of concentrates on the sluice and pour a cup of water down the sluice. Simple and efficient. I give the Gold Miser Sluice two thumbs up.