You can use a variety of tools to find gold depending on your particular situation. Some of the tools which are used to prospect gold are gold pans, sluices, dredges and metal detectors.
There are two different types of dredges which are commonly used to find gold; the surface dredge and the underwater dredge.
The surface gold dredge is the most practical of these two tools. It works by suctioning material and silt from the bottom of a water source where you believe contains gold. This material is pumped through a sluice which then filters out fine gold particles. The sluice is usually located on the bank of the stream or it also floated with the dredge itself.
The underwater dredge is less practical because it has to be completely submerged to work.
An underwater dredge is used in most cases to usually only find a larger deposit. When a large deposit of gold is found a surface dredge is usually used.
This type of technology is quickly becoming evermore popular due to its quick advancement. Now these tools are so advanced that people are making a living mining in areas once abandoned.
A sluice is what is usually used to filter out fine particles of gold from the material being dredged. There are many different types of this technology, the most advanced of which being the triple sluice.
A gold pan is the most widely used tool available to find gold. It is lightweight, easy to transport and inexpensive. The downside to using a gold pan is that it is no longer the best tool available and is an outdated technology. With all of the other tools available today we would suggest not using a gold pan.
There is another tool which you can use to find gold. This is one of the most advanced and expensive pieces of equipment which you can use to look for gold; the gold detector. A gold detector is a type of metal detector which is set to specifically find gold. There are many different types of this tool and can be found for almost any price range.
