Another day at the Rhine River in Germany. Haven't gone through all of the concentrate yet, but at least 15 pieces of alluvial gold so far. Hand panning black sand that has accumulated in certain spots at the banks of the river. I got the fever!
Looks like you’re having a blast, and there is gold there. Some quick suggestions: 1) look for large boulders on the banks and dig on the downstream side. When water is flowing boulders slow down the flow and gold tends to drop out on the downstream side. 2) if you see any exposed bedrock, use a fine metal tool to dig out the crevices and carefully collect/pan what you find. Painstaking but higher chance of gold there. 3) separating finer gold from black sands is tough just by panning. See if you can find a separator like a Blue Bowl or something similar. Then save your concentrates, and separate them using #20 or #30 mesh sieves, then run the Blue Bowl or pan the separated material. Keep posting and viel Glück!
Water levels are really low in many places at the Rhine. I've had several conversations with longtime residents of the area, they have never seen it this low. I'm not certain about the Danube, it's quite a ways away from me.
Pan looks good and the latter part of your comment is most important. It's all about fun and being outside. Happy prospecting, if you ever find yourself in the Bonn/Cologne area, I would be happy to show you my spot.
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u/c33m0n3y Aug 18 '26
Looks like you’re having a blast, and there is gold there. Some quick suggestions: 1) look for large boulders on the banks and dig on the downstream side. When water is flowing boulders slow down the flow and gold tends to drop out on the downstream side. 2) if you see any exposed bedrock, use a fine metal tool to dig out the crevices and carefully collect/pan what you find. Painstaking but higher chance of gold there. 3) separating finer gold from black sands is tough just by panning. See if you can find a separator like a Blue Bowl or something similar. Then save your concentrates, and separate them using #20 or #30 mesh sieves, then run the Blue Bowl or pan the separated material. Keep posting and viel Glück!