March 25, 2013
Monday Geology Picture(s): Gold Reef City– Panning for Gold
Posted by Evelyn Mervine
After passing through the mining-themed entrance, going on an underground mine tour, and watching a gold pouring demonstration at Gold Reef City (a gold mining themed amusement park in Johannesburg, South Africa), my husband and I decided to try the “Gold Panning” activity. I must admit, we were somewhat disappointed in this activity, which involved “panning” for some shiny metal (but not gold– it was very different in texture, density, etc.) in a fake stream filled with some quartz sand. My husband and I both work for a gold exploration company, so we have experience panning for real gold in the field. We found the Gold Reef City “Gold Panning” experience to be less-than-satisfying. But we took a picture of me “panning” anyway.
Stay tuned… there will be more pictures from Gold Reef City next week!
Here are some pictures of real gold panning in Alaska:

Me, posing with a bag of heavy mineral concentrate (and gold!) on the Nome beach. That's an old gold mining dredge in the background. Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012.
Very fun panning for Gold. A gold pan is a great affordable investment to get outside and have a bit of an adventure. Nice Garnet granules and flakes.