I purchased 3 pounds of dirt from an eBay seller who goes by the name "youllbehappyhapyhappy". The cost was 20.00 plus 7.99 shipping. That's a total of 27.99.
The shipping was fast and the dirt arrived in a couple of days. The packaging was standard, except this seller likes putting the dirt in an elongated plastic bag. It's a good thing for them, because I notice the pictures of their listings stand out, my eye is drawn to the different shape of the bag. They also write on the bags in dry erase marker.
This dirt comes from North Carolina. I was excited, as I'd not panned dirt from that state. I like trying out dirt from varying areas and states. I was happy to get it, and I got to work right away on classifying it. That's a fancy word for straining it into different sizes so it's easy to pan. It was easy to classify too. They had already classified it down to 1/2 inch.
I got 3 different sizes. I'm using kitchen strainers I purchased from thrift stores. I just go by small. medium and large. Large in this case was small pebbles and gravel. Medium was smaller gravel and small was the fine sand and dirt. The dirt was dry, not much debris at all.
Panning was easy, and surprisingly clean. The water didn't muddy up , it just turned a sort of clear reddish brown. I liked that! I could see what I was panning very well, and didn't have to change out water. Of course I added the dish soap, a couple of drops. I panned with an 8 inch pan, in a small basin of water, 2 tablespoons at a time. I panned twice.
It was definitely pleasant, I found lots of little flakes of gold. There is such a thrill when you see that little yellow fleck! I know people who pan a little, then walk away, and come back later on that day to pan some more. I know people who say they pan in small increments over a few days time. I can't do that. I have to pan and pan until I finish, it's that fun for me.
There is always that let-down when the last of the dirt is gone, the second panning is done, and I know there isn't any more. I take my reading glasses out and look at the pebbles and grains, enjoying the hues and looking for tiny garnets and things... They are usually not much bigger than a grain of sand so I don't tend to save them. I did that with this dirt, and then rinsed the soap out of it, and put it out by the rock garden.
It was fun. It was easy. There was black sand, but no gold in that. I found some flakes. They were pretty ones!
I found flakes, and I really thought that it was quite a bit. The weight was .3 grams. If you are keeping track, that's about 12.71 dollars worth. That's around 45 percent return on investment.
I wasn't happy happy happy! However I was happy! Why? Well there was gold! For some reason it always looks bigger in the pan than it does on the scale, but these folks didn't promise the mother-lode. They promise fun, and they guarantee you will find gold. I take that to mean they add a little so no one loses out. So for the price you're guaranteed gold! If you go out and prospect for yourself, you are not guaranteed gold, and you will often spend more money than you bring home.
Happy happy happy for me would have been if I'd found a nugget in the mix, or a couple of pickers to add to the weight. But I was happy, maybe even happy happy! I'd consider them again.
If you decide to buy from them, I think they are putting a gram of gold into some lucky persons 3 lb bag. Check their listings.
I have another order from them waiting for me to pan a 1 pound order. I will do another review of youllbehappyhappyhappy when I pan that order.
Thank you for reading!
The shipping was fast and the dirt arrived in a couple of days. The packaging was standard, except this seller likes putting the dirt in an elongated plastic bag. It's a good thing for them, because I notice the pictures of their listings stand out, my eye is drawn to the different shape of the bag. They also write on the bags in dry erase marker.
This dirt comes from North Carolina. I was excited, as I'd not panned dirt from that state. I like trying out dirt from varying areas and states. I was happy to get it, and I got to work right away on classifying it. That's a fancy word for straining it into different sizes so it's easy to pan. It was easy to classify too. They had already classified it down to 1/2 inch.
I got 3 different sizes. I'm using kitchen strainers I purchased from thrift stores. I just go by small. medium and large. Large in this case was small pebbles and gravel. Medium was smaller gravel and small was the fine sand and dirt. The dirt was dry, not much debris at all.
Panning was easy, and surprisingly clean. The water didn't muddy up , it just turned a sort of clear reddish brown. I liked that! I could see what I was panning very well, and didn't have to change out water. Of course I added the dish soap, a couple of drops. I panned with an 8 inch pan, in a small basin of water, 2 tablespoons at a time. I panned twice.
It was definitely pleasant, I found lots of little flakes of gold. There is such a thrill when you see that little yellow fleck! I know people who pan a little, then walk away, and come back later on that day to pan some more. I know people who say they pan in small increments over a few days time. I can't do that. I have to pan and pan until I finish, it's that fun for me.
There is always that let-down when the last of the dirt is gone, the second panning is done, and I know there isn't any more. I take my reading glasses out and look at the pebbles and grains, enjoying the hues and looking for tiny garnets and things... They are usually not much bigger than a grain of sand so I don't tend to save them. I did that with this dirt, and then rinsed the soap out of it, and put it out by the rock garden.
It was fun. It was easy. There was black sand, but no gold in that. I found some flakes. They were pretty ones!
I found flakes, and I really thought that it was quite a bit. The weight was .3 grams. If you are keeping track, that's about 12.71 dollars worth. That's around 45 percent return on investment.
I wasn't happy happy happy! However I was happy! Why? Well there was gold! For some reason it always looks bigger in the pan than it does on the scale, but these folks didn't promise the mother-lode. They promise fun, and they guarantee you will find gold. I take that to mean they add a little so no one loses out. So for the price you're guaranteed gold! If you go out and prospect for yourself, you are not guaranteed gold, and you will often spend more money than you bring home.
Happy happy happy for me would have been if I'd found a nugget in the mix, or a couple of pickers to add to the weight. But I was happy, maybe even happy happy! I'd consider them again.
If you decide to buy from them, I think they are putting a gram of gold into some lucky persons 3 lb bag. Check their listings.
I have another order from them waiting for me to pan a 1 pound order. I will do another review of youllbehappyhappyhappy when I pan that order.
Thank you for reading!
Hey i saw your all stuffs and its very nice and cool but i also know one good Gold Prospecting Supplies (Carolina Paydirt offers gold prospecting supplies and gold paydirt unsearched from the gold mines of North Carolina. We also offer gold pan, panning kit, gold sluice concentrates, picker bags, small nugget bags, big nugget bags, panning kit/paydirt combos and paydirt combination boxes. )
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