How to actually pan for gold, step by step

Start by classifying your material through a stack of screens, coarse to fine, so you are not wasting pan time on rocks that were never going to hold gold. Submerge the pan and break up any clay clumps by hand first, gold can hide inside clay and will not separate out if the clump stays intact. Agitate the pan underwater with a shaking or circular motion, this lets dense material, including gold, settle toward the bottom while lighter material stays suspended above it. Tilt the pan slightly away from you and wash off a little of the top layer of lighter material at a time, then go back to shaking and settling. Repeat this settle and wash cycle gradually until mostly black sand is left, at which point you slow down considerably and work in smaller movements so you do not wash away fine gold along with the last of the sand. Patience in the final stage matters more than speed everywhere else in the process.