Probably the most troublesome and at times the greatest hazard in the wilds today is the Bear.  People may argue which type of Bear has the meanest temperament, but any type may leave your camp a shambles when in search of food, and under certain circumstance any Bear will attack a person.  Placing food out of reach or in a secure container will help reduce the attraction.  Fortunately, most Bears will turn and run when frightened by loud noises.

Some of the personal hazards faced in the out of doors include twisted ankles, lacerations from falling in brush, falls from slippery rocks or  when crossing streams,  or cave ins in old mine workings.  Beware of bad air in any old workings.  Danger of drowning is always present when working around the deeper streams or pools when placer mining.

Many types of first aid kits and equipment are on the market. The choice of kit is one of size and variety of content.  Disinfectants, aspirin, fungicides bandages and similar items should be included.  For areas of considerable  sunshine, tanning lotion, sunglasses, and a hat are needed, and salt tablets should be taken as designated  to prevent heat prostration. Wearing a safety hardhat and safety glasses may be advisable at times.

Streams with steep gradients often have poorly sorted sands and gravel, meaning a wide range of size will be encountered, up to cobbles and large irregularly shaped boulders.  Other debris and tree roots may be present too. Materials that have lain in place for long periods become  bound up tightly with clay, or cemented sometimes almost to the point of being solid rock, which makes them exceedingly difficult to break up with water. Irregularities in the rock surface underlying placer materials become important because this is the zone where the richest values usually are found. A very uneven surface can be particularly difficult to work on.

If colors are found, a record should be made of the number and estimated size of colors per pan and the approximate location. The sampling then progresses until one is assured the prospects are good enough to warrant a mining operation of some sort. The size of the screen sizes depends on how many holes there are per square inch. For an example 10 mesh means 10 holes per square inch. Coarse gold should be picked out and weighed individually. Medium size gold, has approximately  2,200 colors per troy ounce. Very fine gold is about 40 mesh and higher is about 12,000 colors per troy ounce. Flour gold minus 80 mesh, 40,000 colors per troy ounce.

It is common to report panning results in cents per pan. So, assuming you have determined that a "pan factor" of about 400 pans per cubic yard (bank measure) for the 12 inch pan is a suitable figure, multiplying the cents per pan figure by 400 gives the estimated value per cubic yard.

Scales will be needed to check the weights until the eye can judge the sizes properly. It is recommended that particles over 10 milligrams be weighed individually. A rough measure of value is one◂tenth of a cent per milligram. Thus, the value in a pan can be calculated using your visual count and tally of the number of colors of each rank. After sufficient practice, good estimates  will come easily. Thickness has a great bearing on weight. For instance, some gold might look large, but actually be flat, flaky, and hence very light.