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Where Am I Allowed To Go Gold Panning in BC, Canada? How Can I Tell If a Particular Location is Claimed, and Not Open For Panning (Without Permission)?

By: Dan Hodgins

Want to know where you are allowed to go gold panning in BC, Canada? Or if the ground is open to be claimed? A solution I use often is iMapBC.

iMap is a user-friendly web and mobile app that can be used at home or in the field. In fancy terms, it's a geographic information system (GIS) that enables users to overlay various types of data and datasets to visualize them together. 

In simple terms, we want to overlay placer gold claims on top of a map of a specific area to check if gold panning is permitted.

How to Use iMapBC To Find Areas Open For Gold Panning (Or Claim Staking) in British Columbia, Canada

On your phone, in the field, turn on your cell data, and search online for iMap BC, open the web app.

Click the grey arrow (upper right) to make it fullscreen on your phone

Click "I Want to" (upper left).

Click "Add Provincial Layers" (upper left)

In the search box type in: "placer claims", click to select "placer claims"

Click "Done" on your phone

Pinch zoom to your desired area.

Click the wrench toolbar in (upper right )for other tools, options and data.

You can zoom to exact Lat/Long or UTM coordinates. e.g. click"Zoom to UTM" and you can input exact GPS coordinates, and it will zoom you into that spot on the map - the exact spot you would like to pan.

You can use iMap BC in conjunction with other apps (e.g. iHunter that may show private property). It also works well alongside handheld GPS units.

Hope this helps. Feel free to share this post with anyone you think could benefit. Heavy pans!

-Dan H (Pickaxe.ca)

P.S. We share plenty of great stuff like this in the Pickaxe Private FB Group, feel free to join!

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