Howdy! I too am a greenhorn and its hard to find someone that will sit down with you and share their knowledge. But there is a man who will give you on-hands training if you don't know how to pan and he enjoys doing it. He is the Louisiana GPAA Director Tom Caughlin. My wife and I went to his home at Quitman LA. and we had a ball. He had set up a spot where we learned how to pan for gold, and we did find some flake. You can imagine the excitement.  He also gave us demonstrations on how to find gold location using dowels and a pendulum. If you'd like more information his email address is caughlin36@bellsouth.net. He is a great person to talk to and he has the patience that it takes to get you on the right track, and he tells a great story.  Kind of reminds you of listening to the old timers on the square at a courthouse and how they would sit around spinning yarns.  Give him a try, what have you got to lose.