Kevin Hoagland recently did a full and comprehensive field test of XP's Batea gold pan. Here's his final thoughts and conclusion, you can read the full article over at the XP detector website. The XP Batea is not a novelty pan, it is a serious tool for the gear box and one that I think you will find yourself using more and more often than you think you will right now.

It is a bit bulkier than what you are used to, but the design of the flattop grip area makes all the difference in the world. Think about it this way, take your favorite gold pan and put a shelf around it to make it even easier to hold onto and use. Now to the part about it being innovative. The Defragmenter is, as I said earlier, the key and the smartest thing I have seen done to a gold pan. Riffles are one thing, but this unit tears down challenging soils like I have never seen without the chance of blowing your gold past a riffle.

Will it work on the densest clays you run into in some areas? Not entirely, but in the clays that I have panned so far in testing it is far better than anything I have used next to a mud paddle on my drill breaking down clay in a 5-gallon bucket. I almost forgot to mention this key factor as well. The Batea I used in South America was heavy, made of wood, and cumbersome. The XP Batea is none of those, coming in at 800 grams /28 ounces, or for those of us that weigh everything in troy, just a bit over 25 troy ounces. You will find that it is lighter than a couple of the plastic pans I bet you have in your kit now.

I can assure you that this Batea weighs in a lot lighter than the metal Batea that was introduced in 2019 and the XP Batea has the advantage of the Defragmenter and being able to have a magnet slid up the side of the pan easily. The XP Batea has found its place in my gear box.

I just have one more test to do: I wonder how it’s going to work as a dry pan? I’ll let you know. Color: The blue color, although not an uncommon color for gold pans, helps in seeing the gold better in any lighting I tested in. Honeycombed flat top and hand area: Allowed a better grip and ability to work the pan properly. Defragmenter: Breaks down material quickly while stratifying and creates a great deal of turbulence in the Batea while working the material from rough to final cleanup. Having to get used to a new way of panning: I am a little torn on if this is a PRO or a CON. As a prospector, learning new ways to do anything is something I enjoy. Really big pan: I can see users easily overloading, making it heavy to deal with and not utilizing the Defragmenter to its fullest. One last thought, if the Batea just doesn’t fit your needs or wants in any way, XP has also introduced a four-zone pan that is a bit more traditional in shape. One of the zones has a new and very interesting recovery area that I will be testing soon.

Kevin Hoagland is the Executive Director of Development at the Gold Prospectors Association of America and the Lost Dutchman’s Mining Association of America.