Sheet in stream to catch gold

[reptwar1]

Anyone ever heard the stories about old timers stretching sheets across streams to catch fine gold dust? I have read it on several sites but now cant find any of them. Reason Im asking....just got off the phone with a guy that did something similar and caught just over an ounce of gold in 2 weeks. The guy then told me that his contact with USGS informed him that every 24 hours, $16,000 in suspended flour gold flows past the town that we live in. That price was in the 60's when gold was $30 an ounce. Allow me to adjust for current gold prices... Ready?...$541,560 EVERY 24 HOURS!! Now you see why I'm interested lol

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Wouldn't clay and other suspended particles also stick to the grease?

No, only hydrophobic materials like gold (and diamonds!) would stick ...as anything "wet" won't stick.

 

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[Carl995]

How about carpeting the bottom of the stream with that outdoor fake grass, kind of like what they use in sluice boxes?
Once a week roll it up....

 

[reptwar1]

Ive thought about that as well. Id need the help of about 5 peole to unroll a huge roll of it in the current.

 

[chlsbrns]

why not just go for gold in the ground? Seems easier to obtain after reading this thread.

He is after suspended gold in a flowing river. His op was that someone claimed to get over an ounce by putting a sheet in the water for two weeks. Put sheet in water, come back in two weeks get over an ounce.

A large majority of the usgs soil/sediment reports are less than 10ppb but lets use 10ppb as an example and assume that his sluice recovers 100% of the gold most of which will be -100 mesh. He would have to shovel 3,110 tons thru his sluice to get an ounce. I doubt that there are enough hours in two weeks to shovel 3,110 tons thru a sluice.

So which is easier? Drop a sheet in the water for two weeks or shovel 3,110 tons?

My grandpop and uncles are pulling three of the six 4'x6' sheets of burlap today from an old tailings pond. I should know how much gold they got in a day or two.

 

[Duckwalk]

im honestly not trying to be a stick in the mud here but when it comes to gold collection, recovery and prospecting, 99% of the time simpler is better. Just dig. the huge roll of carpet is going to be heavy as hell and requires some sort of anchoring system to keep it flat. just get a sluice, a pan, shovel and a bucket and have fun playing in the dirt.

 

[Jeff95531]

Shoosh Ducky. I'm working on selling the kit!

 

[Duckwalk]

He is after suspended gold in a flowing river. His op was that someone claimed to get over an ounce by putting a sheet in the water for two weeks. Put sheet in water, come back in two weeks get over an ounce.

A large majority of the usgs soil/sediment reports are less than 10ppb but lets use 10ppb as an example and assume that his sluice recovers 100% of the gold most of which will be -100 mesh. He would have to shovel 3,110 tons thru his sluice to get an ounce. I doubt that there are enough hours in two weeks to shovel 3,110 tons thru a sluice.

So which is easier? Drop a sheet in the water for two weeks or shovel 3,110 tons?

My grandpop and uncles are pulling three of the six 4'x6' sheets of burlap today from an old tailings pond. I should know how much gold they got in a day or two.

i understand what you are saying, but what IM saying is. Sure go get some sheets. then have fun stretching them, anchoring them, keeping them in place after a solid rain, prevent them from getting holes punched in them from sticks, haul them out of the water, clean them etc....

Not trying to say it isnt possible to get float gold, just saying for me personally, it does not sound like its worth the effort for gold you most likely cant even see to begin with. ill stick with a shovel and sluice even at 80% recovery. Ducky out moving on to the next thread, hope it works out!

 

[chlsbrns]

How do you anchor and use your sluice after a solid rain?

Yes the gold that stays suspended is to small to see but there is more gold that is to small to see than there is visible gold. Thats why gold mines use froth floatation, cyanidation ect.

What IM saying is that the topic of this thread was how to get suspended gold unattended from water not... why not use a sluice and shovel on dirt.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Ive thought about that as well. Id need the help of about 5 peole to unroll a huge roll of it in the current.

I dunno. UNROLLING seems the least of your problems, rolling it back up, now that could be an issue

ps, peons are much harder workers (in general) than peoles

 

[mytimetoshine]

I'm dying to see this cleanup

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

I'm dying to see this cleanup

I think the idea is you dry out the material and burn it. Material and greasy stuff is probably way cheaper than cleaning solvents and effort.

 

[reptwar1]

Awesome!!!!!! Cant wait to scrape the barge and burn the lawn bag you suggested that I use

 

[reptwar1]

And please tell him that I said no problem, but he owes me a quick tutoring lesson

 

[ScubaFinder]

I like your "Froth Flotation" comment chlsbrns. I assume they are doing something similar to a protein skimmer used in saltwater aquariums. It's a tall tube with a fine bubbler at the bottom, the bubbles on top are held together by oils and proteins in the water and they rise up out of the tube (froth only) and into a collection cup. The "slime holding the bubbles together is removed from the aquarium, leaving the water a little cleaner. Would that same protein slime capture the < 50 micron gold too? You could build a huge one for the river, and come collect your overflow cup filled with gold. This method requires a pump and can be finicky to adjust in changing water conditions, but I do wonder if it would work just using the slime in the water to capture the gold.

Here is a simple diagram...suddenly I want to build a HUGE one. LOL

 

[Turbo21]

I like your "Froth Flotation" comment chlsbrns. I assume they are doing something similar to a protein skimmer used in saltwater aquariums. It's a tall tube with a fine bubbler at the bottom, the bubbles on top are held together by oils and proteins in the water and they rise up out of the tube (froth only) and into a collection cup. The "slime holding the bubbles together is removed from the aquarium, leaving the water a little cleaner. Would that same protein slime capture the < 50 micron gold too? You could build a huge one for the river, and come collect your overflow cup filled with gold. This method requires a pump and can be finicky to adjust in changing water conditions, but I do wonder if it would work just using the slime in the water to capture the gold.

Here is a simple diagram...suddenly I want to build a HUGE one. LOL

The only problem with your theory is that protein skinners don't work with freshwater. Only in saltwater. I have been keeping reef tanks for almost 20 years. I have a 4 ft tall 12" diameter protein skimmer on my 220 gal reef tank

 

[chlsbrns]

Awesome!!!!!! Cant wait to scrape the barge and burn the lawn bag you suggested that I use

Dont burn the plastic bag, scrape the stuff off of the bag. I think that you could make a candle with vasoline. I would put a wick in it and slowly burn it off. Get a piece of cotton put some vasoline on it and rubb it between your hands till it looks like a wick and stuff it into the container of vasoline that you scrape off the bag and barge

 

[chlsbrns]

And please tell him that I said no problem, but he owes me a quick tutoring lesson

Will do!

 

[chlsbrns]

I like your "Froth Flotation" comment chlsbrns. I assume they are doing something similar to a protein skimmer used in saltwater aquariums. It's a tall tube with a fine bubbler at the bottom, the bubbles on top are held together by oils and proteins in the water and they rise up out of the tube (froth only) and into a collection cup. The "slime holding the bubbles together is removed from the aquarium, leaving the water a little cleaner. Would that same protein slime capture the < 50 micron gold too? You could build a huge one for the river, and come collect your overflow cup filled with gold. This method requires a pump and can be finicky to adjust in changing water conditions, but I do wonder if it would work just using the slime in the water to capture the gold.

Here is a simple diagram...suddenly I want to build a HUGE one. LOL

I've watched videos of them on youtube but dont know enough about them to know if it would work. Youtube has videos of froth flotation.

 

[reptwar1]

I will scrape, as opposed to burning. Thanks a million, and cant wait to see you grandfathers results!!!!!

 

[ScubaFinder]

protein skinners don't work with freshwater. Only in saltwater.

I didn't know that, thanks Turbo21. I figured there was enough slime in freshwater to work on the same principle. Guess i better go watch some froth flotation videos. :-)