Suggestions in essential equipment

StevenHavillJr

Jr. Member
Jul 15, 2012
50
5
Canyon Lake, Texas
Detector(s) used
MPX Digital and Garret Pin-Pointer
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I am looking for a list of equipment that is good/essential to have for most of California's terrain.

What I own is the simple stuff
Gold pans by Garret
plenty of buckets
Snuffer bottles
few classifiers
rock hammer/pick
some crevicing tools
Keene sluice

I am looking for advice on how I could progress in upping my arsenal, not restricting to just California either.
 

Upvote 0

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
It's because the bazooka is a 'trap' system.. supposedly it holds more gold while being smaller/lighter than a traditional sluice. To be honest both methods to me are _the same_, though a sluice can be used in multiple platforms, like dredging or floating dredge. The bazooka is a nice idea, however there isn't really anything that sells me on it rather than I already havea sluice no need for another currently when the one I have seems to work fine.

The same, yes in that both are used to catch gold using flowing water and density to separate the gold from the rest. However, there they stop being the same. The way the Bazooka catches gold and the way the Keene do are different. Because of that difference, you can shovel directly into a Bazooka. You cannot do that with a Keene or other sluice. I have both; the Keene is in the garage with Gold Hog mats. The Bazooka is the only sluice I take to the creek now except in low water situations, then I use my Le Trap. Others use a Mackirk for low water situations. Both are similar in that they have drop riffles unlike the Keene and other "standard" sluices.

The fact that you can shovel directly into a Bazooka means no classifying and therefore you move more material and thus get more gold. It is also quicker and easier to do a cleanup (the drop riffle sluices, Le Trap and Mackirk, are also easier to cleanup). Again, more time to shovel gold into your Bazooka.

My personal experience in Colorado, with just small gold particles (my largest is about 1/4" across), is that I retain more of the fine gold in my Bazooka than I did in the Keene. Maybe that is because there is a lot of black sand and that makes it harder to dial in the Keene than the Bazooka. I also did better with a Wolf Trap sluice with recessed riffles than with the Keene, but it required a lot of water flow and classifying--if conditions allow good water flow, just go with the Bazooka. Want to buy a used Wolf Trap? :) It doesn't get used any more either.

The point is that the "sameness" ends pretty quickly and the differences make the Bazooka a superior sluice. Hence the suggestion to upgrade to a Bazooka. There are lots of sizes available, several of us have more than one to allow us to choose the one that fits the creek conditions best.

Good luck and may your cleanups be golden.
 

arizau

Bronze Member
May 2, 2014
2,479
3,854
AZ
Detector(s) used
Beach High Banker, Sweep Jig, Whippet Dry Washer, Lobo ST, 1/2 width 2 tray Gold Cube, numerous pans, rocker box, and home made fluid bed and stream sluices.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
You say you already have a few classifiers....If they do not include a 30, 50 and 100 mesh you might consider adding them and use them for final cleanup of your concentrate. 4 and 6" diameter ones are pretty inexpensive. When finish panning mixed size concentrate it is easy to unknowingly wash some of the smallest of the gold particles out with the waste material but if you classify them to like sizes and pan them separately in small doses (about a tablespoon at a time) they are easy to pan with no losses.

Good luck.

PS: If you ever add a miller table or blue bowl to your equipment then classifying and running your material separately as above will again ease your efforts.
 

Last edited:
T

Tuolumne

Guest
My essentials, bazooka big enough to shovel strait into-
Two regular 5 gallon buckets, or your 5th level painters or commercial grade bucket. But the regular buckets are better for the next essential item.
Camp rotating fusion seat that fits the top of your regular bucket.
Temecula valley prospectors club sold me mine at a gold show, it's awesome, swivels all the way. Light weight for remote locations, I'm always showing it off to the forest ranger and DFW officer, essentially I'm very proud of this extravegance.
But essential for me is the bucket seat combo to image.jpg store trout I catch in the stream at the same time, sit on it while I feed the zook.
Next essential item- Colman two burner grill on big wheels, from gold to trout to grill while we clean up the zook cons.
If you combine gold with gluttony it's essential to make happen again...
 

goldenIrishman

Silver Member
Feb 28, 2013
3,465
6,151
Golden Valley Arid-Zona
Detector(s) used
Fisher / Gold Bug AND the MK-VII eyeballs
Primary Interest:
Other
I can only wish for an area close to me where I could sluice AND fish at the same time Todd! One of the major drawbacks of living in the desert.
 

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
My essentials, bazooka big enough to shovel strait into-
Two regular 5 gallon buckets, or your 5th level painters or commercial grade bucket. But the regular buckets are better for the next essential item.
Camp rotating fusion seat that fits the top of your regular bucket.
Temecula valley prospectors club sold me mine at a gold show, it's awesome, swivels all the way. Light weight for remote locations, I'm always showing it off to the forest ranger and DFW officer, essentially I'm very proud of this extravegance.
But essential for me is the bucket seat combo to View attachment 1253216 store trout I catch in the stream at the same time, sit on it while I feed the zook.
Next essential item- Colman two burner grill on big wheels, from gold to trout to grill while we clean up the zook cons.
If you combine gold with gluttony it's essential to make happen again...

You can fish and sluice here in Colorado. Many places I would not eat the trout due mercury. I honestly don't know how much there is in some of the streams draining mining areas, but I would be careful. I eat trout from Eleven Mile Canyon Reservoir but am suspicious about Cache Creek, upper Arkansas, Las Animas, etc. Someone should do a scientific study on the mercury content but I am sure that the enviro-wackos would use it as ammo against miners no matter what was found.
 

nh.nugget

Hero Member
Sep 3, 2013
861
1,401
e.rochester nh.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
whites, KEENE A52 sluice, 3" dredge
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a Keene A52 I don't always classify. When I have enough water flow and my material is wet I just shovel. Picking out the big taters of course ( after I rinse them) I have had some 2'' rocks go through not a problem. And it catches down to flea poop. When the flow is correct and that's very important with any sluice. Mine runs the best when the V in the flair comes to a point at the center screw in the flair. Most of the gold is caught in the rubber mat very rarely past the first riffle.
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,369
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
...which makes the point that an A52 CAN be run well with practice. However I'd still out produce you due to faster setup, clean out and so on. Or maybe you are THAT good but most aren't. And no point learning to run old tools when modern tools work so well.
 

Last edited:

nh.nugget

Hero Member
Sep 3, 2013
861
1,401
e.rochester nh.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
whites, KEENE A52 sluice, 3" dredge
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We all know you gotta' walk before you run. LOL! Never ran a zook. Been curious about them how much water do they take, set up, and so on. Their web site shows a lot of pics. but I would like to see it in action. And unfortunately I am a perfectionist in everything I've done I guess too many years restoring cars. It's all in or nothing.
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,369
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
We all know you gotta' walk before you run. LOL! Never ran a zook. Been curious about them how much water do they take, set up, and so on. Their web site shows a lot of pics. but I would like to see it in action. And unfortunately I am a perfectionist in everything I've done I guess too many years restoring cars. It's all in or nothing.

Dvdtharaldson just got a bazooka. He's on tnet and a friend of mine :) He lives in MA and likes to come up your way to prospect so reach out to him to meet up and you can see him learn to use it!
 

ratled

Hero Member
Feb 18, 2014
950
2,396
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You can fish and sluice here in Colorado. Many places I would not eat the trout due mercury. I honestly don't know how much there is in some of the streams draining mining areas, but I would be careful. I eat trout from Eleven Mile Canyon Reservoir but am suspicious about Cache Creek, upper Arkansas, Las Animas, etc. Someone should do a scientific study on the mercury content but I am sure that the enviro-wackos would use it as ammo against miners no matter what was found.


Has there been even a documented case of merc contaminated fish in CO? I know the opposition here spouts about it all the time but the transfer to the food chain is very hard to do. Joe Greene had a good piece on this. If I can find easily I'll post it or you can google it. I think it it on the WMA site too

ratled
 

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Would that be Joseph C Greene? Without a middle initial, Mean Joe Greene comes up a lot! :)
 

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Colorado has been doing mercury analysis of fish. The Cheesman Reservoir (on the South Platte, SW of Denver) has bad ratings. The upper Arkansas does not, but knowing the Yak Tunnel and past leakage from it into the Ark River, I still would not eat trout from it. They have not done Cache Creek. There are other areas with warnings but I don't sluice in them.
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
And miners know more about mercury than anyone it's on there radar. ..where as Joe blow fisherman just goes fishing....think about how many people just go fish at these places and have had no effects
 

nh.nugget

Hero Member
Sep 3, 2013
861
1,401
e.rochester nh.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
whites, KEENE A52 sluice, 3" dredge
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I've talked to him. I'll have to get together with him this summer and check it out.
 

GoldpannerDave

Bronze Member
Apr 17, 2014
1,076
1,279
Colorado Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Bazooka 48" Miner and 30" Sniper, Le Trap, Wolf Trap, A52, 2" dredge, Miller tables, Blue Bowl, wheel, Falcon MD20, old White's detector
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Joseph C. Greene
Research Biologist, U.S. EPA
RETIRED


Yes, I have read some of his material. He is very supportive of dredging.
 

arizau

Bronze Member
May 2, 2014
2,479
3,854
AZ
Detector(s) used
Beach High Banker, Sweep Jig, Whippet Dry Washer, Lobo ST, 1/2 width 2 tray Gold Cube, numerous pans, rocker box, and home made fluid bed and stream sluices.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
According to governmental health warnings we would all be better off not eating anything since everything we eat has some concentration of elements or compounds that are detrimental to our health. My advice....Don't eat copper or molybdenum concentrates!* Believe or not, that was part of a health warning that was required to be on a form that had to accompany all of our shipments of these products when I was a working man. If you sense a little sarcasm here, there is but the government errs way, way, way on the side of safety in their guidelines and in so doing causes a lot of angst in many people.

Good health to all.

*The mine where I worked from startup to over 30 years just announced shutdown plans after almost 50 years of 24/7/365 operation. Coinciding low copper and moly prices turned millions of tons of ore reserves into waste material when based on current prices vs. operating costs. Sad!
 

Last edited:

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a Keene A52 I don't always classify. When I have enough water flow and my material is wet I just shovel. Picking out the big taters of course ( after I rinse them) I have had some 2'' rocks go through not a problem. And it catches down to flea poop. When the flow is correct and that's very important with any sluice. Mine runs the best when the V in the flair comes to a point at the center screw in the flair. Most of the gold is caught in the rubber mat very rarely past the first riffle.
Fast and flat with a keene is best.Thats why when you don't have flow and have to classify drop riffles are better. Rocks hang up on Hungarian riffles Drop riffles protect gold from scouring. I definitely will shovel into a drop riffle if I'm in the rare situation where I can't run a bazooka. I do use an Angus for firs time long range scouting. And typically don't classify as i'm not carrying a bucket. I carry a classifier with my pan and use it for sniping. but if I'm in a spot I want to shovel I'm not going to classify. I get more gold running more material than spending time worrying about losing .48 cents worth of gold.
 

nh.nugget

Hero Member
Sep 3, 2013
861
1,401
e.rochester nh.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
whites, KEENE A52 sluice, 3" dredge
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Most of the places I go have enough flow. The exception is my new place it doesn't have a lot of flow but we make do. I've found with my Keene if I have about an inch or so of water in the front and about two in the rear ( up to the rivets on the latches) it's perfect for our area. Also I only clean out maybe twice mostly to make sure I'm still on the gold. It get's hard to tell after awhile what's new or not in the mat.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top