Kevin in Colorado...and elsewhere

[KevinInColorado]

Or I can just sit on a bucket since I can set up right next to my hole. Yesterday I was sitting while digging, swiveling around and dumping the shovel on the sluice (bit by bit).

PS here's the gold from my highbanker test on the left and from a workshop clean up I did today on the right...how does that much gold end up on my work table? I'd swear I was careful with my cons. Ah, the mysteries of life ;-)

 

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[Frghtshkr]

Thanks all for everything great info. Kevin maybe get a swivel bar stool and cut it down LOL! you can have some beers too

 

[KevinInColorado]

So I built a new rod mill. The rods are harvested from the rollers of inkjet printers. A hot cocoa container with a screw on lid serves as the barrel and of course you see two printer chassis in the pic. One part way stripped down and the other is the one I am running.

I took a bunch of my already processed cons and separated out all the 18-30 mesh material and I've been running a sample of that dry. A 10 minute run produced a nice big pancaked flake (+30 mesh). A second 10 minute run of the same material produced only one tiny spec.

FYI I'm using brand new classifiers to avoid any risk of a false positive from a flake stuck in a classifier from prior use.

One question, anyone know why running dry vs. wet would be better results or faster?

 

[arizau]

So I built a new rod mill. The rods are harvested from the rollers of inkjet printers. A hot cocoa container with a screw on lid serves as the barrel and of course you see two printer chassis in the pic. One part way stripped down and the other is the one I am running. View attachment 1168024

I took a bunch of my already processed cons and separated out all the 18-30 mesh material and I've been running a sample of that dry. A 10 minute run produced a nice big pancaked flake (+30 mesh). A second 10 minute run of the same material produced only one tiny spec. View attachment 1168025

FYI I'm using brand new classifiers to avoid any risk of a false positive from a flake stuck in a classifier from prior use.

One question, anyone know why running dry vs. wet would be better results or faster?

My guess as to why the Clarkson method uses a slurry is that it allows gravity and centrifugal force to effect the gold by sinking it through the slurry, displace lighter material and pin it against the barrel side where it is subject to flattening by the rods (inbetween a rock..er..rod and a hard spot). In the overall process, the material is constantly lifted by centrifugal force nearly 180 degrees then it drops back down and again seeks the outer edge passing between tightly packed but, importantly, independently rolling rods. It should be noted here that dry material will not sink through (displace) a pile of dry material so, using this same equipment with dry material may just pin gold atop of other material which kind of cushions it so it does not flatten as easily.

My analysis of your situation kind of indicates that your setup has little to do with centrifugal force (as the Clarkson method relies on) but more that the material pretty much stays at the lowest point in the cylinder and is persistently ground by the weight of the bars rotating against each other or the cylinder. The shifting/kind of rolling pile of material at the bottom allows some gravity concentration (gold settling) and that heightens the potential for the gold to flatten but it is still likely to be cushioned to some extent.* Cushioning is probably one reason you are not experiencing a full grind. If you were to spin the cylinder faster with slurry you would get a more complete grind but that is just a thought and not a suggestion. Your current configuration may not be as efficient as a true Clarkson setup but it is a heck of a lot cheaper and, what the hey, it still works.

Good luck and keep us informed.

* The probable reason for only adding a small amount of material in the first place is to minimize the cushioning effect.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good hypothesis AZAU. Must. Do. More. Experiments. Fun!

 

[Goldhock]

Bazooka highbanker

Hmm, good question. Lots of house chores but definitely want to build my Bazooka Sniper highbanker and try it out

What about u?

Hey Kevin, nice looking gold!!

Had a question about your plans for a Bazooka Highbanker. Are you building it yourself, or have plans for building it? Just picked up a Gold Hog Mini Highbanker, but would love to use my Bazooka as a highbanker as well...thanks for your help! Oh I seen you posted some pics, cool!
Have you seen this video? http://www.bazookagoldtrap.com/blog/highbanker-kits-coming-soon/

Bob

 

[KevinInColorado]

I built it myself from the picture of one... as I shared earlier in the thread.

PS yup, seen that. But they published that video a year ago so I gave up and made one

 

[Goldhock]

Looks like a cool setup! Gonna have to try that setup as well

Do you know anything about using electric pumps in Adams county...can't seem to find any info on it??

Thanks for your help!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Looks like a cool setup! Gonna have to try that setup as well

Do you know anything about using electric pumps in Adams county...can't seem to find any info on it??

Thanks for your help!

Electric is ok in Adams Co. But NO gas powered gear in Open Space Parks in Adams or Denver or Arapahoe Counties. Only ok for gas in Jefferson Co if you are in Clear Creek Canyon...where a 4 inch dredge is welcome with no permits or anything!

PS get a bigger pump than me, MORE POWER!

 

[Goldhock]

Lol, I ordered the Rule 3700. I have a Johnson 2200 which seems to be a good pump so far with minimum amp draw. I have run it over two hours with no issues on a 35 Ah Duracell deep cycle, and 8' of hose. I still want more juice, lol- so bit the bullet and ordered the Rule...I believe the next one up is the 4000, but to much coin! It seems the Rule gets decent reviews, so we'll see!

Thanks again for all your help with all the questions I had thru the last year!

 

[gunflintguy]

Big Bend results from May 15

Well I finally got some time to clean up my concentrates from my trip at Big Bend. I got a total of just over a grain which was a little disappointing in itself.

However, I felt that overall I was happy with the results considering that I had never been digging here before, I couldn’t see the bottom, had to deal with the fast water, and had a hard time just keeping the sniper from heading down the river. I also figure that I could have been working in an area that had already been extensively worked over by other TNET members.

On a plus side, I know that even with the fast water and less than ideal conditions, the sniper can catch the small gold. Most of it was – 70 to -100. I did get some +50.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Love seeing the gold! Big Bend has gold in lots of spots but it is streaky. In many areas the top 6-8 inches pays best and some deeper layers are barren. Harder digging definitely means better gold there too from what I've seen.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, just got back to my hotel in Marlborough MA from a great trip to a gold bearing creek in far NW MA. Almost a two hour drive each way but very worth the drive to get to meet up with David T and dig together. I arrived right on time at 5 pm and there was David's truck but where was he? I know it's his truck because I can see the prospecting book on the front seat! Oh there he is walking across the road toward our vehicles

David had already charmed his way onto private property and found a place for us to dig (and even to park!). Turns out the nice lady's name was Jen and she had been panning once at a tourist site...yes those things DO create allies for us! She went to get her pan and her vial with the flake from the tourist spot after showing us a path down to the creek. We found ourselves on a pretty little brook (creek for us westerners) with a nice bend and the hopeful sign of a cobble bar along the bend. I spent a little time teaching Jen some panning skills while David started digging and classifying some material for his Angus Mackirk to suck down.

After about two gallons of 1/4 classified material we panned out our sample. This is what we found!
the big flake is right in the middle of the pan David is holding. What? You want a close up? Ok:
Here's a shot of me and our host Jen

And some of the final cleanout (not including the gold we added to Jen's vial and all the fine stuff - we tossed those cons in a pan for David to process at home). Each of the three of us got a nice big trophy flake and David got some decent cons to work...a perfect result!

After a couple hours of creek time, the light was fading so we packed up and headed up to the cars. Beers, stories and a bit of relaxing and then it was time to go back to the real world
Thanks again David! I got my first MA gold and had a great time in the creek with you!

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

So glad you got to get some newengland color!! Maybe this bluebird will hold out and colorado will give some up!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Happening now in Villa Rica GA
Ducky and me in one of his local spots.

 

[arizau]

Ducky will have no excuses now.

I will bet you two had fun and a bonus would be to be on the gold.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Oh he's a real prospector: found the spot himself and we got some
Here he is in the post hole I dug in the creek bed (the natural water depth is about an inch). You can see his Bazooka Sniper just behind him...which he very kindly let me run for the morning[emoji3]

And here's the video Ducky made:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAyu1wqIWMGlHP6IZJceORg

 

[Duckwalk]

It was interesting to hear how different my material is compared to the stuff you usually dig.

 

[KevinInColorado]

It was interesting to hear how different my material is compared to the stuff you usually dig.

Oh, that's the truth, amazing how different paydirt is from one place to another!

 

[Duckwalk]

Didnt get a chance to clean up my take yesterday and wont until quite late tonight. If you get a chance go ahead and post your take so i can see what should expect!