PurpleGolds Gold Prospecting Journal

[PurpleGold]

PurpleGold's Gold Prospecting Journal

Greetings Fellow Prospectors,
I've decided to document my misadventures and hopefully gain some knowledge as you all help me improve. I'd like this to be a place for everyone to feel they can offer advice and opinions as I am definitely on the up hill battle of the learning curve.

A beautiful day to be out on the water


On Saturday 2-6-16 I took out the 30" Sniper Bazooka Gold Trap to Arapahoe Bar near beautiful Golden, CO. This was my first time using a zooka and I must say there is more I need to learn. I struggled a bit with getting the angle and water to flow proper. I spent too much time building a dam. I also stupidly dug in random spots. I should've dug from the spot I panned the last few weeks and knew there was good gold. I was out for 3 hours and probably processed about 5 buckets of material. I also stupidly couldn't wait to see what gold has been trapped so I cleaned out after an hour and panned the cons. The wind was blowing crazy and I think the wind actually pushed my hand a few times while panning and I think I dumped gold out of my pan. I saw a big flake about a centimeter from the lip of the pan. Of course I was too excited and anxious to think about a catch pan. I'm still learning...

Can anyone tell me how I could've improved my setup? I feel I had to help the 2" or so rocks over the grizzlies to often and possibly my down stream end was too low?


You call that a dam? Now this is a dam! Worked way too much on it and probably didn't need to at all.


I call every outing and adventure a success because I had fun. I did find the biggest flake I have ever pulled from a stream! I'm not keen yet on classified sizes of material and total weight of clean gold but I will get there. I love this hobby and can't get enough.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

PurpleGold's Gold Prospecting Journal

God first outing PG
Yes, you are right, you need to pick a spot where the downstream end is out of the water if you want the larger rocks (golf ball sized) to clear. Get the grizzly bars closer to horizontal (but not too steep if you want to catch the fine gold (-50) consistently...and trust me, you DO!). Too steep would mean horizontal bars or past that.

PS nice dam...you know I love dam making but quick is also good in initial dam building. You can always toss your tailings on the dam as you go to improve it.

PPS I usually clean out hourly too. Not because I need to but because it's a nice break from digging and let's me keep an eye on how rich the paydirt is in my hole.

Oh, and glad to see you start a journal. Looking forward to following your adventures and perhaps making a guest appearance in our of your pics one day soon

 

[Goldwasher]

The water just looks slow man. It makes it hard. Your Bazooka is too submerged for that speed. Try to find a narrower spot where the water is faster. If you can that is I don't know whta the rest of the creek is like. i would make a dam the whole way across and make a noth for the sniper.

 

[Aufisher]

The water looks faster on the right side of the pic

 

[PurpleGold]

God first outing PG
Yes, you are right, you need to pick a spot where the downstream end is out of the water if you want the larger rocks (golf ball sized) to clear. Get the grizzly bars closer to horizontal (but not too steep if you want to catch the fine gold (-50) consistently...and trust me, you DO!). Too steep would mean horizontal bars or past that.

PS nice dam...you know I love dam making but quick is also good in initial dam building. You can always toss your tailings on the dam as you go to improve it.

PPS I usually clean out hourly too. Not because I need to but because it's a nice break from digging and let's me keep an eye on how rich the paydirt is in my hole.

Oh, and glad to see you start a journal. Looking forward to following your adventures and perhaps making a guest appearance in our of your pics one day soon

Thanks for the input Kevin! You know I had it set with the downstream end out of the water for a few minutes at one point. I did notice the slurry in the trap seemed like it was flowing out smoothly but I felt that it was wrong for some reason. I think I'm even more anxious to get back out now with these lessons learned. I will also be getting those grizzlies more horizontal. That totally makes sense and cents.

The water just looks slow man. It makes it hard. Your Bazooka is too submerged for that speed. Try to find a narrower spot where the water is faster. If you can that is I don't know whta the rest of the creek is like. i would make a dam the whole way across and make a noth for the sniper.

You are totally right. I will be picking a higher flowing spot next time. With how much water is flowing now at Arapahoe Bar I could probably pick a spot that doesn't need a dam just a few large stones to hold it in place.

The water looks faster on the right side of the pic

After taking time to reflect I totally agree. In the moment I felt like it was the best course of action. I was digging on a dry cobblestone bar so I attempted to make placement more easy for feeding the material. I made my bazooka placement way too complicated. Next time I'm going to use all the advice given here and keep it more simple.

 

[mytimetoshine]

First of all. That first picture is gorgeous, post card worthy. You can't possibly have a bad day while looking at that scenery!

Epic dam brother...enough for 10 sluice boxes! I'm sure others will appreciate your efforts

Your on the right path man. The Bazooka is much easier to set up and run then other sluice but it's not as easy as it sounds.. it's just like gold panning. You think, that can't be hard? And it's not.. but if you compared your skills with it today vs the first time you've gotten much better at it. Although I wouldn't worry about losing gold out of the pan. Gold pan rules for recovery, always has always will. Sluice gets you more material but errors are magnified 10x.

Im still only 50/50 with my bazooka set up. And the other day I set up a drop riffle and it was a disaster.

In my opinion l, and it's tuff to tell from pictures exactly what the drop and flow are but it looks a bit steep, combined with the trap completely submerged was the problem. That being said. You need to just forget about the idea that the grizzlies will be 100% self clearing. Under absolutely perfect conditions, yes it does but 95% of the time you will have to assist the gravel but that's still a small price to pay for processing more material. There are several techniques you can use to clear and process material through your bazooka with non optimal conditions. And in reality no matter what you have to tend a lot when running a zook because the tailing at up quick! One thing I like to do in low flow is position my self in front of the trap while feeding material, then I can just rake the large stuff over the grizzlies with my hands and move tailings at the same time. As long as you have water volume which you do the trap will fluidize fairly easily even when there's not a lot of speed going over the top.

Good news is you are on the right track and have the right sluice! Good luck and can't wait to see the shine!

 

[goldenmojo]

The water is definitely slow. I can't tell from the pic but you might could dig out your center trough deeper and farther downstream. Then line the sides of the trough with cobble and finish your dam across the creek which will force all the water down the trough. Then suspend your bazooka in such a way as to keep the nose out of the water or do Plan B. Find a different spot.

 

[Goldwasher]

First of all. That first picture is gorgeous, post card worthy. You can't possibly have a bad day while looking at that scenery!

Epic dam brother...enough for 10 sluice boxes! I'm sure others will appreciate your efforts

Your on the right path man. The Bazooka is much easier to set up and run then other sluice but it's not as easy as it sounds.. it's just like gold panning. You think, that can't be hard? And it's not.. but if you compared your skills with it today vs the first time you've gotten much better at it. Although I wouldn't worry about losing gold out of the pan. Gold pan rules for recovery, always has always will. Sluice gets you more material but errors are magnified 10x.

Im still only 50/50 with my bazooka set up. And the other day I set up a drop riffle and it was a disaster.

In my opinion l, and it's tuff to tell from pictures exactly what the drop and flow are but it looks a bit steep, combined with the trap completely submerged was the problem. That being said. You need to just forget about the idea that the grizzlies will be 100% self clearing. Under absolutely perfect conditions, yes it does but 95% of the time you will have to assist the gravel but that's still a small price to pay for processing more material. There are several techniques you can use to clear and process material through your bazooka with non optimal conditions. And in reality no matter what you have to tend a lot when running a zook because the tailing at up quick! One thing I like to do in low flow is position my self in front of the trap while feeding material, then I can just rake the large stuff over the grizzlies with my hands and move tailings at the same time. As long as you have water volume which you do the trap will fluidize fairly easily even when there's not a lot of speed going over the top.

Good news is you are on the right track and have the right sluice! Good luck and can't wait to see the shine!

should be something like...." MOSTLY self clearing 100 % of the time"

 

[Goldwasher]

Here's my 36 prospector running about as good as you can get

 

[mytimetoshine]

should be something like...." MOSTLY self clearing 100 % of the time"

Still learning...

but ideal set up Conditions on the ground I have access too is not easy to come by

 

[mytimetoshine]

Here's my 36 prospector running about as good as you can get

YUP! There you go. Perfection, a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Mountain gold]

PurpleGold's Gold Prospecting Journal

Hey, I like that BGT!!! I live about 10 minutes from Arapaho Bar, that is my normal prospecting area.
Maybe we can meet there some time and I'll share what little knowledge I have. Since I got my 36" sniper I used it exclusively up until I found a better sluice!!! The sluice I prefer now is... You guessed it a bigger BGT !!! I lucked across a used 30" prosecutor so now I have the best of both worlds- slow water, I pull out my sniper, fast water I pull out my prospector. Would love to see you out on the stream sometime. I work at the casinos so many days off differ from the normal person (I used to have monday-Tuesday off, but a recent schedule change now has me off Wednesday-Thursday) my wife claims my Wednesdays but Thursdays are mine and I plan to prospect!!! If you have any Thursdays off and want a digging partner just let me know.

 

[PurpleGold]

should be something like...." MOSTLY self clearing 100 % of the time"

That's exactly how I feel it should be. I'm such a green horn though that I don't have confidence in what I'm doing with it yet.

Here's my 36 prospector running about as good as you can get

Thank you for that pic. Absolutely Gorgeous.

YUP! There you go. Perfection, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Exactly what I think. I now have a clear picture (literally) of what I will be going for on my next outing.

Hey, I like that BGT!!! I live about 10 minutes from Arapaho Bar, that is my normal prospecting area.
Maybe we can meet there some time and I'll share what little knowledge I have. Since I got my 36" sniper I used it exclusively up until I found a better sluice!!! The sluice I prefer now is... You guessed it a bigger BGT !!! I lucked across a used 30" prosecutor so now I have the best of both worlds- slow water, I pull out my sniper, fast water I pull out my prospector. Would love to see you out on the stream sometime. I work at the casinos so many days off differ from the normal person (I used to have monday-Tuesday off, but a recent schedule change now has me off Wednesday-Thursday) my wife claims my Wednesdays but Thursdays are mine and I plan to prospect!!! If you have any Thursdays off and want a digging partner just let me know.

Hey Mountain gold, it's good to have you aboard and I would totally enjoy meeting up out there sometime. I'm a M-F 9-5er so my weekends are my glorious time to find the shine. I got the fever so bad lately though that I am tempted on most days to take a personal mental health day off and hit a stream.

I'm super stoked on this advice given by all you guys. The pic of that prospector posted by Goldwasher is better than a playboy centerfold in my mind right now.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Here's my 36 prospector running about as good as you can get

Pretty shot. My ideal would have just a little more drop to shed rocks better without changing the shape of the fluid bed too much.
...Kinda like saying I like a gal with a bit more curves - to reference another post

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey Purp, are you trying to get out on Sunday? I'll get us on some decent gold for sure if you have the time. I still need my .5 gram day on the sluice.

 

[PurpleGold]

Sadly not this weekend, I'm flying out to LA for work. I'd definitely enjoy meeting up sometime. Honestly a .5 gram day would make my year! Maybe we can work together to get there.

 

[Goldwasher]

Pretty shot. My ideal would have just a little more drop to shed rocks better without changing the shape of the fluid bed too much.
...Kinda like saying I like a gal with a bit more curves - to reference another post

There's a lot of flow kevin. Hard to see in the pic it's that way because rocks were clearing

 

[KevinInColorado]

There's a lot of flow kevin. Hard to see in the pic it's that way because rocks were clearing

I happily stand corrected and bow to your expertise
...no really, I do!

 

[Goldwasher]

I happily stand corrected and bow to your expertise
...no really, I do!

kev your a bazooka pro and know your stuff....I had to show a better pic so I could show that I was running at proper Colorado specs.....
Its nice when you can run flatter and with that much water the trap is very fluid. And as I've mentioned before try to get that output end out the water.

 

[PurpleGold]

I went out to Arapahoe Bar on Saturday 2-20-16 from about 3pm-5pm. It was nice to be out on the water.



I setup the 30" Sniper much easier this time. I found a spot that had good flow and a nice drop. I just set it and forget it. I took random samples from around again and just wanted to watch the skid plate to see if I could see gold. I still have the cons to pan out at home and I'm guessing I do not have that much as I only noticed a few small specks.



I got the down stream end out of the water a bit. Only the larger 3"+ rocks needed help over the grizzlies but most cleared on its own.



I had to grab this shot just because



I have Gold Fever bad. Call me stupid but I ordered a bag of Felix Gourmet Gold Alaskan paydirt and panned that out yesterday because I needed to see color. It was fun. I'll pan out the cons from Saturdays trip this week sometime and update on how little I trapped. I'm going to start another thread on this Felix experience and give my review.