Mid-Mich sluicing/panning ?

[DynoGuy]

Ok I brought my BGT Prospector/Mini combo, a couple of pans and a 1/4" classifer to my inlaws place up near Westbranch, Mi. I have never tryed to prospect here before but have walked the creeks on his property. I went to the one i think would be the best chance of finding something, the 2 problems i'm having is the sections that aren't covered in ice have a lot of heavy sticky gray clay. Would i be correct in thinking that this would act like bedrock so i don't need to waste my time with these spots at this time with the equippment i have with me right now(it appears that i may have some very fine flour gold in some of my black sands that came from open gravel spots but will need to take it home & run it on my table). The other problem is this creek is running a little slow for the Mini as the classified material doesn't want to self clean as easy as i believe it should (i have only had these out twice now both in very low gold bearing areas but mainly trying to figure how to use before i go out next week in Uwharrie NF).
Btw i'll only have tomorrow to go out before heading home.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Good questions...the clay would act as a false bedrock. To run the Mini, you probably need to build a little dam out of rocks or whatever to focus the water's energy. The mini only needs 3 gallons per minute thru the lower section but you are right that the top won't clear if the stream is too lazy.

Definitely look for the gravel patches...focus wherever you see the larger rocks (like maybe baseball sized or bigger ideally). That said, it never hurts to run a sample pan on whatever material you find..

 

[DynoGuy]

Thanks Kevin, yea this clay is like really wet modeling clay. I had built a dam when using the sluice just seemed too slow process using the sluice since the classifer i brought is a little to big for condictions it just seems faster to just pan . I guess i'll just work for cons and bring home to go thru since todays high is going to be 30deg.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Brrr, my respect to you for getting out on such a cold day! (Of course I do the same but still...)

Take some pics of your spot for us

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks but pic uploading is not working today Tomorrow maybe?)

Congrats on finding some of that elusive michigan gold!

 

[DynoGuy]

Ok trying from my phone with very poor reception. I'll try agian later today when i get to my folks in Toledo.

 

[DynoGuy]

Ok tryed to repost but didnt seem to work agian so i'll have to wait till i get home tomorrow evening.

 

[DynoGuy]

Ok so here is a picture of setting up my BGT Prospector in one of the creeks on my inlaws property(he has 90ac), as you can see there was a little snow.


Picture of my Mini in action on day 2 got it set up muck better this day.


Picture on my Prospector in action on day one just not enough water flow so I switched to the Mini but didn't get it right so just used the pan to cover a little more ground.
The creeks were pretty much covered with ice so I had to find open spots, there was about 12"-15" of snow in the woods. It was 35° on Saturday and 25° on Sunday. With family around I only got to go out for few hours on sat. and then went out to another spot that I seen with open water on sun. for a couple of hours. All in all I'll have to go back in warmer weather and maybe take a dredge with me to better work these creeks in the shorter time period I'd have to get up there and back (about 800 miles).

edit: Sorry for the big pics, I'll have to work on figuring on how to post pictures better.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great pics, the size is fine (I think tnet sorts that out auto-magically). Welcome to the fraternity of the snowy prospectors! PS: So where did you get the cool fold away legs for the Bazooka? I want this!

 

[DynoGuy]

I made them myself. 5/16" threaded rod w/lg. fender washer welded to one end, wing nut to lock it in. The bracket was made from some left over aluminum solid angle (drilled & taped for the threaded rod), then I drilled 2 holes on the side that attached to the sluice. I pop riveted the lower hole to the sluice (closest to the rod) so it'll pivot and then use a 1/4" stainless bolt with a thumb nut to be able to set it in a upright position or attach the header plate I'm going to make to use my Gold & Sand hand dredge. I'll take a closer pic of it tomorrow if you want as I'm in watching football now. I most likely will make a better "L" bracket, with a little more beef on it, later if this seems like it will work out (still would keep something there to help from sluice from sliding back). I worked on my home made Miller table today, just got to figure out what pump I want to use and finish the plumbing.

 

[Herb Boyd]

Lots of rumors about gold in the area just North of where you are working...I dealt in Gold/Silver in mid and NW lower for years, saw some color that was supposed to be from Harrison area...

 

[KevinInColorado]

I made them myself. 5/16" threaded rod w/lg. fender washer welded to one end, wing nut to lock it in. The bracket was made from some left over aluminum solid angle (drilled & taped for the threaded rod), then I drilled 2 holes on the side that attached to the sluice. I pop riveted the lower hole to the sluice (closest to the rod) so it'll pivot and then use a 1/4" stainless bolt with a thumb nut to be able to set it in a upright position or attach the header plate I'm going to make to use my Gold & Sand hand dredge. I'll take a closer pic of it tomorrow if you want as I'm in watching football now. I most likely will make a better "L" bracket, with a little more beef on it, later if this seems like it will work out (still would keep something there to help from sluice from sliding back). I worked on my home made Miller table today, just got to figure out what pump I want to use and finish the plumbing.

impressive!

 

[DynoGuy]

Kevin here is a close up of my legs, like I said I'm going to make another bracket later as soon I figure out if I want to keep it.




And here is one of the start of my Miller table.

12" x 24" ceramic floor tile, the sides are 1" x 3" PVC edging board.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Totally awesome...any chance I can convince you to make me a pair?

 

[DynoGuy]

Let me get thru this beta testing, i have a feeling that i'll need a little stronger bracket but the agian if its too strong it could crack the sluice than just breaking the cheaper bracket. Right now its not to intrusive to carry but i'm going out tomorrow and will backpack this in (going to Uwharrie NF sat & sun). I'd like to be able to keep the legs on it while transporting (just for packing in) for quicker setup but may need to remove if this becomes a problem. I've been thinking about going to the pool supply place and get a couple of the tubes you fill to hold down a cover, thought that may work for a portable wing dam since i'm carrying a small 12v bigle pump to pump out creekside holes anyway I could use this to fill them up. Have you seen that done?

 

[KevinInColorado]

No, I haven't seen that done but it's a cool idea! That said, most guys who try making portable wingdams give up on it as a few rocks are all they really need. Still as a guy who builds serious dams to channel the whole creek thru my sluice, i can see the appeal.

 

[DynoGuy]

Yea just thinking about my first thought was a couple of sections of that black plastic yard edging in say 2 4' sections. roll it up to transport, then had the idea of using those water tubes as they'd pack easier and would should set up in creek better. Just tryung to get the most water to run thru the bazooka since it needs more than my A52 clone.