matt_unique
Jr. Member
- Jul 16, 2014
- 97
- 63
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I searched through the forum for threads on classifying and cleaning and came across the many references to the Bazooka products. I then searched for threads comparing the A52 to the Bazooka models but hoped to ask a few specific questions.
I panned for gold for roughly 10 years in Maine (Swift River). Prior to college I purchased a Keene A52 but never felt like I got the right water flow. This past weekend I had the opportunity to return to the Swift River (after 20 years) and managed to find my old sluice. I found a few colors panning and was determined to experiment with the A52 until I got the right water flow. I finally figured out what I think was the correct water flow (much faster than I initially thought) as evidenced by the sluice riffles showing mostly red sand and some small stones. When I did the cleanup I found small colors and a lot of black sand.
With the above as context, 20 years ago my back was not as sore after a day of digging, classifying through a pan grizzly, and then panning down to the black sand. Ha ha - funny how that works. I found 6 colors from about 6 hours of work over two days. On the Swift River we mostly have fine flakes that you pick up with a toothpick. Reading about the bazooka of course I am interested in the notion of not having to classify.
1.) For those who have used both the Keene A52 and a Bazooka gold trap sluice, did you find the Bazooka was capable of capturing gold as fine as what can be captured in the A52?
2.) The material available to me in the Swift River is gravel (definitely not fine beach sand) and I was curious if the Bazooka was a good product for this material? The idea of saving my back from classifying with a hand grizzly is appealing if it really works.
3.) I watched some of the Bazooka videos but what sort of material do you get at the cleanup phase? Is it similar to the material I get cleaning out the A52 (small stones, red sand, and black sand)?
4.) Finally, is there a cleanup tool (other than a $2000 magnetic table separator) that will clean this concentrate down to the gold or will it always end in a pan? I read about various circular machines including those with a catch tube at the center.
Even the 6 colors I found this past weekend has given me a bit of the bug again.
Thanks!
--Matt
I panned for gold for roughly 10 years in Maine (Swift River). Prior to college I purchased a Keene A52 but never felt like I got the right water flow. This past weekend I had the opportunity to return to the Swift River (after 20 years) and managed to find my old sluice. I found a few colors panning and was determined to experiment with the A52 until I got the right water flow. I finally figured out what I think was the correct water flow (much faster than I initially thought) as evidenced by the sluice riffles showing mostly red sand and some small stones. When I did the cleanup I found small colors and a lot of black sand.
With the above as context, 20 years ago my back was not as sore after a day of digging, classifying through a pan grizzly, and then panning down to the black sand. Ha ha - funny how that works. I found 6 colors from about 6 hours of work over two days. On the Swift River we mostly have fine flakes that you pick up with a toothpick. Reading about the bazooka of course I am interested in the notion of not having to classify.
1.) For those who have used both the Keene A52 and a Bazooka gold trap sluice, did you find the Bazooka was capable of capturing gold as fine as what can be captured in the A52?
2.) The material available to me in the Swift River is gravel (definitely not fine beach sand) and I was curious if the Bazooka was a good product for this material? The idea of saving my back from classifying with a hand grizzly is appealing if it really works.
3.) I watched some of the Bazooka videos but what sort of material do you get at the cleanup phase? Is it similar to the material I get cleaning out the A52 (small stones, red sand, and black sand)?
4.) Finally, is there a cleanup tool (other than a $2000 magnetic table separator) that will clean this concentrate down to the gold or will it always end in a pan? I read about various circular machines including those with a catch tube at the center.
Even the 6 colors I found this past weekend has given me a bit of the bug again.
Thanks!
--Matt
)
