Another gold cube question

[2020hindsite]

I know the gold cube requires a #8 classifier.
If I was to classify smaller would it help the cube capture even smaller gold?
Thank you

 

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[Seden]

Absolutely! It's would be the same for a sluice ,highbanker or even a drywasher. You always want to find the average size of the gold in the area you are working then screen to that size. You will increase you take doing that. I love my gold cube as it definately increased my take of the -50 mesh stuff that was falling off the end of my previous gold equipment.

Hope this helps,

Randy

 

[russau]

i also agree with Randy on the G.Cube! i really like mine! anytime you can get specific gravity to work for you, you will save finer and more gold!

 

[2020hindsite]

Makes sense, thank you
Now a few more if you would be so kind...

1-can I run the gold cube off of the garden hose attachment on my Proline HP200 pump?
Let's say I was dredging, can I run the cube at the same time to clean cons and have another person using the cube as I dredge?

2-why the 4 stack? Every time I read about the cube everyone says 99% of your gold is in the first two trays and once in a while the 3rd tray will have a speck or two. Isn't 4 trays unnecessary?

 

[Jason in Enid]

a four-tray has 3 recovery levels. The first tray is is your slick plate.

 

[Goodyguy]

Makes sense, thank you
Now a few more if you would be so kind...

1-can I run the gold cube off of the garden hose attachment on my Proline HP200 pump?

A. As long as you can maintain around 1100GPH flow from the attachment

Let's say I was dredging, can I run the cube at the same time to clean cons and have another person using the cube as I dredge?

A. As long as you can maintain the 1100GPH flow.

2-why the 4 stack? Every time I read about the cube everyone says 99% of your gold is in the first two trays and once in a while the 3rd tray will have a speck or two. Isn't 4 trays unnecessary?

A. Some overkill with the 4 stack, but you can feed faster and go much longer between clean ups.

GG~

 

[DizzyDigger]

I always try to classify a screen size above the average size of gold
in the area, as that way I don't miss the above average pieces.

 

[russau]

using your port on your pump will pull precious water pressure from your venturi that i most cases are despritly needed. plus if you start/stop either one very often itll effect the other that is still running. i tried useing 1 water pump to run 2 highbankers with a 2 inch "Y" that i made a long time ago and the other guy would valve his HB off and it blasted my sluice! never again!

 

[Goodyguy]

The bilge pump that comes with the gold cube will run all day long on a 12V deep cycle battery with no change in GPH.
I use the smaller powerchair size battery with mine. (same size as a riding lawnmower battery except it's deep cycle)

GG~

 

[2020hindsite]

Thank you so much. I have a few more questions too and please know it's appreciated.
Let's say I classify to a few different sizes, I run each separately and now I understand if I classify smaller I will usually capture more fine gold.
Would I run for example my #8 material then clean out before I run my #12 material or can I run all of the different sizes separately but without cleaning out? I hope that makes sense.
Basically I'm asking can I run all the different materials without cleaning out as long as I run them separately?
Would bigger material dislodge some fine gold?

Another example is can I run dredge cons after running #8 material and still catch most of the gold?
----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Also why not a 5 stack or 6 stack etc? If you can feed faster and clean out less often with a 4 vs a 3 then why not 5 or 6 tray?

 

[russau]

anything more than the 4 stack is a waste!some say a 3 stack is enough,i have a 4 stack and i like it! ........and always clean out before a new size run to prevent any dislodgeing fine gold.DONT run unscreened dredge cons with fine gold left in the sluice. and to run dredge cons youll need the Gold banker top to do it or the bigger rock WILL DEFINATLY get stuck in the "U" shaped section.

 

[Goodyguy]

Thank you so much. I have a few more questions too and please know it's appreciated.
Let's say I classify to a few different sizes, I run each separately and now I understand if I classify smaller I will usually capture more fine gold.
Would I run for example my #8 material then clean out before I run my #12 material or can I run all of the different sizes separately but without cleaning out? I hope that makes sense.
Basically I'm asking can I run all the different materials without cleaning out as long as I run them separately?
Would bigger material dislodge some fine gold?

Another example is can I run dredge cons after running #8 material and still catch most of the gold?
----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Also why not a 5 stack or 6 stack etc? If you can feed faster and clean out less often with a 4 vs a 3 then why not 5 or 6 tray?

The 3 stack is plenty to run 40 five gallon buckets full of concentrates before a clean up and even then most of the gold will be found in the first matted tray and usually not any lower than the middle of the next matted tray. But lets say you are finding gold close to the bottom end of the last tray, well then you may want to go to a 4 stack and so on.

However, clean ups are so easy with the gold cube it just makes sense to limit the expense and the amount of equipment needed on site to what is necessary.

Personally I have no trouble running all 1/8" (8 mesh) classified material through the cube without further classification and have found no gold loss after thoroughly testing the tailings.

When it comes to processing the super concentrate from the cube lets say on a Miller table or blue bowl then much more classification is necessary and each must be run separately.

GG~

 

[2020hindsite]

40- 5 gallon buckets?
I heard that 40 buckets is roughly a yard or 2000 lbs of material. Is that roughly accurate?

I read the GC recommends clean up after 1000 lbs?

 

[Goodyguy]

40- 5 gallon buckets?
I heard that 40 buckets is roughly a yard or 2000 lbs of material. Is that roughly accurate?

I read the GC recommends clean up after 1000 lbs?

Oops, I should have said 16 Five gallon buckets.
And yes 40 Five gallon buckets is approx 1 yard of material.
The Gold Cube is capable of processing 1000 lbs of material an hour, roughly 16 Five gallon buckets full.

I made my own, a larger version with 2 feet of vortex in each tray instead of a foot (comparable to a 5 stack) and although it's capable of going 30-40 buckets between clean outs I usually clean up after every 10 or so.





GG~

 

[2020hindsite]

FINALLY BOUGHT A GC 4 stack thanks to the help of everyone especially GG on this one.

I ran my cons and I love it! It was flawless as far as I am concerned.
Then...
I took it to the creek and ran into a few more issues/questions.

I noticed that the hose from the pump to the slick plate is very short and basically sits where the discharge comes out. For such an awesome piece of equipment you'd think they would give you an extra 2 feet of hose.
I'm wondering about picking up some hose from Home Depot and wondering of someone else has run into this.

I was wondering how sensitive the GC is to water changes? I see people selling gold bankers of a few types and am wondering if I could build my own? It doesn't look complicated but don't want to overwhelm the cube with too much water.

Will stopping and starting the water blow out gold from the cube?
I imagine it's not great to do but doesn't appear to be as sensitive as stop/starts as a dredge.
Thank you

 

[KevinInColorado]

FINALLY BOUGHT A GC 4 stack thanks to the help of everyone especially GG on this one. I ran my cons and I love it! It was flawless as far as I am concerned. Then... I took it to the creek and ran into a few more issues/questions. I noticed that the hose from the pump to the slick plate is very short and basically sits where the discharge comes out. For such an awesome piece of equipment you'd think they would give you an extra 2 feet of hose. I'm wondering about picking up some hose from Home Depot and wondering of someone else has run into this. I was wondering how sensitive the GC is to water changes? I see people selling gold bankers of a few types and am wondering if I could build my own? It doesn't look complicated but don't want to overwhelm the cube with too much water. Will stopping and starting the water blow out gold from the cube? I imagine it's not great to do but doesn't appear to be as sensitive as stop/starts as a dredge. Thank you

Even the manufacturer makes a topper to use it as a high banker. Having used it I would say it is good for some uses but in many cases you are better off classifying with a beefier system than will sit on top of a GC. You will move more material that way.

Once you start feeding material, keep the water flowing until clan out. Sorry but start/stop/start WILL lose gold due to formation of bubbles in the mats while the water is off. Just leave the pump running, simple rule.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Oops, I should have said 16 Five gallon buckets. And yes 40 Five gallon buckets is approx 1 yard of material. The Gold Cube is capable of processing 1000 lbs of material an hour, roughly 16 Five gallon buckets full. I made my own, a larger version with 2 feet of vortex in each tray instead of a foot (comparable to a 5 stack) and although it's capable of going 30-40 buckets between clean outs I usually clean up after every 10 or so. <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=871493"/> GG~

GG does yours have the under flow feature of the GC too?

 

[Goodyguy]

GG does yours have the under flow feature of the GC too?

YES!

But I designed mine to be about 1-1/2" deeper creating more of a trap to capture any nuggets too large to fit into the pockets of the vortex in case I decide to run larger than 1/8" classified material.

I haven't run larger than 1/8" yet in the field but during testing where I used some larger than 1/8" nuggets mixed in with test material the nuggets were caught in the first trap after the slick plate so they never even made it to the mat.

GG~

 

[Goodyguy]

Even the manufacturer makes a topper to use it as a high banker. Having used it I would say it is good for some uses but in many cases you are better off classifying with a beefier system than will sit on top of a GC. You will move more material that way.

Once you start feeding material, keep the water flowing until clan out. Sorry but start/stop/start WILL lose gold due to formation of bubbles in the mats while the water is off. Just leave the pump running, simple rule.

Speaking of bubbles.......
At start up make sure you get rid of the air pockets that form in the mats before you run any material. I use a long haired brush on mine and dab the mats while the water is running. Some times I cheat and use a wetting agent. Too much though and it will cause bubbles.

Some folks "spank" the mats by slapping them by hand while the water is running to release the air pockets, either way the air needs to be removed before running material.

GG~

 

[Goodyguy]

FINALLY BOUGHT A GC 4 stack thanks to the help of everyone especially GG on this one.
I noticed that the hose from the pump to the slick plate is very short and basically sits where the discharge comes out. For such an awesome piece of equipment you'd think they would give you an extra 2 feet of hose.
I'm wondering about picking up some hose from Home Depot and wondering of someone else has run into this.

With the short hose, just turn your cube to be parallel with the creek that way your pump will be further away from the discharge.
That or get a longer hose.

GG~