Gravity HighBanker - Quiet & Efficient

[Sorehands]

I suspect that many of you already know about this option and I am just really slow to find it. Figured I might share some decent results:


Over the past couple of weeks I have completely failed my attempts to build a gravity dredge. However, I have found a great way to highbank - in silence.

If you are prospecting in places with a lot of small gold and you like to classify your material using tubs or buckets (I classify to !/4 inch using a screen placed over a tub), you might like this option.

Usually, I dump shovelfuls of material onto my classifying screen sitting over a 20 Gallon Tub. Once the screen is full, I use a gold pan to splash water over the material and push it back and forth until all the screened material goes through and then I dump the larger rocks to the side. Once the tub is full, I usually drag the tub to a section of the stream that has enough moving water to run a sluice-box. I favor a McKirk Boss. Then I use a garden hand-shovel to run the classified material through the sluicebox. I get great results, find virtually nothing in my tailings and recover a lot of fine gold - but it is time consuming.

So I used two 4" by 75' basic corrugated flexible hoses, to take advantage of the vertical drop in the stream. I built a frame to hold the 1/4" classifying screen, the downstream end of the hoses (which I capped and poked holes into (the last 3 feet) and a sheet metal tray that feeds water/material through the sluicebox. It works extremely well, no pumps needed, no humping marine batteries to/from your access point. The water volume of the two 4" houses matches pretty well to send the right amount of water to properly run the sluice. I am more than twice as productive this way, without sacrificing anything.

It is inexpensive, easy to do, is relatively light, and allows you to highbank at will. I tend to prospect in very remote areas of northern GA, and usually walk a long ways to get to a stream, usually leave my equipment streamside (under a tarp and some leaves. I brought the 4" pipe into the place I am working now - in 50' lengths and just use a coupling. This particular stream does not have a great deal of vertical drop so in some areas I need all 100 feet of length, other times 50' is plenty. Hopefully this is something some of you can use. I have attached a few pics and an afternoon's worth of results. Good Luck!



"It's not about the gold.......It's about LOTS of gold."

 

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[mike(swWash)]

Zesty!

 

[travis.gore.79]

Good idea.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Good idea but put that thing up on the bank so your tailings and classified material ends up out of the creek. Every rock you touch should end up OUT of the creek your working in. Keep your clean processed material seperate, easier and less work in the long run.
Last thing you want to do is have to shovel material later that's already been washed.

 

[ratled]

"It's not about the gold.......It's about LOTS of gold."

Quote of the year!!!!!

 

[N-Lionberger]

Too bad my bench is too high above the current stream to pull such a thing off.

 

[Sorehands]

JohnnyBravo300:

Thank you for the suggestion about pulling the rocks out of the streambed. Most of the GA streams banks are several feet high. The vertical drop for this/most streams around here is not enough to lift the water high enough to run the gravity banker. I also like to back-fill my digging so I restore as I go. I do the next best thing in this situation, which is to heavily test-pan the entire area that will hold the gravity banker and sluice - so I don't have to dig twice. I am too old and out of shape to even do a decent job of it the first time.

 

[RTR]

Good luck,looking good !

 

[Goldwasher]

cool
How much drop ( head) do you think you have?

 

[63bkpkr]

Hello SoreHands, and since I've not seen a post from you before, likely I was not wearing my glasses, Welcome to Tnet!

Your setup is interesting , a large 1/4" classifier, plenty of water to wash the raw material and an efficient sluice-box for sorting the 'fines' from the screening operation. A question for you - how much do you have invested in the entire system?

Next question for the Tnet group especially folks like Kevin of Colorado - I'm looking for an educated comparison of either or both a good sized BGT or GGT to this gravity drop washing system this would require actually Owning and Using one or both of the BGT or GGT units. Also please indicate the size BGT or GGT you are using to compare to SoreHands system.

I'm interested in comparing the cost of the systems, the ease of use in high water or low water (especially low water), and any other comparisons you would like to add to this like ease of bringing the system in and out though SoreHands has indicated he brings it in and hides it in between uses.

The large screening/classifying area with Lot's of water to wash under lower pressure should do a good job though any 'sticky stuff' will take extra effort to wash off/break down just like any other system and of course the height of the "wash plant" would be easier on the back as long as a person did not try to lift a large amount at any given time (2 1/2 gallon bucket full or less with each lift). Ok, any thoughts!

Thank you SoreHands for sharing your system with us as any input always adds possibilities of Optional variations to any type of system............63bkpkr

 

[Johnnybravo300]

I dont think his system would give the tubes the correct flow or pressure. They take alot of water. Probably an Angus is best, or any common sluice. Plus the tubes would get clogged easily if its anywhere around the classification area. Leaves, small rocks and clay wreak havoc for any gold trap style sluices with the tubes when debris gets inside them. They can have issues when the water isnt nice and clean.

 

[Hamfist]

63bkpkr, this isn't going to work well with a fluid bed sluice for reasons mentions above. They are also notoriously difficult to convert to conventional highbankers, let alone ones where the pressure and volume are dictated by hundreds of feet of 4" hose.

In the photos, this system is set up in a stream, so why not just build a wing dam and run a BGT or GGT? They have classifiers built right in and you won't have to deal with 100 lbs of hose and a separate classifier. A gravity fed system does not increase volume, only pressure, which you can accomplish with a dam or by setting up in a place where the water flows faster. It seems like the biggest advantage to this gravity fed system is classification. It's a creative and effective solution, but probably not the one I would choose if I had to hike more than a 1/4 mile.

 

[Bejay]

Quiet becomes a key beneficial factor lately in some areas of the country.

Bejay

 

[deserdog]

If it is working well for you, don't change a thing! You can spend time tinkering trying to recover as little more gold or just move more material and recover more gold.