Kevins own thread - a journal (but feel free to post random thoughts)

[KevinInColorado]

Kevin's own thread - a journal (but feel free to post random thoughts)

It's basically using a rock tumbler to crush your super cons after you get all the visible gold out. I'm too cheap to buy a rock tumbler so I made one out of an old inkjet printer and the canister pictured. As you can see it breaks up the material and flattens the gold particles hidden in the brittle sands.

The gold and sand pictured were from one of several experiments I ran...this one was all magnetic material at the start. After processing, a surprising amount of non-mag material was liberated due to shattering the granules, and of course the gold

 

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[GoldpannerDave]

What is this rod mill business? Sound interesting, what's it all about?

Link to thread:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/456622-simple-solution-fine-gold-recovery-4.html#post4510846

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Got out to my honey hole for an hour of digging today and managed to run my Sniper toooo steep. It can be done. Net result, I lost about 1/2 the gold into my tailings. How did I know? By both the small amount of material in my cleanout pan and the exclusively large size of the gold. What did I do? Easy, I just reset the sluice and reran my tailings. A quick and productive process.

Here's a pic of that first cleanout with just larger gold:
View attachment 1152402
And the final result:
View attachment 1152497

And now, the angles were, drum-roll please ....

Too steep ______________ Just right ________________

 

[KevinInColorado]

Oops, don't know. I'm a failure, sorry. I would guess the too steep was like a 30 degree angle and backing off to 20 degrees did the job. Just guessing sorry.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Link to thread:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/panning-gold/456622-simple-solution-fine-gold-recovery-4.html#post4510846

Awesome! I love this idea. Im gonna have to try this..Thanks for the link

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Why was I thinking everyone was out there with their level and ruler?

I have an idea for you. Not sure if it is new, but it is new to the inside of my skull.

Get one of the smallest sand blaster units available. Get a good sized section of steel box or tube. Maybe 2" x a foot. Use your black sands as the feedstock. Attach the nozzle angled downward through a tight fitting hole near the top of the vertical steel with the steel mounted so as to hang into a pail. Fill the pail about half way with water (experiment and let us know how much is good).

This should result in all the sands broken in a quick run. You might even have a gold spot splattered on the wall of the tube

Otherwise those smashed pieces can be panned from the water.

Probably a good idea to cap the tube while it is running.

Please put my name on the patent

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Another idea that seems obvious is to melt the sands. Well not exactly melt the sands, but try. The gold will melt at 1063 C but your stainless smelter pot and the magnetite will not (more like 1500 C for them).

All the gold should drip down to the bottom. Dump out the sand, and leave the gold in there for the next batch. The only trick to make sure you have gotten the entire batch up to about 1100C. At that point you can stir it up real good and spoon out the sands (or maybe just 75% of them) and refill with new material. When you are all done you should have the gold at the bottom with just a little bit of sand stuck 'floating' on it. Get it out in one piece and you have a specimen of black sand paper gold

Tilt the pan before it cools and get black sand gold wedgie

Pour it into a thin mold on edge and any sand left would be just in the small area floating on top. Cut that part off for the next batch.

Let me know when I should stop

 

[KevinInColorado]

Love the creativity, keep it up!

PS anyone in Denver area have a sand blasting setup? I'd love to try that idea!

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

I think they make some really small feed hopper units that all you need to add is compressed air. Google away!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thought you'd like to see part of my lead collection
..,all panned/sluiced out of creeks of course

 

[mytimetoshine]

are those air gun pellets I'm seeing?

 

[KevinInColorado]

A lot of them yes. The birdshot tends to settle under the air gun pellets.

 

[Duckwalk]

I see what looks like miniball bullets too

 

[mytimetoshine]

A lot of them yes. The birdshot tends to settle under the air gun pellets.

Wow! Somebody was busy with there #Daisy

 

[goldog]

That's a lot of lead Kevin. Lbs and lbs.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

That stuff is not all hydraulically equivalent, certainly that .22 case would have washed out of a pile of lead!!

 

[Rob in KS]

That's a lot of lead Kevin. Lbs and lbs.

You should melt it down and cast a bar...then paint it gold.
It'd look great sitting on your coffee table

 

[gunflintguy]

Kevin,

Well I made it out to Big Bend these last 3 mornings. It was an experience I soon won’t forget. If I didn’t stake the BGT sniper down to the river bed with a 2 foot section of re-bar it would have been gone in seconds. The river was really moving and trying anything like a wing dam to hold it was fruitless.

I ended up setting up at the front of the exposed gravel bar closest to the bridge and just started digging. I have no idea how deep I was in the gravel but the river was at least a foot deep.

I did do a quick test pan each day of my concentrates when I was done and I did have colors, however no photos at this point. I will have to wait till I get back to Minnesota for those.

Thanks for the input on the conditions of the river, I almost bypassed Golden on the way home, and after being gone for 2 months on vacation I am glad I didn't.

John

 

[KevinInColorado]

Kevin's own thread - a journal (but feel free to post random thoughts)

made it to the GPAA Denver Gold and Treasure Show and ran into Kevin Haugland the head of GPAA these days.

Also had friends running 5 booths lol. Good fun!

Got a great deal on a couple of 6 inch classifiers and a 1200 GPH pump for my Bazooka mini-high banker build.

 

[Sideways Sherry]

Kevin is a hoot! I met him at our Pomona show.