Dream Mat in Keene 8' banker

[schoolsout]

Well, I've gone from the standard Keene set up with riffles/moss/carpet to Gold Hog and, now, wanting to try Dream Mat. Have done a little research and have a good idea of where to start. Reason for swapping is I think I'm losing a lot of the fine gold as others around me with different set ups seem to consistently do better. Maybe, I'm just not holding my mouth right, as my dad used to say.

Keene is 8' long. Pump is Honda GX (6hp, maybe) with P180 pump. Width of banker is 12" (well, 11.75", I think. Measured old mats I had in garage last night and vaguely remember that being the case when cutting the GH Mats). I've got the Keene grizzly bars (not used at moment) as well as their 1/2" square mesh set up as the grizzly bars were letting larger rocks though the non-welded bars.

Process is shoveling dirt with large to small rocks in hopper, but classified down to about 1/2". Gold is mostly -30 down to -100...do get a picker here and there, but they are small and fairly rare.

I'm currently trying to figure out setting up from crash box on down. Thinking the Jarvine riffles with moss/high v mat under that section then the transition to a 3' section of 12" Combo Mat. Is the 12" on the Dream Mat a true 12"? Would I need to shave the edges a bit to get it to fit in the 11.75" sluice run? After the combo mat, since my run is 8', what would you follow up with? The current sections of the GH mat are about 4' long so I might be able to just stick that in behind the Dream Mat.

I know I'll need to play with flowrate and whatnot, but any ideas on that? This damn pump will put out some water so I do tinker with throttle and valve at box. Not opposed to getting a HF trash pump that puts out less, but that would be last step.

 

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[John-Edmonton]

People are losing flour gold because of too much flow and too much angle. Any of the previous matting will also lose gold under those same conditions. Dream mat is especially vulnerable to losing flour gold. Your best retention will come from drop riffles or miner's moss, with appropriate flow and angle. Flour gold is usually flat, so it will blow out easily, just like a flat piece of cardboard in the wind.

 

[schoolsout]

Hmmmm...well, that's no fun! lol

I may still try it, though. I'm already not making a dollar, but do enjoy being out there and trying different things. There are some out there running dream mat and like it. The big plants out there run the old school riffles/miners moss set ups as it's tried/true.

 

[southfork]

Hmmmm...well, that's no fun! lol

I may still try it, though. I'm already not making a dollar, but do enjoy being out there and trying different things. There are some out there running dream mat and like it. The big plants out there run the old school riffles/miners moss set ups as it's tried/true.

The small gold needs time to drop so play with the flow rates slow down on the feed. Have fun take your time the micro gold adds up.

 

[schoolsout]

Past few times, we slowed down the feed rate. I do tinker with flow, but all the vids from GH seem to show that a higher flow rate isn't all that bad, IIRC. I try to do bare min flow to get everything cleaned up/washed at a satisfactory rate. Most all the gold ends up in the crash box area and not much in the actual GH riffles/mats that are open.

 

[southfork]

Past few times, we slowed down the feed rate. I do tinker with flow, but all the vids from GH seem to show that a higher flow rate isn't all that bad, IIRC. I try to do bare min flow to get everything cleaned up/washed at a satisfactory rate. Most all the gold ends up in the crash box area and not much in the actual GH riffles/mats that are open.

In order to catch the fines, you need to classify down to dust then run slowly. I make a slurry and run slow and able to trap micro gold it adds up in a hurry. Most of the videos I've seen are all running to fast but just a video. And guaranties gold for the next guy.

 

[arizau]

Well, I've gone from the standard Keene set up with riffles/moss/carpet to Gold Hog and, now, wanting to try Dream Mat. Have done a little research and have a good idea of where to start. Reason for swapping is I think I'm losing a lot of the fine gold as others around me with different set ups seem to consistently do better. Maybe, I'm just not holding my mouth right, as my dad used to say.

Keene is 8' long. Pump is Honda GX (6hp, maybe) with P180 pump. Width of banker is 12" (well, 11.75", I think. Measured old mats I had in garage last night and vaguely remember that being the case when cutting the GH Mats). I've got the Keene grizzly bars (not used at moment) as well as their 1/2" square mesh set up as the grizzly bars were letting larger rocks though the non-welded bars.

Process is shoveling dirt with large to small rocks in hopper, but classified down to about 1/2". Gold is mostly -30 down to -100...do get a picker here and there, but they are small and fairly rare.

I'm currently trying to figure out setting up from crash box on down. Thinking the Jarvine riffles with moss/high v mat under that section then the transition to a 3' section of 12" Combo Mat. Is the 12" on the Dream Mat a true 12"? Would I need to shave the edges a bit to get it to fit in the 11.75" sluice run? After the combo mat, since my run is 8', what would you follow up with? The current sections of the GH mat are about 4' long so I might be able to just stick that in behind the Dream Mat.

I know I'll need to play with flowrate and whatnot, but any ideas on that? This damn pump will put out some water so I do tinker with throttle and valve at box. Not opposed to getting a HF trash pump that puts out less, but that would be last step.

Maybe part of the reason for results differing from others around you......Often ultra fine gold (less than 50 mesh) is lost during cleanup panning. If you are not already doing this then, classify your collected concentrates in to batches of only like sized material and pan them separately. I would suggest using 30, 50 and 100 mesh screens.

Good luck.

 

[southfork]

Maybe part of the reason for results differing from others around you......Often ultra fine gold (less than 50 mesh) is lost during cleanup panning. If you are not already doing this then, classify your collected concentrates in to batches of only like sized material and pan them separately. I would suggest using 30, 50 and 100 mesh screens.

Good luck.

Yep that's what we do try to save the micro gold also. I run it over the ribbed sluice and blue bowl.

 

[schoolsout]

Maybe part of the reason for results differing from others around you......Often ultra fine gold (less than 50 mesh) is lost during cleanup panning. If you are not already doing this then, classify your collected concentrates in to batches of only like sized material and pan them separately. I would suggest using 30, 50 and 100 mesh screens.

Good luck.

We classify using 30, 50, 70 and 100 mesh then run each in bluebowl. Have kept everything run through bowl to run again, but have not done that yet.

 

[N-Lionberger]

My favorite for fine gold is expanded metal on top of deep V mat.

 

[schoolsout]

My favorite for fine gold is expanded metal on top of deep V mat.

I've got a lot of that conveyor belt material that is similar to v mat, but has some sort of cross-cut type pattern in it, for lack of better term. It's like rows of squares with some differences in the tops of the squares, if that makes sense. Guy at the claim had a bunch and I bought about 20' for $20. Buddy with the big plants uses it in his gold cube, if I'm not mistaken. Have thought about incorporating that somehow (maybe, if I went back to the Keene type set up with riffles, expanded metal and moss/matt.