Gold Hog Mats ~ Like To Hear From Those Using The Mats

[AzViper]

I am about to build a 60" x 12" x 4" X 0.80 Sluice using Gold Hog Mats. The Sluice will sit under my 12" trommel and will be fed by shovel or 5 gallon buckets. Will be using a pump that can deliver nearly 8000 GPH. Please take a look at the image. I had contacted Doc at Gold Hog and he suggested the configuration in the image below. At the end of the Sluice will be a Fluid Bed Gold Trap. The material that we are digging can range from flake gold to 1/4" diameter gold. The trommel will be classifying to 1/2" before dumping into the Sluice. I would like some input from those who are using the Gold Hog Mats, your thoughts, idea's, what your using, how your using the mats, etc. Thank You In Advance

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[socalocmatt]

Have 2 sluices now that use GH mats. Love em. First is a Keene A51a and the second is a 36" x 12" x 4". The second can be used as a highbanker as well. The configuration you show looks good. I use a similar setup when the 36" sluice is setup as a highbanker.

 

[Jimmydolittle]

Have you seen this? http://www.goldhog.com/goldhogtips.pdf

 

[goldhog]

I like it... but then again I'm prejudiced....

I'll add a couple of notes....

When putting in a new matting config you should start off by taping only.
This allows you to adjust if needed.
Do a test and get to your ideal capture / loss % whatever that may be.
Try and get your water depth about 3/4" - 1" on this config.
Try different pitches, but my GUESS is going to be 7-8 degrees. (Digital angle indicator really helps in the field.)
This config does really well in assisting with settling velocities.
The Scrubber gently lifts the BED LOAD without creating much turbulence.
It also has enough downward pull / low pressure zones / vortexes to draw down the SEDIMENT LOAD which contains most of your VERY fine gold.
As it drops / settles... gold and black sand will drop out first.
So it has to go over the rest of the scrubber and razorback before being lifted again.

I would LOVE to see one strip of very low cut down RiverHog about halfway down, but it's not necessary.
That one strip battles ANY floating gold which is more a factor in very dry environments.
Remember... there are really only 3 ways to reduce surface tension and stop any floating gold.
1- Temperature. Hot water has a lower surface tension. (Not an option for mining though.)
2- Surfactant - such as soap or jet dry. (Not really an option for mining large scale.)
3- Turbulance - If you break the CALM water surface with turbulence, it will destroy almost all the surface tension / greatly reduce it at that point.
That's why on our Viper and Monster we put in a few strips of Riverhog about half way down.

Hope that helps...
Doc

Found this pic to also help...
Sediment and Suspended are the same.

 

[catfishjim90]

I use 5 foot of razorback matting on my bucket sluse,on the missouri river.on a normal day i can catch one or two grains of very fine powder gold.not going to get rich but it keeps this old man going.I love this matting.Will try to post some pic,s

 

[AzViper]

Have you seen this? http://www.goldhog.com/goldhogtips.pdf

Hi Jim,

I had seen it. I am curious what GH mats you are using and order you are using them. Keith

 

[Hoser John]

Low velocity sluicebox maybe,high velocity,high production dredge box never-John

 

[Jimmydolittle]

My highbanker is a modified A-52, and on it I have 2 strips of UR under the grizzly, and the remainder is scrubber. On top of the UR, I, running a piece of 1/2" expanded metal, and on top of that is a 1/4" punch plate that stands about 3/4" off the expanded. On my trommel I'm using 2 pieces of UR, and the remainder, Razor Back with nothing else. When I cleanup the trommel, I don't find any micro fine gold like I do with the highbanker. In my estimation, Gold Hog mats are the way to go!!!!

 

[AzViper]

I would LOVE to see one strip of very low cut down RiverHog about halfway down, but it's not necessary.

Hope that helps...
Doc

I would love if you would throw in a 13" piece of RiverHog when I place my order so I do not have to buy an entire sheet. LOL... Doc, thanks for your input and being part of the forums.

 

[Remnar]

Low velocity sluicebox maybe,high velocity,high production dredge box never-John

I have a homemade highbanker that is 9 inches wide and I run UR,RB,RB,UR,RB,RB,UR,UR in the 4 foot box and then in the extension 18 inches of hog moss over v-mat with expanded on top. That is followed with 3 sections of bedrock mat.

I run the water as hot as I can without boiling out of the upper box. I run a lot of angle and shovel as fast as I can into it. The material we are moving is a finish pile with no rocks larger than a tennis ball. easy shoveling.

I'm not sure if that would be considered high volume in regards to dredging, but I am moving a lot of material.

My extension catches very little gold as the upper box gets the majority. This is on our wonderful Michigan glacial gold dust.

Gold Hog mats.....Love em. Will be eventually replacing the moss with more mats.

Remnar

 

[JohnTrayMD]

Low velocity sluicebox maybe,high velocity,high production dredge box never-John

John, I have never had much luck teaching an old dog new tricks. I have to ask, have you ever tried the GH mats? Before you can make an honest assessment you need to have tested the product, not an armchair assessment of the product. Been reading your post for a long time and doubt you have ever tried the product. Just my two cents.

John Tray MD

 

[TheNewCatfish]

I use the Razorback GoldHog mat in my sluice. It's FANTASTIC. I not only recommend the mats, but the GoldHog website is itself a priceless tool for understanding how to capture gold, what works and what doesn't, and most importantly WHY it works. I've bought hundreds of dollars worth of gimmicky equipment on the internet over the years that proved useless or worse yet counter-productive. This guy not only cares about whether or not you get gold with his equipment, he goes to great lengths to teach his customers WHY these mats work. I give the product and the website FIVE STARS. Excellent place to start if you're building your own sluice.

 

[AzViper]

Personally I have only read rave reviews of the Gold Hog Mats and from the number of those that have posted positive reviews its a no brainer this is the direction I am going. I am sure someone will come along and sound off on the mats as its not going to work for everyone nor is everyone going to run their sluice correctly for the mats. Its really comes down to doing your homework prior to going into the field in using the mats.

With computer modeling one can get a very good idea how the mats react under a number of conditions prior to going into production. Almost everything in our daily lives involve computer modeling prior to going into production and onto the shelves. I welcome new advancements in technology while we all benefit from it. Just think what life would have been like 100 years ago if those who lived then had what we have today with the advancement of technology. My father who is 92 has seen many things in his life and he feels that the technology has passed him by. I showed him my Samsung S4 cell phone with GPS maps and what it could do, he was totally amazed.

 

[AzViper]

My Sluice box arrived today and my Gold Hog Mats will be here next week. I ended up getting, 1 UR mat, 2 Scrubber mats, 1 Razorback, and 1 Riverhog mat. Going to take the suggestion of Doc at GH and not glue the mats together until I find a combination that works. Will use Gorilla Tape to secure the mats to each other on the bottom side.

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[MikeMike]

I only use gold hog mats in my 4 inch Keene triple sluice. The Gorilla Tape holds them together great.

After you get your mats you'll see you will need to invest in a gold cube, because you will be catching so much small stuff as well.

 

[AzViper]

I only use gold hog mats in my 4 inch Keene triple sluice. The Gorilla Tape holds them together great.

After you get your mats you'll see you will need to invest in a gold cube, because you will be catching so much small stuff as well.

No need to purchase a Gold Cube when I have the Blue Bowl to clean up the fine gold. It's a complete recir. system.

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[MikeMike]

Nice little setup you have .

 

[AzViper]

Nice little setup you have .

The Blue Bowl has a learning curve to master and its all about classifying and water level within the bowl. Water level and water flow go hand in hand within the blue bowl. Another key to mastering the Blue Bowl is to have the Blue Bowl level. In my setup I have used a leveling system that works!!! When leveling the bowl place a level across the center cone not the brim of the bowl.


Here is a quote from B H Prospector in using the Blue Bowl,

"This is how I do it dogg and I don't loose any gold. I classify my cons to 1/4, 1/8, -20, -30, -50, and -100. I first run the -30 by putting one 1/2 cup of material in the bowl. The water should be running up to the brim. run all of each classification before starting the next. Then run the -50 at one tablespoon at a time and drop the water lever 1/4". Then run the -100 also using the tablespoon and drop the water level another 1/4" or 1/2" from the brim. Run each scoop until there is very little left then add the next scoop. When done with each classification just let it run until all that is left is the gold. Clean the bowl after eahh classification. The vortex will pull all of the light sand and black sand out leaving just gold"

 

[catfishjim90]

My sluce I use on the Missouri river is 7/1-4" wide by 5' long I use all razorback matting I classify down to 1/4" with my bucket trommal.I am running about 80 gpm. I can run about 20 3/4 full 5 gal buckets in about 4 hours.

 

[AzViper]

My sluce I use on the Missouri river is 7/1-4" wide by 5' long I use all razorback matting I classify down to 1/4" with my bucket trommal.I am running about 80 gpm. I can run about 20 3/4 full 5 gal buckets in about 4 hours.

Thanks CatFishJim90, I am hoping I can double your bucket total. For the most part we will have two or three people. The plan is to have one person on the trommel and two diggers, but this will seldom work out so most likely two diggers for the first few hours to get buckets full and ready to go, then one person on the trommel while the other continues to dig. Until I have a operating system in trommel, recirculating system, and sluice clean out, talk cheap on my part. Here is the pump I will be using. It can nearly run at 8000 GPH. Coming right off the pump will be a reducer with a 1.5" Tee with a 1.5" ball valve on the top off the Tee. Out the the side of the Tee will be a reducer/ 3/4" ball valve so that I can hook up a garden hose and sprayer.

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