Is this possible?

[laidback4sho]

Ok, here's the scenario...

You've gotten a 5 gallon bucket of paydirt and you're back at the house and are just about to go through it all.

You fill the bucket to the top with water and then attach one of those paddle-style paint mixers to your drill motor and proceed to stir and agitate the water/mud solution in your bucket.

After a few minutes of mixing, all the gold has fallen out of suspension down to the bottom of your bucket.

You then throw away all but the bottom couple of inches of dirt in your bucket, which you now pan.

You've lost no gold and saved a ton of time.


OK folks, is this even possible? I know gold is heavier than pretty much everything, but would this actually work?

 

[kcm]

Laidback, try an experiment. Carry a full bucket home on your next 3 outings. Then, in controlled atmosphere, try different approaches, making certain to save every last minuscule speck that you brought home. Then sample the waste from each trial to see if there is any loss of gold. Who knows, you may stumble across some very cheap, very simple idea that nobody else has "openly" come out with. Remember, miners/prospectors can be a very secretive bunch of folks. Also very stubborn.

The only thing you have to lose is your time. But even that isn't lost if you consider the greater understanding that you will gain.

Good luck!

 

[tinpan250]

Try it, refine it or change it,there is always someone that says it wont work,maybe they did not try exactly what you are trying. The fact is there is no one method for every type of recovery and those that believe there is are the guys that leave gold behind or losing it because they think they are in "production",its a hobby an avocation, there is no production time line. Prospecting is about adapting to the location and conditions,being innovative and creating tools that fit your style and conditions,never let someone stifle your creative ideas or try and make it a job.I have been prospecting since I was a small child and a half a century later,there is always new legitmate ideas being introduced and new ways for doing it better and faster,they cant all bad or focused at mining the miner, the very small prospecting community is just not that big of market to make a fortune. Never give Up on your ideas

 

[goldog]

There's no end to the fabrication bug. It goes along with the fever. :P.

I don't like to bring home unwashed dirt. Big mess. I do. But I don't like it.

 

[kcm]

In short, the ONLY thing that matters is that you are pleased with your results. If you are losing a small amount of 200- gold, what do you wanna do? You could ramp up your operation to catch even more, but would it be worth it to YOU?

Lots of folks will say that this way or that way doesn't work because you'll lose gold. If your losses are acceptable to you....if the amount of gold you lose is not worth the effort on your part to save.....then you can rest easy at night with a feeling of "easy money" satisfaction. ...Not to imply that it was easy getting to that point, though!

 

[chlsbrns]

What GG is talking about is the two bucket method. It was first used by a family friend about 8 years ago. There is no need to use clear water! We have been using a modification and automated it to run continuously with a unique method of classification that no one here has ever seen. It captures a lot of gold that would run off the end of any sluice setup. He has setup a few commercial opperations in the US and Mexico. They all love it!

The guy is a genius! He always says that the only difference between the original gold rush miners and current recreational miners is that the current recreational miners do not use donkeys!

https://youtu.be/fuejIDMgnrQ.

 

[Goodyguy]

What GG is talking about is the two bucket method. It was first used by a family friend about 8 years ago. There is no need to use clear water! We have been using a modification and automated it to run continuously with a unique method of classification that no one here has ever seen. It captures a lot of gold that would run off the end of any sluice setup. He has setup a few commercial opperations in the US and Mexico. They all love it!

The guy is a genius! He always says that the only difference between the original gold rush miners and current recreational miners is that the current recreational miners do not use donkeys!

Clearing up the water the way I suggested makes stirring easier plus is a good way of removing lots of needless material to deal with. As you state it's not necessary. However I found a quote from you that is a far better method than what I suggested.......

Here is the quote....

"If you want a constant vortex instead of using a stick like he used in the two bucket method video use a hose and an electric or gas pump. Put the hose at an angle in the bucket and the water coming out of the hose will make the vortex. Put a hole on the top side of the bucket and the lighter stuff will drain from the bucket. It will run continuously."

Same centrifugal principal as the blue bowl operates on.

We have been using a modification and automated it to run continuously with a unique method of classification that no one here has ever seen.

*PS. I've seen it. It's been several years but I've seen the cone shaped tank set up that he built.
He even sent me plans to build my own but my operation was too small scale to justify the build.


Go for the gold
GG~

 

[Goldwasher]

Its pretty difficult to lose gold. i like fabricating gear. I do it to increase throughput yet maintain recovery. If I lived in the middle of the country where the gold is so small and spread out the first thing I would do is move

if i couldn't and still had the desire to dig and recover gold. I would make a small portable plant that could run as much material as possible. if you want to get more gold it is literally the only solution. run more material.
you have to scalp material the best way to do so is to be able to feed and run while you scalp and concentrate. Then deal with your cons in a bucket if you want. The bucket idea is basically the inception of the blue bowl not carried out to its fullest potential.

Unless your sniping on a river digging high grade cracks..the answer in mining is ALWAYS move as much of the highest pay material as you can. Go ahead and say oh its just a hobby..i'm just seeing if it is gonna work or whatever. it really doesn't matter to me. I already know how to get great recovery and move a lot of pay when i need to. just figured maybe others in finegold country would want to do the same even if the sources aren't as rich.


The sidewinder sluice "the best sluice on the market".............that no one uses!!!!!

Hardrock processors deal with material that has pretty much exclusively minus 100 mesh gold...They DO NOT set them selves back in recovery by using 5 gallon buckets and water vortex'...just sayin

 

[Ragnor]

Ok, here's the scenario...

You've gotten a 5 gallon bucket of paydirt and you're back at the house and are just about to go through it all.

You fill the bucket to the top with water and then attach one of those paddle-style paint mixers to your drill motor and proceed to stir and agitate the water/mud solution in your bucket.

After a few minutes of mixing, all the gold has fallen out of suspension down to the bottom of your bucket.

You then throw away all but the bottom couple of inches of dirt in your bucket, which you now pan.

You've lost no gold and saved a ton of time.


OK folks, is this even possible? I know gold is heavier than pretty much everything, but would this actually work?

Well, I would not call it impossible, however I would not trust it either. My estimates put it around 95% effective. There are many factors involved but I can almost guarantee you will lose some gold.

 

[mytimetoshine]

as someone else mentioned. bringing home large amounts of unwashed dirt will create a huge mess. be better to clean it first if possible.

if I were to try this I would make sure all material was bone dry and then use vibration to get the heavies to fall. if you stir you will get some small gold suspended in the overburden still. imo

 

[Goodyguy]

Its pretty difficult to lose gold. i like fabricating gear. I do it to increase throughput yet maintain recovery. If I lived in the middle of the country where the gold is so small and spread out the first thing I would do is move

if i couldn't and still had the desire to dig and recover gold. I would make a small portable plant that could run as much material as possible. if you want to get more gold it is literally the only solution. run more material.
you have to scalp material the best way to do so is to be able to feed and run while you scalp and concentrate. Then deal with your cons in a bucket if you want. The bucket idea is basically the inception of the blue bowl not carried out to its fullest potential.

Unless your sniping on a river digging high grade cracks..the answer in mining is ALWAYS move as much of the highest pay material as you can. Go ahead and say oh its just a hobby..i'm just seeing if it is gonna work or whatever. it really doesn't matter to me. I already know how to get great recovery and move a lot of pay when i need to. just figured maybe others in finegold country would want to do the same even if the sources aren't as rich.


The sidewinder sluice "the best sluice on the market".............that no one uses!!!!!

Hardrock processors deal with material that has pretty much exclusively minus 100 mesh gold...They DO NOT set them selves back in recovery by using 5 gallon buckets and water vortex'...just sayin

And that's why my 4" dredge comes in handy..... that is when the creeks here in Indiana have enough water to support it.

As far as production goes if you're not moving 50+ yards of material per hour you're just a small scale miner playing in the water and dirt no matter what recovery method you use so you might as well enjoy it any way you see fit.



GG~

 

[kcm]

Well whatever happened to that BIG Indiana Gold Rush I used to hear about??

 

[Goodyguy]

Well whatever happened to that BIG Indiana Gold Rush I used to hear about??

 

[Goldwasher]

One burlap bag and it was all over

 

[kcm]

...So it was a Footnote to a Footnote in American Mining History. Got it!

Yes, we're a real mecca of mining up here as well. Not gold, mind you, but blood. Them skeeters is the best danged minors I've ever seen!

 

[Goodyguy]

 

[russau]

The guys that ARE getting good gold are keeping their mouths shut for a very good reason! once it is on the net EVERYBODY shows up!! aint that right Tom (vanwho)

 

[Bonaro]

A paint paddle is designed to mix and as such your bucket of cons will be mixed when you are done. However since it is thicker and heavier than paint some classification will occur. Much of your gold will be in the bottom but some will be dispersed in the bucket.

Instead of packing a 50 pound bucket of cons all the way home, why dont you pack in a 2 pound LeTrap sluice? Then you can re-run your 5 gallons at the river and take home a half gallon of cons...which will be significantly easier to pack

 

[arizau]

I found this old post over on the GPEX forum.

"Bucket concentrator
« on: April 19, 2009, 08:42:08 AM »
LikeQuote
For screening I use a bucket to screen into and to concentrate. First I screen a half a bucket full then I work the bucket by spinning it back and forth in aggressive sharp changing directions. Many know this procedure But I have one better. By putting 1'' ribs of angle iron on the bottom inside of the bucket. 6'' long and extending up from the bottom. A X can be put on the bottom. This turns a bucket into something like a washing machine. And will scrub all the gold robin clay of the gravel. And leave it gold free of it. Gold will fall to the bottom and collect. So the process can be repeated before panning. Or running thru a slues or rocker box.
Chuxgold."

If it will break down clay then all the better.