Using a pressure washer on compacted simicemented river gravels

[seafox]

Knowing the feed water would have to be carefully superfiltered but keep thinking the gravels would be washer to dig with high pressure water now i pry up the rocks with a crow bar one or three at a time a garden nozzle with usual 45 psi water cuts at hardly noticeable speed. The other idea is a electric demo hammer to know the rocks out. Hoping for an early spring

 

[et1955]

Is it legal to do hydraulic mining in your area ?

 

[seafox]

Thats an intresting question. What is the defining characteristic of hydraulic mining? My thought is that you're using massive amounts of water 2 erode material and wash it toward a sluice. The problem occurring is that after going through the sluice the tailings Form huge Delta's down below the sluice. Which is why hydraulic mining is pretty-much outlawed. What is booming? Is that a hydraulic type of mining where Waters buildup in a dam and floods acrost the gold deposit to wash all the material through a sluice? There is a air powered device called an airshovel cost about 1200$ plus big compressor. I think that is the brand name. By using a compressor like would drive a jackhammer digs the dirt and doesn't hurt the roots of trees so you can trench through forested areas. The pressure washer idea is an outgrowth of dry land dredging where you wash the material to a hydraulic elevator separating the larger material between where it is being dug up and the pick up nozzle so that the nozzle doesn't clog with overs. Then the material is processed in a highbanker. Instead of being carried in a bucket or a shovel or wheelbarrow it is carryed in a pipe or hose to the highbanker. There is no more disturbance than doing High banking. Also my plan is to keep the tailings close so that they can be put back into the excavationfor required reclimation. Has any one had trouble with officaldom when dryland dredging being claimed it is hydraulic mining?

Thankyou for helping me learn about mining. I have friends who say oh I don't want to rip up the whole mountainside. I don't want to destroy the mountain site either the area my boss has mind and his family and predecessors easily fits in a hundred foot square and we'll be reclaim before we leave

 

[seafox]

Another question if we use a vacuum to gather the gold bearing fines and carry it over to a highbanker. is that any different?seems to me that we're just using air as the working fluid instead of water.would the air shovel be legal?

 

[Hamfist]

Another question if we use a vacuum to gather the gold bearing fines and carry it over to a highbanker. is that any different?seems to me that we're just using air as the working fluid instead of water.would the air shovel be legal?

The way the law is written, driving your truck to your claim is also dredging. Your truck assists you in getting gold and there is a vacuum in your airbox which creates a suction to draw air into the engine to keep it running. Therefore, you are dredging because you are using suction to assist you in the recovery of minerals. Straight to jail with you, sir.

 

[Clay Diggins]

It's legal to hydraulic mine in California and every other public land state.
For California it's spelled out in the current laws:

CA Pub Res Code § 3981

The business of hydraulic mining may be carried on within the state wherever and whenever it can be carried on without material injury to navigable streams or the lands adjacent thereto.

CA Pub Res Code § 3982

“Hydraulic mining,” as used in Section 3981, is mining by means of the application of water, under pressure, through a nozzle, against a natural bank.

CA Pub Res Code § 3964

No placer mining operator shall mine by the placer process on any stream or on the watershed of any stream tributary directly or indirectly to the Sacramento River or the San Joaquin River without taking both of the following precautions to prevent pollution of the stream by the effluent from his or her operations:

(a) Constructing a settling pond or ponds of sufficient size to permit the clarification of water used in the mining processes before the water is discharged into the stream.

(b) Mixing with the effluent from mining operations aluminum sulphate and lime, or an equivalent clarifying substance which will cause the solid material in the effluent to coagulate and thus avoid rendering the water in the stream unfit for domestic water supply purposes.

Heavy Pans

 

[seafox]

thankyou clay diggings . that is one of the very neatest things about where we habe been mining we discharge no surface water into the crees bewcause of the lay of the land and have put up a silt fence but previously a luckly falled tree of about 21 inch dia. made a natural silt fence and has caught all our finest sand for years. when we close the mine plan to move the material back up to the excavation

 

[N-Lionberger]

I ran my gravel elevator on private land with a tailings pond didn't have any encounter with LEO's. Clay Diggins I've been preaching that information to deaf ears for years. Playing a small monitor towards a bank is a lot of fun.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

“Rendering the water in the steam unfit for drinking” is required.
I’m assuming that means you have to have lined settling ponds and a closed loop system.

Also what about drainage basins that don’t drain into the mentioned rivers?

 

[Clay Diggins]

“Rendering the water in the steam unfit for drinking” is required.
I’m assuming that means you have to have lined settling ponds and a closed loop system.

Also what about drainage basins that don’t drain into the mentioned rivers?

My thought is it means exactly what it says IMAUDIGGER. Nothing in there about lining ponds or closed loop systems. The water should be substantially free of suspended solids (sediments) before it reenters the Sacramento or San Joaquin River systems.

Nothing in the law about water that doesn't drain into one of those two river systems. But there is some other stuff in there about when moving dredges across rivers there is no need for settling ponds. Unless you are running a bucket line dredge that doesn't concern you, that's why I left that part out.

The essence of the law is to make sure the water you drain from your mining doesn't have so much sediment when it reenters downstream that it damages property or makes the water unfit for drinking. Nothing in there about keeping the water from reentering the streams. Nothing about lining ponds.

Heavy Pans

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

My thought is it means exactly what it says IMAUDIGGER. Nothing in there about lining ponds or closed loop systems. The water should be substantially free of suspended solids (sediments) before it reenters the Sacramento or San Joaquin River systems.

Nothing in the law about water that doesn't drain into one of those two river systems. But there is some other stuff in there about when moving dredges across rivers there is no need for settling ponds. Unless you are running a bucket line dredge that doesn't concern you, that's why I left that part out.

The essence of the law is to make sure the water you drain from your mining doesn't have so much sediment when it reenters downstream that it damages property or makes the water unfit for drinking. Nothing in there about keeping the water from reentering the streams. Nothing about lining ponds.

Heavy Pans

I didn’t read the last sentence correctly..apparently.

 

[TrashFinder]

Get Grammarly for Word (assuming you have a word processor). The free version is adequate and will catch a bunch of grammar type mistakes, including spelling errors. https://app.grammarly.com/?utm_sour...77&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=grammarly+for+word They will try on occasion to encourage you to get the full blown version but for normal writing it will do nicely. Here is your article cleaned up a bit more using Grammarly for Word:
Thats an intresting question. What is the defining characteristic of hydraulic mining? My thought is that you're using massive amounts of water 2 erode material and wash it toward a sluice. The problem occurring is that after going through the sluice the tailings Form huge Delta's down below the sluice. Which is why hydraulic mining is pretty much outlawed. What is booming? Is that a hydraulic type of mining where Waters buildup in a dam and floods across the gold deposit to wash all the material through a sluice? There is an air powered device called an air shovel cost about 1200$ plus a big compressor. I think that is the brand name. By using a compressor like would drive a jackhammer digs the dirt and doesn't hurt the roots of trees so you can trench through forested areas. The pressure washer idea is an outgrowth of dry land dredging where you wash the material to a hydraulic elevator separating the larger material between where it is being dug up and the pickup nozzle so that the nozzle doesn't clog with overs. Then the material is processed in a highbanker. Instead of being carried in a bucket or a shovel or wheelbarrow it is carried in a pipe or hose to the highbanker. There is no more disturbance than doing High banking. Also, my plan is to keep the tailings close so that they can be put back into the excavation for required reclamation. Has anyone had trouble with officialdom when dryland dredging being claimed it is hydraulic mining?

Thank you for helping me learn about mining. I have friends who say oh I don't want to rip up the whole mountainside. I don't want to destroy the mountain site either the area my boss has a mind and his family and predecessors easily fits in a hundred-foot square and we'll be reclaiming before we leave

 

[Clay Diggins]

The words I posted were not from an article. They are the exact words used in the law. They have already been checked for grammar and context in 1988 by the California Office of the Legislative Counsel. If you click on the links provided you can read the actual law and see it was quoted exactly as written.

"Dryland dredging" is hydraulic mining.

As I posted earlier in this thread the State of California defines hydraulic mining as:

“Hydraulic mining” is mining by means of the application of water, under pressure, through a nozzle, against a natural bank.

California law.

Heavy Pans

 

[N-Lionberger]

I don't think he saying what you posted was from an article Clay I think he might be referring to the OP's grammar which uh who cares!

Seafox I have heard the term booming used two ways, as modern slang for dryland dredging booming, wizbang, boomboxing. In older use refers to building wing dams and a sluice in a canyon and somewhere upstream build a damn with a large gate, when the water built up enough they would pop the gate and send everything the water would carry through the sluice, I have a claim that has lots of evidence of that type of activity pretty crazy stuff, just about the worst method ever they left maybe 75% behind.

 

[fletchnow]

I like the idea of using a pressure washer in this case? As I understand, you have already tried? Was it effective?

 

[seafox]

I haven't tried the idea but I think it would be effective because the pressure cuts the mud away. The spray will even cut skin if you get in the way . thone thing I worry is reading another post said that even washing material 10 feet lost 2/3rds of the gold

 

[seafox]

I haven't tried the idea but I think it would be effective because the pressure cuts the small material away leaving the bigger rocks behind The spray will even cut skin if you get in the way

 

[russau]

Why a pressure washer Why not use your blaster hose that is able to be set up on what you have ?? cheaper= already there - less weight ! Why not ?

 

[RTR]

Their using it on "White Water" to clean off bedrock underwater,and it works just fine https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/gold-rush-white-water/

 

[Reed Lukens]

Using a pressure washer under water is a different scenario, it does work great underwater and we have used them while cleaning bedrock underwater in the past. The problem that I see with a pressure washer above ground is that there won't be enough water to move the material. You're basically just cutting dirt. A 300gpm fire pump and hose will work much better. Using a pressure washer underwater is one thing that works great, but when using it above water, it just becomes a play toy.