would corregated culvert or drain pipe work as a long term gold trap???

[lobsterman]

If anchored and positioned well along the bottom of a creek or stream bed ( say at a spot i have in mind in Alaska ), at a central convergance area of the water flow along the bottom....
...would several rows of 6" or 8" x 50' black corregated culvert or drain pipe work as a long term gold trap would it trap placer gold in the riffles yet keep itself somewhat clear of overburden with the natural flow of the water

 

[luvsdux]

Should work okay. Well worth the trial in my opinion.
luvsdux

 

[stefen]

Find a CMP culvert in a gold bearing area and test the theory...

Testing a theory beats endless discussions any day

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Down here, and in some areas of the West, the culverts under the roads have unofficial owners that pan them out periodically, with excellent results I am told. A few large rocks strategically placed to break the flow helps also.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[lobsterman]

something makes me think it may actually work, that is if it doesn't get knocked askew by ice, currents, or debris, or get completely flushed out by the heavy currents or fast water. i'd like to try it sometime.

 

[mlayers]

From what I have seen on th gold channel. They go out west and get into the culverts and get out the sand in riffels and they find gold. But with a piece that is 50 feet long. How are you planning on getting the sand and dirt out of it. If seems like if you cut it in half so you can get to all the riffles you should have a decent shot at ir. Just make sure you have it anchor down good.....Matt

 

[paratrooper]

I've heard it referred to as "absentee prospecting" . A friend of mine from Rumania told me that it was popular there to put sheepskin secured in the river . It trapped fine gold .

 

[Bum Luck]

I went to check this place out, and found I couldn't get there; someone had dug the culvert out of the road....

 

[Tuberale]

It does. When you get into the West, people have been checking those culverts out for a long time. Watch out, though. Some people consider those things their own private sluices. (And other people consider the national forests their personal gardening spaces.) Watch out for both kinds, as they are not always benign.

 

[Argentium]

The corrugated drainage culverts that were put in place 50 or more years ago in Colorado ,
Montana , and the other rocky mountain states have been known to accumulate gold - as to
whether or not the concentrates are heavy enough to make it profitable , only going to some
locations and panning these gravels will tell for certain. Argentium.

 

[Frankn]

GPAA sells a sluce kit that uses that corragated plastic pipe for a trap. Yes it will work, but water flow rate is critical!

​

 

[Seamuss]

I have done really great on culverts that are in gold bearing streams. Some more then others.

 

[dick99344]

I have hunt some of these where I prospect. These are usually running with water until the spring thaw is over and most of the water dries up. When this happens, these culverts become homes for some very nasty critters. Timber Rattlers, Skunks, Weasels, Badgers and other small critters. I always check them very carefully before I proceed.

 

[Seamuss]

Hi Dick, we have some of those critters here in Washington also, minus the rattlers and badgers. That's why we choose to look before we enter such areas. I went into a hard rock mine in Yuma,Az and managed to waken about a hundred bats and get out with out getting bit. Learned my lesson in Arizona.

Your right in being alert to such things ausing extreme caution and even staying out of some situations. We could all use a lot of caution in the field and be safe, health and well.