Fine Gold Recovery

[Dainis7]

Hey guys, I havn't been having much luck finding a nug with my Eureka Gold, but have come across some "decent" fines in my sluice box.

For my first sluice I decided to go with the Le Trap because of its fine gold recovery capabilities and ease of clean up + I like green:)

In the attached picture is the gold I got out of 7 five gallon buckets that only penetrated about 2ft of gravel. I'm guessing about 1 gram of speck and flour sized pieces. This is a 10 in. pan and the area with gold is about 1.5in across.

Is this pretty good or a run of the mill find?

Do you guys think that a traditional sluice box with Hungarian riffles would recover this sized gold?

I have been thinking about buying a dredge, but I really want to be sure that I get the correct dredge/sluice set up that can and will recover fine gold and be able to process a fairly large amount of gravel. The new Keene dredges seem really nice but are quite pricey, and I do not know if the standard sluice truly will recovey this small of gold. The 2 and 3 stage sluice boxes sound very nice.

Any input or suggestions would be great. For the past year all I can think about is prospecting and finding gold and I really do not see a end in sight.

Thanks, Dan

[gotgold]

Wilderness,

Check out the "PopandSon" sluice on the AK gold forum.

Here's the link.....

http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewth...&thread=694

Gary

[Dainis7]

Hello Gary, thanks for the link. I've been reading around on the Alaska Gold forum for a few months now...great resource.

Does my find seem like one to keep pursuing, and do you think a 2-4in nozzle dredge with a single stage traditional sluice would be able to capture a majority of these fines? Obiously I am hoping that the gold will get bigger as I get deeper...but who knows.

Everyone, I really appreciate any input, either which way.

Thanks, Dan

Wilderness,

Check out the "PopandSon" sluice on the AK gold forum.

Here's the link.....

http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewth...&thread=694

Gary

[Bandana Don]

GOOD EVENING WILDERNESS: IN PAST YEARS I SPENT MANY AN HOUR DREDGING ON MY PLACER CLAIMS IN CENTRAL ARIZONA, SOUTH OF PRESCOTT, IN THE BRADSHAW MOUNTAINS. I USED 2-1/2", 3" AND 4" DREDGES. ONE PROBLEM YA HAVE TO DEAL WITH IS RUNNING THE DREDGE TOO FAST WITH THE DREDGE SLUCE BOX AT THE WRONG ANGLE AND BLOWING ALL YOUR FINE GOLD OUT OF THE BOX. IN SHALLOW AND SMALL GOLD BEARING STREAMS I'D STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOTHING LARGER THAN A 3" DREDGE... RUN IT RIGHT (MEANING SLOW) WITH A "J" TYPE NOZZLE AS OPPOSED TO A POWER JET AND YOU SHOULD DO WELL. ONCE YA GET THE TECHNIQUE DOWN AND YOU GET GOOD RECOVERY YOU CAN TRY A LARGER SREDGE

HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL AND WISHING YOU GOOD LUCK.

BANDANA DON

[fishbone]

Thats some nice recovery. You did a fine panning job it seems. I would put a dredge in that hole. With proper water flow, some miners moss, and if you can, a "Cleangold " insert in the end of your sluice, for very fine micron recovery. Dredge that spot , , if anything. Keene and proline make mighty fine dredges and power sluices. You really cant go wrong.

Cheers

[nuggethunting]

Hello Wilderness,

The key to any fine gold recovery is really classification, angle and water flow. If you're sluicing, it's suggested you use classifier screens so you're not tossing in large rocks and cobbles in the sluice.

When I used to dredge, I would try to elliminate some of the larger rocks from going up the nozzle when I was using a 4 & 5-inch. Most modern day dredges have "punch plates" over the first riffle or so to help fine gold recovery. I would also suggest miner's moss in a sluice or dredge on the first couple of riffles if possible.

Talk with you later,

Rob Allison

[Dainis7]

Hey guys thanks for the useful input! Classification is definitely super important. I've been using a 1"and one eigth grate but I really need to find something closer to half an inch.

Recently I've been doing alittle work in a highbanking area, but I am limited to carrying buckets which is definitely no fun.

I have been shoveling mainly dry bucket loads straight into my LeTrap sluice.....which I figure is a no-no, but I"m not sure.

Although the LeTrap seems really good for fine gold in the river, it seems to be letting bigger really flat gold flakes through while processing dry material. The two bigger flat flakes in the pic are roughly the size and thickness of half a little finger nail. I found them in the 3-4 riffle laying on top, and saw atleast one escape the sluice entirely:( If I had a good highbanker in this area I'm sure that I could do some damage. Two older guys shoveling pulled out 1oz in a good long day!

Although the pickers are pretty small they do have some good chunk to them.

So now I am considering a 3in combo unit, that accepts optional air for the future. It seems very beneficial to have the hopper attached while dredging. Would I have a chance of getting through 15+ feet of overburden with a 3" dredge? I'm guessing probably not.

[kcoulson]

15 feet of overburden is a hell of a lot of dirt to move with a 3 inch dredge. Keep in mind that if you go 15 feet deep you have to have a very wide hole to keep the sides from sliding in on you. this means much much dirt to move.

It does sound like you have a good spot though.

what part of the country are you mining?

good luck

Ken

[Dainis7]

Hello Ken,

I know that 15ft of overburden is kinda ridiculous with a 3" dredge, but I guess I am wondering realisically how deep would I be able to get? I mean, if a 3 in really can't punch more than a 4ft or so hole at altitude.....then its kinda useless in my application.

I really want to get a 4 inch dredge that would be easy enough to handle by myself, but I also really want to do some highbanking before this spot plays out.

Do you think I could dredge a hole about as big as a small suv witha 3in dredge without it constantly filling in?

Really I guess I'm looking for a combo unit that function very well as a dredge.

I'm in Colorado

[kcoulson]

Hi Wilderness,

I have a Keene 4 inch dredge. I have not ever moved more than about 5 feet of overburden with it. The size of hole that you have to have to keep the sides from collapsing is much dependent on the material you are moving. If you have lots of big rocks the hole does not need to be quite as wide to keep from sliding in. However, with lots of big rocks you have the other problem of getting then out of the hole. this is no small task with large boulders and a deep hole.

Last month I dredged up near the Klamath river and I was using a 9000 lb winch to pull some boulders out of the dredge hole. I was only about 4-5 feet deep and it became a lot of work - moving boulders. Of course I was working by myself. It would of been a lot easier if I had a partner. If you are going to go very deep at all you should have someone (or two) to work with.

I think that you are very optimistic if you think you can get down to the depth that you are thinking about - even with a 4 inch dredge. It might work but it would take a long time and be a lot of work.

Consider this-if you want to dredge 15 feet deep your suction hose much reach down to the bottom ( more than 15 feet) the hose then goes to your dredge which must be positioned outside the dredge hole to put the tailings out so they don't go back in the hole. This means that the suction hose needs to be at least 30 feet. Most 4 inch dredges run about 20 feet of suction. Your engine and pump probably would also have to be upgraded to be able to work ok at that depth. Also, the deeper you go the more pressure you need on your air line. I don't think a T-80 compressor will be adequate for that depth.

Before you think about going 15 feet deep try 5 feet and see how it goes. Above all be safe.

I hope it all works out for you- let us know

Ken

[COLORADO BOB]

Wilderness,

I had a 2 1/2 inch a couple 3's a five and an eight inch dredge.

I worked the five at 12 to 14 ft. and it was really slow, also you will tend to get more plug-ups due to the slow moving material and the high lift. The gold was good so I slowed down and stayed with.

I was also running a T-80 and it would not handle two divers, had no problem with one.

My eight inch would handle 15 ft like a dream, but then I was running a 1600 VW engine for power.

Like Kcoulson said, I would try four or five feet and see what happens.

I would keep an area about 10 feet long of clean bedrock, behind me so I could keep moving the rock and boulders to the rear. The problem is when you first develope the hole, all that stuff has to be moved out of the hole to have room to work.

Good luck and watch those big-uns so they don't roll on top of ya.

Bob T.

[rockhead]

Easy way to do it is a subdredge. There's a couple of 6" and a whole bunch of other stuff on ebay right now. For like 800 bucks.If you had a 4 inch pump and motor you just need a long pressure line and 20 foot of hose cut to the pay layer then highgrade with the suface dredge. They cut fast with half the power needed since your not pumping the material above the surface. But your major problem is the rock for sure not only pigs but all th larger than 6 in rocks. With the subdredge you can shoot it straight out the side of your hole which be pretty handy. If your cutting 15 foot deep you should tier the front of the hole out 20foot out cut 4 foot 15 foot cut 4 feet and so on (this is easy with a subdredge shooting sideways) But with the tier your less likely to get bound up and smacked a 15 foot wall of rocks. Righ now I use a honda 6.5 and p180 to run a 5 inch with 15 foot of hose works for me same motor for the 3 inch combo. Just an Idea.

Good luck

Jay