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Post by jpgold on Mar 14, 2014 3:54:25 GMT -5
I know I have collected a few of them. I bought a folding sluice from the outpost. Later on I bought one of the 36 inch sluice boxes as well. I really wanted a sluice that I did have to classify with. So I cut some of the riffles out to help the material move through the 36 inch sluice. It had expanded metal over the carpet on in the middle of the sluice and and two riffles at the end of the sluice. What do you guys think. Will this effect gold recovery negatively or will I have marginal increase in gold because of increased production?
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Post by cabarrusgold on Mar 14, 2014 4:28:22 GMT -5
You can always put some type of hopper over the sluice that can aid in screening material. Or you can add to the sluice with more slick plate. I would not mess with decreasing and or disturbing the recovery system. I'm not sure of how much water or sluice pitch you are working with. I like production sluices and set them up to run like my dredge sluice. Once that is accomplished, I shovel away and do not screen if I don't have to. Just my preference though and I am confident in my equipment. Most people when they start changing equipment there is a doubt and can lead to never being happy with a setup.
If you have a slow moving flat creek, then a bazooka or drop riffle will work best using screening. Faster moving water and some drop in elevation, then a production sluice will really move the material with little screening if any.
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Post by jpgold on Mar 14, 2014 5:03:53 GMT -5
How much slick plate would I need? Uwharrie clay is some thick stuff. Or in this case would I need something more like a rocker box set up. Im trying to understand new ideas and well tested ones from prospectors like you who have many years of experience. I hope more people will jump in and give there ideas.
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Post by jpgold on Mar 14, 2014 5:04:47 GMT -5
Thank you for an and all ideas.
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Post by uregold on Mar 14, 2014 5:15:46 GMT -5
i use a small 2 foot box i made just for very low water conditions. if i have the water then ill run my homemade a52. i just got done building it awhile back and i love it. i also run an angus mackirk eureka that i am borrowing. it works very well too.
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Post by samburgin on Mar 14, 2014 9:33:20 GMT -5
Clay is an interesting dynamic in prospecting. Unless it is thoroughly broken down and disassociated from itself, it has a negative production quotient. That means it will actually diminish the amount of gold you recover. Gold, especially fine gold will stick to clay balls and exit your sluice.
Everyone handles clay differently, but this is what I do: I separate all the clay into one pile. When I have a minute from digging or sluicing I go through the clay and take out the rocks and put them in a bucket, clay attached and all. The bucket gets special attention and thorough washing. I find lots of specimens in these rocks. The rest of the clay is discarded. The remainder of the bucket goes through the sluice. The theory on the rocks is skewed, but I think it is correct – clay doesn’t usually roll around in in a placer setting, but the rocks do. They will roll around, pick up some clay, and maybe some gold.
Generally, clay does not have appreciable values past the first inch or so, except for the rocks. If you’re into to compound gold, sulfides, or any other way to lock up gold, clay can be a bonanza, but it take lots of equipment to get it out.
In the field, with a placer operation, it is usually fruitless to mess with it.
Warning: Clay deposits have something under them. If that is a stream bed, you need to punch through the clay, just as you would a conglomerate.
Clay is weathered rock. If the rock is gold bearing, the clay will be as well, it is a matter of where the weathering took place. Most of the clays are alluvial, some, like the ones on the hill above Bearfoot Gold are in situ.
How do you dredgers handle clay?
Sam
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2014 9:48:49 GMT -5
When we are dredging the blaster hose usually breaks the clay up real fast.. I usually spray the clay for 10-15 seconds to make sure it's mushed up and broken up before it's dredged. You can always tell when your in a clay layer if your long arming, the box turns to the color of the clay being broken up. I don't think I ever recalled a clay ball rolling down a dredge sluice.
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Post by jpgold on Mar 14, 2014 10:26:58 GMT -5
I favor the blaster nozzle to because it will break it up. Then Im hoping the dredge hose as well as the rest of the slurry will pulverize the rest of the clay before it gets to the sluice box.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2014 13:00:43 GMT -5
I am going dredging sunday, even if it rains I think.. I gotta work saturday.
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Post by jpgold on Mar 14, 2014 14:06:38 GMT -5
I hate to admit it but my dredge is in pieces packed in a building. I work 12 hour shift rotation so I have every other weekend off. This weekend im working. If the dredge was ready I would burn a vacation day but it isn't. I will put it together Monday or Tuesday so I could be ready by next weekend. I winterized it back in November of last year.
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Post by cabarrusgold on Mar 14, 2014 17:33:36 GMT -5
Sam is correct and I've always said check that clay. I throw it up on the banks to dry out then pulverizes it into dust at a later date. I don't mess with clay when I am trying to make the most of a day dredging. I do however break down that clay the best I can and process.
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