Any prospectors here? Electric Dredge

[Quinc]

Picked up a pretty slick electric dredge that runs on a bilge pump. Some day hope to convert it over to brushless. Also built a 5s battery to run her. This is my first time using it and it worked really well. Looking forward to running it more when its not 40 degrees out. =)

 

[floydr]

Have a link to where you got the dredge?
later floyd
edit found it GoldiBox: Ultralight Gold Prospecting Gear For Recreational Prospectors

 

[goatman]

yes, thats pretty cool. Stealth mode
i just picked up a claim with about 500,000 yards of gold bearing sand in it.
i need a centrifuge that can run continuously
a Neffco bowl can do what i want but Larry Neff recently passed away and some other company has taken over building them. very simple units that they want a fortune for so ill be building my own.
Up here in BC Canada our govt would take your house, car and everything you own plus put your ass in jail if you got caught using one of those.
my channel is at an elevation of 1000 feet, its been 10,000 years since the glacier melt and nothing grows there, im really tempted to throw in an application for a dryland dredging permit but theyll probably just crap their pants and put me under aerial surveilence

have you ever seen one of these nozzles

 

[Quinc]

yes, thats pretty cool. Stealth mode
i just picked up a claim with about 500,000 yards of gold bearing sand in it.
i need a centrifuge that can run continuously
a Neffco bowl can do what i want but Larry Neff recently passed away and some other company has taken over building them. very simple units that they want a fortune for so ill be building my own.
Up here in BC Canada our govt would take your house, car and everything you own plus put your ass in jail if you got caught using one of those.
my channel is at an elevation of 1000 feet, its been 10,000 years since the glacier melt and nothing grows there, im really tempted to throw in an application for a dryland dredging permit but theyll probably just crap their pants and put me under aerial surveilence

have you ever seen one of these nozzles

That nozzle is pretty slick! If you really want to be stealth mode check out the goldibox dredge. I run it as a submersible under water while my kids swim in the creeks around here and the only time someone has noticed was when they walked right up to me to start a convo. Best part is everything fits in a large pack so when you hike it in no one knows you have it. I get 2-2.5hrs of run time on a 12v 30ah lifepo4 battery.

Shop Electric Backpack Dredge & Suction Nozzle Combo | GoldiBox

Discover our ultra portable electric backpack dredge & suction nozzle combo. Weighs only 4 lbs! Perfect for remote gold prospecting. Shop now. Free shipping!

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Submersible cover:

Shop Submersible Dredge Cover For Underwater Dredging | GoldiBox

Protect your submersible dredge with the GoldiBox dredge cover. Ideal for underwater gold dredging and electric submersible dredges. Shop now!

goldibox.com

 

[floydr]

Picked up a pretty slick electric dredge that runs on a bilge pump

Mine arrived today. now I have to get the rest of the pieces together and hope the rains this weekend, next week don't push the creek to flood stage.
Later floyd

 

[Quinc]

Mine arrived today. now I have to get the rest of the pieces together and hope the rains this weekend, next week don't push the creek to flood stage.
Later floyd

Sweet! Let us know how it goes. I found my largest nugget of the year yesterday with the goldibox. =)

 

[fechter]

That's pretty cool.
If you could figure out a way to put a metal detector sensor in the fluid path you might be able to tell when you're hitting nuggets.

 

[gromike]

That's pretty cool.
If you could figure out a way to put a metal detector sensor in the fluid path you might be able to tell when you're hitting nuggets.

Flakes, not nuggets, would be what you would need to sense in a placer.

 

[floydr]

Placer Gold Ranges in size from large nuggets 1oz or more to flour gold (200 mesh or finer). The Goldibox is suppose to capture down to 200 mesh gold. Which is flour gold. Better to wait for your first clean out of the day to see if you planned right. No need for a metal detector in the fluid path. Now if I was in recreational gold mining for profit it would no longer be recreational.
Later floyd

 

[Chalo]

I'm curious.... How are y'all separating small particle size gold from sand? Quicksilver and cyanide are two proven methods, but both have some unpleasant downsides.

I never tried panning gold myself, but I did live for a little while in Deadwood, SD where there are a lot of long lasting side effects of both traditional placer mining and industrial hard rock mining and processing.

 

[floydr]

The sluicing and panning I have done. First you classify the material which you run through the sluice/large Gold pan. from there you clean out the sluice in to a bucket/ gold pan to a smaller gold pan picking out the larger gold flakes and small pickers with a wet finger tip or tweezers while using a sniffer bottle to clean out the smaller flakes, gold dust. Some people use magnets to help remove the black sands. I had three sizes of gold pans.
Later floyd
P.S. completely mechanical separation here

 

[Logic11]

As you have to lug a dredge around how much heavier is it than a petrol dredge of the same capacity with fuel for the same duration..?
Or do you plan to also lug solar panels around?

I'm from the 100 tons of gravel per hour minimum school of gold mining though, not the hobbyist side of things, so may be a bit biased

 

[Quinc]

I'm curious.... How are y'all separating small particle size gold from sand? Quicksilver and cyanide are two proven methods, but both have some unpleasant downsides.

I never tried panning gold myself, but I did live for a little while in Deadwood, SD where there are a lot of long lasting side effects of both traditional placer mining and industrial hard rock mining and processing.

Large operations processing millions of dollars in gold are known to also use cyanide when needed. For your average hobbyist we use things like a blue bowl, mini shaker table, etc. I also mesh all of my sands down to 1/12" and put them in a rock tumbler with mercury to catch all of the smallest gold at the end of the season.

As you have to lug a dredge around how much heavier is it than a petrol dredge of the same capacity with fuel for the same duration..?
Or do you plan to also lug solar panels around?

I'm from the 100 tons of gravel per hour minimum school of gold mining though, not the hobbyist side of things, so may be a bit biased

I can fit the entire setup, my battery, lunch, water, snacks etc in the large backpack in the video. From there I can hike to any remote location and prospect. I get around 4.5-5hrs with my 5s 72ah battery. I have ran with a small 50cc honda pump and get about 2-2.5hrs per tank of fuel. Now if we find a spot that has a ton of gold and overburden we can pack in heavier equipment.

 

[Quinc]

Mine arrived today. now I have to get the rest of the pieces together and hope the rains this weekend, next week don't push the creek to flood stage.
Later floyd

Have you used it yet?!

I used the high banker on the 1st of year and did pretty well.

 

[floydr]

Have you used it yet?!

No I discovered the flow too low and no pools big enough to pump water from by the time I made it out there.Plus the water that is there too friggin cold for me to handle for long. I may be too late as the 4 pans and a five gallon bucket I gathered turned up nothing. Not even the plentiful black sand that was there before. I had never been shunked there before. Oh well try again in a month or so.
Later floyd

 

[Quinc]

No I discovered the flow too low and no pools big enough to pump water from by the time I made it out there.Plus the water that is there too friggin cold for me to handle for long. I may be too late as the 4 pans and a five gallon bucket I gathered turned up nothing. Not even the plentiful black sand that was there before. I had never been shunked there before. Oh well try again in a month or so.
Later floyd

I cant help ya find gold, but these will help with the cold. =)

https://www.harborfreight.com/oil-resistant-pvc-long-cuff-gloves-99677.html

 

[floydr]

I even have a pair of them, Thanks for reminding me. Suspect I hurried too much.

later floyd

 

[Quinc]

2 gram weekend!