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Extracting gold from blacksands/beachsands - Seeking information and the likes
NuggetHead  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 August 2012 7:26:29 PM(UTC)
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Whats the best methods for claiming gold from blacksands/beachsands? To be more specific, the westcoast beachs (and others) are known for gold cotained in the sands/Blacksands, and if you were to attepmt to extract the gold from the sands using handtools only... whats the best tried and true methods? I have read and researched, and a few details have come back, using a blaksands sluice box, use a screen setup, but I would like to know if anyone has had actual experience with processing the types of volumes your talking about when faced with a beach of sand.

Thanks
NH
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NUGGY  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 August 2012 7:50:17 PM(UTC)
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Hi, I sometimes go and watch the guys 12 ks south of Greymouth, shovelling beach sands into a sluice box set up on a trailer that they tow with a quad bike. water comes from a small petrol powered pump. The sluice box looks to be about a metre wide, and over 2 metres long. They feed it slow but steady, water running about an inch deep down the box which is covered in artificial grass. They (3 Men) have been working it reasonably often for over a year, so it must be worthwhile.
The Barrytown area sees quite a few people doing this type of mining too, these seem to use a similar recovery system as described. Never actually done this type of gold mining myself though. Nuggy
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Nugget-Hunter  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 August 2012 9:41:40 PM(UTC)
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If you useing a sluice box or table you need to have copper plates covered with mercury where the gold sticks to it, and useing fresh water not salt water. Thats the most efficient way.
If you useing a sluice box with grass matting you need to add an water surface tension breaker like dish wash liquid, and fresh water works better. Slow process.
There is a machine called Gold Seperator. It is one or more revolving drums with a spirale inside mounted on a given angle. You just shovel into the drums while water and tension breaker is running/trickling, and the spirale will seperate finest gold from sand. Very slow going.
To prospect if the gold is there on the day, use a pan with a drop of dish wash liquid. Beach gold comes and goes, one day its there and the next it is gone and it will be there again one day.
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NuggetHead  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 August 2012 11:38:43 PM(UTC)
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How about these gravity centrifical wash setups that I have seen, I still think you need to Consentrate the stuff before it goes in right?
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Nugget-Hunter  
Posted : Tuesday, 28 August 2012 11:55:36 PM(UTC)
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i have heard of but never seen or used one. Can you find some more info about those centrifugal machines? I know a beach claim holder, i will then ask him about it.
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NuggetHead  
Posted : Thursday, 30 August 2012 1:32:39 AM(UTC)
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Hey Nugget-Hunter, as far as the centrfugal type operations go, theres lots out there, from the industrial sized ones all the way to personal cleanup type situations. In a large beach operation some of the more useful products would be the larger units, able to process large amounts of material, and of course the small units for clean up.

try these sites for a glimps of the huge range of products out there.

Industrial:

http://shakingtable.en.m...ld-Separation-STLB-.html

http://www.oro-industrie...fuge_oro-industries.html

http://www.alibaba.com/s...ntrifugal-separator.html

Personal:

http://www.goldrushtradingpost.com/gold_cube_/ (this is not really centrafugal, but looks cool )

http://mineforgold.co.nz...-equipment/the-gold-lab/

It's always worth looking at all the angles :)

Cheers
NH
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East-Auck-Fossicker  
Posted : Thursday, 30 August 2012 6:16:31 PM(UTC)
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You know a Kiwi D.I.Y. with basic wood working skills could very easierly make one of these . Or if anyone wants me to knock you up one. Hey no worries.
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oldsoaps50  
Posted : Sunday, 16 September 2012 11:21:42 PM(UTC)
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Recently spent some time over there, WC, and tried for some gold with my stream sluice. Got plenty of micro/flour gold more than 100 specs per pan. To get enough to make it worthwhile you would need to process at least 20 cub. m per day. When you figure out ow to move that much using hand driven gear please let me know! Good luck!!
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helidredger  
Posted : Tuesday, 18 September 2012 11:48:36 AM(UTC)
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Edited by user Monday, 20 June 2016 10:33:56 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
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kiwijw  
Posted : Tuesday, 18 September 2012 6:35:31 PM(UTC)
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G'day Helidredger, From what I hear about beach golding 5 times a year is bloody good. Do you have a beach claim?

Good luck out there

JW :)
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helidredger  
Posted : Tuesday, 18 September 2012 9:18:32 PM(UTC)
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