I build a "gold hog pan" while I was here. It does the classifying and initial concentration quickly. The two trips that I have done so far here, I simply took out the cons at that point and finished panned at home. (we had a 1 year old with us..... so were limited in what we cold do). It is a neat concept, google it if you have time.
I am looking forward to next year (with a two year old) and I would probably then bring over the gold hog matts that I have back in Dallas.
With the amount of water I saw at both sites I was at this week, it would be very easy to feed a length of lay flat about 50 feet upstream. This would feed a header box that feeds the sluices. You could feed this setup pretty fast. If you look at the "gold hog mini" you will see what I am thinking about.
I have a "Gold Hog Mini" back in Dallas, and have used it in Georgia at place where they bring in raw dirt, that you can load up into 5 gallon buckets and walk 30 feed down a hill to the stream. I loaded 4 buckets and put them in a wagon and took it to the stream. There you feed it into whatever you have. The amount of dirt you process is limited by how fast you can unload it at your equipment. I could feed a 5 gallon bucket into the mini in less than two minutes. The first trip I had to slow it down because I was overloading the matts. I added an extension and different matts in it. The total length is about 5.5 feet, just under 2 meters..... With the extension I could dump a 5 gallon bucket in less than 1 minute and not overload the overall system. I did find gold about half way down the extension, so it was worth having. I have 4 different matts that react to different conditions, so if one does not catch it, the next one will.
Anyhow since I have existing matts for about 5.5 feet of sluice, I would like to set them up back t back.
There is no way you can keep this system loaded, it will take to long to dig and fill the bucket than to process it at the box. (if you can dump it as quickly as I hope).
As you said, the key is to feed more dirt. If you can feed your sluice with a 5 gallon bucket in 2 minutes, you get back to digging quicker. If you are feeding at this rate, it is good to have a little longer run, so when you overload one section there is a clear section later to accept the material.
While you are digging, with the "active matts" like those at the gold hog site, they will clear up any matting that is overloaded by the time you get back to it with the next bucket load.
Anyhow that is what I am thinking about.
Edited by user Wednesday, 7 January 2015 8:14:10 PM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
WWW
