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Post by jeffu on Mar 5, 2015 6:41:18 GMT 10
Labrador. The angus McKirk sluices operate completely differently to riffled sluices, they have drop riffles and never designed to carry carpet. If your feed and water flow is correct, then it will be operating properly. If in doubt, follow FlyingScotts suggestion. Place a large bucket or tub under the discharge and capture ALL the tailings, then pan it and see if you are loosing anything.
Jeff
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Post by Andy on Mar 5, 2015 7:19:15 GMT 10
Lab, I've seen the Angus McKirk sluices in action & in my opinion they are good. Just do as Jeff says & make sure your feed & water flow is right, & you will not lose any significant gold. And what gold you do lose, you won't be able to see anyway.
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Post by labrador on Mar 5, 2015 16:05:35 GMT 10
Thank you for your comments I forgot or actually wasent lisning LOL. when I got it, that it was a drop riffle sluice. Possibly the most important part. So Jeff you can see now, I am lisning, I will catch the tailings and test, and back to some 5 peiceses of shot, see if I can keep recovering them. Donnybrook told me the fall 1'' to the foot. You all have made me happy again. I am working on a system that regulates the water and dirt to a very even flow rate, that will not vary, so I just twig the fall of the sluice. I think this type of sluice was not designed to be feed shovels full as fast as. Lab
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golddiggerart
Super Sluicer
I was born for a reason...
Posts: 381
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Post by golddiggerart on Mar 11, 2015 12:51:48 GMT 10
I've found the rubber door mat works well for me. I don't feed my highbanker with wash quickly because my back injury won't allow it, so slow & steady gets the job done. Even if you are using proper riffles but have your HB set up wrong or use too big a pump for it's size you will lose gold, I have seen that for myself.
I once had a bloke tell me I should be running my 1 1/2" pump at full throttle because it wasn't flowing enough water through the sluice. What a load of rubbish! I run that pump just above idle & have more than enough water flow. If I ran the pump full on with the small highbanker, I know I would be losing a lot more than the 3 or 4 tiny bits I lose now. I have a rather nice Highbanker made by a forum member HardYakka and am impressed by how much gold it catches even the flour gold. My 1.5 hp pump running smoothly sits on idle and works a treat no matter how much I shovel in. Have a video of it running at home but never got one out in the field the other day. Will post pics of it and the video.
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golddiggerart
Super Sluicer
I was born for a reason...
Posts: 381
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Post by golddiggerart on Mar 11, 2015 13:13:20 GMT 10
The Highbanker and Pump running first time at home. Cheers Arthur.
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Post by shivan on Mar 12, 2015 12:54:50 GMT 10
It was interesting reading this thread. We use gold hog matting, not everybody's cup of tea but it works for us when we have it set up properly. My digging partner has a tendency to go all out digging and constantly overloads the hopper (Jeff you know what Mark is like ), this affects the water flow (which is important for the gold hog mats to work properly) and helps gold travel further down the sluice. Even though I have explained this he still get over enthusiastic, wanting to get more material through the sluice. I think it is similar with other people, they have seen people be successful using a setup, and believe just because they have the same setup, they too will be successful even though they do not have any concept of how the unit works, so they work harder rather than smarter?
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Post by jeffu on Mar 12, 2015 19:09:45 GMT 10
You got it in one Ian. Work smarter not harder. (and its surprising how easy it is)
My argument for a long time. What's the point digging for 8 hours and leaving most of the gold behind for people like me. Well, I guess it makes my digging day much easier.
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Post by Flying Scott on Mar 12, 2015 19:37:00 GMT 10
You have heard the story of Jason and the golden fleece. Jason used a sheep fleece to catch his gold. hence the name "golden fleece" Flying Scott
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Post by unlucky on Mar 13, 2015 8:55:41 GMT 10
Heard of an older gentleman who, on his constant trip around Australia, places woolen blankets at the base of drop offs in the creeks. Holds them down with a large rock or two and when he returns every year or so just washes out the blankets and collects the gold. Apparently he does quite well.
One of the most cost effective and simplest designs I have come across in sluicing is the 'Fred Sims' river sluice. It will quite happily catch 95% with a slow to moderate flow rate. I have adapted a horribly arcane hopper to his sluice and usually just place a pan under the outlet, if I am close to the car I will place a Keene sluice under the outlet. In 'heavy' gold areas even with excessive water flow Freds sluice will retain 95%, in 'light, floaty' areas it will retain about 80%. It is such a shame he is not making them anymore, I had mine delivered for $125
I'm still trying to figure out where he sourced the catch matt from, it looks like some form of interlocking grip/non slip matting for wet areas. Creates a hundred little vortexes in an area no more than 150mm x 150mm
Jeffu, if someone does not wish to listen, move onto someone who does.
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Post by Rowdy on Mar 13, 2015 11:56:27 GMT 10
[ Hi Unlucky, Those rubber matts that Fred Sims used to use are often found on the floor behind the bar in pubs/clubs etc.
I got some a few years ago from Clark rubber but the last time I tried to get some they no longer stocked them, maybe some of the bigger stores may still sell them or they may be able to order them in. Rowdy
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Post by Flying Scott on Mar 13, 2015 20:55:20 GMT 10
If there is a Clark Rubber shop near you have a look at there indoor outdoor carpet. Flying Scott.
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Post by mushmouse on Mar 14, 2015 0:02:36 GMT 10
This is an interesting excerpt from a Surveyors sluicing report (1869) regarding the goldfields of Victoria
"Judging from my experience in sluicing, I do not think that free gold could be carried far by any natural force now operating in the country. Combined mechanically with other substances it might be otherwise, but I cannot speak of that, as my experience has been with free gold only. My sluicing operations have all been on the granite country, the gold which is always in the form of spangles, many of them so thin and light that when dry they will float upon water. If my experience goes to show and this gold is with difficulty moved by water, what can be said of gold of which the particles have a compact cubical shape?
"On one claim I raised the auriferous gravel to a box-sluice on the surface. The sluice was 12 inches wide, and was placed at an inclination of one in forty-eight, and the quantity of water was 600 gallons per minute. The sluice was usually paved with large stones, but in washing down these had to be taken out. I have often washed down with the full head of water, and found ninety-five percent of the gold within three feet of where the gravel was filled into the sluice - where the gold was lying upon a smooth board, and yet a powerful current failed to move it. It may be said that, lying flat and presenting the edge to the current, no hold was given; but gold thrown down promiscuously could hardly have the edges of all its particles present to the current. I knew of two cases in which heaps of wash dirt was carried away by floods, but as well as could be known there was no loss of gold. About as much was gathered from the ground on which the heaps lay as the dirt was expected to yield.
"In some of the large permanent sluices stone paving is used as a false bottom, and nothing less than twenty pounds would be secure. I have seen stones of greater weight displaced by water."
"I do not say free gold cannot be transported by water; but I do think that the streams we know have not transported the gold lying in their channels to any considerable distance. The manner in which the gold is spread confirms me in this opinion ; it is spread pretty evenly over the flats from 100 - 450 yards in width, and with so little fall that people do not attempt to cut water races from them, as the fall in the creek is little if anything more that is required for the races." - R Brough Smyth 1869
"We worry too much" - Mushmouse 2015
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Post by jeffu on Mar 14, 2015 20:05:37 GMT 10
Unlucky. The only time I try and give advice to others is when they ask for it. That's what is so frustrating, they ask for the advice, they sit around listening for hours and in reality just don't seem to hear. No matter how much I try and emphasize feed rate & water flow (especially water speed), no matter how many times I demonstrate what happens in a sluice when it's over fed, it just doesn't get through. They return to their own HB and continue to feed 3 or 4 shovels of dirt every minute into a sluice that has barely the ability to process one shovel. But hey, never mind, everyone knows what works best for them and leaving half their gold behind is fine by me.
Jeff
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Post by stinkypete on Mar 17, 2015 10:09:59 GMT 10
Gidday guys Most of you have seen my trommel & sluice, I have had people tell me I have too much of a water flow, too many air bubbles travelling down the sluice, I invited all to put their pan at the bottom of my sluice and pan out my tailings, of course they found no gold. I take the time to get the angle and flow rate to suit me, I observe the riffles, if they are full, I give them a few seconds to clear. I have since sold my trommel but kept my sluice, 1200 x 250, expansion mesh ontop of deep groove marine carpet for 600mm, bottom is 600mm of miners moss ontop of v-groove rubber matt, ontop of theese I had 5 riffles. I myself observed a highbanker with the crates and stuff, and of course he shovelled into it like there was no tomorrow, I asked if I could pan his tailings, he said yes very gingerly, I panned for 3 - 4 times, each pan I found a heap of gold, he cracked the sads and left for Melbourne. This by the way was at Eldorado. So, to put it in simple terms, Slow and steady does prevail, take the time to set-up correctly, get to know the feed rate on what your sluice and riffle design can handle. Don,t think it is belittling to take advice from people who have a suggestion about your setup, take it as productive advice and adjust and test. I do at least 6 test pans on the initial setup of my tailings and probably 1 every hour or so, you will not find gold in my tailings, "guaranteed", . By the way, if somebody has a basic easy to build hopper plan, I would be very interested. And yes, I am back into prospecting, I am still off work with weekly visits to the quacks, I am getting better by the month. Cheers all
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