keene mat material

[palmercanyonsavant]

Hi every one been out of the loop again supporting my brother and his gold mine (bench placer 500 feet up on mountainside).

I purchased a sluice and the mat that came with it is not the right one some one told me. I need to find a "Keene Molded Ripple Mat" , I need to find out the part number or a where to purchase it.

My brother is loosing more (I proved it by panning his tailings) gold than he is keeping (pickers and smaller) nice big ones stay put on wrong mat all his finers flip and float off, if he slows it down the mat loads up and looses it also.

any info would be appreciated, I hate to see him working so hard to throw it back onto the ground ( he get about 1 oz a month and a occasional nugget

 

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[Astrobouncer]

They might be talking about Keene's new miracle matting. The part number is KSCRM in Keenes Catalog, it is sold by the linear inch, at 8$ per 1 linear inch, by 35 inches , I believe. A 35 by 35 inch mat sells for 250 $. It is expensive stuff but it is amazing for gold recovery.

An 8 by 35 inch piece would run 64.00$ I think.

 

[strickman]

isn't he talking about plain old ribbed carpet ? if so you can get it at any prospecting supplier , or even cheaper at home depot ......that is what i use on my dredge ,and have the same on several sluices . works fine and is cheap....... good ole blue !

 

[strickman]

and thanks for posting pics of the gold !!!!! very nice stuff ! get some carpet quick ! don't want to lose any more of that !!!!!!!!

 

[Hoser John]

100% absolute insane bloody ripoff

 

[placertogo]

I agree with Hoser John. Once the manufacturing process is set up, the cost of making this material is about the same as regular grooved "V": rubber mat. $8 per running inch is a scalper's price. I have an Eldorado blue plastic sluice, built from modular molded parts, imported from Sweden, over 3 feet long and 10 inches wide, and the entire unit was about $70. It is one of the best fine and coarse gold sluices made and the entire unit was much less expensive than just the new mat material from Keene.

 

[palmercanyonsavant]

thanks for the input, I did talk to people at keene and yes the material is expensive, but they put a lot of time money and effort into the development of the product until it was satisfactory to the outcome. look at youtube and see how well it works on the alaska fines. this material is a high pressure vulcanized rubber (car tire) not plastic, so the process is time consuming is only the size of the mold 35" x 35" one at a time.

I do agrre it is a little high but I figure at $27.00 for a 11" x 11" x 2 = $54 (10" x 36" sluice) in cost is a lot cheaper than throwing out a few hundred bucks away each week back onto the ground where it came from.

If it catches on and the sales increase, it may not be as costly in the future.

here is this weeks finds. some friends youtubed me and wanted to know the size of the nugget so i put a penny by it, the dime pic and the fines (no flour or small gold , loosing them in tailings) are the other 2 pics.

thanks

 

[placertogo]

Getting the fines to drop out of the flow is the most important factor in retaining fines. Use of slick plates to allow fines to settle in the flow, reducing velocity of flow, and elimination of surface tension issues are the most important factors in retaining fine gold in dredging or highbanking. If you can get the fines to drop out, about any mat material works well. Many miners and prospectors find the new type molded plastic sluices (LeTrap, Angus MacKirk, Eldorado, Keene plastic) work great with fines as long as the above factors are considered.

 

[Hoser John]

What a laugh-NOTHING spent in developement just truckers mat--what a hoot--John

 

[placertogo]

While we're on the subject, has anyone seen or used the so-called "African mat" mentioned on the following URL?

http://elvahost.com/~vcatbe/prospecting/sluicemat.html

 

[kuger]

What a laugh-NOTHING spent in developement just truckers mat--what a hoot--John

Not really truckers mat John....I agree with you it is high priced...but isnt all of Keenes stuff??YES!!
I spoke in length with the developer/creator of this mat and it is unlike any matting out there....yes the first round wasnt what they wanted,and the mold cost something like $500,000,the second round and another giving of the "mold",money,they got what they wanted.They never set out to have to charge that much,but now they have an exorbitant cost involved that they can not just,"absorb"!

 

[Hoser John]

Well? Post info for inquiring minds as I've definately seen the TWIN configuration a couple a times in the last few years please--thanx-John

 

[nuggy]

Your brothers operational gold losses should be fixable, with a little more detail and maybe a couple of photos of his recovery system. I'm sure some of the folk on this site could suggest improvements. Hi tech matting might be a nice addition but getting the basics right will stop most gold loss.
The basics of good placer recovery are to classify material to separate 1/2 inch and over from finer material. This can be achieved with what I call a grizzly or screen plate of some sort. An example of this is the double sluice box system used in some suction dredges. This stops larger material lodging in riffles and disturbing water flow, preventing gold settling between them.
Set your riffle boxes with around 12 degrees of fall, with enough water running down to come up to midway between the first and second joint of your index finger on top of the riffles. This is for your fine classified material - any gold over 1/2 inch size wont be hard to catch.
I personally favor varying the size and spacing of riffles in sections along the length of the box, some plain - some Hungarian type. Gold comes in a variety of shapes - sizes and may not all be stopped as easily by the same type of riffle.
Keep the material between riffles loose so gold doesn't just skip over the top unable to get down through compacted sand. Slow the water down and rake along the riffles every hour.
I use nomad type matting, I get it free from retailers who use it in shop doorways, the middle is worn out but the edges are like new. I just ask if I can have it when they are about due for replacement. I also have a piece of rubber mat that came from an old car, it is divided into square cells about half inch size by quarter inch deep. I used it at the top of my streaming down box, for cleaning concentrates, worked real well.
You don't say if your brother is shoveling material or using machinery but if he is getting an ounce a month I guess he is working by hand. That's hard work and a waste of labour to let any gold get away.
Well off to work for me as it's warm enough now. Good luck. Nuggy

 

[EagleDown]

What a laugh-NOTHING spent in developement just truckers mat--what a hoot--John

Not really truckers mat John....I agree with you it is high priced...but isnt all of Keenes stuff??YES!!
I spoke in length with the developer/creator of this mat and it is unlike any matting out there....yes the first round wasnt what they wanted,and the mold cost something like $500,000,the second round and another giving of the "mold",money,they got what they wanted.They never set out to have to charge that much,but now they have an exorbitant cost involved that they can not just,"absorb"!

Hmmmm, I wonder what they have told customers to justify the two inventions that they
"borrowed" from me

Eagle

 

[Hefty1]

Hi Eagle
They dont "Borrow" They take as they did with my fathers Dam Blue Bowl and made 1 small change.

Hefty

 

[EagleDown]

Hi Eagle
They dont "Borrow" They take as they did with my fathers Dam Blue Bowl and made 1 small change.

Hefty

Yep, that's what they did with my "No Pain-Crevasse Buster". And, my "Fail Safe Suit Warmer".

It's kind of weird because I knew their father personally, and he was one of the most honest men I've ever met. Too bad he lost his life in that crash, maybe he wasn't around enough to teach his welps what the meaning of honor is.

 

[Hoser John]

100xxx BETTER AT LESS THAN A BUCK A SQUARE FOOT is called Veranda outdoor carpet by Shaw #H54163 and used by professionals for over 25 years. Slickplate bs debunked 100% along with that lousy ungodly expensive miners moss bs by The Alaska Gold new engineers. Internet old wives tales are not fact based. There is absolutely nothing that even comes close--anything backed??throw the junk out with all the gold ya lost -John

 

[russau]

HUMMMMMM?? that sounds familiar John!

 

[freddy williams]

Love the color lots and lots of it I am working on 2 ounces a month so I can quit my current job...

 

[Brianfromsyr]

This is an old thread but I have experience with miracle mat. The daily dredge clean ups took minutes using it.
I ran into a guy from Massachusetts they call the human excavator. He can dig a hole in a creek in no time that looks like a dredge hole. He processes all of his material through a keene A52 sluice with the metal riffles removed and miracle mat glued down. There is a 1/4" punch plate that covers the whole sluice including the flare. He shovels over it and most of the gold gets caught in the first few riffles.
I used this for 3 seperate weekends and you can run a whole hard days dredge clean out in minutes and get anywhere from a half to a full cup of cons.
2 different times we placed a tub to catch the tailings and we never even seen a spec in the tailings. This setup is amazing and worth every penny! I used vortex matt in my smaller 3" dredge and in my Jack Swick's river rocker box. The gold cube uses vortex. I have to say the miracle mat seems to perform much better when used correctly. A great friend of mine sells vortex so that is hard for me to say.