A little more for the small operator.

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And if you look at the front suspension on an older C10 pickup, the whole thing literally unbolted from the frame. Suspension, steering, brakes, everything unbolts as on unit. Takes care of alot of things in one shot.
 

That's adapter looks nice.

Sounds like you are planning on something pretty big if you are considering C10 suspension. I've never crawled under a normet, rhino, or getman but I don't think they have much if any suspension.

How many yards/ tons are you thinking of hauling per trip? No concern about 4 wheel drive?
 

I have a design for four wheel drive but it add to the expense greatly. I've built a few 9 inch front ends. It's not hard, just expensive.

Looking for about 2 tons per load. But I have to see how heavy it's going to end up with the batterys.
 

barrelroll said:
Still working underground moly. Fused vic is cheap/ easy but you do have to fuse it and buy a fusing machine or start buying no fuse connectors which I'm pretty sure aren't cheap. We've gone away from HDPE in a lot of situations but it has more to do with corporate policy than anything else.



Bio is common underground, I think we run B20. I don't think it would be an issue for MM but B20 doesn't like the cold, anything that sees the surface here at 10k' gets #1 diesel or isn't outside for more than a couple minutes in the winter. Elevation is another issue with small non turbo diesels and even turbo diesels in general, the workings are from 7-8k' and we couldn't get the new Koehler diesels to pass emissions.


I'm interested to see this golf cart based creation. I know they made rubber tired Cavo Muckers but I believe they were diesel. Most jumbos and bolters these days use a diesel to move around and AC power to drill/ bolt. You could rig a mucker up to tram on batteries and then work on AC but than you have the expense of running SO cable to the face. The cheapest option might be to just deal with rail and mucking with a 12b instead of reinventing the wheel.

Any surplus steel yards your way? We have a place that sells drops from shops by the pound. Also a huge surplus/ used aluminum yard, it was nice when I need 1/4" plate for jeep skid plates, still not cheap but much cheaper than buying a whole sheet of new.
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Cavo's were air over shot muckers and dangerous and I think some were electric also. The black cloud in Leadville was the last I knew of any of those being used. I did a little brokerage deal on an Eimco 630 Mucker couple months ago (see pic). It needs work, such as a bucket lip, hosing and some fixing here and there, but it will get fixed up and again be put on the market. There's a good demand worldwide for this machine. I was down underground at your location Tuesday before last with the contractor. Wish I could have took some pictures, but I'm sure you know the policies. I was trying a different split set bolter bit. It really didn't do very well.
 

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Talking of the costs of a small scale mine, I thought I would put in my 10 cents as I’m in the process of setting up a complete small scale centre 26km from my main setup... here goes..
Borehole drilling $3400
Borehole pump $200
Water tank and stand $1000
Hammer mills x2 $2000
Jaw crusher $3000
Compressor complete with jackhammer hoses etc $2800
Explosives to start $400
Fencing $600
Concrete work $800
Electric winch 500kg load $900
Generator for winch and borehole pump 5KVA $1000

Not sure if I left anything out here, running of sluices, if not add a separator for $1000. Not going to cyanide the sand on this site as will send a 30ton truck to pick up the sands and bring to my main milling centre for processing(a lot less licensing that way) so total $15200.

That’s my ten cents, not sure if I’m missing something, maybe add in $1000 for tools which I already have.
 

How is your "small hardrock" package coming along? The DIY powered haulage from golf cart parts looked like a great idea! I've seen little carts like this outfitted with off-road tires, lift kits, heavy-duty cargo racks, etc.

On the drill and blast side, I can get everything needed to do small surface mining into a pickup truck with a shell. Pionjar gas-powered rock drill, steels, picks, hosvels, pinch point bar, 1.4S rock breaking cartdiges for oversize and boulders, binary explosives, and an ATF type 3/4 SLP magazine box for detonators.
 

BlasterJ said:
How is your "small hardrock" package coming along? The DIY powered haulage from golf cart parts looked like a great idea! I've seen little carts like this outfitted with off-road tires, lift kits, heavy-duty cargo racks, etc.

On the drill and blast side, I can get everything needed to do small surface mining into a pickup truck with a shell. Pionjar gas-powered rock drill, steels, picks, hosvels, pinch point bar, 1.4S rock breaking cartdiges for oversize and boulders, binary explosives, and an ATF type 3/4 SLP magazine box for detonators.
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I've had my high x license for years. Things are coming together quite nicely just can't say much right now.

We do have most of the processing line set up already amd are evaluating a couple of options for haulage. Got piles of parts here and no time to do anything with all this coronavirus crap going on.
 

Mad Machinist said:
I've had my high x license for years. Things are coming together quite nicely just can't say much right now.

We do have most of the processing line set up already amd are evaluating a couple of options for haulage. Got piles of parts here and no time to do anything with all this coronavirus crap going on.
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That sounds about right. I'm rebuilding drill in the garage to stay sane. I've got a bunch of stuff to test out, but I'm also stuck in house jail like everyone else.

In CA, you can't haul any 1.1 product without placarding and full DOT. Is AZ like that, or can you have exempt or "not in commerce" quantities? We can still haul up to 1,000lbs of ANFO or 1.4 product however.
 

BlasterJ said:
That sounds about right. I'm rebuilding drill in the garage to stay sane. I've got a bunch of stuff to test out, but I'm also stuck in house jail like everyone else.

In CA, you can't haul any 1.1 product without placarding and full DOT. Is AZ like that, or can you have exempt or "not in commerce" quantities? We can still haul up to 1,000lbs of ANFO or 1.4 product however.
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Need full placarding and hazmat endorsement for 1.1 here but 1.4s is good up to 1000 pounds without placarding. From what I have seen from the 1.4s, there really isn't much need for 1.1 for the little guy anymore. Storage requirements are easier and less worry about it being stolen as it WILL NOT work outside a bore hole.
 

Mad Machinist said:
Need full placarding and hazmat endorsement for 1.1 here but 1.4s is good up to 1000 pounds without placarding. From what I have seen from the 1.4s, there really isn't much need for 1.1 for the little guy anymore. Storage requirements are easier and less worry about it being stolen as it WILL NOT work outside a bore hole.
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My experiments with 1.4 suggest that it works great if you have freestanding boulders or rock with free faces. It's less dramatic when you have embedded rock or you're trying to drive a drift. I've never tried it on a big panel or face hwoever.

You can buy or make binary charges when you need more fragmentation.

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You still need a second job box for your detonators, or an SLP-22 day box if transporting on the same truck as explosives. But it's not even a listed explosive until mixed.
 

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BlasterJ said:
Have you tried Royex or Autostem?
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Spent many an hour on the phone with Dennis from Royex up in Vancouver. Royex will work quite well when driving a drift, you just have to get your drill pattern right. If you don't drill burn holes in the center, performance is lacking. The delays need to be timed right too as does the blast pattern. As long as the rock has somewhere to move it will fragment.

I'll try and find a drill pattern for ya.
 

Mad Machinist said:
Spent many an hour on the phone with Dennis from Royex up in Vancouver. Royex will work quite well when driving a drift, you just have to get your drill pattern right. If you don't drill burn holes in the center, performance is lacking. The delays need to be timed right too as does the blast pattern. As long as the rock has somewhere to move it will fragment.

I'll try and find a drill pattern for ya.
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That would be cool. Did you take Jack Peters' class? Dennis was at the one I took in Bend OR. Their product seems to be the best of the 1.4 out there, and I believe they now have a long-delay NONEL too.

Since you have to buy full cases to get it shipped, I haven't been willing to spend $1500 or so to test it out myself either.
 

BlasterJ said:
That would be cool. Did you take Jack Peters' class? Dennis was at the one I took in Bend OR. Their product seems to be the best of the 1.4 out there, and I believe they now have a long-delay NONEL too.

Since you have to buy full cases to get it shipped, I haven't been willing to spend $1500 or so to test it out myself either.
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Don't know where your buying but my price is just under$1K for 36 of the 38mmx1100mm cartridges. Those are the big boys at 780g.
 

Mad Machinist said:
Don't know where your buying but my price is just under$1K for 36 of the 38mmx1100mm cartridges. Those are the big boys at 780g.
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That's not bad. I had priced 7-110gm cartridges for what I do. The per unit cost starts around $13/ea, and the smaller weights come in 100s. It makes sense that you need a center relief to make drifting work well with these. While the cost is a little high, you're also not having to buy a detonator at ~$7.00/ea. I pay about $2.25/lb for 1.5x16" emulsion sticks. You usually have to pay for HAZMAT delivery (my distributor charges 54 cents/mi each way or $150 minimum) unless you have a large order. And a set of magazines is going to run $15K or so, unless you get lucky at an auction like I did or you're a good fabricator.

The only issue I have with the economics of 1.4 product might be drilling cost - you might have to weigh labor, air and tools for a tighter pattern of holes vs. conventional product?
 

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