***Debateful topic , Can Comm Drywash be profitable in AZ

[keepmehumblelord]

So here is the debate. Please provide proof or statistics or evidence of why it is to your answer. CAN DRY WASHING COMMERCIALLY BE PROFITALLY DONE IN ARIZONA TO AVOID THE NEED FOR MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WATER? IF SO PLEASE EXPLAIN THE LOSS COMPARED TO WET WASHING AND VARIATIONS OF SOIL AND ARE SOME SOILS NOT DRYWASHABLE. EXAMPLE THE RED DIRT IN ARIZONA. ARE THERE EFFECTIVE AND CHEAP METHODS OF DRYING YOUR DIRT OUT WITHIN A 24 HR PERIOD? IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE OR HAVE DONE THIS PLEASE EXPLAIN THE PROS AND CONS AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE IT EFFICENT ETC... THANKS!!!
BY THE WAY MANY HAVE SAID THAT COMMERCIAL DRY WASHING WAS TO DIFFICULT BECAUSE AS YOU GO UNDER A FEW FEET OF SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT IS STRONG. OTHERS SAY DRYING THE MATERIAL IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO BUT I HAVENT HEARD OF ANY EFFICIENT WAYS. OTHERS SAY WET WASHING IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 

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[gold tramp]

Im not in AZ but since I do a fair bit of dry washing I will throw in my two cents.
I can assure you this you will no doubt move more dirt than you ever have.
most of the time in drywasin the pay is on bed rock, just like dredging you have to move loads of over burden before one gets to the pay, if you are lucky the over burden pays a little and you can wash it.
but for the most part you just toss out loads of worthless overburderden, lots of rocks. most washes I work are from 2 to 20 foot wide sometimes the goods are over 6 foot or better to bed rock most times its just 3 foot or so but it is still loads of hard work.

I don't spend much time trying to squeeze every bit of gold out of what im digging as my time is better spent digging getting to bedrock for the cleanup.
But for sure the more materials I can run the more gold in theory I can get. even in hard rock the more digging I do the more pay I pile up.
So throw out washes if you are lucky you can get on one that pays all the way and will have work and can fill a bottle, most times though in drywashin its luck, as finding paying grounds that's going to be, comm profitable its a thing of the past and the price of gold is falling.

Here in Ca the oldtimers were very wise in the ways of mining and left very little for us. Heck we are just pickin up the crumbs they left behind and a lot of those old boys were trying to feed a family so they were serious about mining.

Gt.................

 

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[MadMarshall]

It seems to me that if getting payable gold was as easy as moving lots of dirt in known gold areas then more people would be successful at gold mining. Even with investors and money and machinery people lose every year moving lots of dirt for gold.. I suspect if one goes into gold mining with the misleading assumption that all one has to is move lots of dirt then they may have a short career..
Profit in gold can be affected by many things and just because you get good gold a yard doesn't mean anything if your operation cost are high and or too time consuming.. There is a lot more to mining then just moving dirt. I suppose if one had the investors and the money one could literally take the HOFFMAN STRATEGY and possibly make money.. But I suspect for most of us we need actual results for our work.. And for me Just finding an actual claim that has payable gold and good access and water and so on has been a challenge.. So many factors one must consider.. so many places and claims known for good gold but that doesn't mean they would be profitable to work. Anyway for me I figure once I get to the moving of dirt it is because the REAL WORK has been done.

 

[keepmehumblelord]

Hey AZ thats exactly what i had pictured in my head. Can you order those without the top grizzly portion that usually comes with the keene dry washers. This video im sure im going to watch over and over, im like a kid when it comes to machines that recover gold

 

[AzViper]

Hey AZ thats exactly what i had pictured in my head. Can you order those without the top grizzly portion that usually comes with the keene dry washers. This video im sure im going to watch over and over, im like a kid when it comes to machines that recover gold

That is not my drywasher, I just put the videos up to show you some options on drywashers. The DW belongs to Rick Ortenzio his email is, [email protected]

 

[TerryC]

It seems to me that if getting payable gold was as easy as moving lots of dirt in known gold areas then more people would be successful at gold mining. Even with investors and money and machinery people lose every year moving lots of dirt for gold.. I suspect if one goes into gold mining with the misleading assumption that all one has to is move lots of dirt then they may have a short career..
Profit in gold can be affected by many things and just because you get good gold a yard doesn't mean anything if your operation cost are high and or too time consuming.. There is a lot more to mining then just moving dirt. I suppose if one had the investors and the money one could literally take the HOFFMAN STRATEGY and possibly make money.. But I suspect for most of us we need actual results for our work.. And for me Just finding an actual claim that has payable gold and good access and water and so on has been a challenge.. So many factors one must consider.. so many places and claims known for good gold but that doesn't mean they would be profitable to work. Anyway for me I figure once I get to the moving of dirt it is because the REAL WORK has been done.

Mad, "payable gold" fields is profitable. By its definition, payable gold in an area known for its "per ton" yield, WILL WORK. A little more research should show that most operations in known "payable gold" areas lose because of MISMANAGEMENT (or overextending) and lack of working capitol. Case in point... Klondike Ike's attempt near the Rincon.... west of Stanton. Too large an operation without an adequate capitalization. And throw in a dash of (in my opinion) a little too much "hype" not backed by documentation. The business model (is that the proper phrase?) should expect that "profit dollar ONE" is probably three years away. If a new start-up cannot pay the bills for three years, they will fold. TTC

 

[SLNugget]

Does anyone think that water could be ran over and over with dish soap constantly being added. I realized a certain point when the water was so dirt the dish soap would even foam up. Trying to come up with a way i can run 8 yards of dirt with 200 gallons of water

I ran some sample material through our reverse helix trommel Sunday afternoon. I was too tired or lazy to change the water in our recirc sys so just mucked the silt out of the catch tub added a little water and ran the material. The water was more silty/dirty than most would use. Bottom line is I recovered some of the finest gold we have ever recovered with the trommel. Easily -100 or smaller. I was surprised because of the dirty water.
So I would say give it a shot to see if it works for you. We are using a two tub/barrel sys but are thinking about adding another tub/barrel.

 

[keepmehumblelord]

So many great responses. You are right Terry with the working capital and if you are on gold ground then why not go for it. "Those who succeed have tried and those who fail never tried." im sure its a quote somewhere but sounded good

 

[Desertman50]

Bloody Awesome!
So what did you get from the riffle trays?

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I use 15 gallon barrels to haul water. Much easier to manage in the truck. Like LP13 said use hose, but I use the hose with a pump.

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