Found 1 Gram today, consistently getting this out of every 4-5 buckets of cons

[jvan]

Found 1 Gram today, consistently getting this out of every 4-5 buckets of cons, On my claim with the gold cube...

Wondering if this is considered rich ground? If I totaled that out to 41 5 gallon buckets would make a YARD, that would put it at about $300 a yard, while even if I am hitting some rich cracks, but even the normal ground dirt is paying about half that would put it at about $150 a yard... Are these numbers rich or low?

I know moving that much is hard but I moved by my self about 6, 5 gallon buckets down to 4 buckets of fine cons in about 2 hours and ran through Gold Cube ... Got about one coffee cup of super cons and got = 1 gram...

 

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[calgeologist]

Are your scales calibrated correctly? I agree that looks to be much less than a gram. The picture below is of 1.1 grams measured to the 0.0001 accuracy on a lab scale at my work.

 

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[jvan]

Yup I know it is right because two scales read about the exact same... You know gold pieces have very different density, I have seen buddies of mine weigh one piece that is bigger then the other piece yet the smaller piece weighs more then the bigger piece...

Anyhow this thread is now getting off topic, was looking for advice about my claim, not the weight of the clean up.... Thanks for everyone's input..

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Found 1 Gram today, consistently getting this out of every 4-5 buckets of cons, On my claim with the gold cube...

Wondering if this is considered rich ground? If I totaled that out to 41 5 gallon buckets would make a YARD, that would put it at about $300 a yard, while even if I am hitting some rich cracks, but even the normal ground dirt is paying about half that would put it at about $150 a yard... Are these numbers rich or low?

I know moving that much is hard but I moved by my self about 6, 5 gallon buckets down to 4 buckets of fine cons in about 2 hours and ran through Gold Cube ... Got about one coffee cup of super cons and got = 1 gram...


View attachment 1076901

Hey, if you are getting a gram (not grains) of gold from 4-5 five gal buckets of material run through a Gold Cube, that is good. I am not in California, but here in Colorado if you got that much, you would be in very good ground. That said, it takes 31.1 grams to make a troy oz, so you will have to run about 130-155 five gal buckets to get an ounce of gold.

I would keep on working that claim!

 

[jvan]

Yeah well the problem is moving that much ground is very hard... looking for a small cart style trommel wash plant deal and that will tell me exact I think, cause right now it takes so long just to wash 8-9 buckets down to 4 buckets of class to run...

 

[TravyLeigh]

How deep is it to bedrock?

 

[winners58]

you could get or build a topper for your gold cube. your right that glass vial weighs 4.91g with out the lid,
keep at it. sometimes your best gold will be pushed to only one side of the stream or the other.
sample, sample, sample
.

 

[jvan]

winners58 I was thinking about getting that, but I feel I might loose gold, as the gold down here that I have got so far is small, was thinking how the " Lil monster by goldfox would work "

 

[winners58]

Comes down to how much time and effort in each stage of processing,
the real value of your claim will be seen when its legal to dredge
and you can get 1/4 to 1/2 OZ a day.
.

 

[yotaboy86]

Just buy a bazooka gold trap tripple your production if you cant dredge and you have flowing water just my opinion probably cheaper than a tromel and just as good

 

[jvan]

I have a 36in Bazooka Sniper, have only used it about an hour... I think I will go with the Doc's Gold Hog Raptor, looks like it can handle what I need it to do without slowing me down...

@WINNERS58 I don't think we will see the day they will allow dredging in CA... I could be wrong but don't think that will happen..

 

[fowledup]

@WINNERS58 I don't think we will see the day they will allow dredging in CA... I could be wrong but don't think that will happen..[/QUOTE---I really hope you are wrong!

How come you've only used your sniper for an hour? Its not a high volume production sluice, but for what your doing now its an excellent sampling sluice. It allows you a quick clean out after each bucket if you choose. How''s the mapping coming along? Call your neighbor up and ask him to show/demo a big "Prospector" or better yet "Miner". You'll process more material faster, more efficiently, and far cheaper then bringing a trommel, pump, gas, and hoses. Less definitely = more in this case. Prove the claim, then justify the big expenditures.

 

[Reed Lukens]

I have a 36in Bazooka Sniper, have only used it about an hour... I think I will go with the Doc's Gold Hog Raptor, looks like it can handle what I need it to do without slowing me down...

Your thinking too small unless you have bad access. Go with at least a small Kabota Back Hoe and one of the small trommels to sample with. Yes you will need a p.o.o. but it's simply some paperwork to fill out. If there is a lot of gravel then a highbanker will take a lot of time. You can rent a little Kabota for around $175 to $220 a day, which is well worth the cost for what you can do with it. Take a couple of days or what it takes to sample the entire area to be worked so you can plan ahead on what sized equipment you will need to turn a good profit. You can dig each hole to bedrock and then test only the bottom of some the holes for a quick peek at what is going on. You may find that you have more gold suspended in the gravel then on bedrock, which might make it impractical to work on a small scale at all - but with a medium sized trommel and wash plant, you could turn a decent wage. Bigger is not always better but starting too small is a common mistake that kills many operations before they get started. I would look for at least an ounce a day with a small sample trommel after you have removed the overburden. Sample some of the overburden or gravel but clean a big spot like 30'x 60' as close as you can to bedrock if possible for the quick first test. Then if it looks good, dig sample holes around the entire area to work later if needed. This way you can have good access and return the tractor because it will be able to do a lot more work than a small trommel. Type small gold trommel into Google and go with a good quality small unit like the ProGold I think it's called or larger. I would call Heckler and see what they can put together for you as well. There's plenty of small trommel manufacturers around here locally that stand behind their products. The Lil monster is a toy... way too small to think about using for this.

 

[Goldwasher]

Whateer you end up doing to run don't worry about losing big gold from classification. Just check your oversize waste with your gold bug. Any thing to big to go through a screen is gonna scream when its in a pile of loose moveable material. just check it at the end of the day. I don't know if my claim partner Hangtown has contacted you. He lives close and has larger bazookas to try. A sniper just isn't gonna produce for you. As mentioned it is great for sampling or running higrade material from sniping. I am planning on Having next Tuesday off John(hangtown) and I are gonna dig we may hit the river downstream from your place near 49 we haven't finalized yet. If we get rain this week we may just dig on our claim. I'm gonna go down today and see if we have any water in the ponds to Hi-bank with. I know your excited and have time and money. I promise you have enough gear to recover right now. Just focus on where and what to dig for now.There's tons of surplus gear to be had at discount we live in gold country....hold off on big purchases until you can figure out your claim better the ground dictates the gear not the other way around. Keep sampling and exploring We will be in touch.

 

[jvan]

Yeah there is no way to get a backhoe down there on my claim at this point, if I could prove there is enough gold down there from sampling then I could contact some area property owners and make that leap, but I am far from that point as of yet...

 

[jvan]

So I ordered last night a Gold Vac Pac, did not want to mess with building one, Picked up one never used for $300 on ebay so saved about $100 on that, then bought the gold n sand hand bucket dredge, Was thinking these two tools will help my sampling efforts...

 

[jvan]

@Goldwasher, who is your partner in hangtown? I was thinking about upgrading the sniper to the bigger BGT one, as the first hour I used it I had to really help it move the rocks around and was thinking the bigger one Todd has would be better.. as the sniper is a bit to slow for my pace alone....

 

[Reed Lukens]

Try running it full of water, the gold will drop in to the boil box regardless. If you are moving rocks through the sluice by hand then you need a lot more water running through it a lot faster plus a little more angle for water speed. Don't be afraid to run it full of water and rolling everything smaller than 2" quickly out because the boil box is designed to only take the right amount of water for it to run correctly. Because the collection area is protected and only so much water can get into it, the loss of fine gold is minimal. Using a sluice box stand at the edge of a drop point in the river will make a big difference.
Sluice Box Frame with Adjustable Support Legs: Keene Engineering Online


In this pic we aren't using the stand but this is an ideal sluice set up.

 

[BurntBear]

Great post Reed!

 

[jvan]

Reed thanks for sharing, yeah I had so much water flowing through it as one of the only places I could find to place it,, is right before a waterfall like drop, about 8 foot drop, but the water was flowing so fast I was thinking after 5 buckets and emptied it out and not a spec of gold, thought It was to fast and way to much water and lost anything I did get...

 

[Goldwasher]

My partner is Hangtowndiggins. He lives off of Pleasant Valley rd. Used to live off of Sand Ridge near you. He has a 48" miner and a 36" prospector. Same one I have. I had a sniper at first but I traded back to Todd for a prospector. It was way to slow for me. Reed is right you want to be able to run it full bore if you can they like flow. And if you run a regular sluice having the discharge end out of the water is preferred.I believe Hangtowndiggins is going to try and p.m. you later today.