Gold Hog Mats ~ Like To Hear From Those Using The Mats

[AzViper]

I am about to build a 60" x 12" x 4" X 0.80 Sluice using Gold Hog Mats. The Sluice will sit under my 12" trommel and will be fed by shovel or 5 gallon buckets. Will be using a pump that can deliver nearly 8000 GPH. Please take a look at the image. I had contacted Doc at Gold Hog and he suggested the configuration in the image below. At the end of the Sluice will be a Fluid Bed Gold Trap. The material that we are digging can range from flake gold to 1/4" diameter gold. The trommel will be classifying to 1/2" before dumping into the Sluice. I would like some input from those who are using the Gold Hog Mats, your thoughts, idea's, what your using, how your using the mats, etc. Thank You In Advance

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[russau]

i agree with Good Guy, i need to watch the material dane behind the riffles to know if its the right angle and water flow. BUT it looks real good as is!

 

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[goldhog]

Hi AZ.........
Sorry, had to deal with "sewage problems" at the house for several days.
Main line collapsed between the house and septic tank.
Man........ it sure is nice to be back to normal again.

Both videos look pretty good, but a capture rate test will be need to make sure.
My only concern is that we are "air pocketing" on the RiverHog sections a bit due to the water depth.
We might have to trim that riffle down just a bit more, or add more water depth if that is an option.
However... often when you add REAL / RAW dirt to the slurry those settle down and become smooth.
It's amazing how a muddy slurry changes the flow.
When you run it, you'll see what I mean.
This applies to both highbankers and dredges. The flow changes dramatically sometimes.
Now...
Not sure if you watch Gold Rush at all, but a good example of IMPACTION is Parker's sluice.
Lack of VERY active exchange, with lots of heavies, often leads to impaction and allows gold to ride down the sluice.
So, that is why I encourage people (and ops) to go to the extreme... then tone it down.
Most people do the opposite. They start medium velocity... see they are losing gold... then think they need to slow it down.
That only makes it worse.
Start off running it TOO FAST... then test.
If losing gold, tone down a LITTLE. Test again.
You want it to run as fast as possible with a capture rate that is within your total satisfaction.
This will keep capture zones open for gold for long and heavy runs.
Winter is a GREAT time to test and get it dialed in.
Once you get it dialed in... you're done.

Shout if you have any more questions.
Doc

 

[AzViper]

Thx Doc... rest assured I plan to classify the bucket I ran then pan it to see what if any gold is in the bucket. The bucket I ran was what I vacuumed up and was not classified. The trommel will classify to 1/2" so I will not be running anything larger. I have many 5 gallon buckets of 1/2" to run for testing that have gold in them. I need to rework the pump with valves so I can discharge the water back into reservoir while maintaining sluice flow so the pump can run wide open. Once the trommel is added to the system I should be okay with flow to hopper, spray bar, and sluice. I am running out if time as my surgery is 16 days away.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Hey AZ, I've got the same pump to drain pools. Way to go with that. So now I can do the GH mats as well. Are you hooking up to a generator then to run in field? Plus, instead of flat hose, why not do PVC with couplers? That way you won't get holes in the hose everyother trip. Plus are you going to have a divider in the tub to keep slurry/gravel in contained area. So you could either shovel or lift out? That way it's not such a chore at the end.
I don't remember seeing how you'd deal with waste material in tub.

 

[AzViper]

Hey AZ, I've got the same pump to drain pools. Way to go with that. So now I can do the GH mats as well. Are you hooking up to a generator then to run in field? Plus, instead of flat hose, why not do PVC with couplers? That way you won't get holes in the hose everyother trip. Plus are you going to have a divider in the tub to keep slurry/gravel in contained area. So you could either shovel or lift out? That way it's not such a chore at the end.
I don't remember seeing how you'd deal with waste material in tub.

GDAZ,

I believe page 7 on my trommel build I address the issues on my water system with a drawing, but here it is again...

In building my triple tank to recirculate water for my Trommel / Sluice it’s important I keep the water going into the spray bar free of debris. The idea to draw the water into the inner 15 gallon barrel through the two inch holes below the water line so it’s free of floating leaves, sticks, etc. These twelve 2" holes will be drilled around the circumference of the barrel and will be covers with a removable screen that slides over the barrel. The 15 gallon barrel needs to be taller so water does not flow over the top into the inner barrel. The 4" siphon tubes need to draw the water from the middle of the barrels as well so it’s away from the floating debris. The 5 gallon bucket under the Sluice Box will collect the dirt and rock that’s discharged from the Sluice. At the end of the discharge end of the Trommel will be a wheel barrel to haul the 1/2” and bigger rock to dump. It will all be checked with a MD for larger gold than 1/2".

We will be running a generator to power the pump of which we will use a GFIC outlet to be on the safe side. As for that flat hose that's for testing only. I have a roll of 1-1/2" pool vacuum hose that has a smooth ID that will be used.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I remember seeing that pic now of tank. I only mentioned it because I know I need to rethink how my recirc works for my system. I'd like to get it so my dirty water stays in tub and cleaner water runs through the pump. That way it doesn't seem like a milkshake running over sluice. Possibly pushing gold out.

 

[AzViper]

I remember seeing that pic now of tank. I only mentioned it because I know I need to rethink how my recirc works for my system. I'd like to get it so my dirty water stays in tub and cleaner water runs through the pump. That way it doesn't seem like a milkshake running over sluice. Possibly pushing gold out.

We have been running the triple tank like in the drawing on another sluice box. It works great as the pump is being feed from water about mid level of the water line so everything that floats will not be drawn into the pump. The same thing for the siphon hoses they are drawing from mid level of the water line in each of the other two tanks. The bucket under the sluice will be a cut down 15 gallon barrel that will be changed out as it becomes nearly full. We also use a swimming pool skimmer to skim the tank to keep most of the crap that floats out.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Were ya a pool guy at some point? Cuz I've got some of the same stuff which I then use for this as well. So now I guess I should get a bigger tank and go three stage. I tried to do separate totes but couldn't get siphon part to work properly.

 

[AzViper]

Never have been a pool guy. Although have wired and installed many pool pumps over the years. I am one that will tackle anything and everything. I hate to pay anyone to do a job I can do and do a better job considering the work force that's on the job today. I know that's a rather bold statement on my part but I am skilled in many trades. I was taught a very good lesson from a friends father when I was maybe 10 years old. His dad owned a car auto repair shop, back when cars had a distributor, points, rotor, cab. This a**hole would pull the spark plugs and bead blast the plugs, file the points, wipe clean the distributor cap and clean the contacts, file and clean the contact on the rotor and reinstall the old parts. When the customer showed up to pick up their vehicle he would bring these new/old boxes and say to the customer, "do you want the boxes from the new parts". This lesson had a lasting impression on me and to this day I do not trust anyone to do anything for me.

 

[AzViper]

So now I guess I should get a bigger tank and go three stage. I tried to do separate totes but couldn't get siphon part to work properly.

You need to be using large diameter pipe so that you do not drain your first tank dry. We use 3" cheap white irrigation pipe from HD. If your using three tanks you will need 4 elbows and 4 pipes. I would not make the pipes so long that your picking up the crap from the bottom of the tanks. Remember its better to oversize the pipes than be undersized. Once you shut your pump down the siphon pipes will balance the water within the tanks then stop flowing between tanks until you start your pump up again. To plug the 3" pipe to start the siphon use a rubber ball from the pet store. Once you have the pipe submerged under water plug one end of the pipe. Quickly place the pipe over the two tanks as seen in the drawing and remove the ball, the flow of water will begin between the two tanks until the water level is balance. If you have anymore questions PM me..

 

[AzViper]

Getting things together to go mining on Saturday. This will be the last chance to recovery some gold before surgery next week. Will also give me a good workout with the new sluice and pump combination. Depending on the weather we may try a wash/stream in the Arivaca area otherwise will be heading to Greatervile.

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[keepmehumblelord]

nice!

You need to be using large diameter pipe so that you do not drain your first tank dry. We use 3" cheap white irrigation pipe from HD. If your using three tanks you will need 4 elbows and 4 pipes. I would not make the pipes so long that your picking up the crap from the bottom of the tanks. Remember its better to oversize the pipes than be undersized. Once you shut your pump down the siphon pipes will balance the water within the tanks then stop flowing between tanks until you start your pump up again. To plug the 3" pipe to start the siphon use a rubber ball from the pet store. Once you have the pipe submerged under water plug one end of the pipe. Quickly place the pipe over the two tanks as seen in the drawing and remove the ball, the flow of water will begin between the two tanks until the water level is balance. If you have anymore questions PM me..

Just wondering how many yards of dirt could be ran with a 300 gallon recirculating system 3 100 gal tanks

 

[AzViper]

Just wondering how many yards of dirt could be ran with a 300 gallon recirculating system 3 100 gal tanks

Not sure what your asking. Are you asking how many yards can you run before the water is so saturated with a build up slurry where you may be losing gold down the sluice? Part of the key to running a recir. system will be keeping the water as clean as possible through the pump. To do that you need to clean the bucket beneath the sluice before it overflows into your first water tank. Kinda of a loaded question and one that's not easy to answer. Now you could run as long as you can then allow the system (Slurry Mix) to settle down by shutting it down and allowing the slurry mix to settle, this could tank a few hours. Then skim off the water from the tanks and do a clean out of the tanks then refresh your tanks with the old water plus new water.

How many yards are you planning on running? I know just running a recir. system with 100 gallons of water the slurry gets rather nasty after about 2 yards, but again its all about not allowing that bucket under the sluice to overflow. Lets say you have a 15 gallon barrel under your sluice you will be able to run maybe 3.5 five gallon buckets before you need to dump the 15 gallon barrel, but this is going to depend on how well your sluice works.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I've been toying with an idea of having the runoff of gravel land on a sloping basin that's got a 1/16 mesh. Then the gravel goes off the side (possibly into a wheel barrel). Then all that's left to remove is the sludge/sand. Plus that bucket would fit into a bigger bucket, in case overflows the holes.

To answer the question from earlier about water. I was told before 1 gallon water for each gallon of fresh dirt. Now I'm not certain if that's correct, because there are so many variables. Sluice, weather, human error, setting up. The list goes on.
My last trip up north. I took 2 64 gallon coolers (both filled about half way because of rough roads in) and a 6 gallon jug. Figured I'd be able to run at least 70 gallons of dirt, or at least 4 18 gallon totes (14 5 gal buckets). All said and done I got to run about 1 18 gal tote and 7 5 gal buckets (roughly 10 buckets). The water was like a shake by that point and was definitely afraid I was losing gold. Plus you've got to remember to have some water for panning/testing.
Hope that helps you a bit for the water question. As he mentioned earlier, it's kinda a loaded question. Lots of variables. A big one is the type of dirt. Or is it gravel? If you've got soil/clay, it'll absorb it. Gravel won't as much. So I'd experiment at home with your system to give you an idea.

 

[russau]

AZViper, goodluck on your surgury and hope you have a fast recovery!

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

C'mon AZV
Get that shoulder better. Take lots of vitamin D, and E, glucosamine and fish oil. Supposed to help with inflammation and healing. This cocktail seems to help a bit for my left side issues. I bet in a couple days you'll feel like a new man again. A month you'll have to remind yourself NOT to overdue it. You probably won't even think about it anymore. Lucky dog.
Keep going strong and were sending out prayers for your bro. Knowing he'll stay cancer free from here on out.
Sent ya a PM about that hopper. Let me know.

 

[Doitlaynstyle]

Good luck with the surgery. Hope the prospecting went well this last weekend. Cheers to a speedy recovery.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Sorry you have to have that surgery Az...surgery always
sucks, even if we're getting new parts.

Take it easy and be sure to allow enough time for it to
heal up well before you start back in diggin'!

 

[AzViper]

I've been toying with an idea of having the runoff of gravel land on a sloping basin that's got a 1/16 mesh. Then the gravel goes off the side (possibly into a wheel barrel). Then all that's left to remove is the sludge/sand. Plus that bucket would fit into a bigger bucket, in case overflows the holes.

To answer the question from earlier about water. I was told before 1 gallon water for each gallon of fresh dirt. Now I'm not certain if that's correct, because there are so many variables. Sluice, weather, human error, setting up. The list goes on.
My last trip up north. I took 2 64 gallon coolers (both filled about half way because of rough roads in) and a 6 gallon jug. Figured I'd be able to run at least 70 gallons of dirt, or at least 4 18 gallon totes (14 5 gal buckets). All said and done I got to run about 1 18 gal tote and 7 5 gal buckets (roughly 10 buckets). The water was like a shake by that point and was definitely afraid I was losing gold. Plus you've got to remember to have some water for panning/testing.
Hope that helps you a bit for the water question. As he mentioned earlier, it's kinda a loaded question. Lots of variables. A big one is the type of dirt. Or is it gravel? If you've got soil/clay, it'll absorb it. Gravel won't as much. So I'd experiment at home with your system to give you an idea.

Garrett,

When you come down to Tucson with the hopper remind me and I will give you some 15 gallon barrels to haul your water in... Thanks everyone. I will recovery quickly and be good as new in 6 months.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Wow Keith.
That'd be awesome. Here I wasn't expecting anything. Just wanted to do something good for somebody. Then possibly do some prospecting/detecting in a new area.