Gold in Sand and Gravel pits

[GoldReport]

Hi everyone!

Novice prospector here. I work for an aggregates mining company and have talked with the company geologist about gold in our s&g deposits. At my last site visits in Southern NY + NW PA I took my gold pan. I grabbed about a gallon of material from the sand screws and panned them. I would have done more material but was time limited. I did indeed find some glacial gold, really small stuff. What I am having a tough time figuring out is what processing this would look like. In my head I would set up a sluice box where the chute that feeds the sand screw is located. It would need to be something as low cost as possible and would not need to be cleaned out very often. Anyone have any pics of their setup they would be willing to share?

Still trying to determine the concentration in these deposits. If they could recover at least 0.01g per ton of sand, I think it could be profitable as an additional revenue stream.

 

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[Assembler]

Hi everyone! View attachment 2172642
Novice prospector here. I work for an aggregates mining company and have talked with the company geologist about gold in our s&g deposits. At my last site visits in Southern NY + NW PA I took my gold pan. I grabbed about a gallon of material from the sand screws and panned them. I would have done more material but was time limited. I did indeed find some glacial gold, really small stuff. What I am having a tough time figuring out is what processing this would look like. In my head I would set up a sluice box where the chute that feeds the sand screw is located. It would need to be something as low cost as possible and would not need to be cleaned out very often. Anyone have any pics of their setup they would be willing to share?

Still trying to determine the concentration in these deposits. If they could recover at least 0.01g per ton of sand, I think it could be profitable as an additional revenue stream.

Try processing say 1 - 2 tons will give you some target answers.

 

[GoldReport]

Try processing say 1 - 2 tons will give you some target answers.

Any recommendations on what equipment to use for a test of that scale? Would like to make the pitch to my boss to buy some gear if possible

 

[Assembler]

Any recommendations on what equipment to use for a test of that scale? Would like to make the pitch to my boss to buy some gear if possible

If the test is done first will help sell the idea of processing more.

 

[arizau]

Hi everyone! View attachment 2172642
Novice prospector here. I work for an aggregates mining company and have talked with the company geologist about gold in our s&g deposits. At my last site visits in Southern NY + NW PA I took my gold pan. I grabbed about a gallon of material from the sand screws and panned them. I would have done more material but was time limited. I did indeed find some glacial gold, really small stuff. What I am having a tough time figuring out is what processing this would look like. In my head I would set up a sluice box where the chute that feeds the sand screw is located. It would need to be something as low cost as possible and would not need to be cleaned out very often. Anyone have any pics of their setup they would be willing to share?

Still trying to determine the concentration in these deposits. If they could recover at least 0.01g per ton of sand, I think it could be profitable as an additional revenue stream.

Was your test panning done on raw product sand or on sand remaining in the screw trough after shut down?

 

[GoldReport]

Was your test panning done on raw product sand or on sand remaining in the screw trough after shut down?

It was on marerial left in the screw. What I didn't really see was grading (coarser/darker as you go down) in the sand in the corners. There were distint layers but not much that made me think it would be a good place for gold to settle out. And they had washed out the screw about two months prior so it was not a full year's worth

 

[arizau]

It was on marerial left in the screw. What I didn't really see was grading (coarser/darker as you go down) in the sand in the corners. There were distint layers but not much that made me think it would be a good place for gold to settle out. And they had washed out the screw about two months prior so it was not a full year's worth

Is the feed sand mostly dry or is it in slurry form?

 

[GoldReport]

Is the feed sand mostly dry or is it in slurry form?

Its a slurry coming off the bottom of a wash screen. The most obvious thing I can think of is to replace the feed chute with a sluice box. But not sure how well that would work. I also don't have a great idea on the cost, assuming this is a decent idea.

 

[Assembler]

Its a slurry coming off the bottom of a wash screen. The most obvious thing I can think of is to replace the feed chute with a sluice box. But not sure how well that would work. I also don't have a great idea on the cost, assuming this is a decent idea.

After processing a ton you will have a better answer.

 

[arizau]

Its a slurry coming off the bottom of a wash screen. The most obvious thing I can think of is to replace the feed chute with a sluice box. But not sure how well that would work. I also don't have a great idea on the cost, assuming this is a decent idea.

For what it is worth this is the way I see it for an inexpensive, continuous process:
The screw trough acts as a concentrator by creating a moving deadbed of slurry sand with the heavies migrating towards it's bottom. Figure out a way to cut a small stream of the slurry from the bottom center section of the trough near the discharge end and collect and deal only with those sands. Process with a gold cube or a beach sluice Is what I would try.

 

[GoldReport]

For what it is worth this is the way I see it for an inexpensive, continuous process:
The screw trough acts as a concentrator by creating a moving deadbed of slurry sand with the heavies migrating towards it's bottom. Figure out a way to cut a stream of the slurry from the bottom center section of the trough near the discharge end and collect and deal only with those sands. Process with a gold cube or a beach sluice Is what I would try.

That's certainly an interesting idea. Inexpensive is absolutely key. But before I do any of that will need to get a better handle on gold concentration.

 

[GoldReport]

After processing a ton you will have a better answer.

Any recommendations for equipment to process a ton efficiently? Very fine glacial gold in sand slurry which is basically 1/4" minus.

I want to sample the feed going into the sand screw while its running production. So I need to figure out a safe way to do that. And then my plan was to sample a 5 gallon bucket at a time and run it through a sluice (highbanker?) to get it concentrated and then repeat as quickly and efficiently as possible. I would need a way to record the weights of material as its coming, probably weigh up tailings if I could save them.