Gold Well - drop riffle vortex sluice in action

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LP13

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Dec 31, 2012
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There were a few curious about our Gold Well sluice. So here is a video on YouTube that one of my customers did. He hasn't sent me the video on the cleanout yet. Will post it when I get it.



Company is HM Research out of Wickenburg, AZ. No website yet.

That sluice is the basic sluice, highbank attachment, waterfall head, tripod support setup and other options are available. He just had it sitting on a 5 gallon water jug in the video.
 

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Thanks gg, I ll have to check that out!

I really like this...... But it's $15 a foot for 12" wide
ACH_20029200-12.jpg
 

That's stuff doesn't look like the vortex mat. An old crab and salmon captain now mining outta iowa hill told me that exact same mat as in the gold cube is also used to transport salmon eggs off the fish line in hatcheries. Some thing about the little claws grabbing the slimy eggs really well.
 

That's stuff doesn't look like the vortex mat. An old crab and salmon captain now mining outta iowa hill told me that exact same mat as in the gold cube is also used to transport salmon eggs off the fish line in hatcheries. Some thing about the little claws grabbing the slimy eggs really well.

You are right, the photo I posted above is not what is being called vortex.
This is............
And it runs $4.64 a linear foot for 12" wide
ACH_20029005-12.jpg3742157_orig.jpg

The draw back is that it wont hold onto larger than 3/16" nuggets.


I like this style better because it will hold up to 1/4" nuggets........
vortex-close.jpg

There is no "vortex mat" it's actually rough top conveyer belt that has been nicknamed "vortex" because of the way particles are agitated in the pockets or "wells" when the slurry is washed over the mat. During the agitation the heavies will stay down in the pockets while the lighter particles get washed away as they rise up into the flow.


LP13's "Gold Well" sluice looks to be capable of holding just about any size nugget! Would like to see a test of it running unclassified material salted with multiple sizes of gold from flour size to 1/2" nuggets. The results could be surprising. My thinking is that those big wells could hold big nuggets, and still hold onto the small stuff. That is, unless the increased flow needed to move unclassified material down the sluice would blow out the finer gold.

One observation from the video's I've seen on the Gold Well is that it's apparant the feed plate is too short. Also it's usually not ideal to feed dry material into a wet sluice.

GG~
 

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The blue is actually larger and holds on to larger material up to ¼" from what I can see. They sent us a sample of all 3 grades and the blue is better than the black. The term Vortex mat was just made up for hype to sell it and mine the miners. It's still rough top incline conveyor belt. I think they named it Vortex to throw people off in hopes that they would only buy it at the highly inflated prices that they want for it. Just because it doesn't look like the Vortex mat in the pics at that link doesn't mean it isn't :) haha, really it is exactly. Unless you were referring to Goodyguys expanded mat. The expanded looking mat looks good but I have the real thing in 1" expanded metal that I put over miners moss that I've been happy with for years..
 

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LOL I get a kick out of you guys. Not only did you take over this thread you securely shot the idea down based on price which is exactly one of the driving reasons for getting gold. You are supposed to be out there trying to get something for next to nothing right? Just some sweat equity and the cost of your tools and you should be able to recoup that fairly quickly. How about a little gold idea PORN? I finally finished it. Going out this weekend to get some gold.

Gold sluicebox progression - YouTube
 

The blue is actually larger and holds on to larger material up to ¼" from what I can see. They sent us a sample of all 3 grades and the blue is better than the black. The term Vortex mat was just made up for hype to sell it and mine the miners. It's still rough top incline conveyor belt. I think they named it Vortex to throw people off in hopes that they would only buy it at the highly inflated prices that they want for it. Just because it doesn't look like the Vortex mat in the pics at that link doesn't mean it isn't :) haha, really it is exactly. Unless you were referring to Goodyguys expanded mat. The expanded looking mat looks good but I have the real thing in 1" expanded metal that I put over miners moss that I've been happy with for years..

The blue is a higher grade belt It's 3 ply Carboxylated Nitrile vs 2ply PVC rubber. It's also $12.00 a foot vs $4.64 a foot for the black

ACH_20030230-12.jpgACH_20029005-12.jpg
Click the link below for photos of all the different styles of rough top conveyer belts then just click the photos for the supplier.
ROUGH TOP CONVEYER BELTS
 

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LOL I get a kick out of you guys. Not only did you take over this thread you securely shot the idea down based on price which is exactly one of the driving reasons for getting gold. You are supposed to be out there trying to get something for next to nothing right? Just some sweat equity and the cost of your tools and you should be able to recoup that fairly quickly. How about a little gold idea PORN? I finally finished it. Going out this weekend to get some gold.

Gold sluicebox progression - YouTube

Looks like you have a great high banker as well as a great helper :icon_thumleft:

GG~
 

The blue is a higher grade belt It's 3 ply Carboxylated Nitrile vs 2ply rubber. It's also $12.00 a foot vs $4.64 a foot for the black

Nice job on the sluice Doitlaynstyle :) Be sure to put some v-rib or something under the moss to hold the gold in place.

Yup Goodyguy, and the black is what they use in the Gold Cube, it works great. I think it would be good to have a blue section in the Gold Cube just because it is a different mat, a touch bigger. I was also looking at wider rolls and you can get it a lot cheaper at 36" wide. Then there is this guy that has been taking people on ebay for a long time now, I used to just shake my head when he would post it on the old 49erMike site at $26.00 a square foot. So I've always done my best to show people where to get it at normal prices. Read this guys ad... 87 sold at $25 per square foot ¬¬ now there's another miner of miners...
Miners Moss Substitute Vortex Matting | eBay
 

As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Nice job on the sluice Doitlaynstyle :) Be sure to put some v-rib or something under the moss to hold the gold in place.

The riffle bar presses down so tightly into the moss that there is no water flow under the riffles. I don't have to worry about the water flowing the gold out. Look at the very end of video one and you can see what I am talking about. The water doesn't even surge when I shut the box down because of the dam at the end and the seal under the riffles. Thank you for the compliment Reed. I actually found this forum because of your plug in your presidents day video. I have enjoyed your videos for the last six months and applied several of your principles to my methods. Thank you again and its nice to meet you
 

Yea I did see that :) I'm just old school on miners moss because it swells when it gets wet and tends to lift itself up off of the steel. So I just put the v-rib under always just cause I'm old school... lol. Watch it after you have ran some material through it and see if it starts swelling between the riffles. The material will settle through the moss and start piling in the center between the riffles while pushing the moss up. The v-rib just keeps the material from sliding to the center between the riffles and causing that bulge by not allowing anything to slide around once it gets through the moss. Nice meeting you too, looks like a great build :thumbsup:
 

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what is the benefit of using the v-mat VS carpet? I know my keene came with carpet under the moss and riffles but Im wondering if you tried carpet 1st and then changed to v-mat because of issues?
 

what is the benefit of using the v-mat VS carpet? I know my keene came with carpet under the moss and riffles but Im wondering if you tried carpet 1st and then changed to v-mat because of issues?

Back when I was old school and still using Miners Moss (Nomad) I went with the ribbed under mine too because it was easier to clean than the carpet.
Since then I've stepped into the 21st century :tongue3:


GG~
 

OH GG you make the Ideas flow within me. I could build that too.

You know, I've built a lot of mining equipment over the years and still building more, but the one piece of equipment that was so simple to make and I use nearly everytime I go out and is my favorite tool of all time is just a scoop that allows me to dig a deep narrow hole in or out of the water.

I can then dump the material out of it into a bucket or whatever production equipment I'm using without losing any paydirt. It's especially handy when feeding a stream sluice like the bazooka. You can dig under water and feed the sluice without bending over.
100_5120.jpg100_5119.jpg

My second favorite tool is the bucket chariot. Sure beats carrying bucket loads of dirt and gravel. :icon_thumleft:
chariot2.jpg


My motto is: "work smarter not harder" :tongue3:
 

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You know, I've built a lot of mining equipment over the years and still building more, but the one piece of equipment that was so simple to make and I use nearly everytime I go out and is my favorite tool of all time is just a scoop that allows me to dig a deep narrow hole in or out of the water.

I can then dump the material out of it into whatever production equipment I'm using without losing any paydirt. It's especially handy when feeding a stream sluice like the bazooka. You can dig under water and feed the sluice without bending over.
View attachment 758365View attachment 758367

My second favorite tool is the bucket chariot. Sure beats carrying bucket loads of dirt and gravel. :icon_thumleft:
View attachment 758385

Is that a hacked up and re-welded shovel? You could dig under a boulder without worrying about losing a leg too. Stand just far enough away to get clear if it rolled
 

Is that a hacked up and re-welded shovel? You could dig under a boulder without worrying about losing a leg too. Stand just far enough away to get clear if it rolled

I bent a piece of 1/8" steel for the blade and welded the sides on out of some thinner steel scrap I had laying around. Then I cut the blade off a cheap shovel leaving enough to weld the handle part on to the 1/8" steel. Had to use a mig welder to do that part because of the thin tempered steel on the cheap handle.

GG~
 

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Carpet under wasn't needed and it just made it too thick for me and I just happen to have a roll of v-rib that a friend gave me when he quit making the rain gutter sluices and selling them on ebay before everyone else started doing it.
 

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