Gravel pump or Elevator Land Dredging.

[principedeleon]

Hi everyone...
Since most of you know i live in the Dominican Republic and im trying to bring new mining techniques which are not being used here.

I have been dredging for gold but there has been a lot of activity in the the water which could be easy mined by the locals .

I want to build a medium scale mining equipment for working alluvial gravel. Im looking into building a gravel pump setup that could be carried in horses to remote mountain terrain.

Im just have good gold producin locations which was left behind because it was to difficult to work by hand.

So i want to build or buy equiment nessesary to mine these locations.

Any advice or someone interest in this kind of mining is willing to tune in.

 

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[Hamfist]

Sounds like you have a great location. I guess it depends on your definition of "medium scale." Will you be working 40+ hours per week, and how big is your crew?

 

[principedeleon]

I have a couple of locations which have been worked by a group of locals finding good gold but was only work to a part they could by hand.

My crew is pretty small right now because is just me and the guy that have worked in those places.

Some deposit was so rich that they have found 300 and something grams in one bucket of dirt. .

It just was to tough to continue mining by hand.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Build a Vortxrex, hydraulic gravel elevator. I built one, only used it once last year, hoping to make extensive use of it next season. The plans can be found on ebay.

 

[Hamfist]

Well, 300 grams per bucket is close to 10 ounces per yard. My buddy and I can move and run about one yard per hour, working as hard as we can at our location, with picks and shovels. You should be making around $11,500 per hour moving that much dirt. Conservatively, you're getting $70,000-$80,000 per day. I'd buy dozers, rock trucks, and a huge wash plant because that ground is fantastic. Or buy the biggest dredge that Keene or Proline sells and replace the guts with Gold Hog matting. Then retire to a life of leisure after three months.

 

[principedeleon]

I have been trying to find those plans but i have been unable to find them .. i wanted to build a 6" one powered by 3 small pumps producing 400 gpm.

Building a elevator is nice but i believe 4" gravel pump can move more dirt then a 8 " elevator ..

I dont know really how is it possible but i guess is maybe because the throat system reduction and the fact that it only can suction a lower percentage of solid vs a gravel pump.

I have been doing a little research and thats what i have found.

 

[principedeleon]

The gold in these locations are by like paystreaks .. Not everything from overburden to bedrock is this rich.

Is like pocket gold you just hit that one spot where is just extremly rich .. but overall theres gold but just not as rich as that one spot. .

By the way here when you are going to find large gold people normally dont really find any smaller gold and visa versa. . Sometimes you find small gold and no larger gold. .

Normally is varies a lot but you find gold ..
Hope this helps you understand how its found here

 

[N-Lionberger]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vortxrex-D...LNS3~5D:sc:USPSPriority!94525!US!-1:rk:1:pf:0

The main problem as far as I understand with gravel pumps is keeping a supply of replacement impellers and housing liners for the specific pump, depending on material being run it can run through them fairly fast. The greater volume of material moved by the gravel pump vs the hydraulic elevator is due to the gasification of of the slurry, the elevator requires the nozzle to be partially open to the air to function properly as well as having an air mix valve. If the nozzle is completely submerged the vortex collapses and the material stops flying up the pipe.

 

[winners58]

an elevator you work the slurry to one location with a gravel pump you can run hose hundreds of feet.
saw this 6" Keene setup it could easily put on skids. still need to pump and manage water, small ponds?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ha2nlQZdLQ

 

[principedeleon]

I have seen some elevators work submerged but i guess they are made different then the vortxrex .

I guess when you buy a gravel pump they give you kit with replacements .. wear plates, impeller ect.

I wonder if someone knows the different from the old Hydraulic elevators from a Vortxrex. .

You find very little information on this.
A 8" Empire elevator will do 23 cubit yards a hour.
Not sure if is in solid or slurry.

A 4 " gravel pump will do 11 - 36 cubit yards a hour of straight solid. Depending on engine from a 11-18Hp diesel engine.

There is a clear avantage and how Winner stated you could pump to a height of 7 to 23 meters .

 

[Goldwasher]

try to find a copy of the Bulletin " pPlacer mining in California" written right before WW2. It has several good ideas for moving gravel nice stuff with descriptions. Diagrams. Stuff that was being used in N.California gravel fields by medium to large ops

 

[arizau]

try to find a copy of the Bulletin " pPlacer mining in California" written right before WW2. It has several good ideas for moving gravel nice stuff with descriptions. Diagrams. Stuff that was being used in N.California gravel fields by medium to large ops

Not sure if this is the bulletin you refer to since it was published in 1946...after the war. https://archive.org/details/placerminingforg00averrich

 

[Clay Diggins]

This is "Placer Mining in California" California Division of Mines CA Bulletin 135 written in 1946.

I think the earlier one Goldwasher was "Gold Placers of California" published in 1923.

I always check Land Matters first because all the PDFs in the Library are already OCR and optimized so you can search, copy and paste from them.

Heavy Pans

 

[principedeleon]

I was able to download the 1946 version but i couldnt get any depth on details about the hydraulic elevator. .

If ya find anything point it out.

A lot of inventions that was made to move gravel that i never knew existed.

Thanks for the ebooks

 

[Goldwasher]

This is "Placer Mining in California" California Division of Mines CA Bulletin 135 written in 1946. I think the earlier one Goldwasher was "Gold Placers of California" published in 1923.I always check Land Matters first because all the PDFs in the Library are already OCR and optimized so you can search, copy and paste from them. Heavy Pans

nope you guys got it. It was published in '46 But, most of the info was compiled before the war. thanks for the clarifacation