weary1
Greenie
I've been a long time reader of this site a just joined last night after seeing a lot of members are here from Iowa. I live in central Iowa, between Des Moines and Indianola. This is my second year prospecting for flour gold here in Iowa. My first purchase was a Garrett Pan, after i determined that was too much work i upgraded to a mini high-banker from Gold Hog. I converted that unit to a 1 1/2 dredge the summer of 12' then in the fall of 12' built a 3" dredge. This late winter 13' i started a new and larger dredge build, a 4" finished it around July. Tested it on the July GPAA outing, I was using a jet log that i didn't have the right size pump for so I did a mod to the 45 degree tip i was using, turned it into a suction nozzle. The second time out i figured the right angle to use it at. Gold Hog mat has a learning curve and i will state I'm confident that I'm retaining 95 percent or higher of all flour gold running through my dredge using Gold Hog mat.
Am i finding enough gold to cover my costs, no I'm not, but its fun, its a hobby and it gets me outside and not just sitting in front of the TV/ Computer all weekend. My next projects involve both building a small more portable dredge to go to some neat little creeks I've found. And if i can find a 14' or larger jonboat of my liking build a dredge boat, jumping a size or two in nozzle size. I truly believe there's a lot of gold here in Iowa its just all small stuff mostly. There's more gold in some area's of the the state than other area's, And size isn't equal across the state.
Am i finding enough gold to cover my costs, no I'm not, but its fun, its a hobby and it gets me outside and not just sitting in front of the TV/ Computer all weekend. My next projects involve both building a small more portable dredge to go to some neat little creeks I've found. And if i can find a 14' or larger jonboat of my liking build a dredge boat, jumping a size or two in nozzle size. I truly believe there's a lot of gold here in Iowa its just all small stuff mostly. There's more gold in some area's of the the state than other area's, And size isn't equal across the state.
