Hardpan problems

[Strebs]

Hello everyone, im used 2 dredging and dealing with hardpan. But im in a new area with no water 2 speak of. Stuff is hard as rocks, tried soaking it the house, also tried drying it. Just wondering how others proccess this hardstuff

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Crusher. I used burlap bags and a sledge hammer. Caliche is a pain!

 

[Strebs]

Thanks Terry, figured that would be a consistent method.

 

[RTR]

Yep.... Cement floor,Five pound sledge hammer,eye protection and a 10 pound quarts rock is reduced to what ever size you want in a few minutes

 

[arizau]

Hardpan is the bane of us who use dry washers. I usually pre-classify feed by shoveling onto a tilted screenframe/grizzly set up. That helps break the clods down a little but not much.

Good luck

 

[Strebs]

Thank you Arizau, this last time out i build a slant screen like u described. Works well in the upper layers but the hardpan is no joke. The old timers spent enough time here so got 2 be something worth wild. Im thinking with what i have avaible a small rodmill might work, only 1 way 2 find out. But here is the teaser thats been keeping me interested

 

[arizau]

Thank you Arizau, this last time out i build a slant screen like u described. Works well in the upper layers but the hardpan is no joke. The old timers spent enough time here so got 2 be something worth wild. Im thinking with what i have avaible a small rodmill might work, only 1 way 2 find out. But here is the teaser thats been keeping me interested

View attachment 1766232

I like the rod mill idea and here are a couple of threads pretty much along the same line. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/559604-cement-mixer-recovery.html.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/drywashing/429187-gold-drum.html.

Are you planning on taking to dig site or bringing dirt home to process?


Good luck.

 

[Strebs]

I have seen the gold drums, it does seem like an effective alternative to a crusher. Thank you for the information. I am lucky enough to have mining be my main focus and would like to develop this site further. I would like to crush and process onsite since we have the time to do so.

 

[ncclaymaker]

I tend to try mechanizing things, not to the extreme, but reasonably. Get a small, but light weight rototiller. Just be sure to sharpen the tiller blades real good. Hammering, crushing and whatnot... too much work! If it bounces around on the hardpack, weight it down with a cement block or a rock.

 

[russau]

use a rotory hammer to free it from the ground and follow up with a cement mixer to crush it to powder !