Help on Highbanker to dredge conversion (Sluice setup)

[F6-]

Hello peeps!

I am quite new here, been looking around for a while though. I had left behind gold prospecting due to other projects in my life but I live in South America and with the actual state of things, I need a way to make ends meet for the family!

Here's my situation and question: i
Im taking all my leftover equipments and pieces to make something useful with my current pump, setup, etc... It won't be 100% effective but I'm all out of money to buy new equipment as of now and no job opportunity here...

I have a homemade GoldHog Raptor Flare, I have a 6.5 Hp Briggs pump, 4inch dredge setup.

I tried to run this with the GoldHog mats but I blew all of my gold out... Too much water I believe, no way to really get the pitch quite right but I'm almost 100% positive there is too much flow.

I also have some expanded metal, the possibility to make some riffles and Yukon Mat. I have no access to miners moss... Folks here often use Jute Bags, woven fiber fabric in dredges or comercial ops.. They put 3 on top of each other under the expanded metal.. They're a pain to clean out though.

I went out today and did a little run with bare sluice to show you guys the box and water...

What should I do box wise, riffles height, seperation? Plain expanded in second section? Use the Yukon mat, use the jute bags? There is a stopper that goes in the flare section to stop the flow it is not on in the video.

There is extremely fine gold everywhere, 150 to 300 mesh. Then there is big flat flakes that will like to just float down the sluice. And finally in some zones there is some nice good ol nuggets but that is not a big worry!

Should I classify down the material with the grizzlies?
I have about 2-2.5inch of water in the 1st section and 1-1.5 inch in the second section, throttle isn't at max..

Let me know what you think!

F6

I will try to workout how to upload a video until the, here are some pictures..

Picture of the Jute Bags and Yukon mat below.

 

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[mike(swWash)]

You can always run at idle or put a valve on the pump inlet or outlet to decrease the flow more.
No, it won hurt the pump.

 

[F6-]

You can always run at idle or put a valve on the pump inlet or outlet to decrease the flow more.
No, it won hurt the pump.

IHello sir, I do not have experience dredging, I ran a commercial OP here for over a year and prospected a lot. Panning or using my Bazooka Gold Trap Sluice.

My. Issue here is that I want to run 4in dredge in a setup that used to be a 2in highbanker. I believe water won't be a problem for a dredge setup but if I reduce the intake of water I doubt I will have enough pressure to suction 4in, the pump isn't that high Psi.

Wish to find a solution for the videos as its the best way to see the water flow, I want to find a setup for the sluice box, riffles, expanded metal and matting wise as I have no miners moss availible here, and in dire need of some. Money for the fam!

 

[mike(swWash)]

Then I'd say go wider and longer on the end even if you have to make the box's out of wood.
Also a flap on the 1st box to flatten and calm the water will help.

 

[brianc053]

F6, first - best wishes to you and your family. Please know that you're not alone in these times. Hang in there.
Second, here on the East Coast of the US my son and I go dredging as more of a recreation/fun activity, but our setup sounds similar to yours. Our dredge setup uses a converted sluice box (10" wide) with a homemade high banker box at the head of it. We dredge with a 3" nozzle, which I realize is smaller than your 4".
Here is the key point I want to share: Your setup should be able to catch gold whether you use expanded metal, miner's moss, riffles of various heights. I agree with mike that adjusting the water flow is probably the most important factor.

Below I will provide some links to some videos I've made while we were dredging in New Hampshire and Virginia. In the video's you'll get some quick glimpses of how our dredge/highbanker run and hopefully that will help you.
But what I want to explain is: we are catching most of the gold we suck up with the dredge, and it's not a fancy setup - but it works! I regularly test my tailings by panning what flows out of the end of the sluice, and I almost NEVER find gold there. We don't catch a lot of gold because there isn't a lot of gold to catch where we dredge. Remember we do this recreationally, so we go to places that other people also go to all the time. We have never dredged on private land (and on the East Coast of the US you cannot have "claims" like others can in the Western US).
Again, I tell you this because your setup should be able to catch gold.

Let me share the videos and then tell me if you have more questions for me.
Good luck to you!

1:00 mark shows my friend Jeff's setup and then mine. And at 7:25 you get another look at the setup running.


This one has quite a few shots of the dredge/highbanker running:


This one is older and shot with a cell phone, but probably has the best view of the highbanker/sluice running (at the 0:45 second mark):

 

[F6-]

Thanks for the tips kind sirs, will watch the videos as. Soon as possible as internet is pretty bad here.

I do have flaps and angle iron, anf an inverted riffle (just like on gold hog raptor flare unit) that were not installed on the run, makes sense that it would clam down everything cause the water is rushing down like crazy! I will try makingng a new test run with the flaps and everything in including gold hog. Matting even though it's way too much water for them jus tto show you guys and see you tips.

What is a general pitch and water depth for a dredge?

How long should the material take to run say... 40in of sluice?

2
Will come back after watching the vids.

 

[Reed Lukens]

So your trying to run a Rapter as a 4" dredge... It won't work because that's too much water. You need a sluice that's at least 16" wide for a 4" over/ under or up to 20" wide for a single stage box. The Rapter, used as it's designed would run perfect at about 1/3 throttle as a shovel feed or as a 2-1/2" dredge, but not as a 4" dredge with the motor maxed out. Split the 2 raptor boxes and run them next to each other and it should work ok but you could just build a new 16" wide sluice box if you have some material.
The Raptor with Gold Hog mats likes to run at 8° or there abouts.

 

[F6-]

Hey Reed, thank you for you input!

Yes, I am trying to run a 40 inches long 12in box flaring out to a 40in long 18 sluice highbanker as a 4in dredge.

Im using the feedbox instead of the crashbox.

I will not be using gold hog, mats but I was wondering if I can use the Yukon Mat I have around since it is supopsed to work under expanded / riffles.

Taking that in consideration what should be my box setup (Rifflewise, angle wise) considering I have no miners moss availibe.

Thanks for your comment, I did a some riffles and expanded with a friend today will try it out in the next few days and post the results.

I have no more material to build anything really so I wanted to use that, as its aluminum, pretty light and well made.

Take care sir, ill keep you updated with the results and would like to hear your comments when I post some more!

 

[Reed Lukens]

If you only have expanded, like 1" or less you will need to run it really flat, then tilt the sluice up and watch your gold location in the box. Try to keep the gold in the top half.

 

[F6-]

If you only have expanded, like 1" or less you will need to run it really flat, then tilt the sluice up and watch your gold location in the box. Try to keep the gold in the top half.

Hey Reed, here's the actual setup, 1st test run tomorrow, found some kind of floor carpet close to miners moss but less dense, then have a Jute bag, then Yukon mat. I will see how the Yukon perform, thinking about putting the jute bags all the way down. They do work decent. Only missing a rubber carpet to flatten 1st section.

Here's the pictures on the setups, so you. Still recommend me the same for pitch? 4-5 degree seems good to start? Naturally the 2nd sluice after the flare is 2degree flatter than the 1st section so 1dt 4-5 2nd at 2-3? Should I run classifier or not?

As I have never dredged, how should I verify the efficacity of the riffles and expanded, how full should they be, how long should it take to clear running clear water no material, how packed should they stay after running clear water for say a minute. To adjusy pitch?

In order :
Moss I found
Jute bag
Yukon mat
50cents vs expanded
50cents va riffles
Punch plate reverse riffle
Complete setup
Headerbox

Thanks for your kind recommendations.

 

[Reed Lukens]

With that much water, you should just pull out the grizzly and let it flow straight in. I would either drill out the bottom box for the 4" hose, or slide the top box straight into the bottom box, overlapping it to fill the hole for some added slick plate. As far as angles, you're on your own. First I would try it flat like you're saying and run thr motor maxed out for max through put. Then check the box for gold after 30 minutes and see if you like what you see. You're going to get gold, it's just a matter of how far down the box are you seeing the gold concentrates and can you live with it as is.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Yep run the suction hose right into the sluice box, you will get better suction and gas mileage not having to run it up into a hopper and there is less air churned into the slurry. Don't forget a damper flap.

 

[F6-]

OK guys thanks for the tips. I hauled in all the setup in the jungle today, about 1h15 from house to get there.

Did 3 trips with my dad, step-dad and stepbrother.

Tomorrow morning is the start or the work. I will try as is... And see how to send the slurry directly in the sluice without the headerbox. I did put the flap on today...

To adjust the pitch, when starting pretty flat, and testing tailings, should I keep going down until I get losses and then make it a little bit less steep. Any advantage to making it as steep as possible or if the rocks are going through and I'm not losing gold say... At 4 degree. And also no losses at 6, any reason to go 6 instead of 4 ?

 

[Jason in Enid]

You will ALWAYS have loss, its just a matter of how much you want to live with. Dredging isnt a one-size-fits-all game.. You got to adjust, test, adjust, test, adjust, test, on an on until you have it dialed in. When you move to new spot, you have to start all over again. Calmer water = more small gold (and there is always WAY more small gold than big gold). Bigger rocks need faster water. Steeper angle = better rock clearing, but that costs you fine gold too. Never change more than one thing at a time. If make lots of changes, you never learn if one aspect is helping or hurting.

Easiest way to start is to set up how you feel it will run best. Take a few minutes and run material and watch the box. Get just enough angle/water to keep the biggest rocks moving through. From there, stop a few time a day and run test pans of your tailings. A few specks isnt a big deal, but if your seeing more than that, start making changes. Its easier to re-run tailings than to run packed gravels if you are finding a lot of gold in your tests.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Take a picture when it's running and make sure that you can see black sand building up to maybe an inch from the next riffle down the box. Because you're running a lot of water, I would adjust the motor down to where you have good suction first, enough to move it through the hose and not so much that it's stripping the gold out of the sluice box. You may end up running less than 4° up top in the narrow section. We really need to see a pic or video of it running.