how far to classify before panning

Fred was just prospecting the area. you would want to keep it simple and light weight when doing so. if working a spot then id say yes to the smaller screen. when im out dredgeing I screen off most of the waste rock at the stream and don't carry anything larger than 3/16 back to my camp (EXCEPT FOR THEM 2 OZer nuggets that keep getting in the way!:)) nice video by Fred!
 

russau said:
Fred was just prospecting the area. you would want to keep it simple and light weight when doing so. if working a spot then id say yes to the smaller screen. when im out dredgeing I screen off most of the waste rock at the stream and don't carry anything larger than 3/16 back to my camp (EXCEPT FOR THEM 2 OZer nuggets that keep getting in the way!:)) nice video by Fred!
Click to expand...

thanks, and if those 2 OZer nuggets are a problem, i'll be happy to take them off your hands.
 

I read an academic study recently where they showed that dry classifying to 1/4" left behind 28% of the gold since it stuck to those bigger rocks. Dry classifying is fine for sampling but for serious mining you need wet if there's a way to do that. When I set up on a hillside, I dry classify to 1/2 or 1/4 but dump all the oversized in a container of water for a rinse off. Since I'm not putting the smaller stuff in there, the water lasts for many hours of digging.

PS Freddie is a great guy. He has his (now teenage) daughter to thank for much of his fame...funny thing but she is the one who pushed him to get in front of the camera!
 

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OK..... whatever, have fun with what ya know........:dontknow:
I think instead of steveh2112..... We should just call ya "Money for nothin".........:laughing7:.. Seems like that is the amount of effort your willing to put into this..... Anyway, have fun with yer summer.
 

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Actually Steveh you have a point. Those guys are friends but I think it's a bit over done too although a great lesson. My version is very similar but simplified a bit.
1 classify to +30,+50,-50 wet!
2 put each of the three sets of material in pans, add water to at least an inch.
3 use a good magnet to pull the magnetic material up thru the water, swirl the magnetic material around in the water then set aside. This process washes any gold out of the magnetics
4 run each pan down to the super heavies
5 use the swirling method to separate the two heavier pans' gold from other heavies and Mike's rub tummy- pat head method for the -50 pan ( include Jetdry in the final panning water)
6 admire your clean gold!
Quicker and maybe better!!

I do then set aside the remaining material to dry. Once dry I re separate the magnetic material and occasionally find another speck or two. I also save up the non magnetics and once in a while I run it all thru a -100 classifier all at once...like once a year!...and pan out the -100 gold just like I did the -50. It doesn't add up to much due to the source paydirt where I dig but might add up elsewhere, that's why Mike covers it
 

KevinInColorado said:
Actually Steveh you have a point. Those guys are friends but I think it's a bit over done too although a great lesson. My version is very similar but simplified a bit.
1 classify to +30,+50,-50 wet!
2 put each of the three sets of material in pans, add water to at least an inch.
3 use a good magnet to pull the magnetic material up thru the water, swirl the magnetic material around in the water then set aside. This process washes any gold out of the magnetics
4 run each pan down to the super heavies
5 use the swirling method to separate the two heavier pans' gold from other heavies and Mike's rub tummy- pat head method for the -50 pan ( include Jetdry in the final panning water)
6 admire your clean gold!
Quicker and maybe better!!

I do then set aside the remaining material to dry. Once dry I re separate the magnetic material and occasionally find another speck or two. I also save up the non magnetics and once in a while I run it all thru a -100 classifier all at once...like once a year!...and pan out the -100 gold just like I did the -50. It doesn't add up to much due to the source paydirt where I dig but might add up elsewhere, that's why Mike covers it
Click to expand...

hi Kevin, is this something you do on every cleanup?

i ask because this
and this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U86AiMADnek#t=100 looks pretty easy. is your method better at removing more gold?

johnedoe, i thought that finding gold was all about efficiency, finding the best pay dirt and moving lots of it as quick and easy as possible and recovering the most gold in the least amount of time. maybe i missed the point and it supposed to be more of an art form then?
 

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Those videos are exactly what I do with the -50 material. So yes I agree and when Doc first put out his video I learned some tricks from him, it's good stuff!

My classification and magnetics removal just make Doc's process easier and more completely effective. I found that just doing what he said left about 10% of the gold in the black sand, especially the smaller stuff (my pay dirt includes about 50% -50 gold so it's key for me). Your results may vary ;)

PS my process takes about 30 minutes from end to end...pretty quick for me at least...
 

steveh2112 said:
hi Kevin, is this something you do on every cleanup?

i ask because this
and this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U86AiMADnek#t=100 looks pretty easy. is your method better at removing more gold?

johnedoe, i thought that finding gold was all about efficiency, finding the best pay dirt and moving lots of it as quick and easy as possible and recovering the most gold in the least amount of time. maybe i missed the point and it supposed to be more of an art form then?
Click to expand...



Efficiency is not always fast.....
 

You are conflating two different and distinct steps in placer mining those being GOLD CAPTURE and GOLD RECOVERY.

The first involves running as much material as is possible while maximizing gold CAPTURE in the form of concentrated material.

The second involves gold RECOVERY from concentrated material.

Gold concentrates most often have many tiny particles of gold, minus 30 mesh*, and these are most easily RECOVERED by following the steps that have been outlined in some of the previous posts. If you are really interested in separately RECOVERING all the available gold you have CAPTURED, then follow the steps. Believe it or not, these steps are actually time savers since they ease the panning efforts and they mostly eliminate the need to re pan to find what you may have previously missed.

Good luck

* You can probably recover most gold above 30 mesh, and some smaller, by panning before you start the more tedious processes outlined.
 

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Steve, is there is a creek, stream or area close by home where
you can go get yourself a 3 gal. bucket of material to pan?
Take a 1/2" classifier with ya.

Get a tub for panning (you'll need one anyway) and get some
experience at just panning down that material. Toss in a couple
BB's or split-shot weights and just work the material down.

You'll gain some competency soon enough, and the rest will start
to fall into place.
 

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arizau said:
You are conflating two different and distinct steps in placer mining those being GOLD CAPTURE and GOLD RECOVERY.

The first involves running as much material as is possible while maximizing gold CAPTURE in the form of concentrated material.

The second involves gold RECOVERY from concentrated material.

Gold concentrates most often have many tiny particles of gold, minus 30 mesh*, and these are most easily RECOVERED by following the steps that have been outlined in some of the previous posts. If you are really interested in separately RECOVERING all the available gold you have CAPTURED, then follow the steps. Believe it or not, these steps are actually time savers since they ease the panning efforts and they mostly eliminate the need to re pan to find what you may have previously missed.

Good luck

* You can probably recover most gold above 30 mesh, and some smaller, by panning before you start the more tedious processes outlined.
Click to expand...

thanks. so i guess the idea is to pan out the easy stuff at the river first, then bag the left over black sand. then when you feel like a day off from digging up river beds, have a relaxing day classifying and panning your black sand concentrates like Kevin talked about. does that sound about right?

thanks to all for the info, i just want to make sure i'm not wasting time or gold
 

Yes! Time at the river is time well spent gathering concentrates...separate the gold later at home. Also that way if you mess up on panning, just scoop the material out of your panning tub and do it again!
 

so Kevin, at the risk of beating a dead horse here, can you clarify a couple of things please?

1 classify to +30,+50,-50 wet!
do you have a link to the classifiers you use for this and by 'wet' does that mean you pour water over as you shake the concentrates to get them through the classifiers, or sit them in a tub of water, or something else?

3 use a good magnet to pull the magnetic material up thru the water, swirl the magnetic material around in the water then set aside. This process washes any gold out of the magnetics
above you mentioned that a lot of gold is lost with the magnet trick with dry classifying, it sounds like your wet magnet method is better but i'm having a hard time visualizing exactly what you do. did you happen to make a video of this ever?


thanks
 

steveh2112 said:
thanks. so i guess the idea is to pan out the easy stuff at the river first, then bag the left over black sand. then when you feel like a day off from digging up river beds, have a relaxing day classifying and panning your black sand concentrates like Kevin talked about. does that sound about right?

thanks to all for the info, i just want to make sure i'm not wasting time or gold
Click to expand...
If you rough pan your concentrates at the river make sure it is into a tub or safety pan and save that material for future processing just in case you lost some gold.

Good Luck.
 

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QUOTE=steve: so Kevin, at the risk of beating a dead horse here, can you clarify a couple of things please?

1 classify to +30,+50,-50 wet!
do you have a link to the classifiers you use for this and by 'wet' does that mean you pour water over as you shake the concentrates to get them through the classifiers, or sit them in a tub of water, or something else?
---either way works. I've found its faster to submerge the whole thing (in a carryall bucket I got at Walmart) and stir the material in the sieve.
---EDIT I forgot to say, no link for classifiers but they are easy to find at your local prospecting shop or online. For this finish work you only need a 30 and a 50 mesh.

3 use a good magnet to pull the magnetic material up thru the water, swirl the magnetic material around in the water then set aside. This process washes any gold out of the magnetics
above you mentioned that a lot of gold is lost with the magnet trick with dry classifying, it sounds like your wet magnet method is better but i'm having a hard time visualizing exactly what you do. did you happen to make a video of this ever?
---dry magnet work is fine, probably better but my cons come home wet so I do my wet thing. Also by swishing the magnet around in the water, I wash any non-mag material, like gold(!), out of the magnetic sand.

...sorry no video but I might get around to it in a week or two since you're interested (I won't be back in my shop for a week due to work).
 

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Efficiency is about not wasting motion or momentum. Doesn't necessarily apply to time, unless you're referring to time efficiency.
 

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