How to get 2mm to 4mm gems?

[swizzle]

I mine for herkimer diamonds and I recently had a women inquire about the crystals that normally go through my sifter and get tossed out into the tailing piles. Is there an efficient way to sift through say a 1,000 gallons of dirt in a day and recover a higher percentage of these little lost gemmies? At $8 a gram I dont think I'll be able to make much of a profit on them. She's like 100 of them and honestly just from picking here and there along the ground when I do see them little guys it could easily take me a year to get that many. If I knew of a better way to sift out the fines I would consider it but for $8 a gram I'm wondering if its even feasible or worth the effort. I also have been doing some diggin on a huge rubble pile that has been producing some decent crystals as well. I'd love to be able to sift that as well but i'd need to set the sifter on the side of a hill or try with a smaller hand sifter which would take too much time to produce decent results. I'm considering a mini trommel but not sure where to even start when it comes to making one. Preferably, big stuff out and then maybe a double barrel set up for the bigger crystals and then the fines would be awesome. Any thoughts or ideas?

 

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[hvacker]

Scroll down a tad to Diamond/Gem Concentrator on this forum. Check out Jim from Idaho and his machine.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Scroll down a tad to Diamond/Gem Concentrator on this forum. Check out Jim from Idaho and his machine.

I really appreciate the compliment, but Herkimer diamonds are quartz. And, quartz is no heavier than most country rock, so it won't separate by jigging. In my area, the average specific gravity of the rock is 2.54. Quartz is about 2.65....that's just too close to get much segregation.
Jim

 

[swizzle]

Yeah I dont see a jig working for me. I have pre sifted dirt that went through a fine screen. Been trying to think of an efficient way to resift that same pile with a finer screen. I can go through the concentrations by eye from there.

 

[DDancer]

If you don't have them already you would be best using a set of nested classifiers. Screen your ruff material thru a 1/4 inch sifter into a bucket to get the chunks out then screen the bucket thru the classifiers. A tub of water will help to clean off the classified material and you should be able to pick the sparkly's out. That is the only efficient method I can think of for what your looking for. For larger chunks you may try to break them up a bit then classify the bits for any hidden bits.

 

[hvacker]

Ya I think I drove past the "herkimer" part of swizzle's post.

 

[swizzle]

I'm considering making a small trommel to classify the material as much as possible. When the sifted dirt is really dry it pours through the finest hardware mesh that I could find. Starting to wonder if it'd be worth the hassle. I have access to a lot tailings and it'd be awesome if I could just shovel it in one end and have all the dirt be gone. Almost think I'd need a shaker table for something like that but with a really fine screen for the dirt thats already been sifted. I have access to water to a limited extent. When my claim is full of water it takes about 8 hours to drain it with the sump pump. The only thing I dont have is a place to dump a 1,000 gallons of mud.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I built a vibratory classifier this spring. Don't have a youtube video of it operating, but it looks pretty much like an earthquake classifier. Simple build, using a 12v vibrator from Vibco. Only draws 3 amps +/-. Takes nested classifier screens. The only downside is it isn't a continuous process...you have to run a batch, and then empty the screens and run another batch. Works great, especially with dry material. Sure beats shaking a screen. I think I've got about $300 in it.
Jim

 

[swizzle]

You get that video on youtube yet Jim?

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Nope...didn't know you wanted it. I'll get something up this weekend.
Jim

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Homebuilt 12v Clasifier video

OK, here's a video of my shopbuilt classifier. I used a Vibco vibration unit. That cost me about $250 on Ebay. The deck is 5/8" plywood, the legs are 3/4 pipe, and the frame is light gauge 1 1/2" angle iron. The whole thing could be made of wood, too, if a person is more comfortable working in that material. Works especially well with dry material. As the material gets wetter, you get to a point where you have to "massage" it by hand, and when it gets sticky, it works best to have some water spraying into the top screen. The whole unit weighs about 25 lbs.

 

[Gelmac]

Nice machine

thanks Jim !