School is back in... Time to work!!!!!

[goldenIrishman]

VIper,

Well I knew there was water at Kentucky Camp but didn't have enough hoses to stretch from the spigot to the sluice area. I'm thinking if I'm going to be working that area a lot I should get some of those "Shrinking hoses" and a "Y" connector so I"m not hogging up the water spigot. A few of those hoses wouldn't take up much space and would be light as well. Besides.... Hauling water for 106 miles would kill the gas mileage and who know how much I'd have left by the time I got off that washboard road! My teeth are still chattering.

Now the wagon... Don't bring that thing around me!!! I just might have to "Wagon Jack" you! All that thing needs is a John Deere Logo on it and a little yellow trim. Something like that would have made my life sooo much easier this weekend! Yet another thing to go on the "To Get" list.

 

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[Jeff95531]

Wow GI, just how much Tide to you guys go thru in a week?

 

[goldenIrishman]

Enough to keep the stock for Proctor&Gamble from falling... Actually I need to pick up some more buckets and soon. All those Tide Buckets were Vipers. Attention to detail Grasshopper! Did ya remember the pan today?

 

[goldenIrishman]

Ok folks the tally is in. Out of the aprox 30 gallons of materials we got just a hair under a gram of gold. This included a "Sluice box Picker", a bunch of small but course pieces and some tiny wiry stuff. There's still some in the non-magnetic black sands in the form of super tiny pieces as well as a pretty good amount of flour. The Black sands will be saved up until I have enough to justify running them through the amalgamation process but that's a long way off.

So for a recon trip I really feel that we didn't do all that bad. I'm going to be making some improvements to the sluice to increase the water flow tomorrow and making sure that pump batteries are all charged up. We'll be going back out Friday afternoon and doing our best to get a full days work in as well as bring back more materials to run here at the house. Again this is going to be another recon trip to help fine tune the equipment. Once I've got it all dialed in for that area I plan on going out for full weekends and then maybe full week trips. Monday-Friday with trips home on the weekends to clean cons up. Any and all proceeds will be used to improve equipment at first then some will be donated to the Friends of Kentucky Camp to help in their efforts to preserve the site.

 

[AzViper]

Wow GI, just how much Tide to you guys go thru in a week?

Jeff,

I get an endless supply of 5 gallon buckets and 15 gallon barrels. I post the barrels on Craigslist and sell them for $15.00 to keep them out of the dump. I figure if someone pays for them they will take care of them. Resort Hotel Laundry departments do not recycle the barrels and it would take years to break down in the dump. So to save the environment I collect them. I had to rent a storage locker to store them. Not to mention it pays the gas to run around down south.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Very cool Keith! I'm all for recycling and or re-purposing things to not only keep the trash in the landfills down but to save money. (Yeah... I'm a cheap sob) I'll talk to the boss and see how many she wants and get back to ya! How many will fit into a wagon like the one you showed before? If I can get all my water in one trip that will mean more time moving dirt!!!

Edit: If I'm not mistaken a 15 gallon barrel is also known as a "Hogshead"

Got the header box built this morning but still have to run into town for plumbing parts. Should have the mods finished up tonight and tested tomorrow. Ugly as can be but it should work.

 

[Jeff95531]

A gram for a weekend??!! Now you're talking! "Desert Gold"....Can't wait to see the results!!! Can't wait to see you and AZ Viper "face off"...winner take all...whoever gets the first gram

 

[AzViper]

Very cool Keith! I'm all for recycling and or re-purposing things to not only keep the trash in the landfills down but to save money. (Yeah... I'm a cheap sob) I'll talk to the boss and see how many she wants and get back to ya! How many will fit into a wagon like the one you showed before? If I can get all my water in one trip that will mean more time moving dirt!!!

Edit: If I'm not mistaken a 15 gallon barrel is also known as a "Hogshead"

Got the header box built this morning but still have to run into town for plumbing parts. Should have the mods finished up tonight and tested tomorrow. Ugly as can be but it should work.

The barrels are on me... Freebies... The small 3/4" plug can be removed and a 3/4" spigot can be installed. Well if you load to much in the wagon and your going down hill you may find yourself moving at a high rate of speed. I think I can get maybe 4 but I know 3 barrels for sure standing upright. You would need to strap them down.

 

[goldenIrishman]

A gram for a weekend??!! Now you're talking! "Desert Gold"....Can't wait to see the results!!! Can't wait to see you and AZ Viper "face off"...winner take all...whoever gets the first gram

Maybe once I get my MineLab unit we'll have a face off just for your viewing pleasure Grasshopper! That or bring yourself down here and you two do the detecting and I'll sluice up everything else./

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well 2 would fill my sluice system and I could have the third for top-off when I have to empty the tailing bucket. I could run all weekend on one trips worth of water. See your PMs... your mileage may vary....

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I was up late into the night finishing the mods to the sluice system. Just have to run the hoses, adjust the spray bars and then strap them into place. I also made up a spare set of carpets for the bottom of the box to lessen down time when cleaning out all the gold that will be clogging them up. The water flow has been bumped up from 750 gph to just under 2000 gph. That should allow for moving more materials quicker as well as less clogging of the riffles. Just need to rework the wiring for my pump to allow for the second pump the be hooked in as well and it will be ready for field testing this weekend.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Re-plumbing and wiring are now done as well as a quick test run using some rocky soil from the yard (This is Arizona so we've got plenty of that) and what was once a nice mild mannered sluice has now become a water moving monster. Well... as close as it can get to that at least. I actually get better water movement running on the battery than I do running off the power supply. So tomorrow we'll be loading everything up and heading back out to our spot and see how much dirt we can move in a weekend. With less classifying required and an early start both days I hope to have a good report early next week. My plan is to run as much as we can on site and still bring back about 20 buckets worth of materials to run during the week. I am also going to have to install an adapter on the F-150 for my trailer if we're going to be camping out on site. I'll need the extra hauling capacity so my sweetie can be comfy. Me.... A sleeping bag and a backpack are all that required.

 

[Clay Diggins]

If you got a gram out of 6 buckets that comes to about 8.5 grams per yard.

Look around for that sweet spot I told you about and you should be able to about double that - say about 1/2 ounce per cubic yard. Run three yards this weekend (about 150 buckets) and you could come home with 1 1/2 ounces.

Now if AZViper can find just a couple of those monster nuggets lurking on that ridge above you with his gold bug we've got ourselves a real contest - with no losers.

Wishing you Heavy Pans & may both men win.

 

[AzViper]

If you got a gram out of 6 buckets that comes to about 8.5 grams per yard.

Look around for that sweet spot I told you about and you should be able to about double that - say about 1/2 ounce per cubic yard. Run three yards this weekend (about 150 buckets) and you could come home with 1 1/2 ounces.

Now if AZViper can find just a couple of those monster nuggets lurking on that ridge above you with his gold bug we've got ourselves a real contest - with no losers.

Wishing you Heavy Pans & may both men win.

Diggins you sure know how to apply the pressure on the both of us. The weather is going to be an issue and I will need to take Jeff's word this Saturday. We have a massive storm hitting the far eastside of Tucson right now (4PM). The weather is suppose to be bad for the next four days. Jeff I will email you my cell number tonight.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Got it Keith and it's programmed into my ball and chain errr I mean cell phone. I'm going to be watching the weather like a hawk to say the least. At least from what I saw in the gulch it's not prone to flash flooding like the washes here by the house. Zero to 3 ft deep in 10 seconds!!!! We're going to stretch out a tarp for some working shade which should keep the rain off but if it gets too bad we'll beat feet back to the truck and come looking for ya. If ya see a gold colored F-150 2 door that will be us drowned rats......

 

[Clay Diggins]

Diggins you sure know how to apply the pressure on the both of us. The weather is going to be an issue and I will need to take Jeff's word this Saturday. We have a massive storm hitting the far eastside of Tucson right now (4PM). The weather is suppose to be bad for the next four days. Jeff I will email you my cell number tonight.

No pressure Viper. I was just wishing you both success.

It's all about the adventure. Getting out and enjoying the air, the sky, the smell of fresh turned dirt and the possibility of a small gleam of golden treasure is the prize. Everyone wins when you go for the adventure.

If neither one of you get any gold you will still be ahead by one more memory. Enjoy your weekend.

 

[AzViper]

No pressure Viper. I was just wishing you both success.

It's all about the adventure. Getting out and enjoying the air, the sky, the smell of fresh turned dirt and the possibility of a small gleam of golden treasure is the prize. Everyone wins when you go for the adventure.

If neither one of you get any gold you will still be ahead by one more memory. Enjoy your weekend.

Oh I was just kidding. I always have fun whether I bring anything home or not. Just being outdoors is well word the trip. Have a great weekend Diggins.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Weather is not going to be an issue for me. We're wet processing anyway. Besides that I'm ex infantry and I'm not going to melt. Rust maybe but not melt. I checked the weather forecast for the area and it's calling for nice temps (below 100) with Isolated T-storms today and Scattered T-storms for Saturday and Sunday. So even if it does start raining it shouldn't last long the way the cells move around here. So as usual.... Hit or miss.

 

[AzViper]

Weather is not going to be an issue for me. We're wet processing anyway. Besides that I'm ex infantry and I'm not going to melt. Rust maybe but not melt. I checked the weather forecast for the area and it's calling for nice temps (below 100) with Isolated T-storms today and Scattered T-storms for Saturday and Sunday. So even if it does start raining it shouldn't last long the way the cells move around here. So as usual.... Hit or miss.

Cya tomorrow. My cell has not worked well once in the mountain range but where your at it may. My buddy is on Verizon and his does. I know where your at so no problem locating you. I plan to start beeping early so if I don't see any movement at your truck we will blow by. Were about 1200 yards apart. The only thing that concerns me with the rain is the electronics of the MD and LIGHTNING. I will have a trash bag handy to cover the MD. I have been down that road being caught out in a lightning storm while Coues Deer hunting and its not fun when you realize your holding a piece of iron and your the tallest thing that lightning can connect with.

 

[goldenIrishman]

LOl I know what ya mean!!!! Ever feel like a target for Mother Nature? I was a lineman for the CATV company in Georgia and we were under strict orders not to climb poles even if you only hear thunder! Guess they didn't want OSHA coming down on them or their insurance rates going up.