Simple solution to fine gold recovery

[johnedoe]

This was developed by Randy Clarkson, an expert in gold recovery designs.

A simple gizmo to help miners snag lost gold..... New gizmo could help placer miners snag lost gold | Yukon News

Also this by Randy Clarkson on fine gold recovery which is somewhat misleading in that this is mostly about commercial ops and 1" minus classification is considered fine....... The Clarkson Study Fine Gold Recovery

Here is a PDF presentation of the process....... http://www.geology.gov.yk.ca/pdf/141114_Nov1014_Grinding_for_Gold_Presentation.pdf ....... Thank you arizau for finding that PDF

Enjoy the learning.

 

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[johnedoe]

Ok fine. Here is the deal. Win the lottery right quick and buy all the 999 fine you want

Now WHY would I want to go out and buy 999 fine........ The stuff is laying all over the place.....

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Still waiting for some results here......... I ain't getting any younger ya know.....

Livin life on my schedule not yours and I think that's best for both of us! Out traveling the world to make a living. Love to see your results btw [emoji12]

PS I talked to Ducky today, he's going to send me a nice piece of threaded rod so step by step I'm getting there

 

[johnedoe]

Livin life on my schedule not yours and I think that's best for both of us! Out traveling the world to make a living. Love to see your results btw [emoji12]

PS I talked to Ducky today, he's going to send me a nice piece of threaded rod so step by step I'm getting there

My Results.......

Hell I'm not wasting my time messing with stuff like that...... I got important stuff to do like ..... Uh ..... hmmm.... Don't rush me I'm thinking here....

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Still waiting for some results here......... I ain't getting any younger ya know.....

Neither am I. I want to just add more rods and use the motor Ducky sent me and get the rpms up to where they should be. I think preliminary results indicate doing more of what I have been doing will get good results with flattened gold of larger diameter than the black sands. The black sands, if anything, should get smaller and I can separate the two fairly easily. I do need to get back to that, but the garage cleaning comes first (along with Gold Cube work, maybe another trip to the creek, etc.).

Dave

 

[KevinInColorado]

You may have to wait for the weather to turn cold here johnedoe...yesterday was 70 so I went out digging instead of experimenting in my workshop :P

 

[GoldpannerDave]

You may have to wait for the weather to turn cold here johnedoe...yesterday was 70 so I went out digging instead of experimenting in my workshop :P

Kevin, I hear you; but I had to teach!!

I am glad you are trying the threaded rod (someone should), but I think I will just try to get the rpms up and a few more (and larger diameter rods to get a better mix of sizes) and see what happens. I am looking forward to whatever results you get with a single threaded rod. They could be surprising.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Rebar also has a raised profile that would provide high impact locations, maybe even a more favorable pattern, no deep crevaces, and it's cheap and plentiful!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Rebar also has a raised profile that would provide high impact locations, maybe even a more favorable pattern, no deep crevaces, and it's cheap and plentiful!

Yeah, I had a piece laying around and threw it in the recycle bin because Ducky is sending me some corrosion free threaded rod. All the corrosion and crud on my rebar made it unattractive to throwing in the tumbler. Good idea otherwise though:-)

Oh also, I had some 3/8" rod and was cutting it with a hacksaw...a lot of work and slow. Ducky and I were talking and he said something about a power saw...oh you mean like my Sawzall? Duh, why didn't I think of that!??! Smart guy that Ducky

 

[Oregon Viking]

Wait....There is a simple solution?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Did you say retiring ... or they letting you go? :P

They do make new rebar without rust. Wouldn't it polish up by tumbling? Probably end up like rust blueing or gold plating

Or you could actually use some of that rust blue stuff on it like for rifles. I did that with some wheel bolts on a benz because the paint kept getting mashed by the sockets. The last thing on that procedure is oil, which you probably wouldn't do for this.

 

[arizau]

Half of the basic concept* of the original design is to reduce or greatly reduce the size of any material that is not gold and also to liberate some smaller free milling gold that may be contained on or in some of those particles. With that done and with proper screening, the recovery of gold that was hard before is made much easier along with the possible bonus of some additional gold being ground from their hiding spots. Using ribbed rods vs. flat rods does two things. One, it reduces the total available major contact area (overall grinding efficiency) and two, it is possible that the ribs can chop the gold into smaller pieces (counterproductive). These are probably NOT MAJOR ISSUES in what Kevin is now doing so whatever works works. So good luck and have at it Kevin and let us know how things work.

*The other half is to flatten and actually enlarge some of the dimensions of the gold without any reduction in weight. Kevin has noted that some of this takes place even in his "not under ideal conditions" test runs with the variety of grinding media that he has previously used.

 

[johnedoe]

Half of the basic concept* of the original design is to reduce or greatly reduce the size of any material that is not gold and also to liberate some smaller free milling gold that may be contained on or in some of those particles. With that done and with proper screening, the recovery of gold that was hard before is made much easier along with the possible bonus of some additional gold being ground from their hiding spots. Using ribbed rods vs. flat rods does two things. One, it reduces the total available major contact area and two, it is possible that the ribs can chop the gold into smaller pieces. These are probably NOT MAJOR ISSUES in what Kevin is doing so whatever works works. So good luck and have at it Kevin and let us know how things work.

*The other half is to flatten and actually enlarge the dimensions of the gold without any reduction in weight. Kevin has noted that some of this takes place even in his "not under ideal conditions" test runs with the variety of grinding media that he has previously used.

I have pretty much resigned myself to the efforts of the re-inventors..... my head hurts........ the concept presented by Clarkson is in my opinion complete and the addition of threaded rods I still feel is counter productive..... But hey, it's their time and energy so no sweat or expense on my part..... Good luck guys.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I'm definitely retiring...being let go would be better: the severance after 20 years of service would be sweet!

Of course you're right about the rebar but it's gone now so oh well.

 

[arizau]

I have pretty much resigned myself to the efforts of the re-inventors..... my head hurts........ the concept presented by Clarkson is in my opinion complete and the addition of threaded rods I still feel is counter productive..... But hey, it's their time and energy so no sweat or expense on my part..... Good luck guys.

I don't think of it as reinvention but more as an inexpensive adaptation suitable for small shop home use that yields somewhat positive, though perhaps not ideal, results.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

I don't recall, did we discuss ball mill yet?

 

[johnedoe]

I don't recall, did we discuss ball mill yet?

.............. Read the PDF... understand the concept..... the PDF is in the first post.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I don't recall, did we discuss ball mill yet?

Ball mill crushes everything--not what we want to do. Arizau's post at the top of this page gets to the heart of the matte-flatten and enlarge gold; crush and reduce in size everything else. Then you can easily separate the gold using appropriate sized classifiers.

 

[arizau]

Ball mill crushes everything--not what we want to do. Arizau's post at the top of this page gets to the heart of the matte-flatten and enlarge gold; crush and reduce in size everything else. Then you can easily separate the gold using appropriate sized classifiers.

Just to be clear, not only does a ball mill crush everything it has a tendency to indiscriminately grind everything to more or less equivalent sizes and as stated...not the goal with this device.

After you get your cons run through the cube, do you intend to continue with your rod mill tests time allowing?

Keep up the good work with the cadets.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Just to be clear, not only does a ball mill crush everything it has a tendency to indiscriminately grind everything to more or less equivalent sizes and as stated...not the goal with this device.

After you get your cons run through the cube, do you intend to continue with your rod mill tests time allowing?

Keep up the good work with the cadets.

I do intend to keep up with the rod mill testing. I think with the right rpm's (a motor Ducky sent me will allow that) I will get even better results. If the correct rpm's by itself does not accomplish that, I will add varying diameter rods; right now they are all the same size cut from a single rod. If I go show the results I have gotten so far to the engineer that cut the rod for me, I think he'd be willing to cut some other rods for me. He works with the cadets also and STEM types typically have a curiosity that I can appeal to.

Several cadets over the years have gone gold prospecting with me, but their time is even more limited than mine is. Typically I just try to get them through Chemistry 1 & II while showing them gold, talking about the chemistry of gold and occasionally telling them how the enviro-nuts are way off base. The spill in SW Colorado on the Las Animas got some play time in my class, you can be sure. It is a great job working with the cadets but sometimes wish it was a bit less time-consuming.

 

[johnedoe]

I do intend to keep up with the rod mill testing. I think with the right rpm's (a motor Ducky sent me will allow that) I will get even better results. If the correct rpm's by itself does not accomplish that, I will add varying diameter rods; right now they are all the same size cut from a single rod. If I go show the results I have gotten so far to the engineer that cut the rod for me, I think he'd be willing to cut some other rods for me. He works with the cadets also and STEM types typically have a curiosity that I can appeal to.

Several cadets over the years have gone gold prospecting with me, but their time is even more limited than mine is. Typically I just try to get them through Chemistry 1 & II while showing them gold, talking about the chemistry of gold and occasionally telling them how the enviro-nuts are way off base. The spill in SW Colorado on the Las Animas got some play time in my class, you can be sure. It is a great job working with the cadets but sometimes wish it was a bit less time-consuming.

GoldpannerDave......
I guess I need to clarify the reading assignment.......

On pages 22 - 25 of the PDF you will see this........
A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case 4 pictures........