2021....

[Moneybox]

Wouldn't the leverage supplied by the lifting cams take care of that weight?

I'll let you know soon.....

 

[Moneybox]

Im looking forward to seeing it up and running Phil.
Congrats on the win Sandra!

Dave,

While on the subject of 2021, we're heading to Wiligi Outstation in October....

Phil

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

Goldtalk, Can't comment on your machine size & capability, but I do know, that the small motorised hand shovel fed bellows dryblowers, beats the constant air feed types hands down.
A rep for a popular "constant air" told me I was talking oop:
When we finally set up a test, the "coldies" he put up front slid down very smoothly.
AND, we kept the couple of grams retrieved with the bellows from their constant air fines at the end of the session. :money: :goldpan:

This is like the old Holden & Ford debate. I spoke to a guy here at our Christmas eve party who mined the Cue area for many years. I reckon he's in his late 70's or early 80's and is still actively mining with a big ball mill and wet plant north of here. He built and operated several large dryblowers over the years swapping between bellows and constant air. I asked him about the difference in retrieval rate. His one word answer was "None"

Gino??

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

Goldtalk, Can't comment on your machine size & capability, but I do know, that the small motorised hand shovel fed bellows dryblowers, beats the constant air feed types hands down.
A rep for a popular "constant air" told me I was talking oop:
When we finally set up a test, the "coldies" he put up front slid down very smoothly.
AND, we kept the couple of grams retrieved with the bellows from their constant air fines at the end of the session. :money: :goldpan:

Hi Peter ...yep the age old argument...constant vs bellows. I would have to say from the outset that I have zero experience with bellows. I do understand the principles behind dry gravity concentration quite well and have never understood why bellows would ever be used. The key is creating a fluidised bed for the gold to drop out....I also believe the key to any GRG operation is consistancy... so why would bellows...create fluidised bed...stop...create fluidised bed....stop.....etc etc be better than a nice steady bed of dirt thats fluidised (to a point) and running smooth and steady? My 'guess' as to why it is used is that the oldtimers used it and so therefore it must be the way to go.....all well and good...but why did the oldtimers use it???...no bloody choice! Their designs were copied and on and on it goes.

What I would say is that just because you run constant air does not mean it's automatically going to capture the gold...any of it! I use constant air and vibrators to create the fluidised bed and I would probably use less air (just a guess) than a bellows operation...you actually do not need a lot.

So why did you get to drink the reps beers??...as you said....you spent 100's of hours on your machine and I am sure had it totally dialled in. Perhaps thats where the bellows/constant arguments ends....it all comes down to the operator??

 

[Nightjar]

So why did you get to drink the reps beers??...as you said....you spent 100's of hours on your machine and I am sure had it totally dialled in. Perhaps thats where the bellows/constant arguments ends....it all comes down to the operator??

We had tested a constant air ourselves once before, this one had a device that caused the airsupply to flutter. It was good but didn't beat the bellows. The shaking top screen of the bellows broke up the clods that possibly contained gold, discarded by the constant.
We wouldn't have suggested a beer reward if he hadn't been a smart arse.
Do agree we had experience advantage but you can't convince some experts verbally . :lol:

 

[Moneybox]

The WA Mines Department would have to be one of the most helpful government department that I've ever come across however sometimes they don't quite get it right.

Before mining we must submit a POW (Program of Work). On my other lease close to home we submitted this by the forms supplied. The guy processing my application came back with several questions. One was relating to a nearby location of the endangered Eremophila Rostrata plant. This group of four plants is 49m off my lease but too close for comfort. During the following weeks of negotiation I came across the Spatial system for submitting my application electronically. It's a much better way to go. The program identifies all sorts of known obstacles and allows the operator to work around them. In this case it identified two Aboriginal claims affecting the lease, a road passing through and a small portion of the lease crossing into the town extremities.

Items to be dealt with;
1, Apply to the relevant native title departments.
2, Cut the road area out of the mining area (a simple click on the scissors does that)
3, Apply to the shire to mine inside the town boundary.
4, Contact the Department of Biosecurity for the right to move the endangered species of plant.

The Native title thing went smoothly because the relevant sites are a long way off and we're on the perimeter of the buffer zone.

The lease cuts into the town site by 9m. Rather than go through the lengthy process of dealing with the shire I just cut 9m off the corner of my mining area. It took me about ten seconds to work that out but I had a bit of spare time

Now if you go onto the website and check it out this really is an endangered species with the only known location being shown as 49m off the boundary of my lease. Why would anybody in their right mind attempt to move something like that and why would anybody even suggest applying to move it. Anyway this small group of trees aren't even on my lease but I managed to place a marker on the screen location, then I placed a 50m buffer zone around that location and cut it from my lease. It took a small scallop out of the boundary of my map. Anyhow in the end I had to get a botanist to inspect all the plants on both prospecting leases. The first lease was all clear now that I formed a 50m buffer but the second lease became a problem.

This lease has the Great Northern Highway passing right through and it takes a great wide chunk of land. Then there's the nonexistent railway railway passing through as well as a waterway. I managed to cut the road, railway reserve and water course with three easy clicks on the screen. However that didn't quite fix it because a view from Google Earth showed that the tree line is much wider then the water course that I cut from the lease but never mind because after a few days of negotiation with the mines department I found out off a friend that I can mine the water course so all the fuss was about nothing.

The big problem was that the botanist turned up two Eromophila plants. One with the white flower is not endangered but reported anyway, the other (possibly the pink flower one) was not in flower so was difficult to identify. Anyway as it happens they are both in the wide road reserve even when given their 50m buffer zone.

I tried everything to do as asked and cut the 50m buffer zone from the map. It was about a month back since I did the last one so I couldn't remember how and the online help was no help. The best option was to email the relevant mines department help line which I did. A week later after no response I called them. The first girl passed me onto the right guy who knew nothing so passed me onto an expert. The expert said it cant be done even though I'd already done it a month earlier.

My only option was to draw a tiny polygon on the map in the location of the tree using the Other Disturbance option. Then I just placed my 50m buffer around the polygon, easy done. Well that was until I got the email back saying that I had created a 50m wide ground disturbance right on top of an endangered species of plant and the mines department can't accept that. This is all for a tree that is in the excluded zone of the Great Northern Highway :argh:

With that my reply email was a little less friendly stating that the Mines Department need to sort it out.

The following day, yesterday I received my mining approval. All the fuss and waste of time and money was for nothing. The other lease POW application is ongoing because of a couple of unidentified dotted lines showing up on the map. In my view it's some old proposed road or stock route but it certainly doesn't exist now. Unfortunately there's still a mark on the map and it's causing me a headache

It's all coming together now. My new old loader turns up today before lunch. Of course I'm 650km away but I'm looking forward to getting back home to check it out

[You might have noticed the labeling on the map. The mines department asked me to label each of the tree locations however their program has no features to add text to the map. Mrs M is an ex-schoolteacher so an expert at cut-and-paste ]

 

[PabloP]

Man, you have been put through the wringer with all the constraints. I am itching to see how the build works out and that all goes well for you.

Rob P.

 

[Davent]

Im looking forward to seeing it up and running Phil.
Congrats on the win Sandra!

Dave,

While on the subject of 2021, we're heading to Wiligi Outstation in October....

Phil

Are you flying up here, and just staying at the station, or have some time around town as well? I used to work on pearl farms on the coburg peninsula.
Phil, if you get a chance while youre working on something, have a listen to this https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-history-listen/port-essington,-worlds-end/11606992
It should be played on Australia Day, just to demonstrate that there was harmony between black and white Australians in early white Australian history.

 

[Moneybox]

Im looking forward to seeing it up and running Phil.
Congrats on the win Sandra!

Dave,

While on the subject of 2021, we're heading to Wiligi Outstation in October....

Phil

Are you flying up here, and just staying at the station, or have some time around town as well? I used to work on pearl farms on the coburg peninsula.
Phil, if you get a chance while youre working on something, have a listen to this https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-history-listen/port-essington,-worlds-end/11606992
It should be played on Australia Day, just to demonstrate that there was harmony between black and white Australians in early white Australian history.

We'll be in the bus if all goes well and should have a bit of time to burn. I'd like to catch up at some point. My son has chosen that location for his 40th birthday hence the reason for that destination. I'll listen to that later, I'm at the mother-in-law's in Perth right now.

Tomorrow I'll be forming parts for my riffle trays and pressing the sluice to lay my 10" Dream Mat.

Today I purchased the Ryobi 17,000 L/Min submersible pump to run the sluice.

I really don't like being in Perth but at the moment Australia Post is holding me up for weeks at a time. I got the money back on rubber mounts that I ordered back in November but it's most likely not the supplier's fault that they are missing. I need more bearings, bolts, filters, oil and more. I would usually order online and then just sit back and get these surprise parcels in the post that I'd long forgotten about but now that we're getting to the pointy end I can't afford to have things missing all over the place.

I purchased rubber mounts for my grizzly/classifier so that it can have some wobble. I had intended to do the same under the bin but when I looked at the mounts I think they'd be struggling to handle the weight even though the specifications say the will.

I ended up forming a couple of plates with a centre bolt and gave them to the rubber guy who bonded the rubber mount inside.

They look good so I've gone ahead and made four more to mount the bin, two will remain as spares. They are bonded now so I'll get them tomorrow.

 

[Tathradj]

They look like early Datsun Engine mounts.

 

[Mackka]

G.P. Embelton in Perth are manufacturers of mounts for very heavy weights, including electrical transformers, air conditioners, sub-floor mounts etc. I am sure they would have something for you Mr. Moneybox. Office is in Osborne Park. Cheers
Mackka

 

[silver]

Good thinking having spares for the things that could end up breaking . :trophy:

 

[Moneybox]

They look like early Datsun Engine mounts.

Not too much different just a whole lot bigger. The ones I bought are about 100mm tall and 75mm diameter. The ones I made have 50mm of rubber and are 110x100mm and that's because they are made from recycled materials compliments of CueBunno. I never had any 5mm plate until I found a few hexagonal lids off some sort of mining equipment. It's perfectly good steel and just happened to cut out to that size. Mrs M discovered the 5/8" bolts on the shelf in the shed

 

[Moneybox]

G.P. Embelton in Perth are manufacturers of mounts for very heavy weights, including electrical transformers, air conditioners, sub-floor mounts etc. I am sure they would have something for you Mr. Moneybox. Office is in Osborne Park. Cheers
Mackka

Thanks Mackka. The tough part is finding suitable suppliers when I've been out of the action for several years. Even though I'm doing my best to research the best suppliers you never know who you've got until the order has been processed. It's a lot easier to get 100 items made than a small order of 2 or 4. Most big companies aren't good at little orders for a reasonable price. The off the shelf mounts that had to come in from Sydney were a two week wait and $245 each. After I made the end plates my rubber guy bonded the rubber in for $40 each mount and took a couple of days to knock it off. He's the sort of guy I like when taking on a project like this.

 

[Moneybox]

Good thinking having spares for the things that could end up breaking . :trophy:

Spares are going to be important because of our location. If I want to pop into town to grab another part I've got to remember to pack a sleeping bag, plug in the fridge and check there's enough gas in the camp stove before setting out.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

hexagonal lids are prob from drill rod packs.

 

[Tathradj]

Best universal engine mount for me is the
veritable Toyota one.

Been around since year dot and still used I think.
Though, The V8 ones have the same foot print but are
thicker in the rubber department.

Yes, 5mm quality steel is hard to find. Loved working with
Bissalloy 60. Find it any where. (Chassis Rails etx. )

I used to do conversions myself and am starting to cast
an evil eye on me Prado. I have a 1uzfe. ] ] O

Well done Moneybox. I really respect your way of doing things Mate.
We used to call Que Bonno "Hortons. "
If you could not find any thing, A quick trip to Hortons solved the issue. :inlove:
And usually came back with more than needed. " It just looked too handy. " O

It is a lost trade these days making some thing out of nothing.

 

[Moneybox]

hexagonal lids are prob from drill rod packs.

Yes they were from drill rods. I hate to see good steel like this going into landfill. They are made from perfectly good 5mm plate with all the bends in the right places. All I had to do was cut in the right spot

I've cut all sorts of handy little bits from these three lids and I've still got a bit left

 

[Moneybox]

I started to paint today. It showed up some very bad welds.

I've been very happy with the smooth running Bossweld gasless welding wire.

As you can see by the gaps by the weld, there was no stress on the weld because there was room the weld to contract. I'm going to have to use the stick welder on a lot of the stressed areas and hope the rest of it holds together

 

[silver]

Let's hope it's not like....

Three minutes into the maiden run

And it's all hands on deck...

totally only joking young fella..... couldn't resist lol