Highbankers set up advice

[Guest]

I guess the problem with working out your highbanker is it is like asking people "what car should I buy?" Everyone will swear by what they like the best and that everyone else's is rubbish. I went with a similar design to the good old wal-banker but with a wash box on top because I dont get gems stones down here. But in saying that I could easily wash out a big nugget because i didn't follow Wals design. If i had my time over I would most likely build a Wal-banker because it has no obvious draw back other then it is a little slower to shovel then rake BUT finding one decent nugget/ big gemstone would make up for this instantly. I am pretty liberal when it comes to others finding gold because I have no competition when i go out, BUT if I was in a high volume area I would jump with glee at every rubbish highbanker I saw as they are just leaving the gold for the switched on guy that went with the Wal-Banker. Oh and if anyone cares i swear by magnas hahahah

 

[shivan]

I can honestly say i do not have as much experience as others, but i do keep an open mind
I would never try to say the old timers did not know what they were doing, but they still left gold behind did they not? Dont some people still do well every now and again off the old mullock piles they left behind? I cant say i have read "Prospecting for Gold" by Ion Idriess, i have been told it is great. But surely technology has changed slightly? From memory the more resent clarkson(sp) study showed miners moss and expanded metal/riffles (depending on gold) was about the most effective, though again was more about larger scale than what we are talking.

The slick plate gives me a headache I have a few tests i want to run but have not had a chance yet. I understand the theory behind a slick plate but why does it have to be slick? We used to have some fine ribbed matting in the top of our box and i have seen a few others who use it without much change except having some of the heavys left in the top hopper matting for s show.

In all honesty alot of people on forums were telling me i was loosing all my gold with our setup, despite all my testing 8.( Till i met a bloke who, apparently knew the gentleman you are reffering to Ric and had made one of his highbankers. Now i have meet him twice, once at the ford and once at Tuena and both times he dug next to me (or with me at Tuena) and he definatly did no better than me or had any finer gold than us. Saying this, his highbanker still seemed to work great and had the added bonus of being able to remove the tray to see how he was doing.
But from my observations both were comparable, both in material able to be dug and gold retained. Our set up is far from perfect, but it works for us

 

[Guest]

I am with you Shivan, its what works for you, The old timers couldnt make much off fine gold so we have to gear oursleves best towards it, as thats what they left most behind. Gold hog mats are all about fine gold, and the bread crate/ moss setup from Wal is also awesome for the fine stuff, i lose very little if any fine gold.

 

[AlluvialRic]

G'day Shivan, You're right, them old timers sure did not get it all but they still did a pretty good job considering what they had to work with. Their gear was made from bush timber cut rough and the only form of matting they had was hessian which worked well enough. There's still people using it now.

As you say Technology has changed but we are still using pretty basic materials and getting gold. I have miners moss, boat carpet, bread crate bases, Round hole door mat, Diamond hole door mat, Ribbed rubber matting of various sizes, Astro Turf as well as some interesting offcuts of moulded materials I have come across on building sites I've worked on over the years. Most of these materials I use under a standard type of riffle along the Hungarian riffle style either in a ladder or custom made and screwed in place.

I also use a number of different size expanded mesh as my riffles but it depends where I am.

The Randy Clarkson investigative reports are great reading and will give the researcher invaluable understanding about water dynamics and how different riffle designs effect it but as you say it is about large scale commercial operations.
There are also a few other recent studies from the US worth a read too.

Like Balx said "Everyone will swear by what they like the best and that everyone else's is rubbish."

I don't subscribe to that as there are thousands of combos that work great. One thing I do see many people doing is working too hard. Apart from my river sluices which are hand fed with pre classified material I like that I can shovel a quarter or half a ton of material directly into my highbanker almost non stop with the top hopper doing all the classification and all I have to do is scrape out the clean washed oversize

Mate I'm sure not saying that old Whiskers gear is any better than other peoples designs, far from it, just that it works well and he does OK.

I have been enjoying Wal and Liz's videos for a year or two now and I think it is great of Wal to show and explain to everyone his design. For me personally it is far too big to cart around and assemble. I don't walk too well along the cobbles and slippery waterways nowadays since a leg injury a few years back so My stuff needs to be compact and preferably light.
I am drawing up a modification of Wal's unit but will build it as a much shorter two tiered highbanker using Wal's basic ideas in the main sluice but sticking to my self clearing feed hopper which has always worked well and used sparkies cable tray for classification. I use it running length ways not cross ways.

Cheers Ric

 

[AlluvialRic]

The problem with the hexagonal rubber door mats in a hi-banker arrangement is they only work in areas where there is very little ironstone, and you have to classify extremely small. The mats have a side wall of around 1cm and the holes are only about 2cm wide. The average hi-banker classifies to around 1cm. To successfully clear a 1cm ironstone you need close to a 1:4 ratio for the vortex to lift and move the ironstone, and that's with optimum water speed.

You can use many configs of riffles but the 1:4 separation of the riffles is paramount in areas such as "Tuena" where ironstone will "Definitely" block the likes of the hexagonal rubber door mats. If you use these door mats at places like Oallen Forde or areas where the heavies comprise mainly "Black Sand" then you can get away with them on a low volume sluice arrangement,where you clean out very regularly.

My suggestion is take one to Tuena and give it a go.....Love to hear how you went, :/

Cheers Wal.

G'day Wal

I'd have to disagree a bit with this. The Hex/round Holes in the mats I have always used (common front door mats) are 30mm dia and the Diamond matting each diamond is 30mm x 50mm which is as big as the expanded mesh I sometimes use. I have never had a problem with them clogging up.

Most highbankers I have used and come across over the last 30 years classify to about 1/4" (6mm) whether they use punch plate, flat expanded mesh or cable tray. I can't comment on those using parallel bars as I've never used them.
I've been going to Tuena for many years and have never had any problems with matting or riffles clogging. I do also use Expanded mesh down there and also hungarian style riffles and have experimented with a few types of matting under them.

At Oallen the place is full of ironstone and that is one of the indicators I look for.



Cheers Ric

 

[WalnLiz]

G'day Ric,

If you classify down to 1/4" then i agree with you that the 30mm diameter holes will work in the rubber mat. That still gives you at least a 1:4 ratio of gravel size and that should clear from hole to hole given enough water pressure.The bankers Ive seen using this mat all ran grizly bars (90% of hi-bankers) with at least 1'2" spaces between the bars.

Most of the iron stones falling through these bars are well over 1/2" and if you run this size through a banker with any "Real" volume of gravel they "Will" block the 30mm holes with optimal water speed. I see it all the time both at Oallen and Tuena, and I, like everybody else looks for "Extreme" iron stone at these locations..as we all know, that's where the gold is. Like yourself, I classify down to 6mm using cable tray, and am a strong believer in classifying "down" to the smaller end of the scale.

At the end of the day one should use what works best for themselves and their locations. There are many trapping arrangements available these days and there will be many new methods as technology increases. As i always say...if you're getting results ...stick with it.

Cheers Wal

 

[hereskip]

Regardless of which type of catchment type riffles, moss, gold hog, rubber door mats, etc one of the most overlooked and misunderstood workings of high banking is the correlation of water flow to water speed and angle of the bottom tray. All setups use the same principal of creep and suspension of alluvium and separation of the heavies buy stratification once you fully understand this then you can try different setups for different areas. I currently have 2 high bankers and building a 3rd which will have different catch methods but at the end of the day I could have bought a complete unit cheaper than trying to build it myself on the cheap but I would have not learned the lessons along the way. 3 companies stand out from the rest and in no particular order angus mackirk their drop riffles are excellent, gold hog mats work well with active exchange, and keene their hopper configs are well thought out but they all need the correct flow of water to be effective and that's the bottom line of my long winded rant :lol: the only other thing I have learnt is if ya have keep bending over or reaching up your going to have a aching back so get them highbanker legs the right height .
Cheers
Skip

 

[AlluvialRic]

Hi Skip

I got ahold of a book some years ago which is a text on Water Flow dynamics. Can't recall the proper title or author right now but will dig it out. I have learned a lot from it.

One important thing with the Highbankers I use is you don't have to bend down or shovel up to them. You work with a straight back.

OK Found the book.
"Streams , their dynamics and morphology" By Marie Morisawa Chapters include - Hydrology, The Hydraulics of Streams, Transportation of the sediment load, The Fluvial Processes and others.

Ric

 

[hereskip]

Thanks AR will look it up I like a good read like that another good book is
Streams of gold by a.w Jackson
It is a great read as it doesn't tell you where to dig for gold as such but tells you why gold should in
Certain spots and how it would come to be there. Via helix flows sediment creep and suspension etc.
Cheers
Skip

 

[AlluvialRic]

Yeah Skip, I've yet to buy Alan's book. I was actually looking up his contact details over the weekend

 

[G0lddigg@]

agree with most of the above, have tested the round rubber, diamond rubber to no avail wals pattern with the skid plate and crate works really well on most gold, especially if you have fines. i use a skid plate around 40-50cm with three lazy l riffles 2 mm off rubber matting and they tend to hold the .2+ pickers everything else hold up really well in the crate. have also tested the same setup with expanded and works well but holds ironstone alotmore. testing is the key tried and true not one banker will work for everyone in every situation.

however store bought bankers in australia i find are mostly rubbish and dont handle mush flow, in ballarat we ahve heaps of clay so flow and pressure is paramount, walz crate pattern handles it very well far better than anything ive tested and ive build 7 or so bankers now. just my view

 

[WalnLiz]

Almost every system will work at catching gold, and it's the different locations that dictate the best catching arrangements. A vertical mesh or riffle won't work as well as a sloped mesh or riffle in extreme ironstone locations. A sloped screen won't work (as efficiently) as a vertical in gemstone location.

If you have a banker with an interchangeable set of riffles for high and low ironstone locations, you are most of the way to catching 99% of the gold from that location....become familiar with the location you work the most, and set your catching arrangements to suit. I myself run 2 sets of expanded mesh in conjunction with the crate system and am extremely happy with the way they work in 9 out of 10 locations.

There's always that 1 location that tests every system out there, that's why experimenting can be a good thing.

Cheers Wal,