Highbankers

[ironrock]

Anyone had experience using a recirculating highbanker, and do you know of anyone in oz that makes/sells this equipment. I think these just might be the go on some of the remaining goldfields. If you have used one, what amount of gold on average could you expect to find in a day, obviously it will depend on the content of gold in the ground, just a generalised figure would be good. I would really appreciate any info you guys would have!!!

 

[nucopia]

Never seen one here working but have seen a few videos on youtube
i think they call them the gold cube in the states
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GU4YKblYctE

 

[ironrock]

Thanks for the link nucopia, it`s funny how the yanks seem to invent everything, are`nt we just as smart? probably drink to much beer here in oz to give a rats? Ha,Ha,Ha.
Might see what i can make myself, have my moments of genius, problem is usually does`nt happen when you want it to!!!!

 

[Tathradj]

We us Ozzies have the ingenuity to get our selves in and out of trouble.
The Americans are very fussy and danged proud of their hardware. :lol:
And I respect that.

 

[Diggertom]

Basically it's just a normal highbanker, with a catcher system with secondary and third overflow systems to "clean" the water before it's recirculated.

Once your main catcher is filled with meterial you shut down and empty it to the side.

You would need to be able to bring a few hundred liters of water along with you for a days use or so but it could be beneficial.

As for the amount of gold you could get, it's no different to any other high banking. Some days good, some days bad.

Also I've seen people use chemicals to keep the water cleaner, normally a few drops of a solution to make the dirt drop out faster.

So basically you just need a highbanker and different large buckets with a 12 bilge pump.

Should be able to put together pretty easy without having to order.

Tom

 

[G0lddigg@]

Yep recirc is simple and great provided you can control the sediment, thats if you want to catch fine gold. nearly any highbanker could be converted to recirculate and i have to tell you some of those US products are no good.... ive made and seen many simpler more effective designs and i still reckon a small power sluice is the go for sampling. wish i had the time to built one for you mate.

 

[Myazma]

I had to set up a recirc system for cutting drill core on a site in Kal years ago with no water supply other than what I brought onsite. I used a series of 44 gallon drums, found it a pain to clean out the sludge so kept adding drums until I had a big clean up

 

[Twapster]

I have a small recirculating sluice used with a bilge attached to a car battery and flowing into a tub. It has in the past enabled me to process areas without enough water to use a full on banker. I was able to pump small "rain pools" into the container and then use the tub water to recirc. It works for a while but not my cup of tea.

Flow is slow, so feeding is slow. Material has to be well classified.

No bilge can do what even the smallest petrol motors achieve. Secondly, the silt build up is pretty quick so my nice water turns to sludge quickly. I found I was also choking up the bilge with grass etc eventually stuffing the bilge ability to pump water.

Since making a petrol powered highbanker, I have never used the recirc banker. In most gold areas u will barely get enough gold to keep u interested, whereas a petrol pump highbanker cleanout can have you doing the gold dance and keep u digging all day. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[Chewy]

I recirc my hi banker at home, it really doesn't take long at all for the water to get very dirty and silt up the matting. Having said that, the material I was running was very clayey (if that is a word).

 

[Chewy]

Maybe slip over and have a look at some of the problems and solutions that rotgrub has encountered in his vids. He delved into recirc in his earlier vids on yotube.

 

[Ramjet]

it`s funny how the yanks seem to invent everything, are`nt we just as smart?

Fairly sure they don't invent everything, though they don't mind claiming that they do. Perfect example is the Wright Brothers!
Aussies have invented some of the world's best stuff. The Wifi you are probably using right now for one.

 

[ironrock]

Thanks for the reply guys. I`m a bit lost on some of the terminology (bilge pump and so on) as i`ve never used a sluice or seen one for real. I think for now i`m going to concentrate on detecting, but there are some area`s i`ve been to that i`m sure contain finer gold, so maybe i`ll just gather some buckets full of material and bring it home to process, to guage what`s there.
Cheers!!! https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/plugins/ezbbc/style/smilies/cool.png

 

[Ramjet]

A bilge pump is just a small submersible pump. Used for pumping out bilges in boats.... and running small highbankers etc.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Thanks for the reply guys. I`m a bit lost on some of the terminology (bilge pump and so on) as i`ve never used a sluice or seen one for real. I think for now i`m going to concentrate on detecting, but there are some area`s i`ve been to that i`m sure contain finer gold, so maybe i`ll just gather some buckets full of material and bring it home to process, to guage what`s there.
Cheers!!! https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/plugins/ezbbc/style/smilies/cool.png

thats the go mate, id only ever take a little baker in if there was already gold and i wanted to work that deposit, otherwise a classified bucket paned out in a creek will save you heaps of stress for nothing

 

[Myazma]

I can see a use here for the Haffman sand screw

 

[aussiefarmer]

would I be right in saying a bilge pump will only deliver its rated flow if there is no restrictions ?
so spray bars and other obstructions would drop the output noticeably ?

 

[aussiefarmer]

I have been mucking around with a recirculating mini sluice and dirt that hasn't been through my field sluice is a pain with all the extra silts that haven't been washed out .
I am happy to repost pictures of my filtering system , although I am in the process of modifying it so there are no waterfalls as they are stirring the silt on the bottom of the tubs and I may add a sluice style carpet between the water bowls to help retain silt before it hits the final reservoir.

The system holds approx. 100 liters of water and that's just enough to mini sluice 40 liters of cons and keep the water clear. unsluiced cons would have it cloudy in 10 liters.it does depend on clay content of the material as clays silt can stay water borne for a week after I shut it down I have noticed, darker muds will generally settle in a day.
I generally run rinse aid and once it settles I siphon the clean water off the top of the settled layer and clean the silt out and reuse the water.

 

[G0lddigg@]

would I be right in saying a bilge pump will only deliver its rated flow if there is no restrictions ?
so spray bars and other obstructions would drop the output noticeably ?

you can be surprised sometimes ive got a pump that will straighten layflat no problem its has great pressure but not clay breaking pressure like a petrol pump

 

[G0lddigg@]

I have been mucking around with a recirculating mini sluice and dirt that hasn't been through my field sluice is a pain with all the extra silts that haven't been washed out .
I am happy to repost pictures of my filtering system , although I am in the process of modifying it so there are no waterfalls as they are stirring the silt on the bottom of the tubs and I may add a sluice style carpet between the water bowls to help retain silt before it hits the final reservoir.

The system holds approx. 100 liters of water and that's just enough to mini sluice 40 liters of cons and keep the water clear. unsluiced cons would have it cloudy in 10 liters.it does depend on clay content of the material as clays silt can stay water borne for a week after I shut it down I have noticed, darker muds will generally settle in a day.
I generally run rinse aid and once it settles I siphon the clean water off the top of the settled layer and clean the silt out and reuse the water.

i look forward to seeing it.