gold mining

[highdesertranger]

round 2

4. WriterMsyes it's a hobby that actually pays you, can't say that about many hobbies. for me it's a little more than a hobby. also I will do another thread on gear it will include my tent.

5. ahhme2 definitely post some pics of your set up, I want to see your miller table. but I am also interested in your other equipment.

highdesertranger

 

[highdesertranger]

round 3

the only negative post.

6. bigsallysmom wants to know why I am killing mother nature. ok I will take the bait. I guess you are inferring that my small scale pick and shovel mining is the same as a open pit mine.

the area that the high banker is set up in is private property. this whole area was mined in the old days. the whole area is a series of trenches. the high banker is set up in one of these trenches. we dammed up the trench that the high banker is in, this is filling up the trench with the tailings, we have brought the level of the trench up about 3 feet. the over burden that we stripped off is being use to fill the next trench over, so we are actually leveling out the trenches. the property owner is ecstatic. she always wanted this done but never could afford to pay someone to do it. once we break though to the next trench we will move to another area and start all over. we are actually repairing the damage done over 100 years ago.

now on the dredging. all we are doing is feeding fish and making holes for them to hang out in. after all when you go fishing where do you go? a fishing hole. dredging creates holes that fish use for refugees. they also hang around when you are dredging to feed on the aquatic insects that you are churning up. the smaller fish get right in on you, right at the end of the suction nozzle, it's amazing that they don't get sucked up, they can feel the current and are great about using it to their advantage. they dart in and out eating the bugs. after a few days you get to know individual fish. the larger ones(I have been with some big ones) tend to stand off about 3 feet if they are up by the nozzle and dart in real fast and move back out fast. the first time this happened to me it set off my wet suit heater if you know what I mean. however most of the larger fish tend to hang out at the end of the sluice box, feeding off the tailings. my sister and brother in-law love to fish. so they ask me to bring them whatever insect I am dredging up, then they get their wet flies to match and they fish off the back of the dredge. um fish dinner.

that brings up another point. see what you went and did.

you would not believe the trash that gets dredged up the most common by far is lead fishing weights. if you are in a popular fishing area would can dredge up pounds and pounds of weights per day. of course all trash is disposed of properly. any lead can be sold as scrap. lures can be resold, any thing that's iron goes to scrap. all the plastic crap from river rafters goes to the land fill. a couple interesting things that I have found is a car battery and a cell phone. IF I AM DOING ANYTHING IT"S CLEANING UP THE RIVERS. I am doing this for free and not to have my picture taken that I have participated in a river clean up. I could go on for days.

btw whenever I am mining on public land I always fill my holes. in fact the only reason I it wasn't done in those pics is because of the property owners request.

another thing I would like to point out. everything we have in life is grown or mined. the computer or phone you are typing on has over 20 different minerals in it. including gold, platinum, and silver. where do you think this stuff comes from. do you want it coming from a huge open pit mine covering hundreds of acres, or do you want it to come from me with my pick and shovel. or maybe you don't want any mining in this country, maybe you want it all done in China, Africa, or South America. where they have no environmental laws or don't enforce the ones they have. any more question along these lines will be happily answered. highdesertranger

 

[WriterMs]

round 2

4. WriterMsyes it's a hobby that actually pays you,  can't say that about many hobbies.  for me it's a little more than a hobby.  also I will do another thread on gear it will include my tent.
highdesertranger

Nope, nope. I double checked that it was not me using the word "hobby!" LOL Some of us may have thought you gold mined as a hobby before the pics, but you obviously have a full-scale professional set up to do a small operation right!

Regarding impact on nature, I would have to agree with you on small scale being MUCH better. I lived in Montana for a decade and if you want to see horrible impacts and leach-field toxins that kill children released in waterways, look no further than what big robber-baron mining companies have done up there. Don't want to go off topic so I'll step down from my soapbox now.

 

[highdesertranger]

WriterMs thanks for "getting it". I feel this goes way beyond mining almost all mom and pops are being squeezed out. weather it's restaurants, farms, ranches, small general grocery and hardware stores hell everywhere you look the small guy is getting squeezed out. highdesertranger

 

[Gary68]

hdr,first thanks for the post,i'm in oregon so i investigated doing something similar,small dredge/highbanker-dredge,rouge river ish,so i went online and besides joining a club to walk me through all i found was rules,regulations,fines,fees and fish eggs,fish eggs and more fish eggs,is it as daunting as i think or just head tripping myself?

b.t.w. anything i or anyone else can do to a river with a small dredge and shovel will be completely and absolutely washed away with the winter rains

thanks,gary

 

[ahh_me2]

5.  ahhme2  definitely post some pics of your set up,  I  want to see your miller table.  but I am also interested in your other equipment.

highdesertranger

Thanks, I'll try and keep it short, but I'll run through one day of digging.

My 2 gold mining transport vehicles...

 

[highdesertranger]

Gary68 you are 100% correct . small scale miners are singled out. they are an easy targets for unscrupulous groups. the Rouge River has several public sections. you will need a dredging permit. Oregon has gone way extreme in the last few years. so I feel for you. I have a valid Oregon dredge permit. here are a few groups in Oregon that might point you in the right direction. http://waldominingdistrict.com/ boy their title page doesn't look good. http://www.oregongoldhunters.com/ this is a forum. http://ooglah.net/Jefferson_Mining_District.html . long live the state of Jefferson. http://galicemining.x10.mx/main.html . another making the good fight. here's a store close by http://www.blackcatmining.com/ . here's another http://armadillomining.com/ . I have been to this store and bought gear, great people. so read up, visit the stores, ask questions and good luck. you know I might be interested in hitting the Rouge, maybe in the future I could get up your way and we can go after the shinny metal. highdesertranger

 

[ahh_me2]

My main pieces of equipment and myself...



Mining partner, general set up at idle...



Side view of the LeTrap...



View of pump with larger custom fuel tank....

 

[bigsallysmom]

round 3

the only negative post.

6.  bigsallysmom wants to know why I am killing mother nature.  ok I will take the bait.  I guess you are inferring that my small scale pick and shovel mining is the same as a open pit mine.

 highdesertranger

Negative?  Let me see.  "That's an awful lot of environmental damage. What happens to the area after yall no longer are looking for gold? Will yall close up the cuts and try to put it back the way it was?"  I thought I was being quite respectful.
 
Yes, everything we have and buy is supported by products from mining.  Unfortunately the problems are often left behind.
It's still damage.  On the banks and in the water.  The damage also moves downstream.

 

[ahh_me2]

We only strip the top 6-8 inches as the gold is replenished annually on the surface from high water in the spring...
This is about 3-4 hours of digging, it is very hard ground, we call it The Hardpack around here, almost like concrete.



Gold in the riffles of the LeTrap, this was upon removing it from it's frame, so the contents of the riffles fall back a bit...



Running the BlueBowl...

 

[ahh_me2]

The Miller table, near the end of a run...



Almost done...



Done! Gold is now clean!   About 3 grams....

 

[highdesertranger]

ahh_me2 nice set up. love your high banker. I have been looking at the Le-Traps for sampling, do you like it? but what I have a million questions about is your drill. I have been serious looking at these. some questions, what type of bit do you have on it? can you change the type of bit? the reason I ask is I would like one that I can run a small auger bit, a drill bit, or a core bit this would need a wet adaptor. is your chuck interchangeable? anyhow great pics post some more. my all your pans be golden. highdesertranger

 

[highdesertranger]

ah you posted more while I was typing. that's one nice looking blue bowl. can you give a full pic of the miller table? highdesertranger

 

[ahh_me2]

The Miller table is kind of a throw together thing, I've been using it like this for about
three years now and never got around to making a proper frame for it.
The green mat is simply the green rubber cutting mat for crafts and balsa planes etc.



It's not even siliconed to the floorboard...couple notches for the water tube...





All of this happened within the city limits, about a 20 minute drive from home, 3-4 hours of digging,
2 guys, 3 grams of gold.

Yep, I have had many expensive, and sometimes even cheap hobbies... but this is the first that pays
me something back, and is fun to do!

 

[ahh_me2]

ah you posted more while I was typing. that's one nice looking blue bowl. can you give a full pic of the miller table? highdesertranger

I could get you a cleaner better view of the miller if you want...but this gives you an idea...

 

[ahh_me2]

ahh_me2 nice set up.  love your high banker.    I have been looking at the Le-Traps for sampling,  do you like it?  highdesertranger

Thanks!

With the LeTrap properly configured, ie water flow, angle, proper grizzly, 2 guys can shovel non stop into it, so yes I love it and it works really well.

Another thing in it's favor is the rapid cleanout at any point you choose, and with a certain technique in cleaning it out, you can see how much
gold is in there before it disappears in your cons under the heavies.

 

[ahh_me2]

 but what I have a million questions about is your drill. I have been serious looking at these.  some questions,  what type of bit do you have on it?  can you change the type of bit?  the reason I ask is I would like one that I can run a small auger bit,  a drill bit,  or a core bit this would need a wet adaptor.   is your chuck interchangeable?  anyhow great pics post some more.  my all your pans be golden.  highdesertranger

My drill? lol Never thought about it that way, but it is appropriate!

Well, it's an invention of mine, as we dig in some concrete like stuff. Jump on your shovel...nothing happens.
Take a swing with a pick...hit a rock and bounce off or send shards of rock flying.... not fun either way!

So a few years back, I decided to build something, a "ground breaking tool" pun intended!

I knew that a single point pick could be maneuvered round and round creating a small cone like depression.
I figured if I could motorize that action, it might happen faster with far less effort.
But it would be better if I didn't have a straight solid shaft, I needed some slop.

i have a small hobby foundry so I used a leftover cast aluminum sprue for a starting piece and machined up an adaptor for an ice/earth auger.



So I got an earth auger, heavier gearbox than ice auger, and is also meant to be operated in the heat of the summer as opposed to the cooling
it would get while on a frozen lake in the winter .

I used standard 1 inch HSS steel tube, and made a "drill" point from some 3/4 cold rolled that I had lying about.





Sorry no pics of the "drill point", it is simply tapered to a dull point and is cross drilled and inserted into the lower part of the tube.

One of the key features is that it is a "sloppy " fit, and wobbles around...
It is this wobbling action coupled with the rotary motion that makes it work.

As it turns at around 100-160 rpm, it wobbles around and seeks to move to lower or softer ground, and finds it's way through the rocks.
Once I hit 6-8 inch depth, I give the auger unit a wide circling motion a few times  and the ground just cracks, move over 6 inches , repeat, and again,
about 30 50 seconds per pass, partner is right there, digging easily wherever I have broken the ground!

Since I made it for myself from scratch, any type of adaptor could technically be made, to suit the application.

If there is anything else you want to know, feel free to ask!

 

[highdesertranger]

nice. having a machine shop must be nice. highdesertranger

 

[BamaDuke]

Nice setup, Range. Our effort in the desert is trying to be as slick as yours. We only have water for a few hours a year, but it flows at 2000 cfps and 40 mph!! LOL. The nice thing though is that, even in December with snow on the ground, it's easy to keep warm. Just dig a little.

Nice cleanups, too. We don't get the fine stuff much, but I'm convinced it's because of our gathering technique. When we washed each rock, we got more fines. It's tough to bring enough water though.

Keep at it, you are just 6 inches away from a rich vein

Bama

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks for the encouragement Bama. are you Dry washing. I also have a dry washer. but I can't find any pictures of it in use. I will have to change that. highdesertranger