Bazooka Sluice Stand

I received a package in the mail today. eBuyc from Spokane Valley sent me a sluice stand for my Bazooka Prospector. Carrying the box into the house I had my doubts that there was actually a sluice stand in the box because the box was so light. Surprise-surprise, there was actually a sluice stand in the box !

The sluice stand actually weighs less than my 36" Prospector.

This stand will fit the 30" and 36" Bazooka Prospector Fluid Bed Gold Trap Sluice. If you're running a Bazooka Prospector (30" or 36") you really should get one of these stands. Go HERE to purchase.
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Bazooka Super Scoop Add-A-Flare

For those times when you can't get enough water to keep the fluid bed operating properly in your Bazooka Fluid Bed Gold Trap Sluice, try adding a flare.

I made this one out of 1/8" ABS plastic that I had hanging around the shop. I used my metal brake and a little heat to form it. It measures 18" x 18" tapering to 14" at the water scoop portion of the sluice box.

Rather than drill more holes in the sluice box, I used small C-clamps to hold the sides in position.

I used aluminum to form two fingers that support the add-a-flare on the water scoop that feeds the tubes.

This is all theoretical right now as it's mid winter and I have no access to a working creek. For those in warmer climes, give it a try, you just may like it.

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A Christmas Gift From Mother Nature's Sluicebox

Took a trip to Mother Nature's Sluicebox this morning to find my spot completely under water. It will take a few days for the water to come down provided we don't get any heavy rain. Spent the day panning the cons from my last trip and decided to shoot a pic of the total I've retrieved from Mother Nature's Sluicebox. The pan is a 10" Garrett so don't let the pan size give the appearance that there's more gold there. Just a touch over 2 grams and I tell ya, I sure wouldn't want to have to count each piece !!! 

Got an email from Bazooka Gold Company today and my 36" Prospector sluice is in transit. I've made some optional items that will turn the fluid bed sluice into a dredge, powered by my Bottom Feeder hand pump.

Stay tuned...

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Hiding Behind a Rock Riffle...continued

Third trip this week to the river. Got to hit it before it freezes solid. I brought my Pyramid Pro Pan with me this time so I could carry only super concentrates back to the truck. The area in the pic marked in yellow is what I processed. Six buckets concentrated down to 3 gallons.

This is my clean up sluice. Notice the plexiglass baffle. It's mounted with a gap at the bottom. I achieve this gap by placing a piece of deep vee mat upside down and setting the plexi on it. I then just tape it in place and pull the deep vee out.

Here's what it looks like running cons. Even though I have over 1½" of water in the dump chamber it's impossible to over feed it. The small gap under the plexi controls the feed to the sluice.

Here's the entire system. Notice the water surface...perfect! There's deep vee mat, 3/8" expanded over carpet and then ¾" expanded over carpet at the end. Sluice is only 6" wide at the discharge end.

When I see this, it's time for a clean up.

Speaking of clean ups...

Twice the weight of Wednesday's take. If only this gold had some thickness to it then maybe it would weight more than .26 gram ;^)

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Hiding Behind A Rock Riffle

A short walk downstream from Mother Nature's Sluicebox put me on some interesting looking structure. The bedrock formed a vertical wall on the downstream side forming a perfect place for gold to hide. I pulled a sample from the material laying on the surface and stopped at about the 6" deep mark.

 The sample looked pretty good so I filled a bucket and then took another sample. The red colored material is always a good sign when working Mother Nature's Sluicebox and this spot was full of it. This second sample looked better than the last so I filled another bucket from the material laying on bedrock.

Here's the cavity after removing two buckets of material. I neglected to rinse the cavity to get the remaining gold that you just can't remove by scraping with a spoon but I'll be back to this spot on my next trip.

Here's the money shot ! 

I'd love to bring my Rockin Gold Grabber down to this spot and really run some yardage but the walk down and back several times hauling equipment would kick my azz.

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Basalt Riffles aka Mother Nature's Sluicebox

If you drive past this area of Highway 12 between April - Sept 15th, you won't see this nearly one acre sluice box made up of basalt riffles.

Here's a close up of the high water mark. There is a bit of a back eddy on this end of the point that protrudes out into the river. During high water, the gold starts to accumulate among the basalt riffles here.

Walking among the basalt, there are multiple discoveries of black sand / garnet exposures. I scraped up a pan full of material from this spot and headed to the river's edge.

Not a bad looking sample pan. This is what I like to see before I work an area. If I only get 5-10 pieces, I move on to find better ground. Since this area had good potential, I dug 4 partial buckets of unclassified material and headed home.

Here's the money shot after processing through my clean up sluice. Lots of tiny gold that won't get me rich at just 1/10 gram but it's always nice to see color in the pan. Next trip will have me exploring new ground further downstream. (Right click >Open in New Tab to view larger pics)

The Bottom Feeder

Another winter arrives and it's time for another project.

This one started with the idea of  an old dynamite 

magneto plunger. I opened my design software and 

started putting my thoughts together. I started with a 

2" PVC pump body. 

The piston rod is 1" PVC with a 2" plumber's 

adjustable rubber test plug as a piston.The cap at 

the top of the pump body has 4 holes drilled into 

it to allow air to vent on the upstroke.

From the 2" PVC Tee, I placed a 2-1½" reducer 

on each end. Into these reducers, I added the 

1½" True Union Swing Check Valves.

These valves have screw on / off ends for easy 

cleaning so I secured the 1½" suction and

discharge hoses to each end.

At the discharge end, I fabricated a header / spreader

from 2" PVC. I cut and glued two 4" pieces of PVC pipe into 

a 2" PVC Tee. That gave me 12" total width.

I cut an 1½" wide x 10" slot into PVC then glued the end 

caps in place.This header spreader is supported over 

the sluice with aluminum brackets screwed into each end cap.

Into the other end of the 2" Tee, I placed a 2-1½" reducer.

I did not glue this in, since there is no pressure. I then glued 

a 45 in place. With the reducer not glued, I can swing it into

any position. In the picture, I have it set up in one 

of my clean up sluices.I won't be using this sluice. 

Instead, I'll be using a Bazooka 36" Prospector. I think this sluice 

will be the perfect setup for the 1"+ material that the Bottom 

Feeder will be delivering. A quick test with some ¼" to 1"

tailings I had around the garage proved my design idea.

The header / spreader dumped material across the entire

10" wide slot. The pump volume is right around .4 gallon.

All I need now is the Bazooka 36" Prospector

and the month of July to hurry up and get here so that

I can start pumping pay through the Bottom Feeder.

P.S. 

This is a two person system...one on the pump and the

other on the suction hose. Perfect for my mining partner

wife and I.