John-Edmonton

Got past the half way last week with the 100 bucket challenge. Started on May 3 of this year, past the half way mark on May 31. If the weather and water levels cooperate, I can hopefully get the 100 bucket challenge completed by the end of June. And.......I am now 100% retired. Ahhhhhhhhhh, the life of a gold digger.😇

It rained, as was so windy at times that I had to keep water in the empty buckets or they would have blown away, probably into the river.

Added some 1/4" backed miners moss to hold onto more gold so I can shovel gravel into the highbanker longer.

It was supposed to get up to at or above freezing temperatures today. That never happened, however, fresh air, exercise, appetite, good food and a good night's sleep. What is there not to like? Made a quick, short video of the Easter Hunt.

https://youtu.be/34GcgX7l7aw

7 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

What size pump do you recommend to run on the sluice?

Depends on the width of the drop riffles. Up to an 8" wide, the 1100 GPH should do fine. 10" to 12" works well with the 2000 GPH and the Le'Trap runs with a 2200GPH pump, although, I sometimes add another 500 GPH pump to to run the Letrap.

8 minutes ago, chrisski said:

How much material did you run?

Was this pay dirt or concentrates?

I was using the California mini highbanker. I shovelled fresh gravel into the hopper for about 2 hours, including gravel containing a lot of roots. It's flour gold in the pan.

7 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

I picked up a 90 Ah Bosch battery for $116.00 at a NAPA Auto store near me just 2 weeks ago. Could of had a 120 Ah for just 12 dollars more.

Now to find a bilge pump at the right price.

There are lots of bilge pumps for sale at Amazon and Ebay. A lot of prospecting places sell them too, as do  marinas if you happen to live near water. Did you purchase a Lithium ion battery?  Below is an article about lithium ion batteries and a  comparison chart to simplify things.

https://tritekbattery.com/choosing-between-lithium-ion-and-lead-acid-batteries-for-e-bikes/

A couple of things to bring to your attention. Drop riffle highbankers require less water flow then your standard riffles. Drop riffles allow the gold to drop out of the water flow, like it happens in nature. Standard riffles require more water flow, to create a low pressure zone, hopefully capturing gold. Larger stones can knock flour gold out of standard riffles, but just roll over drop riffles, where the gold has already dropped out of sight. Because of less water flow, drop riffles run very well on bilge pumps. The California Mini runs nicely using a 1100 gallons per hour pump. The Geo Sluice runs well on a 2000 gallons per hour pump.

12 volt lithium ion batteries are really coming down in prices, and bilge pumps are not a great expense.  The lithium ion batteries can purchaced on Amazon or Ebay.

I did the math and pricing for running either the Californiaa Mini or the Geo Highbanker with different batteries. You could also run a 6" standard riffle unit on a 1100gallons per hour unit. These are in Canadian prices. US prices will be less.

Using a bilge pump is quiet, no gasoline, no oil, no tune-ups, no oil changes and the whole complete system is so light that you can carry it on your back and go just about anywhere. And drop riffles have excellent retention rates for flour gold. 

Thanks! You too!?

1 hour ago, Ridge Runner said:

Hey John 

If you got a root beer I’ll sit down with you and shoot the bull with you. I found out long ago with one beer I’d chase just about anything with a dress on but now at my age it could be the end of me.haha

 You reporting the gold you finding keeps us going that can’t get out there.

 Thanks for your time!

 Chuck 

Well Chuck, full retirement  end of May. At 69 I feel blessed that I still have the body that allows me to prospect. I can't comment on the grey matter in my head. I do love the photography part of prospecting, and enjoy putting together the posts. We ALL need to keep our bodies moving and our brains challenged to get the most of our senior years.

 "When we are young, we should exercise. When we get old, we GOT-TO!"

9 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Beer?

I have to have something a little bit stronger than that, some high grade moonshine would do the best.

Too much of that stuff and you will go color blind.?

4 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

The roots is just like miners moss both good at catching gold.

 Chuck 

You bet! Much easier then shovelling gravel. You can literally pull up a chair, wash some roots and drink a cold beer too!?

11 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

That's a nice amount of flour that you recovered , how much came from the roots.

Good luck on your next outing, and stay safe out there.

I would say an easy 60-70%. 

15 °C/59.0 °F was what it was today. (probably even hotter in the valley, south facing slope) I got out this morning and had  some serious gold getting in mind. I drove to an area which sometimes opens up early in the spring. Good karma today!

I brought along my climbing rope along. I work healing people with broken bones at a hospital for a living. I don't want to be a patient on my unit. It's nice to have a unit that runs on a 12 volt battery. The highbanker is ABS plastic, strong and light. No gas pump, heavy hoses or gasoline to tag along. My unit runs quiet all day, and allows me to hear all the bird's sounds with spring mating in mind.

I safely made it to the river's edge. A thick layer of ice was still intact in most places on the banks.

I did manage to find a small open, exposed area. Hacked another 10 feet more with my shovel to expose some more gravel.

The gravel had a lot of sticky silt mixed with it and little gold, so I dug up a lot of dead vegetation and washed the roots in my hopper. That got me more gold then just the gravel.

Here's the flour gold after my final clean-up. I might head down again tomorrow if the weather is suitable.

Took my California Mini highbanker back to the chunky-flour-gold river, and did mostly free digging, as the frost is starting to thaw out. I managed to move a lot more material, as I wasn't screening it into buckets for feeding the mini. And, the results speak for themselves.

I have done quite well with this little unit. The whole system fits in a 5 gallon plastic bucket, and my 12 volt  60 amp/hr lithium ion battery (very light) fits in my back pack. I can either pack it in my sled or just carry it in a bucket to get to those far away places.

I dug down to about 18 inches below these old gravel beds. Beyond that, the ground was still frozen. I dug for a bout 3 hours, which is plenty for me. Filled in my holes, went home and ran my concentrates through my micro sluices in the basement.

Here's the shiny from today! I should sleep well tonite.?

9 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Wish I had so much nice areas that you have for gold, here is harder to find it, but when you do it is about the same size that you are getting.

Good luck out there and stay safe .

Sometimes half the fun is searching for those places.

Well, the little river turned out to be a bigger river, as the temperature was rising and the snow was melting. I had to find a new river crossing to get home where the river was more shallow.

I haven't tried this location.....so, that's what I dug.

Adding water to my 1/2" screened gravel turned it into a sticky cement. I prefer feeding dry material. I just drop the material from a greater height to make that flour gold punch through the water's surface tension so that it doesn't float away.

And.....here's todays shiny fly poop. Gonna sleep well tonite!?️

On 3/10/2024 at 2:15 PM, Dean Stone said:

Whoo, i wish i had a creek close to me with that much gold. I dredge in OHIO, and get about that much in a year. Don't know if i could handle that ice or not, I can't do like i used to. I soon will be 73 years old, broken back, metal plate in my neck. I still keep going.  Good job.  Dean

Just remeber, it's flour gold. I enlarge the flakes with my camera, because they look so much nicer.

On 3/10/2024 at 11:12 PM, Valens Legacy said:

You are a true inspiration  to a lot of people because of how you area able to get every grain of gold from areas that are not wanting to give it up.

Good luck and stay safe out there.

Thanks. My grandfarher's saying was that "where there's a will, there's a away." I never understood what he meant untl I was  grown man!

On 3/10/2024 at 8:54 AM, Ridge Runner said:

John 

Looking at the video he’s using it the same way we use our gold pans. At the same time he’s making out the best he can with what he’s got and doing a great job at it.

 Chuck 

Except, he could do without wearing his underware using that pan.?

1 hour ago, jasong said:

Nice skills. But that is also one beautiful batea. I'd love to own one a handmade one with great character in the wood like that.

Agreed! I's love to have one shellacked, shiny hanging on the wall showing such wonderfull detail of the wood.

Back to the same river spot I was yesterday. Because there was such a small amount of water flow to operate my river sluice, I brought my California mini highbanker. And that made all the difference.

I previously had to chop a hole in the ice. Can't really dam up water when the river is covered with ice.

This amount was much better then my small previous attempt at this site.

8 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

good video and thanks for sharing it.

Always interesting to see other ways of doing things.

9 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

He knows what he’s doing for sure .

 Chuck 

 Make a great waiter serving drinks.

Of course I count my blessings.....each and every morning I wake up I am thankful getting in another day.?

3 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

John 

Look at all the times you hit a home run on your gold adventure but just this one time it wasn’t to be .

 Remember my old saying and that’s A little of something is better than a lot of nothing. 
Best to you John!

 Chuck 

6 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Sorry  to see the ice slow you down on this trip, but it is going to warm up soon and I'm sure that you are going to get the gold.

Better luck on your next trip, and stay safe out there.

Oh well, I slept good overnight. That in itself is a good thing.