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I have a 2.8 HP, 2-inch water pump, 500l/min Can someone provide the dimensions for the suction nozzle? Thanks in advance.

Tl;DR- Can gold be very sparse and not worth mining in the top few feet, but contain a huge pay day on the bedrock, or are the layers above it a pretty good indicator of the gold at the bottom? Full version- I finally got my first claim after lots of research and scouting. It's in a valley that had old lode mines above it, and records of course gold being found in the alluvium below. A logistics problem stopped commercial mining attempts in the old days. From what I can tell, it has never been mined. Which is rare because all the rivers in my area were bucket dredged. I sampled all over my claim and it's depressing to say the least. I found one "paystreak" on a gravel bar bend. Not sure why, but where it should be on the other bends it doesn't seem to be. When I say pay streak, I mean 3-5 colors in a pan instead of one. I set up my sluice and ran five 5 gallon buckets of unclassified material. I got 0.02-0.04g. If my miners math is correct, that's about 0.16g/yd-0.32g/yd. Not great, but could be feasible with my dredge depending on how long it takes me to move the hard pack. What are the chances that gold is extremely low grade in the overburden but amazing at bedrock? I ask because this will entail me hiking 300 pounds several miles in on foot. I will also have to clear 10-15' of overburden to get to bedrock. Given the history of this place, I feel like it could have ancient gold in the massive high grade the old timers were getting. If never mined, perhaps that gold has had thousands or millions of years to work all the way down? Is this wishful thinking and likely to lead to disappointment, or am I on the right track and it could very well be great? Thanks.

Gold mining underwater, offshore I have a dream ? I want to build an underwater vehicle for gold mining (washing) underwater, in the coastal area of Alaska and other places. Background: I am a former Submarine Engineer, mechanical and electrical specialist (+ electronics). I really liked the series on the Discovery Channel, about how gold is mined from the bottom of the sea in Nome (Alaska). I am impressed with the courage of these people. But ... I see that already now they have problems with mining gold from a depth of more than 5 meters. The shelf area (underwater part) extends much further than those small areas that are now being developed near Nome. To work in bad weather on the surface of the sea, and not to depend on it, you need to have an underwater manned vehicle on a caterpillar track, with a dredge and a flushing chute. This will allow you to work autonomously, for several days underwater, mining gold. In my opinion (thoughts) it should be a submarine with tracked engines, ballast tanks, which can independently float on the sea surface and sink to the bottom for work. I can design, calculate, and build this. I need money for this, and a few assistants who can work with their hands ? Extraction of gold and minerals from the bottom of the sea is my old dream ... And I know how to make a submarine without spending millions of dollars ?

Thought some would find this interesting

First time out dredging this season with my partner Jeff. He cleared alot of rocks and got down to some hard pack on bedrock. While he’s working I’m tending to the dredge, clearing tailings, and cleaning some of the copious amount of black sands from the riffles…otherwise they fill & we lose gold. My pup was supposed to be supervising, but I think she was snoozing on the job! Ran the concentrates on my small recirculating sluice at home then panned(now that was work!). Ended up with 8.8 grams total(7g fines, 1.8 nuggies)…not bad for about 8 hours run time! I think I’m going to invest in a decent wetsuit etc so I can play underwater too!😊

Finally away from a summer season in which I did not even touch the water, the time has come for the first storms, and right now thunderstorms and threatening waves are hitting "my" coast. So all that remains is to hope for the opening of a few spots with a reduced layer. It often happens that something goes wrong and, for the purpose of removing sand, the storm brings more. At that point heavy strategies and calculations begin. Several years back I went so far as to build a dredge and test it successfully, despite not finding any interesting material in the same spot. Constant breakage due to salt water and corrosion make the equipment fragile for continuous use, and too many times the expense of repairing it does not pay off. Abandoning the massive excavation project, I went through the use of a dpv and came to the conclusion that darn it, no one operates as effectively as Mother Nature. Numbers matter, whether you are mining fine powder or nuggets in the form of rings, if you don't explore at least 100 square meters in 3 hours, you don't even have a clue what the bottom is really like. These are not exact figures, but a rough idea of what it means to prepare what is necessary and how much to expect in terms of results. No photos at the moment, I reinvested the (little) material collected in October for a setup change, hoping to improve the effort/output ratio.

I found some gold in a gravel area that slopes to the creek where we can pan ok. was getting 5-10 colors a pan and not the tiny points , decent size colors. There is flat bedrock at the base of the slope and then the large creek so I thought for sure the gravel was on top of the bedrock but its not. I dug right where the gravel meets the bedrock almost but I went down a foot instead of hitting bedrock right away. The gold got a bit coarser, one piece looks like an apostrophe and chunky. So, now what? Bring my mini highbanker there and wash the gravels? How deep is this bedrock? Maybe bring a metal rod and probe in numerous spots for it? I hit one larger flat rock but it looked like a flagstone from an old stone sidewalk. There are numerous old bricks in the woods next to the slope. I do have to fill in any holes I make same day. My hole had no water in it either even tho the creek is only a few feet away. Should I wait till spring when water covers this spot, then try to dredge the gravel with my big banker. I have both my big and micro bankers on wheels so easy to move around in my old age. I haven't posted much lately as these damn old age aches and pains make it harder and harder to get out and dig. At least I am still moving and not in an old folks home yet. How to fix my heel and ankle pains now? duct tape kinda helps and lots of pain pills. Had to put padded inserts in all my boots as there were none and my feets were screaming. I also made an odd discovery in another creek.I normally run away from spiders BUT took a chance.There were a bunch of baby wolf spiders running around this one patch of creek gravels. I have rarely found any color in this creek before. So, I stick my shovel in this spider infested gravel patch , VERY hard digging and the gravels are filled with roots. Then a horde of bugs come spilling out, millipedes, centipedes, pill bugs, carpenter ants, spiders. I go pan my gravel and my load of black sands like tripled and there was very fine gold with it, like 5-20 tiny points in every pan. I need to take my mini highbanker there too. A dredge hole was in the creek next to my gravel spot.I panned the persons tailings and got more tiny gold specks. Am also needing a 6 inch coil for my Goldbug 2, used is good, and am looking for a cheap Tesoro Lobo ST that works ok.Had to trash mine as it finally croaked, sure do miss it. -Tom V.

Hey all. We are recreational gold miners in Alaska. We have a small YouTube channel with some videos of our exploits. It’s been a journey. We are just getting started for the year and still waiting to access our main claims. Two Dudes One Dredge Channel https://youtube.com/channel/UCoPsZnjywJ9hQjJ9r283w5g

We all think we are finding very little gold. Try dealing with these conditions! https://rtd.rt.com/films/diving-for-gold/#anchor_watch_video

Big flotilla of illegal gold dredgers in Brazil A great Sunday morning read.. the pictures give an insight into the lives of Brazilian gold dredgers.. https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-and-nature-caribbean-environment-brazil-61fe580eb23761117331c10e0b7cfde8

This is for real so do not be afraid of tossing your hat in the ring. Raw TV has been involved in lots of stuff, including the original Gold Rush series. Pass it along to anyone who may be interested. Alan, you listening?

I was wondering if anyone might have a picture of an original Keene 2 1/2" dredge, it is the one that floated on an inner tube. I sent an email to Pat Keene, but have not got an answer. I just need the picture to see how it was set up and mounted on the inner tube. If anyone has one you can post it here or email it to me at: jfoley@sisqtel.net

I bought my first dredge and it is an old one, have a couple questions if someone knows old Keene gear. It’s a pretty vintage 3” Keene suction dredge, crashbox, power jet, 14x48 sluice and frame that was strapped to inner tubes. The old Copper BS 5hp with an old Johnson 155 air that seems to be working. Changed the oil, gas, checked the sparkplug, removed the pump and she started right up and runs great. Everything is in suprisingly good shape. The pump is a Keene P-150, I assume pumping in the 200 - 250 GPM range. It has the old paper gaskets for the pump housing, will Auto gasket maker work to replace those if needed? I think the main pump seal is still the same as modern pumps. For the Sluice it has a plate in the crash box then flat red carpet under the riffles. What would you recommend running in there? Miners moss over carpet? Change to rubber matting? Leave as is? Should anything go under the crash plate to help catch fine gold. Would love some opinions. I did clean out about 20 flecks of color from the tiny bit of sand left in the sluice, so I know it can catch some fine gold. Anyone know anything about the Johnson 155 Air compressor? I can’t seem to find any information on it. Seems to be working but not sure if any spare parts are available for it. Last question is what to do for floats. I would need new inner tubes but I may try to rig up something with a packraft I have. Anyone used pool noodle floats? I’m sure the hard floats are best for fast moving water, but curious what other options there are. Would like to keep it light to be manageable by one person and able to be hauled with an ATV. Thanks for any info.

https://www.icmj.com/magazine/article/plp-update-4454/?fbclid=IwAR3-OTlUQ3SqYmxYpp-BeaVHxKIee0IEIzY5ZlJc2kCiMhmNLq-HFTvSYq4 This effort deserves a vote of thanks from all of us.

Beautiful day out on the river doing some scouting and testing of new equipment. Only got to punch one sample hole. Little too much overburden at about 4 feet. Got a little color, just need to find more easily worked ground.

I'm starting a new thread (for an obvious reason -- change of topic), triggered by the following post: My question is specifically about this spinoff/version of the show. It's evolved into two related, semi-cooperative crews dredging McKinley Creek near the Northern end of the Alaska Panhandle. If somebody wants to bring up Todd Hoffman (oops, I just did), etc., well that's not what I'm hoping to read about. But it's a free world. I'm hoping some experienced dredgers will objectively critique.

Hey everyone! Its been a while since i posted last. Recently i did a comparison video of the Proline and Keene full size 4 inch dredges. It think it is a great resource for those looking to buy a dredge in the near future. I go through each component and talk about my reasoning and though process behind why one is preferred over the other. This is definitely not a video for fanboys of either brand lol. The main point of it is to get potential dredge buyers thinking about there intended use of the dredge and how various features on either one may be better for there intended use. Hope yall enjoy and please leave any feed back. Discussions are the reason im here !

Hello everyone on here. Im looking on upgrading my Subbie sluice box into a more efficient one. I have been looking into ideas of what others been doing on here and any suggestion of how should i design a larger Gold nugget trap. I see most sluice boxes with tiny riffles and i could just imagen a larger nugget go run straight out the back. I tested my sluice with a almost 300 gram copper nugget and i lost it. Now we are trying to upgrade the sluice because where we dredge we could find larger nuggets. Im thinking of placing a section with taller riffles like in the picture with the rails only going half way or 3/4 of the sluice and leaving the same size riffles or making it bit larger at the end of the box for the larger nuggets.

Been a long time guys... Found an old 8" dredge im thinking of bringing back to life. Curious if anyone recognizes this make/model of dredge. Owner says it has keene pumps and thinks maybe tecumseh motors but not sure. Have a couple of pics but wish I took more. Motors were in a locked cabin so I didnt get to see them yet. Planning on picking this up in a couple of weeks. Will be a long trip to get. If anyone has any info it would be much appreciated. Thanks

Indiana gold dredging

I am posting this here since there are folks on this forum from Arizona. I was wondering if anyone might have information like rules, regulations or possibly links to which agencies regulate and permit suction dredging. I know, there is not much water in AZ, but there must be places that a person might find gold in streams.

Hi all, hope everyone is ready for dredging . I have a 2" Keene dredge, with the hard floats. Dose anyone how much air to put in the floats? Don't want to blow them up, but need them to float good. Any help would be good, I tried to look on line but could not find how much pressure to put in them. Thanks Dean

I have been making Gold dredge nozzles in our business for quite a few years now and we sell them on our website and Ebay. We make them in 2", 2-1/2", and 3" OD Tube with slip on connections. Plus we give the customer the choice of a classifier or not, welded to the nozzle tip instead of charging extra for a "bolt on" accessory when they should be included. We always have made them with 1-1/2" OD tubing either slip on hose or threaded hose to the water pressure line with a reducer to increase the pressure to the nozzle. Are there any people who use 3.5" or 4" or even 5" nozzles? If so, what sized water pressure tube do you run for those? I am thinking about making a bigger product line for our customers and am all ears in your input. What would be your best nozzle? Short and stubby? with or without side handles? Different nozzle sizes? Water inlet tubes? I am also thinking about making them out of 316L stainless for the salt water people's. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Steve Stabler-Owner GBE Mandrel Bending Inc.- GBEMANDREL.COM We make them with OUR made parts, no someone else's.

I purchased a newer Keene 6” mini dredge last year with GX270 motors and PHP 500 pumps. I used it quite a bit last summer but it was all in the old mine cuts that we dredge in. Not once in a river. The suction is unbelievable. My question does anyone have experience with the bigger motors needing more floats because of the weight? The motors themselves are 20 lbs more a piece and not to mention all of the weight from the water volume and hoses being bigger. Keene makes the outriggers with floats for them. I was going to make something similar uses two 30 gallon poly drums.

Been messing with this project on and off for a few years now. Finally got it where it was ready to be tested this past weekend. Was originally a keene 3 inch with 4 hp motor and p160 pump i believe. I sold off most of the 3 inch parts and started building the components need to turn it into a 4 inch. From the 3 inch all that remains is the frame, floats and motor and pump combo. I bought a 4 inch flare from keene, since i have no good way to fabricate a lightweight flare. Everything else i have been working on fabricating, primarily being the sluice (16x40), riffle trays, and the power jet. The power jet is were i diverged from most of the current designs that are widely used. I wanted to build a 4 inch as light as possible while still using the 4hp motor and pump combo, as most the streams i work are shallow and dont require huge amounts of suction for dredging at great depth. The problem was that the 4hp motor and p160 pump struggled in my mind to provide adequate suction to the 3 inch even when near full throttle. Based on this i decided to build a copy of a dahlke tri-jet which should allow a 4 inch to be run off of a smaller motor and pump when compared to a normal 4 inch, due to increased efficiency over a standard style of power-jet. Pictures of the tri-jet in various stages of completion: Picture of the sluice and riffle tray, first iteration with woven wire: Testing day! Couple of issues were noticed while testing. There were a few leaks in the power jet, the woven wire was too open and large rocks would get stuck on it, the high pressure hose was way too long and since it was inch and quarter and so is the pump output , it was constricted to less than inch and quarter at the coupling areas, and the long high pressure hose probably caused a loss in pressure due to friction. The power jet should also be mounted not right at the flare but a few feet from it, so that the hose acts as a longer jet tube and helps increase suction, a 20 ft suction hose also didnt help. But regardless i was able to dredge with moderate suction, with it. So the test was a success, and with the various refinements it should have greater suction and water flow. Then the next day, the various refinements and fixes from the problems noted during testing. Replaced the woven wire with 3/8 inch 40% open punch plate, moved the jet so it is mounted about 3 feet from the flare, shortened the high pressure line and increased it to 1.5 inch so there are no restrictions, patched the holes in the power jet, and painted it. I do have a question or everyone, would increasing the size of the footvalve and intake hose from 2 inch to 2.5 inch help increase the gpm of the pump at all? The footvalve cage that came with the keene pump seems small to me. I have some pictures below showing the difference. I look forward to hearing from everyone! It was a fun project!