December Trip Report

[Alaskan_EOD]

Hello all!

First of all, I just wanted to publicly say thank you to Steve and the rest of the members on this site. Although this is my first post, I have been using the wealth of information gathered from everyone here for a while now. 

It's that time of year up here in Alaska where the days are dark and the memory of summer seems like a distant past. To cure my deep seated winter time blues and my sense for adventure, I decided to check out a spot I have been wanting to try for a while now, but let the myriad of summertime activities get in the way. But perhaps the real underlying driving force for this trip was my new highbanker waiting patiently in the garage to process dirt. Whatever the REAL reason, I looked at the forecast and saw a balmy 26 degrees forecasted and knew it was time to shine.

So I drove North of Anchorage with my back country cross country skis (say that ten times fast) in tow, looking forward to a day out in the back country. I have found that if my main objective is to get out and enjoy the outdoors with a side chance of pay dirt, I am rarely if ever disappointed. And this day was no different. I arrived and strapped on the skis and my touring sled and set off into the snow.

I quickly found out that hauling equipment by skis should be an Olympic event. The powder was easily three feet deep and probably pushing on four, making me earn every "stride". In reality, the snow was so deep and the sled so heavy that my skis weren't gliding at all, but being used more like elongated snowshoes, trudging through the snow. But the temperature was warm and snacks aplenty, so I trotted along the creek ahead encountering open water in places and crossing precarious snow bridges at times in order to make my way along. Just around the moment where I realized that I may be in for more of a workout than I intended, I had arrived.

Located a few miles downstream was a section of the creek forced into a ninety degree bend by an outcrop of ancient gold bearing glacial till. During the summer months this "creek" (creek only in name) produces too swift of a current to properly explore this bend. But thanks to mother nature, winter freeze up reduces this section to a little more than a shin deep trickle.

(The section of glacial till forcing the creek into a perfect ninety degree bend. The creek erodes alongside this till and prevents any debris from accumulating at the base.)

(The creek encountering the glacial till and being turned at a sharp ninety degree angle, causing a major drop in water velocity.) 

As I considered this to be more of an exploratory trip on skis I had left my waders at home, preventing me from properly getting out in the channel. What I settled for instead was balancing myself on the edge of the ice as close as possible (not recommended) and shoveling a few scoops of dirt from the pool formed at the base of the till and into my bucket from the area that I could reach. Realizing that I had all that skiing back left to do, with darkness quickly advancing, I hurriedly filled half a bucket from mostly surface gravels and raced the darkness back to my car.

Now for the fun! With dirt in hand and back home in the comforts of a heated garage, I was ready to test out my new 6 inch highbanker. Now let me preface this with some information. This highbanker is not meant to be loaded into a vehicle and dropped off at your spot of choosing. This highbanker is made to tear down and fit inside your pack and hiked into your spot of choosing. Weighing in at only six pounds, this highbanker fits a niche group for those wanting to pack out their operation on foot. And let me tell you what, I am extremely excited to do just that this summer with this bad boy. Made by Gold Rat Engineering out of Australia, this highbanker tears down to nuts and bolts and runs off of a 2,000 GPH electric bilge pump. Coupled with a lithium ion battery (less weight), you can have this set up packed out in the backcountry at 10lbs.

 

While I realize that using an ultra lightweight 6 inch backpack highbanker out of your garage is like using a Ferarri to drive to the corner store, that's exactly what occurred. Running the half bucket that I brought back, the highbanker took it in stride and I soon found myself wishing that I had brought more back (the soreness in my quads reminded me otherwise). I panned out the concentrates from the lower mat (which can be detached and not brought into the field, making it even smaller and lighter) and found it LOADED with black sand. But not a single speck of gold. 

(The highbanker uses a matting called the Dream Mat)

Feeling a little disheartened I ran the top mat, not expecting much after the lower mat didn't produce. Again, LOADED with black sand. And as I panned it back, gold!

 

 

Now I realize it's not much (it was only half a bucket and ten minutes of digging in all fairness) but what I was really impressed with was the capture rate of the highbanker and the fines of the gold it was able to capture. Some of this stuff was the definition of fly poop. And for it to capture all of that in the top mat without any getting to the lower, I'll take it. So overall, I am extremely happy with this new highbanker and look forward to using it this summer out in the backcountry of Alaska. I am happy with the quick results of the spot I tested out. With a little more effort I believe it will produce some decent results. Once it hits 33 degrees I am taking the highbanker out there to really run some dirt. (Although a suction dredge would be the best tool for this location). But the biggest takeaway was being able to shake the wintertime blues, enjoy the outdoors, and remind myself that springtime prospecting isn't as far off as it sometime feels.

Once again I want to thank this community for the knowledge and expertise you all have shared and hope that my short trip report reminds everyone that better panning days are ahead (looking at you 2021). 

Happy New Years,

-Brandon

[delnorter]

Nice writing Alaskan EOD. Cool little highbanker. I’m going to try the Dream Mat this coming season. 

Keep contributing to the forum of your Alaska adventures.

Mike

[Valens Legacy]

Congrats on the hunt and adventure as I enjoyed the post and the pictures.

Good luck on your next outing.

[Joe D.]

Welcome to the forum Alaskan (and finally making an appearance)!🤣

   Love the packable highbanker and dreammat combo! Would love to get somewhere to use one! Thanks for the pics and story! Keep us posted when you get the rig out there!👍👍

[johnedoe]

Nice little high banker.... However I can not share your enthusiasm about the dream mat ....

Something else you might consider is a smaller pump. 2000 GPH is a bit much for a 6" sluice.

Try an 1100 GPH pump with some test material and see how it handles it.

You are classified to what appears to be 1/4" which is good so water flow and sluice angle is all you need to dial in.

The other advantage of an 100 GPH pump is they use considerably less power than the 2000 so you won't need as big a battery...

Not trying to tell you how to do it just offering some suggestions for you to consider....

Heavy pans.

[Alaskan_EOD]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Johnedoe I appreciate the input. I will have to test it out on a smaller pump and see how it does. I'm always for saving on weight/running time.

[Joe D.]

 Johne,

  Thanks for bringing up the pump size! I was thinking the 2000 GPH would be a little much, and possibly wash away the fines! I'm more familiar with GPM pumps! But the same principles still apply!

   Now, whats the deal with the dream mats? That info would also be useful! Thanks!👍👍

[johnedoe]

I have to tell you I have no experience with dream mats personally. From the reports of other users they will definitely not perform in my situation and use  so I won't waste my time, money, and energy.

As with anything some love them some hate them... In either case they are overpriced in my opinion.

The thing that I have against them is the lack of capture area compared to the actual size of the mat in use. There is a lot of dead space.

 

I personally prefer Deep "V" , Sawtooth , some miners moss , and last, magnetic .....

UR and Motherload are very good mats for a good range of gold sizes and shapes.

I find the best place for the miners moss is directly under the drop zone from the the hopper. It will help catch the courser gold as it falls from the classifier and help smooth the water flow before it hits the riffles.

I use 2 layers of miners moss with a baffle on the downstream side of the moss.... It holds it firmly in place and also acts as a stop of migration. The first pic shows the placement of the miners moss in my sluice. Below that is a short section of vortex 12", then a section of sawtooth  24", Then a section of Deep "V" 24". Then the last bit is 24" of magnetic sheet.

Now this particular configuration would not work for you, a couple of reasons why is size..... and size....lol. The system is 16" wide and the sluice is 92" long. This is a beach sluice and as you can see not suited for much above 1/8" material.

 

So, with all that said the bottom line is you have to identify the ground and type of gold you will be working..... If you have a lot of course gold you will do better with more traditional riffle sizes.

If you are dealing predominately with fine gold you will want to setup to be able to capture that which is very low riffles..ie. Deep V mat or URmat or motherhood mat.... these mats maintain a smooth water flow yet when tuned offer good material action to help the fine gold settle.

Anyway if this has got ya thoroughly confused drop me a line and I will do what I can to answer your questions.

 

Heavy pans.

 

 

 

 

[johnedoe]

Here is a better look at the Miners moss and dam......

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Welcome to the forum - great story and photos!