wow

[clint123]

what do you guys think about this beauty?
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=70e3a& ... uqH2tk6D1Q

[Umpqua_E]

That was news like a year ago......

[Oregon-Au]

Some fact but ALOT of fiction

[clint123]

soooo im behind in times lol for a guy who has not found anything big seeing all that yellow gives me a chubby lol

[kerbyjackson]

Actually, that IS current info., but it's Dave's second year in that area. Needless to say, it's a bit of continuation of on ongoing project.

There are mixed results in that area, with some people doing well and some people doing not as well. That is mainly due to the variables in knowledge, experience, willingness to work and apply the knowledge, fine tuning of the machines and of course, luck. A lot of the gold in the Rogue is very small and difficult to catch, so needless to say, if your recovery system utilizes standard "dredge" riffles, a lot of it's going to go right back into the river. Dave is using a variation of the Le Trap in his recovery system with two different levels of classification. These plastic "riffle inserts" he is using have very low riffles, so are vastly superior at trapping all this fine gold than a machine right off the mining shop floor and will retain a lot of gold that 99% of all machines won't.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are guys working immediately upstream and downstream who are totally mystified as to why they get a lot less gold than him.

[clint123]

thanks for explaining that its quite impressive the amount of gold they have found. just a quick question i am getting a keene a52 sluice does that come with enough gold stopping power or do i need to customize it lol

thanks,
clint

[kerbyjackson]

The A52 is a pretty good sluice and it's what I use. I use a modified A52 with Sunstream riffles (better recovery, as the riffles are not only lower, but there are more of them - never mind that it looks like some sort of giant cheese-grater) and a square of miners moss below the slick plate. A52s are good sluices if you want to only large classify and they will handle anything up to 1/2 an inch and do very well on anything classified to 1/4. I've seen people do crazy things with A52s (like shoveling dirt clods and cobbles into them and even running them sideways) and they still catch SOME gold.

That said, you can get a LeTrap for $15 to $20 less than the A52 -

http://armadillomining.com/cgi-bin/ccp5 ... Conversion

These have a much better recovery than the A52 due to having short riffles, BUT - they are very finicky about the water flow and their real disadvantage is that you need to classify down to at least 1/8th. They also have a tendency to load up quicker and require more clean ups, but that's not a big deal when there's no riffles, expanded metal, carpet, etc. to remove and you can just wash it off into a bucket and put it back in the creek.

If I had it to do over, I would have started with the Le Trap, just because of the ease of clean up and shorter riffle.

All things being ideal (classified material and proper water flow), the Le LeTrap has much better recovery and will catch a higher percentage of that itty bitty river gold like you find in the Rogue, Illinois and South Umpqua.

[Aurum Flake]

Like Kerby said, it all depends on the way you plan to mine. Example: Some people like to shovel directly into the sluice. Some prefer to classify and then dump those contents into the sluice. These are two different methods. Some people wish to trap ALL color, some prefer to opt for moving volume and hope for more color over all than trying to catch ALL color that goes through their recovery system. It all depends on your business model.

Me myself, i've shoveled directly into both types of sluice's and the Le Trap doesnt hold up to plain ol' sluicing. I needs more reinforcement behind each riffle and it needs a "spine". A sheet of plywood would work, as to keep it from twisting and distorting. My personal opinion is the Le Trap works great as a cleanup sluice. IF you have more skill and patients then you MIGHT be able to use the Le Trap as a production sluice.

[kerbyjackson]

Yep, you've got be careful with them. They won't take the type of abuse that an A52 or similar box will and they will certainly not handle big material. One thing I like about the A52 is that you can pitch it down into the creek and you're fine.

That said, since this thread started off as about Dave Mac's project near Gold Ray, it should be noted that in a lot of places on the Rogue, you can find A LOT of gold in the smallish material. In places like Gold Nugget (downstream of Gold Ray), a lot of this small material builds up into little "beaches". That stuff is LOADED with fine gold and you can do pretty well if you can move a lot of material and catch the gold. The Le Trap would be EXCELLENT for that material or for somewhere on the coast.

If you just want to classify to 1/2 or 1/4 inch, go with the A52.

If you want a good true shovel sluice, Andex Prospecting make a nice one for an affordable price (about $140). It's 12" X 60" + flare, but it's ultra light.

http://www.andexprospecting.com/

And if you can REALLY dig, skip the sluice and save for a highbanker.

Different equipment for different situations, in otherwords.

[Greydigger1]

Any comparison between a Le Trap and a Henry Henry?
Talking about 1/8 minus material.
Grey