My mini highbanker build

Tuz · Mar 13, 2014

I had a couple of old PVC planter boxes and square PVC tubing lying around and decided to put them to good use. The highbanker is not yet completed but it's quite close now. The sluice is 6 inches wide, 2.5 inches deep and 4 foot long. Feed section is same width and depth but 21 inches long. The screen is 1/2 inch gal mesh. There's V matting in the top section of the sluice and I am yet to make the bottom section of riffles. I've got an 800gph bilge pump to run it and have made a control box (on/off and speed control - with fuse) for the bilge pump to control the water flow. The pics pretty much tell the rest of the story.

Cuckoowaif · Mar 13, 2014

Looks good Tuz ! Ingenuity at it's best .....
Where did the planter boxes come from , looks like they come in long lengths , do they ?
Keep us updated ....
Steve .

Golden Tiger · Mar 13, 2014

Impressive build, I'm assuming it will mainly be used for pre classified concentrates.

If not i think it might get a little overwhelmed to quickly. (Just my opinion)

But great build either way.

Cheers for sharing.

Beagleboy · Mar 13, 2014

Nice sluice mate. That should be hell of a lot faster than panning.

Tuz · Mar 14, 2014

Thanks guys. I don't think these kind of planter boxes are made anymore. I do have another 4 of them (the bottom sluice is a full length one but if you CAN find them, they do come in bigger or smaller lengths and widths). Done a quick run to test the bilge pump yesterday and it turns out I need to go bigger.. 800gph just doesn't cut it. I think I'll be looking at getting a 2500+gph pump. I have also made a blue bowl so, the 800gph pump will probably just be used for that. As far as it becoming overwhelmed, I've had a few people point that out so, yes, I most likely will be preclassifying.

G0lddigg@ · Mar 14, 2014

looks the goods mate

elrodeo · Mar 14, 2014

Pretty sure they are NFT gullies used for Hydroponic farming and can be purchased in all sorts of lengths and widths.
I have no idea why i know this.

Twapster · Mar 14, 2014

Yep that mesh screen looks a little big, but very nice build there!

Big bryza · Mar 14, 2014

Nice one! It's great when you can use what you have lying around, got my bilge pump from jag trading good price and delivered in 5 days if your interested, good luck

Tuz · Mar 19, 2014

Your eyes aren't red, are they, elrodeo? haha. You're right, that's exactly what they are. I haven't seen them for sale anywhere, but I don't really get into gardening.
Thanks for the tip bryza.. but, I purchased one (same make as the jag trading ones) about $10 cheaper.

I've made a start on the riffle section, cut my miners moss to size and changed all the bolts to shorter ones. The local prospecting shop just got Gold Hog matting in so, if I'm not happy with this, the way I've made it, I will be buying some. I'll post some more pics soon. Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone!

20x · Mar 19, 2014

hi mate...the last sluice I built was 50mm wide and I used the same pump,i managed to get about 5mm deep of water going down it with just under 1m of head!

neat little build

Tuz · Mar 19, 2014

Thanks 20xwater. I think I'll keep the 800gph pump to run my blue bowl. Got the highbanker completed this morning. So, some more pics for you all to check out. Just have to wait for my new bilge pump to arrive so I can take it out and test it. Whilst I am waiting for that, I might attempt to make a small trommel.. I need to work out a design that will suit (majority of) the materials I have on hand.

G0lddigg@ · Mar 19, 2014

Tuz said:
Thanks 20xwater. I think I'll keep the 800gph pump to run my blue bowl. Got the highbanker completed this morning. So, some more pics for you all to check out. Just have to wait for my new bilge pump to arrive so I can take it out and test it. Whilst I am waiting for that, I might attempt to make a small trommel.. I need to work out a design that will suit (majority of) the materials I have on hand.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2488/1395190802_photo0183.jpg

looking good mate, if i can give you one little tip, in the side areas between the riffles its worth getting yourself some ribbed carpet and gluing it on these bits so your gold doesn't just slide on out

One of my first set of riffles looked exactly the same and worked with a bilge pump. I got plenty of gold with that unit as i'm sure you will with yours good job on the highbanker build.

Tuz · Mar 19, 2014

Thanks for the advice, g0lddigg@. I have some left over v matting.. do you think that will do the job?

G0lddigg@ · Mar 19, 2014

absolutely mate that would work a treat

20x · Mar 19, 2014

Tuz said:
Thanks 20xwater. I think I'll keep the 800gph pump to run my blue bowl. Got the highbanker completed this morning. So, some more pics for you all to check out. Just have to wait for my new bilge pump to arrive so I can take it out and test it. Whilst I am waiting for that, I might attempt to make a small trommel.. I need to work out a design that will suit (majority of) the materials I have on hand.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2488/1395190779_photo0182.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2488/1395190802_photo0183.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2488/1395190832_photo0184.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2488/1395190856_photo0185.jpg

have you heard of a style of sluice designed to take advantage of a bend in a creek?

Tuz · Mar 19, 2014

Sure have, 20xwater. Gold basically travels in a straight line through a creek anyway.. dropping out where the water slows (i.e. inside bends, behind larger rocks and crevices in bedrock) so, technically, that kind of sluice is completely unnecessary, in my opinion, as, in a straight sluice, you have the riffles to slow the flow and allow the gold to drop behind them. I like that someone was creative enough to come up with it. It's always nice to see fresh ideas to get your own creative juices flowing. I have a couple of designs of my own for classifying material right down until you only have concentrates left, but don't currently have the equipment or materials required to build them.

20x · Mar 19, 2014

Tuz said:
Sure have, 20xwater. Gold basically travels in a straight line through a creek anyway.. dropping out where the water slows (i.e. inside bends, behind larger rocks and crevices in bedrock) so, technically, that kind of sluice is completely unnecessary, in my opinion, as, in a straight sluice, you have the riffles to slow the flow and allow the gold to drop behind them. I like that someone was creative enough to come up with it. It's always nice to see fresh ideas to get your own creative juices flowing. I have a couple of designs of my own for classifying material right down until you only have concentrates left, but don't currently have the equipment or materials required to build them.

I agree with unnecessary but I like to do things my own way

...I came across a pic of the side-winder sluice 2 nights ago and found myself mesmerised and stared at it for HOURS. a small pvc prototype is on its way just cause I can lol

I reckon the spiral riffle sections cut from a turbo pan would be an interesting possible upgrade to any sluice...?

scott

Goldtarget · Mar 19, 2014

Hey tuz shoot me a pm before you have a crack at the trommel, I'm about to get started myself, perhaps your build will be vastly different and you may have most of your materials but after doing some running around finding materials and prices i can perhaps be of assistance to save you a little of the leg work. I found a perfect place to get a metal barrel for $10! If you go for test run give a holler, I'd love to see it in action.

Tuz · Mar 20, 2014

Nothing wrong with having a crack at it, Scott. The turbo pan riffles might be a nice addition. Be sure to post pics of your progress.

I'm still in the design stage for the trommel at this point, Goldtarget. I want to make it as light as possible and relatively compact so I can fit it in the car with all my other gear. Got to hit 10 posts before I can PM.. nearly there.

My mini highbanker build

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