Using a Highbanker/Sluice for processing sapphires/zircons

[michaelmoller1]

Good morning All,

Can anyone advise if its possible to use a highbanker/sluice for processing gemstones?

I will be running my wash through a dry trommel to screen out all the fine sand. I would then like to run 25-50 of the 20 litre buckets of wash through a highbanker/sluice to catch all the sapphires/zircons.

Can anyone provide any information on this please?

Ideally I would love a pulsator but they are quite expensive and out of my budget that's why I thought a highbanker/sluice as they are much cheaper.

Look forward to hearing your comments.

cheers Mike

 

[jamie]

Hi Mike
Wal uses his banker to catch gems, unfortunately he isnt on here to much of late but youtube or forum search WalnLiz and a whole new world of knowledge and experience will be opened up to you, i cant help to much more than that cause i would bet my last dollar if i ever picked up a gem being diamond, sapphire or any of the other good stones i would probably assume broken glass and put it in the bin lol
cheers
Jamie

 

[michaelmoller1]

Hi Mike
Wal uses his banker to catch gems, unfortunately he isnt on here to much of late but youtube or forum search WalnLiz and a whole new world of knowledge and experience will be opened up to you, i cant help to much more than that cause i would bet my last dollar if i ever picked up a gem being diamond, sapphire or any of the other good stones i would probably assume broken glass and put it in the bin lol
cheers
Jamie

Thanks Jamie,

Definitely worth having a look.

cheers Mike

 

[bazza2210]

Hi Mike,

If you dial your sluice in with a reduced flow/volume it is possible to easily catch zircons (an SG of approx 4.7 makes them one of the heaviest gemstones). I have caught quite a few this way , sapphires too are quite high and can be seen in a highbanker, you will have to experiment with water flow/volume and angle a bit.

Cheers
Barry

 

[Ramjet]

Yep. Have a look at some of Wals info.

Building a high banker that works. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=426

Wals high banker specs. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1115

 

[michaelmoller1]

Hi Mike,

If you dial your sluice in with a reduced flow/volume it is possible to easily catch zircons (an SG of approx 4.7 makes them one of the heaviest gemstones). I have caught quite a few this way , sapphires too are quite high and can be seen in a highbanker, you will have to experiment with water flow/volume and angle a bit.

Cheers
Barry

Thanks Barry,

Will definitely take some experimentation to get it right.

Is there a particular size Sluice I should be using for gemstones?

Also what would be the biggest size stone you would run in the sluice?

Cheers Mike

 

[AtomRat]

Watch some youtube vids or see if anyone is closeby using a highbanker so you can see one in use. Its a peraonal application you need it for so you will need to customize whatever your making somewhat, such as classifying size of gemstone, Iit depends what your trying to catch, and how much you want to catch

 

[bazza2210]

Hi Mike,

If you dial your sluice in with a reduced flow/volume it is possible to easily catch zircons (an SG of approx 4.7 makes them one of the heaviest gemstones). I have caught quite a few this way , sapphires too are quite high and can be seen in a highbanker, you will have to experiment with water flow/volume and angle a bit.

Cheers
Barry

Thanks Barry,

Will definitely take some experimentation to get it right.

Is there a particular size Sluice I should be using for gemstones?

Also what would be the biggest size stone you would run in the sluice?

Cheers Mike

I use the same setup as Wal, ie slick plate, short section of large expanded (although my expanded is straight up and down not sloped) and breadcrate, hopper classifier is same as wals except tailings go out the back - I have since changed the classifier as shown in the post below to the elongated holes as used in cable tray. My sluice bed is 250mm wide.

I have caught Zircons up to 4.25ct

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=222996#p222996

Cheers

Barry

 

[michaelmoller1]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

 

[bazza2210]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

 

[michaelmoller1]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

Thanks Barry,

Which do you think would work better for my application. Your top box or wal's cable tray top?

Is 1200mm to short for the bottom sluice box?

Hopefully a lot of the lighter stuff gets flushed out the bottom of the sluice so I don't have that much to sift through

Cheers mike

 

[bazza2210]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

Thanks Barry,

Which do you think would work better for my application. Your top box or wal's cable tray top?

Is 1200mm to short for the bottom sluice box?

Hopefully a lot of the lighter stuff gets flushed out the bottom of the sluice so I don't have that much to sift through

Cheers mike

I would not go so far as to say any one configuration is any better than the other , certainly 1200 mm length is adequate in my view. In my case I cannot process as much material as Wal's design does but that is my choice I guess as I operate alone most of the time, my config is primarily for gold only and only recently that I found that with careful setup I can collect gems as well. Wal's design is suited also to gems with alteration on the fly with additional expanded at the end. All highbankers work and it comes down to how well you set it up and understand the physics of gravity separation, I have seen highbankers much smaller than mine do a fantastic job on gold and can be carried in one hand.

Cheers
Barry

 

[michaelmoller1]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

Thanks Barry,

Which do you think would work better for my application. Your top box or wal's cable tray top?

Is 1200mm to short for the bottom sluice box?

Hopefully a lot of the lighter stuff gets flushed out the bottom of the sluice so I don't have that much to sift through

Cheers mike

I would not go so far as to say any one configuration is any better than the other , certainly 1200 mm length is adequate in my view. In my case I cannot process as much material as Wal's design does but that is my choice I guess as I operate alone most of the time, my config is primarily for gold only and only recently that I found that with careful setup I can collect gems as well. Wal's design is suited also to gems with alteration on the fly with additional expanded at the end. All highbankers work and it comes down to how well you set it up and understand the physics of gravity separation, I have seen highbankers much smaller than mine do a fantastic job on gold and can be carried in one hand.

Cheers
Barry

Thanks Barry,

1200mm sounds like a good starting point for size. As mine will be primarily for gemstones only are there any other things I need to take into consideration?

There will be 2 of us working the highbanker/sluice to hopefully enable us to process more wash.

Is there a particular waay the sluice should be setup with the mesh, crate material? is there a set order to put this in?

cheers mike

 

[bazza2210]

Thanks Barry,

What size in mm do you think a 4 carat stone would be? would this be around the maximum I can expect in a sluice?

Wals highbanker looks different from your setup.

cheers Mike

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

Thanks Barry,

Which do you think would work better for my application. Your top box or wal's cable tray top?

Is 1200mm to short for the bottom sluice box?

Hopefully a lot of the lighter stuff gets flushed out the bottom of the sluice so I don't have that much to sift through

Cheers mike

I would not go so far as to say any one configuration is any better than the other , certainly 1200 mm length is adequate in my view. In my case I cannot process as much material as Wal's design does but that is my choice I guess as I operate alone most of the time, my config is primarily for gold only and only recently that I found that with careful setup I can collect gems as well. Wal's design is suited also to gems with alteration on the fly with additional expanded at the end. All highbankers work and it comes down to how well you set it up and understand the physics of gravity separation, I have seen highbankers much smaller than mine do a fantastic job on gold and can be carried in one hand.

Cheers
Barry

Thanks Barry,

1200mm sounds like a good starting point for size. As mine will be primarily for gemstones only are there any other things I need to take into consideration?

There will be 2 of us working the highbanker/sluice to hopefully enable us to process more wash.

Is there a particular waay the sluice should be setup with the mesh, crate material? is there a set order to put this in?

cheers mike

Wals config for gems might be a good place to start , expanded - breadcrate - expanded and go from there, dont be afraid to experiment a little as one learns and begins to understand the physics involved.

Cheers

Barry

 

[michaelmoller1]

The sluice bed is similar only - top box is completely different, my 4.25 ct stone is about 8mm by 5mm, like I said water flow/volume/angle and even classifier size will determine what size Zircon will stay in the box, and of course how much concentrate you are prepared to sift through on a cleanout.

Thanks Barry,

Which do you think would work better for my application. Your top box or wal's cable tray top?

Is 1200mm to short for the bottom sluice box?

Hopefully a lot of the lighter stuff gets flushed out the bottom of the sluice so I don't have that much to sift through

Cheers mike

I would not go so far as to say any one configuration is any better than the other , certainly 1200 mm length is adequate in my view. In my case I cannot process as much material as Wal's design does but that is my choice I guess as I operate alone most of the time, my config is primarily for gold only and only recently that I found that with careful setup I can collect gems as well. Wal's design is suited also to gems with alteration on the fly with additional expanded at the end. All highbankers work and it comes down to how well you set it up and understand the physics of gravity separation, I have seen highbankers much smaller than mine do a fantastic job on gold and can be carried in one hand.

Cheers
Barry

Thanks Barry,

1200mm sounds like a good starting point for size. As mine will be primarily for gemstones only are there any other things I need to take into consideration?

There will be 2 of us working the highbanker/sluice to hopefully enable us to process more wash.

Is there a particular waay the sluice should be setup with the mesh, crate material? is there a set order to put this in?

cheers mike

Wals config for gems might be a good place to start , expanded - breadcrate - expanded and go from there, dont be afraid to experiment a little as one learns and begins to understand the physics involved.

Cheers

Barry

Cheers Barry,

Ill definitely take this on board.

Regards Mike

 

[G0lddigg@]

Plenty of great info above. Absolutely theres gem hunters out there using their highbanker for gems. Good luck mate

 

[michaelmoller1]

Plenty of great info above. Absolutely theres gem hunters out there using their highbanker for gems. Good luck mate

Thanks G0lddigg,

will use all the relevant information above to come up with the perfect setup.

cheers Mike