Today, gold mining is not like a gambling adventure that involves some people in ruin and others in riches. Now it has become an active type of income. Enterprises engaged in this type of activity maintain accounting records, calculate costs, and conduct geological exploration using modern technical means and equipment. In general, this is the work of many people of different professions.
The Russian gold industry consists of approximately 400 objects. Most of them are provided with reserves for the next 2-3 years in the long term. But non-industrial mini-placers are guaranteed to provide work for decades.
The process of developing deposits for gold mining includes the following preparatory stages:
Preliminary reconnaissance followed by a clear definition of boundaries;
. metallurgy quality analysis and calculations;
. formation of the deposit and delivery to industry;
. acquisition or lease of land with gold mines;
. construction of the mine in compliance with modern technologies.
Gold placers in our time are either deep, or the area of land has dried up significantly compared to the last century. About a century ago, the deposits provided 90% of the world's gold. Now - approximately 5%.
The names of gold ore mining countries account for about 70 positions. Their leaders include South Africa, Australia, Canada, the USA and Russia. Last time Russian Federation is rapidly raising its rating and is among the top five leading countries in the production of this precious metal.
Features of gold mining using dredges
Industrial gold mining is carried out in several ways. One of them is hydraulic. In this process, gold is separated from the rock under high water pressure. But today the second method using a special machine is more effective.
The dredge used to extract gold is a modern gigantic unit, approximately the size of a four-story building and weighing up to 1,400 tons. Its role is difficult to underestimate - this floating structure is equipped with a set of scoops for lifting rock from the bottom. After washing it, the desired gold ore is deposited.
The equipment installed on the unit makes it possible to carry out all activities related to the development of placer deposits - from mining and delivery to extraction and disposal of waste. The electric dredge is controlled with the participation of 9 people. Previously, such productivity could be achieved by 12,000 gold miners using homemade trays.
Today, dredges that develop heavily watered deposits of valuable minerals are divided into two classes - continental and marine. Both are designed according to the same principle: a floating vessel, masts, a device for scooping and maneuvering, processing equipment, etc. The difference is that sea stalkers and piles are absent.
The continental dredger is used for the development of placers on continents, often adjacent to river reservoirs. Its installation is carried out on a pontoon.
Marine - in addition to gold, it successfully mines diamonds and various types of minerals. In particular, deposits containing titanium and zirconium are located in deep sea and large-lake waters. The installation of the structure-unit takes place on keel-mounted self-propelled or towed vessels.
Theoretical descriptions of the dredge structure are incomparable with the video, which reveals the powerful capabilities of the gold mining unit in full screen and on a large scale.
Design and principle of operation of a mini-dredge
A mini dredge designed for gold mining is a simple piece of equipment used by prospectors and tourists. In its structure, it resembles a vacuum cleaner, sucking up sand along with gold ore and separating one from the other. The weight of the device varies from 24 to 90 kg. All their variants have differences in size and structure, but the following components are common:
Installation buoyancy system;
. a motor that drives a centrifugal pump;
. injector;
. a trench for washing and separating valuable rock from empty rock;
. in some - an air supply system for breathing under water.
The installation works on the following principle: water under high pressure enters the injector. The resulting Venturi effect consists of sucking water through the injector pipe, drawing in sand and pebbles and falling onto the flush trough grid. Two-stroke engine with 2 hp power. starts the pump.
Mini models are equipped with a 50 mm hose, larger ones - 100 mm. Their productivity is approximately 100 and 1000 kg of waste material per hour, respectively. Often, continuous work is hampered by stones, it is necessary to loosen sediments at the bottom of a reservoir, etc. But despite this, mini dredging is quite popular among both domestic and foreign seekers of valuable ore for gold mining in shallow water bodies.
Widely used for gold mining since the 2nd half of the twentieth century, the dredge has been significantly modernized and improved. Video and photographic materials clearly demonstrate the use of electric, diesel-electric dredgers with large-capacity scoops from 50 to 700 liters.
Recently, the dredging industry has been developing in the direction of standardizing dredgers and their components, equipping them with the latest drive and auto-control mechanisms, controlling technologies and other no less important processes. Dredges designed for gold mining, domestic and foreign production, are similar in design, which opens up great potential for further development for our manufacturer.
This metal is driving humanity crazy
Before you start designing or purchasing equipment for gold mining, you need to take into account that as of November 2014, individuals and individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to officially search for and mine precious metals.
Although a law allowing such actions was considered back in 2011, it has not yet been adopted. Despite the bans, such activities are widely carried out in the North of Russia and Eastern Siberia, where people in the taiga extract gold from exhausted mines. The illegal production volume is about 10 tons, which is a tenth of the total Russian annual production.
You need more than just mining equipment
Gold mining can be carried out today by enterprises that have completed the appropriate package of documents and received all permits, primarily a license for the right to use subsoil. In addition, the gold mining enterprise must hire workers, provide mine development projects, mining and land allotment and equipment, among which the main place is dredging.
This mechanism is a mining machine that includes dredging, processing and other elements that allow you to remove waste rock, leaving precious metals. Dredges operate primarily in flooded deposits, with the exception of viscous clays, hard rocks and boulder soils. In order for the dredge to operate, a large volume of process water is required, so periodically the gold mining seasons in one corner or another of the globe are disrupted due to drought.
A machine for mining precious and other metals can be of marine or continental class. Marine options are built on the basis of keelboats that can move independently or under tow. They are engaged in development in deep lakes, oceans, and coastal zones. Continental ones are used on continents and are formed on the basis of a pontoon, a flat-bottomed vessel.
Dredges can work on electrical energy, a combination of electricity and diesel, diesel and even steam. They can take soil from depths from 6 to 50 meters below the waterline, scoop soil with either one bucket or an entire bucket chain. Based on the size of the buckets, combine harvesters are divided into small (up to 100 liters) and large (about 250 liters). If the dredge operates in the open sea, then it moves on an anchor-rope device. Such equipment is extremely bulky and costs a lot of money.
Do-it-yourself flushing device for mining
This is what this device looks like
Therefore, discussions continue among amateur techies about whether a mini-drag can be made with your own hands. Masters believe that theoretically it can. To make it, a frame is made from lightweight materials (often aluminum sheets from a landfill), to which truck tires are attached to ensure the structure's buoyancy. If there is a desire for the design to be more reliable, then a plastic pontoon is taken as a basis, including collapsible structures. This option will be more expensive and much heavier. In addition, the frame can be mounted on plastic barrels with a volume of about 40 liters.
A motor, a water pump, an air compressor, hoses, and a flushing chute are mounted on the frame. Some craftsmen in the West make the latter on their own, based on their own preferences in gold mining (many countries allow work for private individuals). Many gutters are based on the “Hungarian effect”, when water after the next threshold forms a waterfall and does not foam much (so as not to lose metal elements). They are made of steel, welded together into a lattice and mounted on a specially bent aluminum sheet, which is the gateway. All elements of the gutter must be lined with so-called prospector moss, which is a vinyl covering resembling spaghetti in pattern. Particles of precious metals are retained in it.
Western prospectors engaged in individual mining call the preferred hose size a diameter of about 10-12 cm. Such a hose is convenient to operate alone during washing, while a diameter of 14 cm already provides more than significant physical stress, which not everyone can withstand.
The flushing process assumes that the socket from the dredge will be installed in the head of the sluice so that flows of water with soil enter it, which is washed, and the remainder is discharged into the water behind the mini-dredge. Water must enter the pump through the suction valve, without sand, since the presence of grains of sand can lead to damage to the pump. Therefore, an amateur dredge cannot work without a valve. An elevator with a suction nozzle is installed at the end of the hose.
This article was born in connection with the increased interest in gold mining. I often get asked questions about how to get gold from streams and rivers? How to make a gateway for gold mining with your own hands? Where and what kind of gateway should I buy? How to make a passage with your own hands?
In this article I will tell you how to make a gateway with your own hands. The equipment is so simple that anyone can make it in a couple of hours at home and it will be in many ways better than a purchased American aluminum sluice, the cost of which in Russia reaches 17,000 rubles. I’ll tell you how to properly make a gold-catching sluice, a mini device for gold mining colloquially called prodnushka. This is what the prospectors of Siberia and the Urals call it, the name that came to us from our grandfathers and great-grandfathers is prodnushka.
A passage (sluice) is a box made of three boards, at the bottom of which a mat is laid and a stencil (riffle) is placed. A walk-through made of wood is not only simpler and cheaper than one made of aluminum, but most importantly, if something happens, you won’t mind throwing it away. If you use dry and not thick wood, then the weight will be no more than that of an aluminum analogue, and with a skillful approach, even less. In addition, wooden boards in your car or backpack will not raise questions from strangers; no one will ask what kind of boards they are or ask unnecessary questions. You never know what purpose you need these boards for in the forest.
To make a passage (sluice) for gold mining, the main thing is to follow the basic simple rules in its manufacture, and you will be a more successful gold miner than other prospectors with short purchased sluices.
The longer the hole, the more gold you will catch. Foreign aluminum sluices have a maximum length of 1.5 meters; this is not enough to catch fine gold and disintegrate poorly washed sands or loams. The length of foreign locks is 1.5 meters due to legislation that limits the length of the lock, so that amateur tourists do not wash out all the gold on the stream and leave it to others. For example, in America, Australia, and New Zealand, gold mining is a hobby, like picking mushrooms or fishing in our country.
The width of the sluice depends on the amount of rock supplied; for bucket feeding, a width of 20-25 cm is sufficient.
To make a long and easy-to-carry passage, use a cascade of gateways, for example, install two gateways of 1.5 meters in series, for a total of 3 meters. This is enough to catch fine gold and disintegrate the rock. If the soil is clayey and does not have time to be washed through the passage, you need to use other equipment called butara. I will talk about it in the following articles or videos on my channel https://www.youtube.com/user/RudolfKavchik
Installation of riffles or as they are also called stencils.
The stencil is the most important part of the pass-through. Behind them, a turbulence of the water flow and its rarefaction occurs. This creates conditions for the accumulation of the heavy fraction behind the riffle plates and the demolition of light unnecessary material. The angle of inclination of the riffle plates depends on the amount of water supplied to the passage and can be from 45 to 78 degrees. The greater the depth of the flow and the speed of the flow of water supplied to the sluice, the greater the angle of inclination of the riffles. The distance between the riffles is 5-7 cm. The shape of the riffles can be straight or with slightly curved edges in the direction of flow.
If the water flow is weak, then riffles are not used. The rock is sifted through a sieve before being fed to the mini device. See the chapter on material screening below.
Gold catching mat.
A gold catching mat can be made from any natural fabric, such as burlap, tarpaulin, and even an ordinary waffle towel that housewives use in the kitchen will do. The main purpose of the mat is to ensure that the riffles adhere to the bottom of the sluice so that the accumulated material is not washed away by the leaking flow under the riffles.
Industrial enterprises use cellular gold-collecting mats. This is due to the technological process of gold mining. The rock is transported to the industrial equipment by multi-ton Belaz trucks, washing thousands of cubic meters of gold-bearing rock per day. Each Belaz truck contains ten grams of gold, which is brought in for washing every few minutes. It is not profitable for the enterprise to stop the washing process to unload the industrial equipment; this will require stopping production for 2-3 hours, and time is gold, in the literal sense of the word. The industrial device is unloaded once a day. Due to the large amount of washed rock, there was a need for cellular mats with a high profile, which accumulate heavy metal and prevent it from being carried away by the flow of water, which increases the time efficient work industrial device.
At its core, a honeycomb mat works like a stencil/reel. In the depths of the cells, vortex flows are created that carry away light particles of sand, leaving heavy metals at the bottom: gold, platinum. In the passageway, a cellular mat can not be used, since the rock for washing is not supplied by dump trucks, and gold can be easily removed at any time. as heavy material accumulates. In addition, a cellular mining mat is not easy to obtain and its cost of several thousand rubles is not at all justified when used on mini devices.
You can make an analogue of a cellular mat yourself from an ordinary household cellular mat, which many people have on their porch and is sold in every hardware store under the name “anti-slip coating.” The mesh size of the anti-slip coating is approximately 5 mm. See photo.
The anti-slip coating is laid on top of the rag mat. Ribbons are installed on top. Such a system will work no worse than an industrial rug, it’s easier to buy, and its cost is much lower, and if something happens, you won’t mind throwing it away.
To be continued…
For a long time, gold has been assigned the role of world money. The metal has become the basis by which the value of the currencies of different countries is determined and compared. It is not surprising that in such a situation, gold mining has always received increased attention. Thousands of adventurers went in search of the mythical country of Eldorado, where gold bars lie under their feet like simple cobblestones. Today there is no trace left of the former romance. The search for precious metal has turned into a well-functioning technological chain, one of the elements of which is a mini-dredge for gold mining.
Gold mining: equipment
Industrial gold mining is carried out using dredges. This is a bulky unit weighing several tons and the size of a four-story building. The device is equipped with a mechanism with scoops that lifts soil from the bottom of the reservoir. Next, it goes through several stages of washing, as a result of which the metal is separated from the soil and deposited at the bottom of the trays. The advantage of using a dredge is that all stages of gold mining are concentrated on it. A relative disadvantage is that the unit cannot operate without water.
There are two types of industrial dredges:
In both cases, due to the cost, only large mining companies with a state-owned scale of activity will be able to afford to purchase such equipment. For small cooperatives and individual entrepreneurs, mini dredges are more suitable, the prices of which are several orders of magnitude lower.
Mini dredge for gold mining: design and principle of operation
A mini dredge is an analogue of an industrial unit reduced in weight and dimensions. If a team of at least ten people is needed to service an industrial dredge, then the minimized option can be easily handled alone. And it’s much easier to buy a mini dredge. At the initial stage, some material investments will be required, but with an average device productivity of 100 to 1000 kilograms of soil per hour, the costs will pay off quite quickly.
Mini dredges for gold washing consist of the following elements:
The equipment carries out gold mining in the following way: water is pumped into the ejector chamber under high pressure; then it is thrown out with sand and earth into the washing hopper; Then the pump turns on and the water washes out unnecessary slag through the airlock, leaving gold nuggets on the carpets.
How to buy a mini dredge?
Mini dredging is an effective way to mine gold, which determines its continued demand among miners.
You can buy a fully equipped mini dredge at an affordable price from the NAGRODOK company.
A mini dredge for gold mining, the price of which will be a maximum of 75 to 140 thousand rubles, depending on the model’s configuration, but by speeding up the gold mining process, it alone can replace several dozen people with manual trays and significantly reduce labor costs.
You can make a mini dredge yourself, but in this case you will need certain knowledge about the extraction of placer gold, and you will also need to make certain components. Therefore, it is better to entrust the production of equipment to professionals who know their business in this area! For example, the question will arise where to buy a lower ejector and an upper ejector for a mini dredge. The answer to this is simple - you can buy components and equipment for mini dredges from the NAGRODOK company. It should be taken into account that the mini dredge will require increased attention and permanent improvement, and installation will take about one month. If you want a mini dredge for gold mining to be highly enriched and to last a long time without losing its functionality, it is better to purchase ready-made equipment with a number of additional advantages from the NAGRODOK company.
Gold has been a measure of wealth since ancient times. Its production has long taken the form of an active form of income, although it is not an easy task. Precious metal is not so often found in nature compared to other useful substances. A dredge for gold mining can significantly improve the efficiency of complex work. However, it is important to remember that at present individual entrepreneurs and individuals do not have a legal basis to search for precious metal. The volume of illegally mined gold is approximately 10 tons - 10% of the annual production of all of Russia.
To carry out work, the company must complete a package of necessary documents and obtain a permit (license). The management of the organization must comply with important requirements:
When setting up your own company, you should hire workers, purchase equipment and take other measures to organize the mine.
Extraction methods
There are the following options for mining yellow metal:
- manual;
- ore;
- hydraulic;
- using a dredge.
The first method involves washing gold, for example, with a tray. The second is applicable in industrial areas. Its implementation requires permission from the government, expensive equipment, and a mine.
The hydraulic method allows you to erode rocks under the influence of special equipment. The most common method, using a dredge, is used on a small and industrial scale. A mechanized device processes the soil, which presumably contains gold. Gold mining is carried out on land or at sea. Accordingly, a continental or maritime class machine is used.
Both types of machines are approximately the same. The only difference is the presence of piles and a stalker in continental models. Gold mining is considered profitable when 3 g of gold is obtained per 1 ton of rock.
Types of dredge
A dredge is a floating or stationary device capable of selecting soil from a depth of 5-50 meters. The development of such equipment is carried out by geologists and prospectors, taking into account technical indicators, as well as the ease of use of the equipment in certain conditions. The device is distinguished by the following parameters:
- power;
- portability;
- productivity.
The main mechanism of the device is installed on a special platform that keeps the entire machine afloat. The dimensions of the site depend on the volume of the buckets, which work identically to a chain excavator. The dimensions of a dredge for gold mining can reach a 4-story building, weighing up to 1400 tons.
The largest apparatus is managed by approximately 10 employees. The device provides a high level of productivity that previously would have required approximately 12,000 miners. It is impossible to use the mechanism during river shallowing. Individual gold miners use mini-dredges. Often craftsmen make it with their own hands. The weight of the structure can vary between 40-100 kg. One person can control the operation of the unit.
Structure of a compact device
Mini dredge design drawing includes:
- a floating platform similar to a catamaran;
- motor;
- hoses;
- compressor;
- pump;
- gutter
The frame of the device is often made of lightweight materials, for example, aluminum. Car tires or plastic structures, for example, 40-liter barrels, are used as a platform. The gutter can also be made from steel yourself.
Often the scheme of its structure is based on the “Hungarian effect”, when the incoming liquid forms a waterfall due to the sills arranged. This allows it to not foam too much and preserve metal elements. Parts of the gutter are welded into a lattice and secured to an aluminum sheet - a gateway, which has a specially curved shape.
Important! The elements are laid with “miner’s moss”, which looks like spaghetti. This design is capable of retaining gold particles.
It is noted that the preferred hose diameter is 10-12 cm. A larger size causes significant physical stress. It’s rare that anyone can withstand it when doing the work independently. The mini-dredge for gold mining is assembled in such a way that water along with the soil enters the sluice head through the socket. It is necessary to ensure a water supply without sand - a special valve is installed for this.
The presence of small grains of sand will damage the pump.
Operating principle of the installation
The structure of the dredge is reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner, which draws in sand along with gold deposits and separates the precious metal. The high-pressure mechanism draws water into the injector along with sand and pebbles. The waste soil is dumped behind the device into the water. An industrial device for gold mining is equipped with settings that regulate the degree of purification. This makes it easier to work with any type and condition of the soil. Depending on the power of the homemade model, its productivity is approximately 100-1000 kg/hour. Stones interfere with the continuous extraction of precious metal. The prospector is forced to loosen the soil at the bottom of the reservoir.
To test the assembled dredge, you need to select several pieces of lead, mark them with bright colors and lower them into water with the expected gold reserve. If, at the end of the washing, almost all the marked elements are on the miner’s hands, then the device works well. Otherwise, additional configuration of all parts of the device will be required.
Dredge has been widely used for decades. The device is in demand among domestic and foreign gold miners. At the same time, numerous photo and video materials demonstrate not only the modernization of the device since its inception, but also how you can build a gold mining machine with your own hands.
The realities of gold miners
Residents of the northern regions of Russia are more often involved in illegal gold ore mining, where there are more difficulties in obtaining a stable income. In the summer, the hard work of miners is easier to endure. In permafrost areas, the method of washing gold deposits is not at all possible.
In addition, the work of a gold miner is fraught with many dangers. It is necessary to overcome hundreds of kilometers of taiga in search of a gold mine. At the same time, you have to meet animals and unfriendly people.
Of course, this type of activity does not always require specialized education or knowledge in geodesy and cartography. Repeatedly, “by chance,” the miners’ production was not limited to a few grams of precious metal. They had at their disposal large pieces of gold - nuggets.
However, we should not forget that deposits of valuable ore are depleted every year. Often, scarce areas become unprofitable, and the mined precious metal cannot always be sold at the desired prices. Firstly, its cost directly depends on the quality of the breed. For this reason, each ingot has its own marking. Secondly, this type of activity is heavily criminalized. In addition, illegal mining is prosecuted by government agencies.