» Motorized Suction Mining is Allowed in California! January 2013
This discussion began on our Internet Forum where I announced that we have recently acquired the richest dredging claim along the Klamath River near Happy Camp , which will also provide some fantastic surface and underwater crevicing opportunities because of the gentle slope of exposed bedrock which is extending off the side of the river where the gold path is located (more on the new claim below).
In my announcement, I pointed out that there is nothing in California s dredging moratorium catering trucks for sale that prevents us from crevicing catering trucks for sale underwater using a motorized hookah air system , or even using a water pressure nozzle to help blow gravel out of cracks. The question I posed to our forum members is how to get the gold up and into a catch container without using a suction catering trucks for sale dredge .
It would be one thing if we were just uncovering an occasional gold nugget or two. We would simply free those up with some hand tools and pick them out with a set of tweezers. But I have seen crevices on this particular mining property that were loaded with a zillion pieces of gold, much of it in fines and flakes. You have to suck that up, or you will be there all year with a pair of tweezers! The original claim owners were recovering six and seven-ounce days (sometimes more) in places along this claim. They were only in there a few years before they retired. Since they operated an 8-inch dredge, they remained towards the lower end of the property where the water is deeper and slower. There is at least a half-mile stretch of faster, shallower water on the upper portion of the claim that, to my knowledge, has never even been sampled . This is the area I believe will make for good above and below water crevicing.
In response to my question, one of our more informed members and longtime supporter, Jim Foley, sent me a copy of the California Department of Fish & Game s (DFG) current suction dredge regulations which clearly state that A person is suction dredging as defined when all of the following components are working together: (A) a hose which vacuums sediment from a river stream or lake; and (B) A motorized catering trucks for sale pump; and (C) A sluice box. The regulations further state, Every person who operates the suction nozzle of any suction dredge shall have a suction dredge permit in his or her immediate possession. These regulations were formally adopted in California on April 27, 2012.
The existing moratorium in California prevents DFG from issuing suction dredge permits. We are strenuously challenging the moratorium in several jurisdictions. Until our challenges are resolved, it is unlikely that we can operate suction dredges as defined by the regulations without being cited. Since most of us don t want to be in trouble with the authorities, we have been doing our dredging in southern Oregon for the past few seasons.
But looking closer at the California regulations, there does remain a way for us to go down on the bottom of California s waterways and suction up the shallower, higher-grade gravels. This is because, as defined by DFG s own formal regulations, as long as we remove the sluice box from our motorized suction system, we are not operating a suction dredge. Said another way, there is an opportunity to use a motorized suction system to transfer high-grade gravel from one place in the river or creek to another location where the gravel can be more-easily catering trucks for sale processed in a separate system.
I am in possession of written communication from a high ranking DFG official, the very person who was in charge of developing the current regulations, which acknowledges that underwater suction-powered gravel transfer would not be considered suction dredging as long as the sluice catering trucks for sale box is removed from the system. He also cautioned that there are water quality concerns and also streambed alteration considerations. So there would be some limits involved. I ll discuss these more in a minute.
For now, let s just get back to my original discussion about using a hookah and motorized pumping system to expose and recover gold from very shallow deposits out in the river. I m not talking about shallow water. I am talking about shallow streambed material on top of underwater gold deposits.
Here is just one of several ideas: Please see Figure A above. If I completely remove catering trucks for sale the sluice box from my 5-inch dredge, I am left with a floatation system which supports twin 6.5 HP Honda motors and pumps with a hookah compressor. I could use a single motor & pump with compressor to power a 3 or 4-inch Hydro-Force nozzle jet . This special nozzle catering trucks for sale will allow me the option to blow off lighter gravel to expose cobbles, which I can then move out of the way by hand, just like we do in dredging. This will allow me to work my way down to the pay-dirt catering trucks for sale without having to suck up any gravel. Once I expose the pay-dirt, a Hydro-Force nozzle will allow me to suck it up and t
This discussion began on our Internet Forum where I announced that we have recently acquired the richest dredging claim along the Klamath River near Happy Camp , which will also provide some fantastic surface and underwater crevicing opportunities because of the gentle slope of exposed bedrock which is extending off the side of the river where the gold path is located (more on the new claim below).
In my announcement, I pointed out that there is nothing in California s dredging moratorium catering trucks for sale that prevents us from crevicing catering trucks for sale underwater using a motorized hookah air system , or even using a water pressure nozzle to help blow gravel out of cracks. The question I posed to our forum members is how to get the gold up and into a catch container without using a suction catering trucks for sale dredge .
It would be one thing if we were just uncovering an occasional gold nugget or two. We would simply free those up with some hand tools and pick them out with a set of tweezers. But I have seen crevices on this particular mining property that were loaded with a zillion pieces of gold, much of it in fines and flakes. You have to suck that up, or you will be there all year with a pair of tweezers! The original claim owners were recovering six and seven-ounce days (sometimes more) in places along this claim. They were only in there a few years before they retired. Since they operated an 8-inch dredge, they remained towards the lower end of the property where the water is deeper and slower. There is at least a half-mile stretch of faster, shallower water on the upper portion of the claim that, to my knowledge, has never even been sampled . This is the area I believe will make for good above and below water crevicing.
In response to my question, one of our more informed members and longtime supporter, Jim Foley, sent me a copy of the California Department of Fish & Game s (DFG) current suction dredge regulations which clearly state that A person is suction dredging as defined when all of the following components are working together: (A) a hose which vacuums sediment from a river stream or lake; and (B) A motorized catering trucks for sale pump; and (C) A sluice box. The regulations further state, Every person who operates the suction nozzle of any suction dredge shall have a suction dredge permit in his or her immediate possession. These regulations were formally adopted in California on April 27, 2012.
The existing moratorium in California prevents DFG from issuing suction dredge permits. We are strenuously challenging the moratorium in several jurisdictions. Until our challenges are resolved, it is unlikely that we can operate suction dredges as defined by the regulations without being cited. Since most of us don t want to be in trouble with the authorities, we have been doing our dredging in southern Oregon for the past few seasons.
But looking closer at the California regulations, there does remain a way for us to go down on the bottom of California s waterways and suction up the shallower, higher-grade gravels. This is because, as defined by DFG s own formal regulations, as long as we remove the sluice box from our motorized suction system, we are not operating a suction dredge. Said another way, there is an opportunity to use a motorized suction system to transfer high-grade gravel from one place in the river or creek to another location where the gravel can be more-easily catering trucks for sale processed in a separate system.
I am in possession of written communication from a high ranking DFG official, the very person who was in charge of developing the current regulations, which acknowledges that underwater suction-powered gravel transfer would not be considered suction dredging as long as the sluice catering trucks for sale box is removed from the system. He also cautioned that there are water quality concerns and also streambed alteration considerations. So there would be some limits involved. I ll discuss these more in a minute.
For now, let s just get back to my original discussion about using a hookah and motorized pumping system to expose and recover gold from very shallow deposits out in the river. I m not talking about shallow water. I am talking about shallow streambed material on top of underwater gold deposits.
Here is just one of several ideas: Please see Figure A above. If I completely remove catering trucks for sale the sluice box from my 5-inch dredge, I am left with a floatation system which supports twin 6.5 HP Honda motors and pumps with a hookah compressor. I could use a single motor & pump with compressor to power a 3 or 4-inch Hydro-Force nozzle jet . This special nozzle catering trucks for sale will allow me the option to blow off lighter gravel to expose cobbles, which I can then move out of the way by hand, just like we do in dredging. This will allow me to work my way down to the pay-dirt catering trucks for sale without having to suck up any gravel. Once I expose the pay-dirt, a Hydro-Force nozzle will allow me to suck it up and t
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