Rock Crusher To Extract The Gold

Hi all,
What would be best crusher to buy?A considerable amount to crush. A smaller unit and bust bigger rock up so it fits or get a bigger unit straight
up. Are the small units strong enough? There is a big price increase from small units. Any experience would be greatfull.

Cheers
the-A-man

Hi A-Man i have the small Keenes impact crusher and it does what they say it does only crushes rocks less than an inch square and even that might be too big ,also i havn't put any quartze through it yet either only soft conglomerate. MARTY

Hi A and Marty,

we also have the little Keene impact crusher and it has honestly crushed tonnes and tonnes of rock, quartz, conglomerate, iron stone and some of the hardest ore I've ever seen. It's been used way and above what they were designed to do. It is only now starting to get to the point where the impact bars are needing to be resurfaced.
A good little budget crusher!

cheers,

Steve

Hi, Marty and Madtuna,
Thankyou for your response.Good feed back. I will crush a rock and then dish the sample then get the rock crusher.

Cheers
the-A-man

This is my hammer mill with a 13 hp motor, the 4 hammers are about 100mm x 100mm, they impact the quartz at high speed and turn the rock to dust instantly, this machine will take 3 inch material but I break it down smaller because it saves hammer wear.
It also has removable wheels and handles, the box and snorkle pipe are to reduce dust. I usually carry this machine in the back of a troopy.
Ian feeding the machine
cheers Tezz

Hammer Mills are common in the USA and Africa, the quickest and best machine to turn quartz to dust.
Larger gold gets balled up like shot because of the action inside the machine, because the quartz, pyrite and galena and other sulphides have some very fine gold and micro as well, I use a 2 metre long skidplate of stainless steel in the first box, this drops the gold out and washes the finer material out first, the second box has 600mm of a different type of riffle, this riffle does not cause turbulence like the standard hungarian riffle where fine is gold swept away.

Hi Tezz, Well that baby sure crushes!!, good pictures!, it would be interesting to see your sluice in action.

Wayne.

Wow nice! I was only talking to my boss today about coming up with a design for a small jaw mill. Any chance of seeing some pics of the inner workings of yours Tezz?

Guys don't forget about the dust from these things !! crushed quartz= silica into lungs = silicosis !!! Have fun stay safe !! Great little unit ! Love the fineness of the powder

Ben78, I see you are from Coffs, I used to live at Moonee Beach, had the hammer mill there and now have moved to the ballarat area. We tested 50 new reefs that we found in the back of Coffs, alot of arsenopyrite in the quartz which filled the riffles up, we treated this mineral with nitric acid to destroy it and free the fine gold.
Our best reef had visable gold, a bulldozer was widening the track for logging behind Coramba up the hill, we tried to take out a claim but mines dept said their was an EL on the area, we wrote to the company that had the lease and they wanted to know GPS co-ords, old mines in the area and maps, they wanted to send their geologist to inspect the reef, we didn't contact them again.
Can't take pics of the inner workings, I'd have to take the front off the housing with bearings and shaft, to much work. Its not that complex, Its basicly a centre shaft with a reinforced wheel and the hammers are 20mm thick bisaloy about 100mm x100mm roughly, they are bolted on and when they wear down you can turn them around, These machines can be made any size from small samplers to larger to take 6 inch quartz.
Google inner working of hammer mills should come up with a heap of info, or build your own HM etc.
The jaw mill or jaw crusher is for breaking down quartz so it can be fed into a HM, these crushers will not turn quartz into powder.
The HM is dusty to work, I always pick a day when their is a breeze and stand upwind.
No pics of sluicing in computor but have a pic of the riffles, the gold is always in the first 2 riffles and pyrite in the next 2.
cheers Tezz

Seperating gold and pyrite you have 2 simple options, 1 is mercury and the other is roasting in a metal dish over gas or a fire, when roasting, the pyrite gives off sulphur and turns to iron oxide which is easily washed away. oxalic acid is good for removing the oxide as well, usually the pyrite contains gold as well. The old timers were well known for roasting pyrite. Pyrite is a clue to gold bearing quartz and very often found together in Vic.

Hi Tezz, Great mill, just wondering if you made it yourself or can these be purchased ? thanks. MARTY

Hi Marty,
My machine was made by a bloke in NSW, he makes them to order and I did see his ad in Gem & treasure Mag ages ago, he can make different size machines with various hp etc, I and he use genquip motors on them, they are a copy of a honda, very good and half the price. The prices depends on size would be roughly $1800- $3000 complete, depends on mounting your own motor, wheels, pullys, belts, handles etc, I did this myself but he can do it if you want. Shipping to WA may cost a bit.
If you would like to contact the man for enquires send me a private message and I will give you his name and phone no.
While I was looking for a Hammer mill their was someone making them in Kalgoolie and charging $6000, have no other info on this one, see if google brings him up.
cheers
Tezz

Here's a few links that might be helpful. I like the chainsaw crusher, good for sampling i reckon.









And this guy has made a couple of crushes as well.



http://s667.beta.photobucket.com/user/mldave/media/scan00011-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=41

cheers

mark

Very interesting, , what is the body of the machine made from, does it have replaceable wear plate, a few pictures would be great if you ever have it open, that chain saw mill is a beauty eh!.... how portable is that!!!!.

Wayne.

Thanks Tezz, will keep in mind for the future. Cheers MARTY