New gold prospecting member from the UK

Hi guys, I've just signed up, I'm based in the UK and prospect around Scotland and am planning on visiting other places like wales, maybe Ireland etc...

I run a gold prospecting group on facebook and welcome all new members, the link is in my signature. I also like making videos and have uploaded about 20 to youtube so far ranging from general prospecting videos to "how to make" videos for prospecting tools and recovery equipment.

Anyway, glad to be here and look forward to contributing

Hi Goldgrubber and welcome to the forum.

Great to have another overseas member.

Looking forward to check all your videos.

Good luck in your adventures.


GoldEN

Cheers, hope you like them

Hi there Goldgrabber, Welcome to the mad house. LOL. I have looked at all your vids & The ones of your home made do it yourself fossicking gear brought a smile to my face. Ah Yer.....been there done that. I started out on the gold fever trip making all my own gear including sluice boxes, gold dredges, highbankers, crevice sucker pumps, creving tools etc. All good fun & the beauty of making your own gear is that you learn what works, what doesnt & why plus you save a bit of money. Nice satisfaction using your own made gear & getting the goods with it.

Here are a few pics of some stuff I have made over the years.







My first ever sluice box



Home made 2" suction dredge. Sluice box & wooden crasher box. I still have this exact same set up. LOL







Rocker cradle made out of old wooden nail boxes



Off on a mission. Same sluice box as the 2" suction dredge but with the crasher box removed.

Mrs JW & I putting some gravel throughit



The result for a few hours "work"



I didnt make this stamper but just thought I would throw it in...since I am getting a bit carried away.



The 2" dredge box being used as a gravity suction dredge using the siphon principle. Worked a treat





Inside the header box. Couple of pieces of gold each side of the pliers


This is the hole I was sucking out



Result from this one mission up a steep little mountain creek



My first ever sluice box that I made, The one in my first pic above, I cut in half & made this high banker.





Bundles up in to an easy portable package & fits on to a back pack frame with a couple of bungies



Also doubles as a 2" suction dredge.





Result from a couple of hours of this operation. 16 grams



Home made sucker pumps, crevicing tools & little sucker bottle. The wooden handled crevice scrapers are made out of old hand saw blade steel & are very strong & flexible & get right in to those cracks & crevices



These are my latest sluice boxes that I was making & selling



Riffles lift up for easy clean out



Using out in the field





Clean up





result





I have since added a detachable flare, For easy back packing in to remote spots, on the sluice box. Notice how the water current crosses over just above the black ribbed matting. Great drop out zone & in a good place



I had to dam this little burn as I needed all the water going down the box to make it work. White buckets are classifier sieve buckets that I made. This helped make the box work with such a low water flow.



I had to tape some polythene plastic to the flare to get a good water seal so there was no leakage & all the water was going down the box



Result from this day



Talking of sieve buckets. Also under water view finder. PVC pipe with glass silicond in the end.





OOOpppsss....got a bit carried away with the pics....but you got to love it aye.  

I am in Central Otago, South Island of New Zealand which has a very strong Scottish heritage. Our main City, Dunedin, is known as the Edinburgh of the south. I believe that Otago is the only place in the sothern hemisphere & maybe even outside of Scotland that practices Curling & has done since the very early days. It is "played' on the naturaly frozen on gold mining sluicing dams that are today used for irrigation. Many of our creeks & streams are called burns & your easter video of you sluice boxing could be any burn here in Otago. The country side is identical.





Up in the high country we have tussocks a below the snow line thyme bushes, where as you have heather.

This stone cottage built out of schist is an old gold miners home built in the 1870's & would not be out of place in Scotland. The little scruby bushes are thyme bushes

Complete with snow. This pic was taken at the end of december which is almost the middle of out summer.  





Here are some old gold workings tailings in a turned over gully up in the high country



I spent many years sluice boxing & dredging but now focus on detecting with minelab metal detectors fossicking for gold up in our high country. You will find that this site is more geared towards that kind of prospecting than sluice boxing & panning & while you will have a lot of people look at your posts you may not get too much response. Dont let that put you off not contributing though as your in put is appreciated.

Very best of luck to you out there

JW