Spiral Gold Wheels

[chickenminer]

I am looking to replace my 40 year old Gold Hound wheel. I'd like to find a larger wheel at least 24".
Has anyone used the Pro-Camel 24" wheel ? Or have any suggestions as to a model to look at.
I did check out the Keene 25" wheel but was not impressed on the quality on those machines. So those
are getting a pass from me.
I did find one of the monster 4' dia wheels for sale but not interested in that size either.

[Slatco]

I have not. What do you need to screen down to on gold wheels? I have no real experience with them.

[Jim_Alaska]

As a personal preference, I hate gold wheels, waaaay too slow. Even a Blue Bowl or its predecessors is faster. Dick, have you ever considered a spiral concentrator? either single spiral or double is way faster. I especially like these for larger operations like yours.

Here is one example, if you haven't seen one: http://mine-engineer.com/mining/minproc/spiral.htm

[chickenminer]

Slatco ... I generally screen to 20 mesh for the wheel. 75% of my cleanups is -20 mesh gold.

Jim... I have looked at the spiral concentrators but never used one. The amount of concentrates I have after running through the gold cube is so small that the wheel is my preferred final step.

[Jim_Alaska]

Slatco ... I generally screen to 20 mesh for the wheel. 75% of my cleanups is -20 mesh gold.

Jim... I have looked at the spiral concentrators but never used one. The amount of concentrates I have after running through the gold cube is so small that the wheel is my preferred final step.

Yes Dick, you need a lot of material to justify a spiral concentrator. I thought because you run a mechanized operation, you would have a lot. But, the wheel is still slooooow. I guess it's all in what you are used to using.

When I was dredging I always used a LeTrap sluice for final cleanup. It is fast and you can see what you are getting as you go. The final concentrate in the LeTrap only amounts to about a half of a small cleanup pan to pan out. What is even better is that you can adjust to get the really small gold, as well as larger.

I have even used the Blue Bowl if I don't have much to process. It too is a bit on the slow side, but it's nice in that you can use a snuffer to suck up gold as you go. The lighter stuff quickly pulls away from the gold around the edges of the bowl, so when you use the snuffer you only get clean gold.

I do hope you find what you are looking for. Good luck.

[gabbie]

dick i use a gold cube with a gold cube trommel on top then run the cons through a camel 24 inch wheel i can do a 5 gal bucket of cons in 30 minutes the little trommel saves consecrating with a screen we get gold down to flea sh## all of the pickers can be easily picked out of the trommel tailings thanks Doug

[chickenminer]

Doug,
Thanks for the input. Yes, the screening is about half the clean-up time! I keep telling myself to build a little trommel or shaker to handle the job.

I love the gold cube. It's fast and does an excellent job on anything under 18 mesh down to -40 mesh.

Have you had any issues with the camel wheel ?

[gabbie]

I've had no problems with the wheel I've had it about 20 years now i bought the gold cube trommel it is plug and play they are pricey, but it was worth it a full green scoop at a time it saves so much time
good luck Doug

[Fleng]

Sounds like the camel wheel is pretty durable. There is also a pretty long shaker table thread.
I want to set up a system to run test holes so I can evaluate 30 foot boring samples. I figure if I can measure the gold along the way I don't have to lug the entire bore sample back to a lab. That would come later.

[chickenminer]

Update on this thread:
I purchased the Pro-Camel 24" wheel and have been using it for the last couple seasons. So far the wheel has performed well. It has plenty of adjusting options to fine tune for a particular gold size and/or character.


This last summer 90% of my gold cleanups was -20 mesh.


One complaint I did have is the company ships the wheel with a cheap little plastic cup w/bail to catch the gold coming from the tube. So I took a #303 can and made my own catch cup.


Overall I am happy with the way the wheel is built and performs.