Highbanker Banjo first test - alluvial gold prospecting in Australia

[tdz61]

nice looking unit there, good luck out there and hope you have many flashes in your pan.

[GoldReaper100]

Gday there Combat - Nice high banker !! Am in the middle of building my own very similar high-banker to test run at Easter at Beechworth. What is the width of your riffle system and how many litres/minutes do you need to run it efficiently ? Am trying to get my head around my pump requirements. Cheers.

[combatwombat71]

Riffle system just under 9" wide, from TIG welded alu as complete frame that pivots up/lifts out for cleanup. Litres/min - I don't know, but set pump speed so it looks 'right' and a nice burbly flow over riffles. Works well, has recovered nice gold.

[combatwombat71]

As far as pumps go, I can recommend the Honda WX10. Very quiet, fuel efficient, reliable, and easy to throttle up/down to suit your particular highbanker. Chonese pumps are cheap, but I can't help thinking they are buy cheap buy twice type gear. Don't go any bigger than about 1.5mm holes in the spraybar. By the time you have about 60 holes on three sides of the top hopper spraybar, that's actually quite a lot of water!!

[hendotintco]

what detector do you use?minelab?thinking of going over the mullock heaps near Gympie.a bit has been found on a few of the well known ones :)

[combatwombat71]

Hi there - a Minelab GPX-4500. Have found some nice gold with it around NSW and VIC.

[Iridium666]

Be very careful using this in, and around any waterways in NSW mate- unless you are on your own lease of course. The use of any motorised equipment is highly illegal, to the point where they will confiscate you car and ALL equipment on the spot and also issue a massive fine.

I hope something changes with these injust laws soon so we can all get back to using high-bankers and small dredges.

Take it easy, might catch you out there on the yellow stuff sometime. -Nice compact machine by the way!

[combatwombat71]

HI there - thanks for the comment. Highbankers are fine in NSW, since it's not machinery. It's simply a sluice with a classifier. The pump is the only mechanical part, and pumping of water is allowed, except in some state forests. As long as the digging is done by hand everything is above board. However, I hear the rivers people tend to get upset if they see silt tails flowing into/down a river from an operating highbanker, but even then - the rules are tenuous.

[Iridium666]

Hi combatwombat71,

Thanks kindly for your reply! I will look into this again and see what we can find out. I have been an opal miner for 15years (at Lightning Ridge NSW) so we get our gold info from the DPI offices here, but as you say, there are definitely several grey areas that I can see when it comes to regulations today and it's hard to get anything that is concrete.

Thanks again!

Take care.

[MinMinLight666]

AGP the Old Msn AGP...?

[MinMinLight666]

Ok May get a Bit heavy if you have say 20 or so metres,The little Honda is that the 1inch,Ive seen them used with Highbankers Brilliant choice should give you years of Trouble free use.Yeah mate im in NSW.

[MinMinLight666]

How do you go for long runs do you use that same hose.I may well try some myself...

[combatwombat71]

I haven't run it any longer than the hose in the video, but the pump is good for an 11m head or something, so length won't be too much of a problem. The bore of the hose is bigger than the pump input, so it should be good for flow. It wasn't astoundingly cheap, but I might get some more. Most irrigation stores should stock it. The only drawback with it, is it's heavy to carry, and will only coil to about a minimum 70cm coil. Are you NSW?

[MinMinLight666]

I think the water can cut back a little just by the looks of quiet an agressive flow over the riffles, You are running a Honda with Poly pipe very close I notice.Understand That you are Tuning the unit in,Are you planning on Layflat Hose in the future ?...The angle does look quiet steep that could back off..Good Job Nice setup..

[combatwombat71]

You are dead right. Less angle on the riffle tray, more angle on the hopper, and slightly less water. I tried lay-flat hose originally - it's a pain, plus it doesn't interface to the camlock fittings properly and there were numerous leaks. Also, the slightest bend and it stems the water flow. This grey reinfoced hose seems great - very strong and rigid. You can stand on it and the water flow doesn't change.

[MinMinLight666]

Nice Banjo There Mate..

[scorpiotoyou]

nice to see some differnt on prospecting thanks for the post good luck!

[combatwombat71]

We weren't in a good spot! Even sample pans showed nothing. It was more a test of just seeing how it flowed. I think the lower sluice needs less angle, and the top hopper needs more slope. Also, I like the idea of the expanded mesh under the riffles, and perhaps the slick tray idea. And yes, it's me on AGP :-)