Big Boys Toys for the Gold Patch

A sampling of some of the equipment that is produced by Goldlands at their plant in Bellingham Washington

As far as we know there is no formal definition for the Gold patch, so we will make one up right now. Our definition of the “Gold Patch” is that it is a large commercially viable deposit of placer gold from which the gold is recovered using specialized large-scale equipment.

Making a large-scale deposit of placer gold payoff is strictly a function of how much gold bearing gravel you can process in a day. You're not going to do it with neither a gold pan nor any other equipment that is used by the small-scale miner this takes some pretty good sized toys. One such company that makes this kind of gold recovery is Goldlands from Bellingham, Washington. The company makes a line of gold mining equipment specifically for the recovery of gold, platinum group metals and gemstones.

Goldlands manufactures a complete line of heavy industrial equipment suited for large scale operations for the recovery of gold and other heavy minerals.  They have some of the most innovative equipment in the field as they have been doing so since 1977.  Some of this equipment includes as quoted from their Webpage:;

“1.   The Gold SONIC CONCENTRATOR or "Live Sluice", a two tray, heavy duty high oscillation gravity concentrator for hardrock and alluvial precious metals extraction and concentration.  These process from 50 to 150 Tons per hour and can be placed in series for higher capacity operations.

Goldlands live sluice concentrator

 

2.   Portable HELICOID CONCENTRATORS called the Goldland "Blasters" which continuous feed and upgrade the metals and material.  These units include the MicroBlasters, GoldBlasters and NuggetBlasters, starting at the smallest test units of 1 Ton/Hour, up to high capacity of 150 Ton/hr units.

3.    TROMMEL/SCRUBBERS:  These clay scrubbing units are portable a trailer mounted and process from 50 to 150 Tons/hour.  The gravels are washed thoroughly, releasing any gold baring material from gravel conglomerates.

Goldlands trommel unit

4.    Rotary MICRON GOLD CENTRIFUGES:   These centrifugal cylinders have a series of baffles within.  The units are rotated at a high but regulated speed which breaks the water tension and forces the micron, floating gold and precious metals to be captured and build up in the interior baffling.  The units are then purged at the end of shift and the concentrate extracted.

5.     SCREENING SYSTEMS:  These high vibrating units have 4-6 decks and can be adapted to process either concentrate or bank run material. They are ideal for micron gold recovery.

6.     MINING PROPERTIES AVAILABLE - Goldlands operates its own gold mines and has properties available for new customers who wish to learn to operate Goldland's mining equipment.   Learn and earn at the same time!”

Goldlands ships their equipment all over the world dismantled in shipboard containers.  There have even been reports of some of their equipment being used in Africa producing as much as $25,000 worth of gold per day.

An Auction Site for Used Gold Mining Equipment

This is an old fashioned gold pan that is still in use today.

What this country has needed for a long time is a good nickel cigar, or a place where you can buy and sell used mining and prospecting equipment in a single website. We may wait quiet while for a nickel cigar, but there is now a website where you can buy and sell used Gold Mining equipment in an auction. The name of the new service is prospecting -- Gold.com that can be reached at: http://www.prospecting-gold.com

They bill themselves as the 1st auction site on the net for gold prospecting gear. They have all equipment, tools, supplies and gear. Be sure you check their gold giveaway page for the latest thing in giveaways. Another page on the site is about gold-mining info and metal detector manuals. The site also contains equipment reviews and free plans for building your own gold-mining and prospecting equipment.

Equipment Needed for Gold Panning

How to use a gold pan is something that is easily learned, but requires some practice.  The gold pan as we know it was invented by some Yankee tin-knocker during the California gold rush of 1849. Prior to that just about any water-tight container was used; one of the most common was a shallow wooden box.  The author has even used a plastic food container as a gold pan in a pinch.

A gold pan in use.

As illustrated by the assortment of gold pans and gold pan sets illustrated in the Amazon search box at the bottom of this Blog it is possible to purchase many different varieties and configurations of gold pans. We personally prefer using a whole set consisting of a 14 inch classifier that is used to remove anything larger than 3/8 of an inch. What passes through the classifier goes into a 14 inch green plastic pan. This larger pan is used to work down the bulk of the gold bearing gravel. What is left in the pan is to concentrate consisting of mostly black sand and other stream heavies including gold. Although you can work down through the sand to its gold content it is more efficient to save the sand for later.   

A gold panning kit also includes a couple of other handy items; one of them is a small squeezable plastic bottle equipped with a plastic tube that is used to suck up small pieces of gold and gold dust in your pan. The other handy thing is a couple of small plastic vials that are used to keep the gold in you collect. Gold is placed into the vials from the suction bottle simply by squeezing it causing the gold to be expelled.

The other equipment that is required on a successful gold panning expedition is not directly related to gold panning, but they are things that you actually need. You will need a jeweler's loup with a 10 X. magnification, a long handled shovel and if the water is cold a pair of waterproof gloves. Since you are apt to be wandering around in the bit of a stream or other place with standing water it is a good idea to have a pair of rubber boots.

This is the basic equipment required for a successful gold panning expedition!