Gold n sand pump

[Brero]

Hi All,

Just wanted to gauge peoples opinions on my new toy.

http://www.gold-n-sand.com/

I am going to start looking for gold in some of my local creeks near historic gold mines etc. I am hoping i can take this up Barrington etc to find gems too. Do you see any reason why i cannot find gems with this too?

I am also hoping this isnt illegal to use. seems to be a gray area.


Cheers,
Brero

[fishaholic5]

I'm not sure on the legalities Brero, but it seems about as legal as a yabby pump
It should work well for gems

Cheers
Wal

[Findem]

As I understand things, hand powered equipment is legal. Power driven pumps that move water are legal. Power driven pumps that move sand and gravel are illegal.

[Rockman]

Can`t see a problem! It`s still a hand powered tool as far as I can see!
Not sure about NSW regulations though.
It must be legal to use for gold,  so what happens if you accidently suck those nuisance gemstones up in it as well?

Rob.

[Brero]

haha yeah those damn nuisance gems.

Thanks everyone. ill get back with my results once ive done some field testing.

[The Rock Hunter]

a yabby pump is the best way to suck up gravel and silt and gems gold ect i got one and it works great in the creek beds 

[Ghost]

Its called a Gold and Sand Pump.
The gold looked fairly fine, and sand is sand.

How large do you want your pesky gemstones to be?

Ghost

[Brero]

Looks like you can attach a classifier to the nozzle and pump only gold and sand but without it im guessing the bottle neck would allow 15mm pebbles through smoothly. Would also be easy to make another nozzle that would allow much larger gravel through. I will email the bloke who makes them and see if the larger material will effect the pump at all.

[Speckee]

These kind of pumps are a must have in any serious fossickers kit imho.
Work much better than yabby pumps. Plenty of them around, and plenty of plans on how to make them too. Another alternative http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Handymate-Pump-Kit-Multi-Purpose.aspx?pid=124216&menuFrom=40110#Cross essentially the same thing. Seals may not be as good , or last as long but they're very easy to replace

[JudyC]

I am probably a bit dense but does the pump suck up the sand and ?gold then you do the panning bit to get the gold? If not, how does it work? Can we get one in Oz?

[Findem]

No, you're not dense JudyC - the stuff being sucked up is. The goal is to bring up the material from cracks in the creek bed, under rocks etc where the dense minerals accumulate. You are right, you still have to pan the gold and sieve the gemstones as usual. You have just increased the chances of finding these things by getting them from some of the best traps.
I worked a small area in Yarrow Creek once where there were lots of rocks resting on the rock bottom with only small spaces in between them. After sucking up everything around the rocks with the yabby pump, I succeeded in moving them one by one and then sucked up the sand and gravel where each had been. All this in more than 1 metre of water where both the rocks and the pump were completely submerged. (I wasn't, though.)
The result? Dozens of cuttable gemstones.

[Brero]

JudyC. yeah as Findem said, you still have to pan or sluice then pan to process more material.

There seem to be many variations of the design and some are in OZ. I liked this one because it pumped to a bucket.

Findem. Great to hear of your success. When using a normal yabby pump how do you stop the heavies from dropping right back out after you suck them up?

[Findem]

Don't complete the draw while the pump is still in the gravel or whatever. Keep drawing up the handle while you get the pump to the surface then quickly turn it horizontal so nothing can fall out. If the water is deeper, turn it horizontal while it's still under water.
There are several other possibilities.
1. Empty the pump into a floating bucket rather than waiting to get to the bank.
2. Put your bucket (or just the sieves if you can) on the bottom with a rock in it and empty the pump into it under water.
I'm sure there are other ways to do it, but these work well.