Colorado -- Dredging the Arkansas River with John -- 5 & 6 Apr 2015

Hey Gold Adventurers...

Just posting a quick Colorado Trip Report post here to see if I can get pics to link back to my PhotoBucket hosting service.....and get things going once again...

John & I suction dredged back in early April on his claim on the mighty Arkansas River, North of Buena Vista, Colorado.  I can tell you the Ark was flowing about 180 to 200 CFS at the USGS Granite Gauge, so it was low and slow.....and clear...........AND ICE COLD! I mean really, really cold!

We spent about 6 1/2 hours on Saturday sharing the nozzle at 30 minute intervals and got in 5 hours and 5 cleanups.  Sunday we only ran 4 hours total and did 3 cleanups, then broke the dredge down, lugged it back up the bank and put it into my Honda Pilot for the drive home.

I totally revised the factory Keene 4 inch Ultra Mini sluice box in my dredge... I removed ALL the factory bars, screens, plates and mats, then extended the box 2 feet, then installed Vortex matting full length (about 5.33 feet now) and had 1 foot of Gold Hog UR matting up front directly under the flair on top of the Vortex matting. Then, I installed a side rail both sides 1 1/2 inches above the matting to but 1/2 inch expanded metal all the way down to keep all the rocks tumbling harmlessly out the back and well off the matting. Below the screen the fine material, black sand & gold would wash. It worked fantastic....better than I could have hoped for!

Together, we had 8 hours of nozzle time total and ended up with a very nice 8.75 grams of fine Colorado flood gold, including one very nice picker!

Here's a bunch of pics to help share the fun...

Randy "C-17A"

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REAL NICE TAKE!!!