Fran Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I have read that you can use Washing Soda in a closed system to remove clay. Can it be used in a settling pond? Does it foam? Has anyone had any experience with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Be a Salt, I would think it would bring the specific gravity of the gold more in line with the clay and water making recovery harder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedrock Bob Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Sodium Carbonate does not foam up much, is a good emulsifier, will break up clays pretty well. I imagine that it would be a good additive if that is what you need to do. I get it at Regal Chemical and Janitorial Supply. It makes a great unscented laundry soap and is a fraction of the cost of commercial laundry powder. It is the main ingredient in Tide, Cheer, etc.etc. It is basically soap powder without the scent and suds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garimpo Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Sounds like that would be the way to go BB if you had a lot of clay holding gold...put a load in a electric concrete mixer and let it run....think that would work for a large amount of clay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedrock Bob Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Sounds like that would be the way to go BB if you had a lot of clay holding gold...put a load in a electric concrete mixer and let it run....think that would work for a large amount of clay?I dont know, but I suspect it would as sodum carbonate is used in brickmaking to wet and bind the clay when the bricks are being cast.I have never fooled much with additives in the water as I dont have much clay in the placer gravel and if the gold is so fine it is a pain to deal with I just move to where it goes "clunk".I have used a little detergent in paning water and that is about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvervortek Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 if you had some kind of tromell or an old washing machine that could be doctored to agetate the dirt.i used clay be gone to clean and settle mud to the bottom of tub.years ago while doing freeze river samples i used stuff called aluminium flox. it makes particles in the water heaavy and silt drops out of the water it is used in water treatment also. a re circulatingsluice will work fine if you can keep the water from getting soupy/ muddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 if you had some kind of tromell or an old washing machine that could be doctored to agetate the dirt.i used clay be gone to clean and settle mud to the bottom of tub.years ago while doing freeze river samples i used stuff called aluminium flox. it makes particles in the water heaavy and silt drops out of the water it is used in water treatment also. a re circulatingsluice will work fine if you can keep the water from getting soupy/ muddy.My issue is I am trying to find something to drop out the clay from crushed ore on a large scale basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Fran, I'm sending you a PM with a link to a discussion from around 8 years ago about this very topic, it may help with your problem. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Thanks Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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