We’ve mentioned several times the self-contained system being developed by our friend Jim, the fabricator. Jim has informally named it “KISS”, for obvious reasons that we won’t outline here!
By the way, the sun is shining, temps are in the 50s and it’s gorgeous out there, but roads are muddy from recent snow/rain. We’ll forego off-road trips today to preserve our forest. Protection of the forest is important to us, and that is why we promote Jim's system.
Self-contained is our goal and there are multiple reasons to be self-contained. Jim has followed through and has conscientiously designed a system that recirculates water hauled into the project.
The first thing we wanted to avoid in permitting was taking water resources from the U.S. Forest. A water right is necessary to use stream water. This is not desirable, primarily because it is an intermittent stream that can dry up as early as June 15; there is no guarantee of an accessible source of water. So our plan included the most sensible, at least to us, alternative of hauling water and avoiding application for a water right.
The double edge of that environmental sword is discharge. A discharge permit is also required for any water being discharged into a watershed, contaminating the site. A self-contained system re-uses available water. The only loss is to evaporation, thereby minimizing impact on the environment. This was our plan even before we were informed of the Spearfish Creek watershed.
How does the system keep water contained?
The first use of water is spray bars on the grizzly. This water flows from the grizzly to the primary shaker screen which feeds into a large sluice, then into a contained tank. This will be a continuous cycle of recirculation back to the grizzly.
The second use of water is to the trommel screen(s) with variable sizes of screens available. Those trommels feed sluices that release water into contained tanks and cycle back to the trommel. Jim has designed a flexible system that can use one or two trommels, depending on customer demand.
All-in-all, we’ve tried to envision (and Jim has created!) the best-case scenario for efficient mining and minimal impact.
Jim is developing a line of self-contained individual trommels and sluice boxes to be used in high bank mining. He will customize to your demand. Contact Jim by email at our site: hillshistory1876@gmail.com
It all reflects our personal regard for the forest, a back-yard playground for us as children!
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