Desert Prospecting and Dry Washing

Dry washers are used primarily in areas where water is not available, such as arid and desert areas. Dry washing goes back to the earliest days of gold discovery, where water was not available to separate the valuable minerals. The early miners devised crude methods utilizing the flow of air and vibration to concentrate and separate valuable materials from sand and gravel. In the past, most dry concentration was slow and inefficient. Even today, most dry washers have trouble recovering gold after the top layer of dry sand has been removed,due to the moist sand and gravel below the surface.

Keene Engineering has patented a device that utilizes that pulls the heat from the cooling fins of the motor. This heat is pulled into the air blower and drys out the semi-damp material enabling the dry washer to process material that was otherwise impossible to work. This is called “Hot Air Induction”. Model 151 “Vibrostatic Concentrator with Hot Air Induction” and how it works! The Model 151 Drywasher manfactured by Keene Engineering is the most advanced dry processing machine on the market today. Its compact design and folding capabilities, can easily be transported and set up for operation in only minutes This concentrator is driven by a high speed blower that forces air through a series of materials creating a static electric charge. This conductive charge creates a field that attracts only heavy metals such as gold. It also has an adjustable air powered adjustable eccentric that creates vibration to asssist in effectively separate gold and other values from the waste gravel. Last, but not least, Hot Air Induction is extremely important because even though the area may appear dry, once you have penetrated below the surface, you will often find that the gravel is damp. In older models of dry washers, the damp gravel would have to be set aside until it was completely dried.

Model 151 drywasher

151 Motor and Blower assembly

Super Lightweight Handcrank or Backpack Battery Dry Washers Hand operated dry washers are popular because they require no external power to operate them. They can be operated by simply turning a handcrank that creates both air separation as well as vibration. “Hand Crank Machines” are not suitable for heavy producton, but are necessary for the propector with a limited budjet and also for backpacking a recovery machine into remote dry areas. Keene Engineering has a portable and packable model that weighs only 32 pounds.

DW2 Drywasher shown on pack frame. DW212 working in field

One of the latest and more popular machines on the market today is the 12 volt battery powered dry washer. These lightweight new “mini dry washers” are extremely quiet and do not require fuel for their operation. Their battery can be recharged quickly and they employ all the latest features of the larger production models, with the exception of hot air induction. They can be operated by a small (motorcycle battery) that weighs very little and processes nearly a cubic yard per hour. They also fold up into an extremely compact package for backpacking, weighing as little as 40 pounds making them an extremely valuable prospecting tool. The Keene Hand Crank Dry Washer can be converted to the battery operated version. See our catalog for details.

New Model # 140 Vibrostatic back packing Concentrator

The Model 140 Concentrator is the latest addition to the Keene family of dry washers. The Mini dry washer is basically the same design as the world famous 151 dry washer; the only difference is size and weight. The 140 folds up easily into an extremely small package, 11" x 21" 31" and weights only 20 lbs. The 140 can be dismantled and set up again in a matter of seconds. The 140 dry washer is ideal for checking out hard to get to areas and has adequate capacity to keep one man busy. The model 140 is powered by a small blower (See Vac Pack) One of the key tools in dry washing today is a portable gas powered shop vacuum. We recommend the "Vac Pac" a gas powered shop vacuum, That is the ideal tool for cleaning out bed rock, cracks, moss and hard packed material. The Vac Pac removes the hard to get material faster than you dig it up by hand. The use of a Vac Pac will generally increase your chances on being successful with dry washing. The Vac Pac can be used to power the 140 dry washer, making it the perfect companion to the Model 140 dry washer.

A 13 Ounce Gold Nugget Found Inb the Los Angeles Area with a “Keene Vibrostatic Concentrator”

Ken Gates, a painting contractor, while on disability leave from his job has come up with what may be the largest gold nugget found in the Los Angeles County in recent history. Using a Vibrostatic Dry Washer that he purchased for about $800.00 at Keene Engineering, discovered a 13 ounce nugget worth over $13,000.00. Ken Gates, 35, began prospecting while recovering from a lung infection. Gates said "It was just something to do while I was waiting to go back to work and I was bored around the house”. With a shovel and his new dry washer, he randomly picked an area where gold was known to be present in rather low paying quantities known as the Acton Area, of Los Angeles County. Gates would not give the exact location to the find, for fear that other fortune seekers would attempt to muscle in on this valued spot. He said that it was just luck that he had found it. He spent several hours with another prospector working an area just 40 feet from his find. He chose this spot, as it was close to his friends motor home and a hot cup of coffee was not far away.

After only a few hours of finding only small granules of gold, Gates hit the "jackpot". He was shoveling into his new dry washer and noticed a round lump of something resembling a rock that would not penetrate the classifying screen of his machine. After a second glance he noticed that the rock had a shiny surface on one side. He brushed it against his pant leg and behold; he realized that he had found a large gold nugget, and it was one of the largest gold nuggets that he had ever seen. Gates said all he could do is scream "Yes, it's gold". His neighbor hearing his scream, rushed over to him and screamed "you must have found the Mother load". When he took it home and showed his wife, her initial reaction was disbelief. She thought that I was playing a joke on her and had just painted a rock to resemble gold, until I placed it in her hand and suddenly she screamed "how much is it worth", as it was obviously gold, due to its extreme heavy weight. He explained that gold was worth only about $400.00 an ounce at that time, but because it was such a beauty and a rare specimen, that it could be worth much more. He told her, "we are going shopping" The next day Gates brought the nugget to Keene Engineering, where he had purchased his equipment, to show it off. It didn't take long to find a buyer as he was offered over $13,000.00 by a passing customer in their showroom. As quoted by the Los Angeles Times: Dr. Anthony Kampf, curator of gems and minerals at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, said that “Gate's find is not he largest recent nugget found in the California Desert. A 156 pound monster gold nugget was discovered near Randsburg near by in Kern County in 1977 that is currently on loan to the museum”.. Kampf said, "its possible that the nugget originated some 20 miles away and somehow rolled its way down to the Los Angeles area over millions of years". Gates wasn't waiting around for any more expert opinions, armed with some additional equipment that he had purchased for Keene Engineering, he said that he was going back to his location to look for more gold; as he expected to be called back to his job soon.