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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums _ Equipment - Prospecting and Lapidary _ Prospectors dream mat

Posted by: Crusty Apr 17 2016, 09:04 PM

Any thoughts on this?

https://prospectorsdream.com/products/vortex-dream-mat

Posted by: EMac Apr 21 2016, 01:13 PM

QUOTE (Crusty @ Apr 17 2016, 10:04 PM) *
Any thoughts on this?

https://prospectorsdream.com/products/vortex-dream-mat


Despite being out there ~3 years, there's not a whole lot on it. The most I can find is on another forum where the designer uses poor grammar and hard-to-follow arguments to try and convince a bunch of skeptical old-timers. I'm not quite convinced. Data talks in the engineering world, and I can't find any performance data. That said, there's limited performance data on most matting.

I raise an eyebrow at statements like this: "A body at motion tends to stay at motion; this classic "truth" still is constant as the day is long." (quoted from the other forum)

The eyebrow raise comes from calling it a truth in quotes....this isn't a "truth", but rather Newton's first law of motion...

That said, I'm open to actual data or tests which could sway me.


Posted by: Crusty Apr 21 2016, 04:01 PM

Good point... In the absence of data, if the nest you have is clichés, that probably says all you need to know

Posted by: ProspectorsDream Nov 24 2016, 06:05 PM

OK time for FACTS, to dismiss the LACK of any REAL Fact Checking done here in Both of these statements.
1. Dream Mat has been sold since mid Feb this Year NOT ~3 YRS!
2. Since that time Its is being made in Australia & has 4 international distributors.
3. with over 1,000 mats sold in less than 9 months w/ out 1 return or complaint.

Go to my Prospectors Dream page on FB, see how;
*Gold Hog
*Gold Well
*Gold Cube
Owners are replacing their systems w/ Dream Mat.
Plus new Dream Mat for the Cube is being developed & larger size wash plant Dream Mat Grating is being developed. Plus other products on the way. All w/ NO paid magazine advertising!

So, not to be snippy, post like these w/ lack of data is irrelevant & don't effect the Dream Mat wave, just blinders in among yer self's.

* As for DATA the competitors have NO independent 3rd party engineering data. Only marketing data & data produced among themselves, which is the fox guarding the hen house.



Posted by: Crusty Nov 25 2016, 08:23 AM

Glad you found your way here to set us straight! :)

To be fair, Emac does both state what you did, that there is little data on most systems and that he's open to more information, so no one has blinders on.

Also, there are videos on YouTube that are 3 years old, so that's where that came from.

There is more information/videos out there on it now and it does look like it works pretty well. I see you've got posts on your FB page from Sept regarding dredge testing. I've been trying to find a solution for catching micron in my Keene sluice with my 2.5" dredge. Tried a few runs of GH matting and haven't been happy with the results.

Just a few suggestions for your website. Maybe link to your FB page and add more to the testimonials? Seems like you've come a long way since we posted this in April, but your website doesn't provide much information or links to let folks see your product in action.

Congrats on your success! I enjoyed reading your "about us" on your webpage :)

QUOTE
 
 
 
Prospectors Dream was inspired solely on helping the prospector work less to get more gold. Born in the stream bed in N.W. Montana, that goal has never been lost. But birthed out of tenacious and relentless design! Even with that, we ourselves are amazed how good this product actually works!

My Uncle Dave is a disabled vet, who loves to sluice. But he has his days. After hearing him share his sorrow of not being able to go out a single time all season, I volunteered. "I'll go, I'll pack all the stuff down to the creek & back up & do all the digging!" So my 1st trip sluicing was about to be had. With the Gold Rush show in the height of its 1st season & gold at an all time high, I was excited! We got everything to the spot & I put the sluice in the water. Dave comes over & informs me the sluice is backwards! I'm a mechanical designer, what the heck! He pans and we find color. Wow all that in one pan of dirt. I do the math; more dirt over the sluice = more gold! I was a back hoe! I moved a 4 ft deep hole, by shovel length round! The 1st clean up. Dave told me to stop digging the sluice needs to be cleaned, full of black sand. So he walks me thru step by step. I start picking the sluice up with a bucket behind it so we don't loose the gold. I take the riffles out, swish in bucket. Try to pull the expanded metal out & it pops out & bounces down the creek as the carpet slides out and plops in the bucket 1/2 way! Yes he said some choice words. Defending my stupideness I said, "that's the hokiest thing I've ever seen, take the words engineering off the box!" Sad to say that day the math did not add up. The pan was not happy! over 1/2 bucket of cons, very little gold.

Almost 2 years later I have been humbled over & over. Built & tried every new sluice on the market; like the search for the holy grail! Test after test after test proved about the same results. One pan at a time produced more gold than the sluices lost! Why? After months of studying advanced mining techniques of large over seas companies, & relentless hours of patent searches. It hit me like a ton of bricks. We are doing it wrong! Then after 14 prototypes (most ended up heating the shop) we were throwing high fives!

Work less, Get all the gold! This will be hard for everyone to get used to. We want to move so much material, trying to catch flour amongst boulders! THE GOAL STAYS THE SAME. The retired disabled person cannot move a yard of dirt, but even a child can screen 5 pails of 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" screen. So why move more dirt for less gold?

I'm a family man, beautiful wife two young boys. If I can't have fun, I'm going home. I'm very transparent, I say it like it is, I apologize allot! Although I have been the VP of a very successful local Log Home Company, my heart has always been Mechanical Design. I am blessed with to be able to work for R&D engineering for a great company! As I act as the Inventor & consultant, my wife will run the show (cause she does anyway!) behind every man is a great woman!
I hope everyone will be able one day to see what happens to your pan when you use the Khrysos sluice we designed! Good luck & pray for nuggets!

 

Posted by: Crusty Nov 29 2016, 07:41 AM

All right, curiosity got the best of me and I ordered a 10" matt. Look forward to testing it in the field!

Posted by: Crusty Dec 2 2016, 06:16 PM

Looks interesting. Very sturdy. Can't wait to give it a whirl! Should fit right in my Angus.






 

Posted by: swizz Dec 3 2016, 10:30 AM

I can't wait to see how it retains fines, bizarre configuration but could be killer. Is it made from silicone or polyurethane? How will it be secured in the sluice box?
Thank you for being the Guinea Pig. tongue.gif

Posted by: Crusty Dec 3 2016, 10:49 AM

Urethane. Very heavy duty!

Hoping it will be snug enough to just fit in the Angus, but I'll play with it before I take it out to be sure.

Since you can't make it out Monday I think I'll take it out to Arapahoe Bar. Never been there before and I won't have to work around the ice.


 

Posted by: Crusty Dec 3 2016, 03:06 PM

Well shit... My 10" Angus is 9 3/4. blink.gif

Guess I'll have to pull the highbanker off my Keene and use it.

Posted by: EMac Dec 5 2016, 11:27 AM

I hope it works well for you. Are you going to run the Angus after the Dream mat to see if anything is missed?

Posted by: Crusty Dec 5 2016, 05:42 PM

QUOTE (EMac @ Dec 5 2016, 10:27 AM) *
I hope it works well for you. Are you going to run the Angus after the Dream mat to see if anything is missed?

Think it is gonna be good! Yes, ran Angus behind it. There was 5-6 colors in the Angus, so I will continue to use that as a back up until I get a good feel for the dream mat setup and get it dialed in. Quick pan looks like it was a pretty good day! Ran 8-9 buckets. Not a lot of micron here, bit a decent amount of this stuff!


 

Posted by: Crusty Dec 7 2016, 09:01 AM

Initial use looks promising. I think I like it! I did run my Angus behind it and there was color in it, but I suspect it was a result of me playing with the angles and feed rate. Will continue to run the Angus in tandem until I get it dialed in.

Did a pretty good job of catching everything from fines to 20 mesh.


 

Posted by: Crusty Dec 7 2016, 09:08 AM

Dream mat (in my Keene)and Angus


 

Posted by: Crusty Jan 10 2017, 10:54 AM

Prospector Dream now has a sluice that is made for their mat. I got one and used it for the first time yesterday. Gotta say, I am a convert!!

First thing I did was give it the Swizz treatment and bed lined the slick plate and added a strip of shallow v mat (gave me a nice preview of a couple decent flecks).

Wanted to get some video, but with all the snow melt, the water was pretty cloudy. Will give it a go next time.

When I had the Dream Mat in my Keene with no slick plate, I got a fair amount of gold in my Angus I ran behind it to test what it was loosing. With the Dream Mat sluice there was only 5 fine specks in the Angus. Off to process my cons now, but a quick pan in the field appeared to reveal a lot of color!




 

Posted by: Crusty Aug 25 2017, 07:38 AM

Damn, looks like Dream Mat is trying to steal my money again lol

He's come out with a new setup for beach sand and fine gold. Gotta think with all those small vortexes, it would be killer on the Arkansas or Clear Creek.

He also has sizes to fit the gold cube.


 

Posted by: Crusty Nov 4 2017, 07:25 PM

Finally pulling the trigger on this mini mat. I think with all the small cells, it'll kill it on the Clear Creek micron. Going with the 8" x 36" in a custom adaptable Sluice with both a power head (for reducing cons or even use on battery at A-Bar) and a stream Sluice or long Tom extension attachments.

Here's one he just made for someone else










 

Posted by: swizz Nov 5 2017, 08:21 AM

Very nice! Where did you score the sweet box and headers?
We need to run side by side again at CC for a good test! That matting is intriguing. Work should slow down for me a little toward the end of November. I still have 4 small jobs on the books. This has been a work season like no other. whew.gif

Posted by: Crusty Nov 5 2017, 09:41 AM

There's a guy on Facebook who makes sluices for the dream mat. He's in Canada, so shipping will probably suck, but not a bad deal for a multi-tool Sluice. Probably won't get it for a few weeks; he's headed out hunting this week.

Ready to roll when you are! Still gotta find a good winter spot. Need to go do a recon to see if the new section of trail on the other side opens up any options.

Posted by: MikeS Nov 5 2017, 09:58 AM

It will be interesting to see a little version of the dream mat in action. If I ever get another sluice I will be looking at the dream mat for sure. I may get one sized for the sluice I have now. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

Posted by: swizz Nov 5 2017, 10:03 AM

If I might ask... what is the total cost for that setup?

Posted by: swizz Nov 5 2017, 10:20 AM

Is this the right site? From Montana https://prospectorsdream.com/collections
I also noticed that an outfit from Australia sells it, or a version of it.

Posted by: swizz Nov 5 2017, 11:02 AM

Since there are multiple entities selling it... I'm super curious as to where it is sourced. I'm guessing some type of conveyor material for the agriculture, farming, or food industry. Possibly for mechanically moving hay or processing animals? I don't want to undercut these guys but I find myself wanting to know the origin of this stuff.

Posted by: Crusty Nov 5 2017, 11:16 AM

QUOTE (swizz @ Nov 5 2017, 10:02 AM) *
Since there are multiple entities selling it... I'm super curious as to where it is sourced. I'm guessing some type of conveyor material for the agriculture, farming, or food industry. Possibly for mechanically moving hay or processing animals? I don't want to undercut these guys but I find myself wanting to know the origin of this stuff.


It is all made by a guy in Montana, David Peterson. As far as I know he is the sole source and they are all distributors. It is designed to catch gold; not an adapted use.

The custom sluice will be $200 CANADIAN, plus shipping, WITHOUT the mat (I'll be buying it from David, hopefully with a "three time buyer" discount. lol

Posted by: swizz Nov 5 2017, 11:20 AM

Ah, roger that. If I purchase I'll go through his site as well.

Posted by: Crusty Nov 5 2017, 12:07 PM

Really interested to see how longtomming my keene 10" (with 2.5" dredge) going down to 8". Should definitely speed things up and clear black sand. Can't wait to see how it performs at our claim, which has a LOT of black sand. We're still debating if using a 4" dredge will be effective without having to do a cleanout once an hour to keep the black sands from overwhelming the sluice. We'd end up with a large amount of cons, which will make the con reducing sluice capability invaluable. Or we just both use 2.5"s, longtommed to catch more gold.

Posted by: Crusty Jan 11 2018, 12:12 PM

Finally got a chance to test out the Prospector Dream Mats 8" mini mat in a Paul Jarvis (Adventures in Gold Prospecting) Triple Threat Sluice. The mini mat was designed to catch fine gold and for con reduction. Paul's sluice gives you the option of swapping between a stream sluice flare or power head for recirc or at home con reduction. It is well built and Paul continues to seek feedback from his customers to improve his already awesome product!

One of the common questions on the mini mat is to what size should you classify, so I made this video to show it running 1/8", 1/4", and 1/2". I was please to learn it runs great at 1/2", which is what most folks classify to. Even in the slightly low flow I had it running at.

I bought both the 8" mini to be able to reduce dredge cons in the field, as well as run as a recirc away from the water source, as well as the 6", to run cons at home.

I can definitely recommend the mini dream mat as a winner for catching the Colorado (and everywhere else) small stuff!

Mike S did also use it for a bit, as well as my 12" full sized dream mat, so maybe he'll weigh in with his thoughts.

https://www.facebook.com/bobbittm/videos/10211598594507522/

https://www.facebook.com/bobbittm/videos/10211598766111812/


Posted by: Evg Mar 9 2018, 11:38 PM

QUOTE (Crusty @ Aug 25 2017, 07:38 AM) *
Damn, looks like Dream Mat is trying to steal my money again lol

He's come out with a new setup for beach sand and fine gold. Gotta think with all those small vortexes, it would be killer on the Arkansas or Clear Creek.

He also has sizes to fit the gold cube.



You think it worth ordering at least one mat for the gold cube and say place at the lower level to make sure there is no gold lost? Or maybe stick it on the top one that has no riffles?

Posted by: Crusty Mar 10 2018, 10:55 AM

I've never used a Cube, but no doubt adding a sheet of Dream Mat would lock in any gold that might sneak through.

Posted by: Evg Mar 16 2018, 10:04 PM

I got the mat and now debating either to reap one old mat from the gold cube and replace it with dream mat or just install the dream mat on the fist slick plate right under the trommel.

From one side if I replace the mat it's going to be on the final section to catch fine gold that other 2 mats missed. From another side, if I place it on the first tray I'll have 4 trays with matting instead of 3. There is no option for me to just add another tray because the setup will become too tall for the field, it's already pushing the comfort zone, and I don't want to raise shovel over my head in order to feed the trommel.

Posted by: Crusty Mar 16 2018, 11:27 PM

It should just slip in and come right out, right? Run a couple times in each configuration and see which one makes the outcome easier!

Posted by: Evg Mar 16 2018, 11:55 PM

I can't run both configurations. That will mean I'll have to alter with one cold cube section and attach it permanently there. I can attach it to top one without any modifications but if I put it to the lowest one I'll have to get rid of old matting then screw and glue dream mat.

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