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How Much Is a Yard Of Material?
swizz
post Mar 18 2017, 09:44 AM
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Many prospectors and miners refer to moving material in "yards of material". How many 5 gallon buckets make a cubic yard?

There are 201.97 gallons in a cubic yard. Divide that by 5.
The answer is 40.39.

So.... 40 and a half (full) 5 gallon buckets equals 1 yard. happy088.gif

On a typical good hard working day of hand-sluicing in a creek I can move 9 buckets of 1/2" classified, rarely 10. Just shy of 1/4 yard of 1/2" class per day. emoticon-misc-004.gif
Prior to classification it is probably another 1/8-yard that I am screening away (larger than 1/2") and pitching to a tailing pile, so maybe a little more than 1/4 yard per day in reality.
Not bad fer an old dude. confused0082[1].gif
What's a typical day for you on a crick?


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johnnybravo300
post Mar 18 2017, 10:39 AM
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That's a nice steady pace at 9 or 10 buckets and I try to shoot for around that too on a good day.
I use the smaller rubber weatherproof ranch/farm style buckets and they are only about 2.5 gallons. Plastic buckets in Gunnison last until the first time you set it down in a cold creek full of wet material. The sound of snapping plastic can cause nightmares haha.
I like the smaller size and less weight on slippery rocks and I dont sit at my sluice for as long. I have to fill the buckets up more times is all. You can literally throw these rubber buckets across a creek and they just flex!

With my bazooka I've decided it's almost faster and more efficient to just classify or else I'm carrying tailings to my sluice for no reason. I only need the rich stuff in my buckets and I don't want to waste energy like that.
Carrying bucket fulls that are mostly just going into the tailings doesnt seem worthy of my calories and it's a total waste.
I won't find a fist sized nugget so why carry it and use up bucket space?
It only takes a short time to class to 1/2 so in the long run it seems faster and smarter no doubt. If I can shovel directly in that's another story and it's not often that I do.
Class material is also easier to scoop out of the bucket and the entire system seems to flow more consistent.
The new Angus will need class material anyway.

The time it takes to classify is less than what I would spend in running low grade and big rocks, not to mention the wasted time and effort.


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EMac
post Mar 20 2017, 01:27 PM
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Frankly, I have no idea since I rarely use the sluice anymore. I would be interested in figuring out a different way to calculate it though. How do folks calculate yards of material moved when using a dredge or highbanker?

Is there a rule of thumb for how much a yard of material at CC weighs on average? My best guess is somewhere between 2500 and 3000lbs.


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swizz
post Mar 20 2017, 02:04 PM
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QUOTE (EMac @ Mar 20 2017, 01:27 PM) *
Frankly, I have no idea since I rarely use the sluice anymore. I would be interested in figuring out a different way to calculate it though. How do folks calculate yards of material moved when using a dredge or highbanker?

Is there a rule of thumb for how much a yard of material at CC weighs on average? My best guess is somewhere between 2500 and 3000lbs.


I don't think it's possible to estimate with a suction dredge or higbanker. Weight would be difficult to estimate cubic yards as well. An excavator would be fairly easy since you could count the buckets and multiply by however many yards the bucket holds. My little gorilla ore wagon is fairly easy to estimate up at the claims.


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CP
post Mar 20 2017, 02:12 PM
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Great questions and fun thread guys.
Here is one way we figured out how to calculate "panning a ton" of material that could help with questions here maybe... This was not counting the weight/yardage that was classified off over 1/2" but actually what was processed to equal "a yard" of material after dry classification.

QUOTE (ColoradoProspector @ Sep 4 2006, 10:24 AM) *
We have all had those days right?
"Man! I bet I panned a ton of material today" ohmy.gif happy.gif
Or
"Bet we processed 10 yards of material today" biggrin.gif

Well we thought we would just do some checkin'.....just to make sure the wheel is still round....so to speak. laugh.gif

We dug up some aluvial deposit for testing. Nothin' special...just placer dirt.
Classified to 1/2" minus dry.

Knowing standards for cubic feet.......Lets convert cubic feet to buckets since most of us use buckets when prospecting/exploring.

1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet
Unfortunately or fortunately..... tongue.gif 1 cubic foot will not fit into 1 five gallon bucket.
But 1/2 of a cubic foot will.... happy.gif

So..... 1/2 of a cubic foot or 12"x12"x6" of dirt in a bucket (5 gallon) will be approximately 9 1/2" deep (about 3/4 full). This bucket weighs 44 pounds.

Now with this info we can apply some simple math.....

For discussion purposes, lets assume one average pan would be about 2 pounds.

22 pans to each bucket (1/2 cubic foot)

54 buckets 3/4 full (1/2 cubic foot ea) = 1 cubic yard

Which would mean that 1 cubic yard = 1188 pans
and that cubic yard would weigh approximately 2376 pounds.

Yep.....still round! cool.gif
But no wonder I was so dang tired! laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif

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swizz
post Mar 20 2017, 02:17 PM
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Doing it by "weight" would vary per locale (clay, etc) and also differ greatly if wet, dry, or somewhere in between. It could be roughly calculated by weight 'per specific locale' I bet.


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