Range Lead sifter

[mjwcaster]

In the case of wet-sieving, 1 cup of baking soda in a 5 gallon bucket full of loose clay/soil, topped off with water, mixed and let set overnight will turn the contents into a very runny soup that will go through a 1/4" screen about as fast as you can pour it in. I learned that while taking a university archaeology course.

2¢

Thanks for this tip, trying it out now.
I just built a sieve and brought home 4 buckets of mixed bullets/clay/clay pigeons/rock.
Hand sorted the first 2 buckets, 50lbs of bullets from 80lbs of mix and 32lbs from 60lbs of mix.
Since I plan on returning the spoils to the berm and I didn’t want all the range dirt by the House I wasn’t going to even try sluice type sorting.
With this trick I can just take the buckets of slurry back to the berm.
I just mixed some water and baking soda up in an empty bucket and poured a bucket of mix into it. Let it sit for a while and pour it into the first bucket. Did this a few times and most of the clay is dissolved.
I am just giving it a little longer to make sure it is all dissolved and then I will strain it out.
This should save a lot of time, it took an hour or two per 5 gallon bucket to hand sort.


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[vinconco]

Hi guys, first time poster but long time caster. Buying lead sucks so reclaiming it would go a long way toward reducing shooting costs.
I've been using this T Post mounted tire with a target to capture lead and it works.
Seems to capture about 90% and it's easy to clean out.

[mjwcaster]

Just finished sorting out 1 bucket after dissolving the dirt/clay.
Messy but no dust is nice.
It felt like it took much less time, but I didn’t time it.
I need a few more buckets to be able to rinse better.
I have no hose access and am bringing out water jugs.
The dirt was coming out of suspension quickly in the rinse buckets, after only 10-15 minutes there were several inches of dirt at the bottom of the buckets.
My method needs more refinement, but I am satisfied so far.
Can’t wait for the rain to stop so I can smelt down my score.
And for the berm to dry out so I can mine more.



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[Leadmad]

Good Idea might try that one myself thanks for sharing it

[Alan in Vermont]

[QUOTE=Alan in Vermont;

As soon as I can find time I will sift another batch and see how much lead gets left behind using the finer screen.[/QUOTE]

Today I tried out the new hand screen. Probably still not getting all the fragments but there aren't any readily visible in the waste sand. The sand is fine and dry enough that a big part of it just falls through the screen just from gravity. About three shovels full and then a few back and forth shakes and all that's left is the lead nuggets and plywood chips. Dump that into a tub of water to float the plywood off. There is a small amount of sand left at that point so probably will try to wash that out before it goes into the kettle. Will be interesting to see what percentage I get from this batch of ore.