Camel Mining Desert Fox Gold Panning Machine Features for Prospectors
With the Desert Fox, you can work concentrates down much faster. Not only will your speed increase, but your gold recovery and efficiency will also improve by a factor of 50. More gold, less time, and a lot less work!
The Desert Fox spiral wheel has SEVEN separate spirals which pick up GOLD SEVEN times with each rotation of the wheel (105 times per minute). The seven spirals dump gold into the tube shaft and into a hanging gold catch-cup. This method is far superior to other types of spiral wheels which do not pass the gold through the centre of the wheel into a hanging cup. The Desert Fox wheel with its pitch adjustment and water spray system helps the operator “tune out” the black sand.
The Desert Fox is a compact, light-weight gold panning machine you can take anywhere. Weighing under 10 pounds even with a rugged folding stand, it folds up and stores neatly in its Action Packer tub. Operate it right out of the tub, or remove it from the case and use it in a stream. The Desert Fox is aptly named because it was designed to conserve water and will operate on just three gallons. It sets up quickly and easily and can run 70 pounds of concentrates in an hour–it’s both a separator and a concentrator in one self-contained panning machine. Recovers an amazing amount of flour gold so you never lose even the smallest pieces (which all add up!).
The Desert Fox is easy to Use. Fill the tank with 3 to 4 gallons of water. Hook the clips to your 12-Volt battery. Turn on the switch. The wheel starts to rotate and water sprays from the spray bar onto the wheel. Add a scoop of sand every 20 seconds. The GOLD settles to the bottom as the spiral turns and the seven spiral leads pick it up and elevate it to the centre hole in the hub where it passes through the hollow shaft into a gold catch cup! It is as simple as that and so user-friendly that you will be an expert gold panner ten minutes after you have used the DESERT FOX for the first time.
Operates on any 12-volt 7-amp DC power source. Use an automotive battery or even a 35 watt solar panel. Ships complete with an easy-to-understand owner’s manual and a video, but this machine is so easy to operate you won’t need them to become a pro! A bag of practice sand containing real placer gold is also shipped with every Desert Fox so you can get acquainted with your new machine and see how efficient and easy it is to use. The Desert Fox is also available with Variable Speed Control. This is the only spiral gold panning machine on the market with this feature! Desert Fox has a Five Year Limited WARRANTY direct from the manufacturer, the Desert Fox Automatic Spiral Gold Panning Machine has been manufactured by Camel Mining Products since 1969.
Specifications
- Height: 20 inches
- Width: 14.5 inches
- Length: 20 inches
- Weight: 10 pounds
- Wheel Diameter: 12.5 inches
- Power Required: 12VDC 5AH
- Water Required: 3-4 gallons
- Pump Capacity: 450 Gph.
Stowed Dimensions:
- Height: 10 inches
- Width: 14.5 inches
- Length: 17.5 inches
Designed for Speed and Efficiency
While the Desert Fox is mainly a finishing machine used in conjunction with a sluice box or other concentrator, you can also use it to prospect for gold. Simply set up the machine and take a few samples systematically and observe which samples contain the most colours. Set up your concentrating equipment near the test area with the best show of gold.
The Desert Fox Spiral wheel was a computer designed for maximum speed and efficiency. The Desert Fox drive unit is gear-driven and ball bearing equipped — the only spiral panning machine built with sealed ball bearings. This means less friction and less battery power needed! It runs very quietly and it is energy efficient too! Our exclusive aqua-jet on the spray bar churns and mixes the materials in the wheel for the fastest recovery possible. The Desert Fox can pan up to 70 pounds of concentrates per hour.
Fully self-contained, nothing else to buy, runs off any 12 volt 7amp D.C. source, like a small motorcycle battery or your vehicle battery. Easy to set up or stow. The Action Packer Carrying case serves as a reservoir to re-circulate water.
The variable speed option, when installed on the Desert Fox, allows you to adjust the speed of the spiral wheel without affecting the pump pressure. This option comes in handy if you run into some extremely heavy black sand. The slowing down of the wheel revolution gives more time to wash out the heavy black sand before it enters the tube.
FREE! Bag of Practice sand containing Real Placer Gold!
We pack a bag of practice sand containing real placer gold in every Desert Fox Gold Panning Machine we ship. This is so you can get acquainted with your new machine and prove to yourself how efficient and easy it is to use
Recover 50 times MORE GOLD with the Desert Fox Automatic Gold Panning Machine!
ANYONE who prospects and pans for gold can tell you that working concentrates down with a gold pan is slow tedious work. Not only that, but it’s hard on the back and legs, and the efficiency rate for gold recovery is low. A lot of the gold is lost washing over the side of the pan.
With the Desert Fox, you can work concentrates down much faster. Not only will your speed increase, but your gold recovery and efficiency will also improve by a factor of 50. That’s not a misprint! You will recover 50 times more gold with the Desert Fox than working by hand with a gold pan. More gold, less time, and a lot less work. And with the new proprietary variable speed model, you can adjust for maximum gold recovery no matter what type of material you are panning.
Desert Fox Field Test
The Desert Fox was field-tested by Jim Klein and here is what he thought:
“I can see why they call it the Desert Fox as it is perfect for cleaning your concentrates in places where water is a problem. When I do my next revision on my book How To Find Gold In The Desert I will recommend it as a good piece of equipment for the desert prospector.”
Jim Klein is a well known and respected writer and lifelong gold prospector. This field test of the Desert Fox appeared in the March/April 2002 issue of Gold Prospector Magazine.
Our field trip this month is in my backyard and storage shed. The shed is where I keep all the buckets of concentrates from my field trips and my wife is always asking when I am going to get around to cleaning it out.
Thanks to Camel Mining all those buckets are cleaned out and the gold that was in them is safely put away. I owe them another thank you for the first piece of mining equipment that has gotten my wife interested in prospecting. This is after almost forty years of prospecting. She has always been happy to be my official photographer for all my books and articles on finding and mining gold. You see she has this thing about sleeping in beds and taking baths and eating hot meals on plates and things like that. Personally a peanut butter and honey sandwich is a very good breakfast, lunch and dinner out in the mountains.
First off, let me say that I was not a fan of spiral wheel panning equipment because years ago I tested them and was not happy with the results. Well CAMEL MINING’S DESERT FOX has changed my mind. I was amazed at the flour gold it recovers and you never lose even the smallest piece. Which reminds me of my wife’s reaction to my concern about the flour gold, “Why are you so darn worried about those little pieces?” Well I tried to explain that most of the time that is all you get and you’re dang glad to get that just so you won’t get blanked sometimes. Also I told her “that mighty oaks grow from little acorns”. She told me that if I said that one more time she would raise an acorn on my head.
The Desert Fox is a compact lightweight unit that you can take anywhere. It weighs under 10 pounds and can be packed in the recycling tub. You can run 70 pounds of concentrates an hour through as easily as can be. It can be set up and running in minutes. The Desert Fox can be used as both a separator and a concentrator, but I liked concentrating my material before using it and just separating the gold from the concentrates.
The Desert Fox uses specific gravity differences between the gold and other materials, as most gold recovery devices, to separate the gold. The Desert Fox uses 7 leads as they have learned that this is the best combination of speed and accuracy that can be achieved for any wheel under 18 inches in diameter. The seven spirals or leads pick up the gold seven times per revolution and all 7 dumps the gold in the centre hole in less than 2 revolutions. According to Camel Mining, this makes the Desert Fox the fastest panning machine in its class. The Action Packer case serves dual purposes. First, it is a storage and travelling case and it is also a holding tank for your water supply and material if you want to recycle your water. The Desert Fox is designed to conserve water and will operate on just a few gallons of water. The only water lost is what you throw out with the tailings.
The Desert Fox is designed to be a fully self-contained panning machine and will operate on any small battery capable of about 4 amps output at 12 volts. It will actually operate on any 12-volt automotive battery or even a 35 watt solar panel.
The water pump is connected by a plug-in jack on the back of the drive unit and is powered only when the drive motor is operating which helps conserve battery power.
We found that setup was quick and simple. First, you take everything out of the case, then you just spread out the stand legs and place them back into the case, and secure them with wing nuts supplied with the unit. Then you drop the wheel into the slot and secure the spray bar to the front of the drive unit and tighten its wing nut and hang the collection cup in place. You’re now ready to go. Fill the case with enough water to at least cover the pump. I filled it to about two-thirds full and it worked fine. Hook up your battery cables to your power supply and turn it on and start getting that GOLD.
I can see why they call it the Desert Fox as it is perfect for cleaning your concentrates in places where water is a problem. When I do my next revision on my book How To Find Gold In The Desert I will recommend it as a good piece of equipment for the desert prospector. I know my wife will be happy to see me bring home a bottle of gold instead of another bucket of materials to store until I get around to washing them.
I was very pleased with the recovery of fine gold and it was great to know that if I did something like not hang up the gold recovery cup (which I did thanks to my three-year-old grandson Joey “helping me “) that I would not lose any gold. Just run your concentrates back through and there it is.
The owner’s manual is short and to the point and easy to understand. The video they provided was also a real help. But it is really such an easy to operate a piece of equipment that it is hard not to be a pro on it in a very short time.
Gold Miner Spiral Wheel vs Camel Mining Desert Fox Comparison Table
| Machine | Gold Miner Spiral Wheel | Camel Mining Desert Fox |
| Unit Capability | Starter Machine | Professional Quality |
| Wheel Speed | Single Speed | Single and Variable Speed Models |
| Test Sand with Gold | Not Included | Included |
| Wheel Placement | Non-Removeable | Removeable with Stand Included |
| Bearings | Sleeve Bearings | Double Shielded Ball Bearings |
| Tray Placement | Non-Removeable | Removeable Tray |
| Wheel Construction | Injection Molded | Double Wall Construction |
| Yield | 60 lbs. per Hour | 70 lbs. per Hour |
| Wheel Angle Adjust | Wing-Nut | Positive Lock |
| Warranty | 5 Year | 5 Year |
| Case | Rubbermaid Action Packer | Rubbermaid Action Packer |
Find the Desert Fox on Amazon Australia for $767
Listed below are some of the more important differences between the “Genuine” Desert Fox Spiral Panning Machine and the imitations.
| The Desert Fox has a folding stand so that it not only can be used in the Action Packer case with 3 gallons of water, it will also work in a stream with the pump furnishing water from the stream. It will also work in any tub or tray that will hold 3″ of water in case something happens to your Action Packer. The “copy-cats” build their machine into the Action Packer and that is the only way you can use it! |
| The Desert Fox has a very positive lock that prevents the pitch of the wheel from changing once you have selected the proper angle. All adjustments are simple and fast and there is no need for extra gadgets to secure your pitch angle. The “copy-cats” had so much trouble holding the pitch angle with a little wing-nut that they decided to include an extra “prop” that you must attach every time you use it. |
| The Desert Fox drive motor is mounted on the back of the gear box so that it can dry quickly and not be swamped by moisture in the housing. The “copy-cats” installed their motor inside the gear box and found out they had a big problem. Moisture build-up caused corrosion and motor failure. Instead of re-engineering the drive box, they punched holes in the Action Packer hoping it would help dry out the unit. That did not solve their problem. |
| The Desert Fox and all other Camel machines use double shielded sealed ball bearings. Most competitors use cheaper sleeve bearings. Since panning gold involves muddy, gritty water, which type would you rather have? |
| This cutaway shows the double wall construction of the Desert Fox spiral wheel. This strengthens the wheel so that will not warp. Other machines are single wall construction and subject to warping. If you leave your concentrates in the “copy-cat” wheel a little too long, you will be the proud owner of an egg-shaped spiral wheel. |
| This magnification shows the sharp spiral riffles in the Desert Fox wheel. If you look closely at the spiral riffles in a “copy-cat” machine, you will see they are rounded and not very sharp. |
| The Desert Fox tailings tray is made to fit directly under the wheel so that you can empty it easily using its handles. The “copy-cat” machine tray sits on the bottom of the Action Packer. |
| We pack a bag of practise sand containing real placer gold in every Desert Fox Gold Panning Machine we ship. This is so you can get acquainted with your new machine and prove to yourself how efficient and easy it is to use. |
Flakes, nuggets, flour gold… modern-day gold prospectors discover the glossy material in lots of types. But no matter the size or kind, having the proper gear makes gold retrieval more rewarding, simpler, and lots more fun!
It is mostly a finishing machine, after big gold-bearing gravel has gone through a sluice box or other concentrator used. Then you are prepared to make use of the Desert Fox once it is reduced down to concentrates. Here’s how:
The wheel begins to rotate and also water will spray from the spray bar. The gold will transfer toward the centre hub where it passes into a catch cup through a hollow rotating shaft. The Desert Fox regains an incredible quantity of flour gold so that you never lose even the lowest bits. The automatic coil panner is easy to utilize and you will readily become a specialist panner after just a couple of minutes!
Weighing under 10 pounds, including its robust folding stand (flexible to the pitch you want) storage and bath, the Desert Fox folds up and stores. Use it right outside of the bath, or remove it from the case and put it to use in a flow. Controls on any 12-volt automotive battery or maybe a 35-watt solar panel.
The Desert Fox Spiral Panner has really been a bestseller since 1969 and is created in the United States. It is accessible in Variable Speed or Continuous Speed and has a 5 year manufacturer’s limited warranty. Several accessories are also available like power supply, wall charger, and a back pack harness. The machine boats complete with a simple- to-comprehend owner’s manual, along with a bag of exercise sand containing genuine placer gold in order to get acquainted with your new machine at home before attempting it in the field.
