A friend and I recently tested one of Keene Engineering’s new multi-use mining machines. It is called the “MINI-MAX. Our tests proved it to be a capable and versatile mining tool and, in spite of its small size, it really gets the gold.
MAX is small, portable and especially lightweight for a mining machine. We powered it with an inexpensive rechargeable power-pack. Its water pump is a Johnson Controls 2200 GPH electric unit which moves a lot of water. You can vary the water volume by adjusting the flow valve on the sluice intake. MAX has a processing and recovery sluice equipped with KEENE’s rubber riffle matting and it comes with a couple of different screens for both course and fine material.
| It took only minutes to setup MAX alongside the banks of a small mountain creek. The four supporting steel legs are adjustable for uneven terrain and the nifty brackets allow the legs to fold up alongside the lower sluice box. When collapsed, MAX is an amazingly small and lightweight unit, quick to assemble and easy operate. It made quick work classifying the buckets of cons that we dug from the bottom of the stream. With the many cool features packaged in a single mining machine I can’t think of a single reason why I wouldn’t want one of these tools with me on every future outing. MAX proved to be everything that I didn’t expect it to be. |
