Proline Mining Equipment

Many years of research and development, along with decades of invaluable dredging experience, have gone into the Proline dredges of today. Proline understands the importance of performance, as well as reliability, serviceability, weight, appearance, and cost. It was with all of those criteria in mind that they developed their line of dredges.

All of the Proline dredges are "flair" dredges. The flair dredges are easily distinguished from the dredges that use a hopper, in that they incorporate a large expansion chamber or "flair," which is located between the dredge's power jet and the sluice box.

There are several advantages that come from this design. The flair's rapid expansion causes all dredged materials to slow down and begin to spread out before reaching the sluice box for more even particle distribution. The configuration of the flair dredge allows the sluice box to sit much closer to water level, improving power and efficiency.

The result of this design is greater suction power, less horsepower required for operation, fewer rock jams, and improved recovery of finer gold particles.

Proline has always used the finest quality cross-link polyethylene plastic in their flotation. It has proven to be one of the toughest materials available, as it is very U.V. resistant and maintains its pliability much longer than some other types of plastic currently being used. All Proline pontoons have stainless steel inserts cast into them which makes for easy assembly and maximum strength.

The recovery systems in Proline dredges are always under constant development. Although the changes are not always apparent, their results have been rewarding. Critical attention has been directed at riffle profile, and placement of the riffles.

Naturally, each size of dredge has its own unique requirements which have to be addressed when fine tuning the system for optimum performance.

Many hours of classifier testing eventually led to the design now found in all Proline flair dredges. The highly acclaimed "wave" classifier is unique in that it creates a pulsing or "jigging" action similar to that which is found in many large mining operations. This allows the heavier values to settle out much sooner, while at the same time working the lighter material out of the sluice box, constantly enriching the concentrates.

The Proline system not only provides the highest gold recovery, but it is much lighter and easier to work with than the cumbersome triple sluice and multi-stage designs offered by others.

One major problem associated with all gold dredges over the years has been the far too frequent rock jams in the dredging hose, particularly at the power jet. On conventional dredge designs, the steel power jet slips inside the hose, creating a restriction and many plugs in the process.

All 3" and larger Proline dredges utilize Proline's exclusive "sure flow" coupler to essentially eliminate all surface rock jams. This system, when coupled to their one piece jet-flair assembly not only eliminates much downtime clearing the hose, but will generally outlast conventional steel power jets by 400% or more.

Finally, a word about the construction of Proline equipment. All of the steel parts are plated for corrosion resistance as well as good looks, and we use only high quality hardware when assembling our products. The aircraft grade aluminum is completely TIG welded, as is all of the steel components for maximum strength.