The “Martin” Multi-Helix Spiral Concentrator was first developed in the mid 1970’s by William R. Martin, a brilliant inventor and gold miner. While commercial mining on the banks of the Yuba River, Bill experienced the typical problems associated with separating gold from the black sand concentrate. In those days, the only viable methods and gold recovery equipment available to separate fine gold were finishing sluices, concentrating tables, mercury amalgamation and hand panning. In Bill's case, it was a family operation and they would all pan the concentrate from the sluice at the end of the day. After a year of panning, Bill was convinced there was be a better way and set out to solve the gold recovery problem. It took two years but after several gold recovery equipment prototypes and exhaustive trial and error, his innovative "tube spiral" design was perfected - and the Multi-Helix Spiral Concentrator was born. And it was a real killer! Once in operation on Bill’s mine, other local miners witnessed the Spiral's efficiency and wanted one for themselves. So, Bill started up his company, Tri-R Engineering and began to manufacture and sell the Multi-Helix Spiral to the public. Within a year, demand was to the point where he put his modest gold mining venture aside and dedicated his time to produce and distribute the Multi-Helix Spiral and other innovative gold recovery equipment. In 1982, Bill's daughter married Paul Clift, a third generation placer miner from Yuba County. Bill and his new son-in-law who eventually became shop foreman and chief designer/fabricator, continued with the business over the following years, shipping over 2,000 Helix Spirals worldwide, many to Junior and Major mining companies, some of which are still in operation today! Bill and Paul also designed and manufactured other specialized gold recovery equipment, always with the same concept of building a better mouse trap. Paul was an inventor in his own right and between the two of them, they designed an entire line of innovative ore processing plants and development the industries first Horizontal Low-G Centrifuge. Tri-R Engineering manufactured and sold ore processing plants all over the US and Canada, and other parts of the world such as Africa, South America and Asia. However, in the mid 1980’s, the price of gold had dropped and interest in gold mining declined substantially. Bill went on to other things but Paul never lost his passion for mining and moved to Costa Rica to mine gold in the remote Osa Peninsula.

Oro Industries

Ppresent day, gold prices are up once again and there is renewed interest in gold mining worldwide. Oro Industries Ltda. was founded by Paul Clift and his new partner to meet this demand and continue with the same ingenuity and relentless effort to build a better mousetrap. Oro Industries has reintroduced the Helix Spiral and other specialized gold recovery equipment for international sales and distribution. The Helix Spiral is currently being sold in parts of Central and South America and Asia from our Costa Rica operation and is now being offered in the US and Canada based out of Yuba County California. Yuba County is home of the world famous Yuba Gold Fields, the largest certified alluvial ore body in the world, and now testing grounds for the next generation of highly specialized gold recovery equipment.