Sluicing Help

[angermd]

Hello all. I've been panning for fun for a little bit, but I decided to get a sluice to run some more material (Keene A51). I'm a relatively new gold prospector and particularly new to sluicing. I've been reading up on the correct amount of water flow, drop angle, and feeding rate, but I'm still not sure I'm doing it right. I was wondering if there was anyone who would be able to post a video with a properly running sluice with correct water flow, drop angle, and feed rate (I think the flow over the riffles and the water height in the sluice would be most useful for me to get a sense of). I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

 

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[keverett]

It is a matter of personal preference. Some like the water moving fast, so the material clears out quickly.....some like to run slower. Good rule of thumb is 1" drop per 1' of sluice box you have. So your A51 is roughly 4 feet, so a 4 inch drop from the mouth of the sluice to the end. Check youtube for different ideas. Here is a video of a sluice running.



Good luck and Happy hunting!

KEverett

 

[DanB]

Hey.....with a small box like that and the volume of flow.......I would seriously consider pre-soaking your dirt.....mix it until it is soupy then pour that mixture into your sluice box....this will help to prevent blowing out the fine gold while it releases from the dirt, since it has a short distance to travel.......you will notice a larger amount of gold recovered with the same amount of dirt washed...

good luck and HH

db

 

[TerryC]

That's a very good video above.The only thing wrong with the A51 (in the video) is the end clamps, holding the riffles and carpet in place, do not allow you to pull it off while the end of the sluice is in a recovery bucket. The stuff must be rotated off the sluice first. Either alter the A51 or purchase the kind of sluice that allows you to back the riffles off while in the bucket. Hope this helps some. TTC

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi there, I always pre classify my material before putting it through my box by using a sieve bucket set up I made. Why carry a bucket of material to your box that is going to more than half full of useless bigger rocks & stones that you are just going to discard any way. You may as well carry a bucket full of more concentrated gold bearing material. Sieving it also wets the material which otherwise would float a bit when it first hits the water into your box.
My box is quite a short box as well & great for backpacking to remote areas. Another advantage of pre classifying material is that you dont need a strong flow of water to wash the material on down & out the box. The only reason a stronger flow is needed is to wash on the bigger rocks if you havnt classified. This will reduce your fine gold recovery so I am a fan of keeping water flow down to where it is just enough to wash on the pre classified material which helps heaps in fine gold recovery.

JW

 

[Astrobouncer]

One way I check to see if I am using the sluice right is I look for the eddy/torrent of swirling material behind the riffles. If the material looks like its doing loops then I am usually good. Sometimes setting the sluice up right to do this though can take me a lot longer than any other part of the operation, particularly if the water is slow and I cant find a decent slope.

JW on that classifying bucket you got there how big are those holes you drilled?

 

[DanB]

Way to go......looks like you got the gold....and lots of fines too, now that's how you do it........dig..dig..dig..wash wash...=...more gold.... a set of sieving screens on top of that bucket would sure help...

HH
db

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi Guys, Yes you need to get that dancing, fibrating shuffling action happening between the riffles. Holes in the bucket are 10mm. I think sieving screens at this stage would slow the operation down too much. That is best done later. Time in the field is best spent getting the good stuff. Plenty of other time to sort out the fines & concentrates.

Happy hunting

JW