Building up my quiver of sluices

[agolddigger]

Hey all!

Currently I have no sluice since my Bazooka super mini never arrived Ended up filing for a refund through CC company.

My plan is to have 2 sluices, one that's lightweight/portable & another for higher flow production. Looking for some input on which sluices I should go with.

Production:
Unless a Bazooka Prospector pops up on craigslist I'll probably be getting a gold hog stream sluice. I need something that catches flour gold & requires no classification. The other option I'm considering here is a CalSluice if anyone here has experience with them - seems to work pretty similarly to a bazooka.

Backpacking/sampling:
I want something that can work fairly well in low flow situations & is also lightweight/easy to fit into a backpack for long hikes.

Here are the options I'm considering for the small sluice:

• Angus MacKirk - Expedition
• Angus MacKirk - Foreman II
• Angus MacKirk - Recon II
• Le Trap - River Robber
• Aurora Mining Products - Recon or Expedition

Does anyone have experience with the two fluid bed sluices mentioned - CalSluice or AMP?

Currently I'm leaning towards getting the gold hog for production & AM Expedition for more mobility.

If I go the AM route I also can't decide between Foreman & Expedition. The double flair looks like a nice feature for fine gold recovery but it seems like the Foreman is slightly too big to cleanup into a 5 gallon bucket which is a little annoying. Recon is also an option but will probably move a lot less paydirt than either of these I'd imagine.

 

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[goldenmojo]

My mining bud previously had a calsluice. He always overshoveled onto it and it processed the material well even in low flow. They are built sturdy. I just used a GH streamsluice last week and was impressed with it. Super Sturdy. Two of us tossed shovel loads of unclassified material onto the flair from up to 10' away. Whoever was closest to it had to clear the fist sized cobble off when it piled as we were running it flat. With running it fast and flat it held the gold well for as much bashing as it received. It was easy to setup and easy to clean out. I am going to be investing in one this season for when the water gets low here. Some friends I prospected with around Christmas had a small amp. I would suggest either the calsluice or the goldhog.

 

[agolddigger]

My mining bud previously had a calsluice. He always overshoveled onto it and it processed the material well even in low flow. They are built sturdy. I just used a GH streamsluice last week and was impressed with it. Super Sturdy. Two of us tossed shovel loads of unclassified material onto the flair from up to 10' away. Whoever was closest to it had to clear the fist sized cobble off when it piled as we were running it flat. With running it fast and flat it held the gold well for as much bashing as it received. It was easy to setup and easy to clean out. I am going to be investing in one this season for when the water gets low here. Some friends I prospected with around Christmas had a small amp. I would suggest either the calsluice or the goldhog.

Thanks! Think the AMP is worth it for scenarios with very low water flow/poor access or would you go with something else?

 

[Goldfleks]

Gold hog sluice gives you mats for both if $ isn't an issue.

 

[agolddigger]

Gold hog sluice gives you mats for both if $ isn't an issue.

I am leaning towards that for production mostly for that reason - a little more versatility.

Half the time or more I'll be backpacking/sampling though so I need a smaller sluice too. Planning to buy the smaller one now and get the other later in the season. Much less decided on what I want to do for the little one.

 

[Goldfleks]

Can always just use your pan for sampling and if you find an area worth going into production mode you can pack in the sluice. The more you sample pan, the more you realise you can reduce a bucket pretty quickly to concentrates. Finish panning is what takes the mose time.

 

[goldenmojo]

agolddigger I don't want to start a bash amp war here like I have seen on other threads so I will keep it simple and to my opinion. I have seen two of them in action that my friend owns. The one with the wings on it he brought out over Christmas. He likes it and thats good for him. The way I block and anchor an angled abs sluice into place does not work with that particular winged sluice so for me it would not be a choice. Any lightweight drop riffle sluice will catch gold for you and are easy cleanouts. You just need to figure out how you are going to use it so you pick the size will work and pack the best. I usually just pan low flow samplings as I can pan faster than hauling and feeding material. Good luck with your choice.

 

[djm0836]

I have an AM explorer love it catches small Michigan gold. Before winter I got the amp recon I find myself using the fluid bed more just because I can process more material then with the mackirk. Both are great

 

[agolddigger]

I have an AM explorer love it catches small Michigan gold. Before winter I got the amp recon I find myself using the fluid bed more just because I can process more material then with the mackirk. Both are great

Do you classify before using the AMP or just toss it in?

 

[johnedoe]

It's always better to do some classifying ... make yourself a grizzly that will roll off anything bigger than a half inch....
Anytime you have large material bashing it's way down your sluice it is going to dislodge smaller material.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Do you classify before using the AMP or just toss it in?

They (AMP) suggest classifying but there's no good reason to from what I saw in my testing of heir sluice. The gold ends up in a lower chamber so stuff bouncing around on top would only help that gold settle deeper into the catch chamber...a good thing!

 

[delnorter]

Aurora Mining Products and Fossickers.com have joined companies to create Snake River Products.

Mike

 

[johnedoe]

My bad..... was thinking of a conventional sluice.. not a AMP fluid bed.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I have an AMP sluice, it needs lots of fast water to keep its trap fluid. It needs more water flow than my big bazooka sluice. I don't recommend it. I had high hopes that it would work well for backpacking into some high mountain streams but no go, it needs river flow.

 

[agolddigger]

I have an AMP sluice, it needs lots of fast water to keep its trap fluid. It needs more water flow than my big bazooka sluice. I don't recommend it. I had high hopes that it would work well for backpacking into some high mountain streams but no go, it needs river flow.

Good to know!

At this point I'm set on my sluices, thank you all for the input.

My final choices:

• Angus MacKirk Foreman II - purchasing later this week at the local prospecting store
• GoldHog Stream Sluice - buying later in the season when I have more $$

Heard from a few sources while doing research that the AMP requires pretty hefty water flow which doesn't meet my main requirement for my smaller sluice. For the Angus MacKirks I decided to go with a newer model (not the expedition) since I like the design better even though I'm not a huge fan of the dimensions (it doesn't fit in a 5 gal bucket).

Between these two sluices I feel like I'll be in pretty good shape for most scenarios I'd encounter.