Recirculating Sluice Ideas?

[Maitland]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to put together a recirculating sluice before this summer arrives, but I'm not really sure on what to use. Here's what I've been thinking for a setup:

• Keene A52
• RDH 10" header box
• Replace the standard A52 black matting with Gold Hog Razorback matting that goes from first riffle up to header box
• 1,500-1,800GPH pump
• A few plastic totes/some PVC/etc.

I can't seem to get a straight answer if a Keene A52 is good for fine gold recovery or not, I've read several mixed reviews on that. Probably 75% or so of the gold I'll be processing will be fine gold, once in a while I'll find pickers and decent flakes. Does a setup like what I mentioned sound decent for what I need? Or does anyone have any other suggestions (for components, or for a ready-to-go recirculating sluice from some kind of reputable fabricator)?

Curious to see what you guys have to say.
Thanks!

 

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[SHoward]

Gold buddy has what they call a power sluice header box that will fit your keene sluice. The one I have came with an 1-1/2 hose connection.

 

[Maitland]

Thanks for the input, SHoward, I don't own a Keene A52 at this point but am debating getting one for this recirculating sluice project. I take it that you have a Keene A52? Does it do well for getting fine gold/dust?

 

[SHoward]

actually I have a Jobe yellow Jacket but I have used the keene.
The Keene and Jobe/Gold Buddy do an excellent job here in Alabama where flour gold is the norm. All the gold has always been in the upper 1/3 of the sluice so I don't believe we've been missing much if any gold. My brother has the keene and we are both happy with the results of both.
The Jobe is made a little lighter weight than the keene but that hasn't been a problem at all in the 3 yrs I've had it.
BTW Jobe is now sold under the Gold Buddy name.
Jobe has an extension that bolts on to add components like a dredge crash box, the power sluice header and the highbanker hopper. It adds about 10" to the sluice, you don't have to have it to mount any of the attachments but I recommend it, it moves the components back from over the first matt in the sluice and makes clean outs a lot easier.
I have all of the above mentioned components and they all work great.

 

[titan100]

Hey M, I run a keene 52 as a recirculation set up in So. Cal lots of fine gold here and it gets it. I run it stock with moss ruffles and expanded metal. Water is fed thru homemade spray bar set up across the flare. I have panned my buckets of run off and really have found nothing the sluice missed. I have read what others have posted about matting and the guys on here are seasoned and know what they are talking about I just don't have funds to upgrade. I also use a 30 gallon tote with a 1500 gph pump. Good luck.

 

[specksandflecks]

Drop riffle sluice works well for fine gold. AM or Letrap are popular choices. Sounds like you will be hand classifying? You might try contacting Pro-mack mining about a Letrap setup.

In some of their photos/videos they show a pretty slick setup with a Letrap on a metal stand being fed by a custom weir made specifically for it. Water is supplied to the weir from below. I don't know if they offer this for sale, I couldn't find it on their site.

 

[Maitland]

SHoward and titan100, thank you both for the input in regard to the Keene A52 and using it for fine gold. I'm not 100% certain yet if the Keene A52 is the way I'm going to go or not, but I'm glad to know that I can consider it an option in regard to what I'm going to build.

specksandflecks, I had actually watched this video you posted in another thread regarding the Le Trap. It looks like it does an excellent job for fine gold, so that's an option I could consider too, the only thing I don't like about it is that it's "just a piece of plastic" pretty much and it would be a little more extra work in trying to setup a base and stand for it. Yes, I usually hand classify, 1/2" and sometimes 1/4". Even by classifying with a 1/2" screen, I've been able to get gold so fine that it floats when it's disturbed in my pan.

I was messing around on Angus MacKirk's website earlier today, and found out that they make a recirculating sluice/highbanker. It's called the "Dry Gulch/Dry Gultch" and looks like this:

The only reason I thought I'd post this one was because I've heard a lot of good things about Angus MacKirk's products, although I personally have never used anything made by them, and I have also had a hard time trying to find any reviews of anyone using the "Dry Gulch" made by Angus MacKirk.

Overall, I'm still leaning towards my original idea of using an A52. I always save my concentrates, so perhaps for the very-fine stuff I could make a little miller table at some point down the road.

I appreciate any and all input in this thread, as I have not yet purchased anything for making a recirculating setup. I'm just trying to get some ideas into my head so that I have a better idea of what I want to set up before this summer arrives.

 

[bubb1981]

This is my setup. And im using a keene a52 and a rdh power sluice header and a 4500gph sewage pump.

 

[Maitland]

Thank you for your post, bubb1981! Your setup is just about identical to what I was thinking of doing myself, with perhaps about 10-12" of some Gold Hog matting from the header box to the first rifle. A lot of the recirculating setups I've seen have two tubs, do you notice your water staying pretty clean with your pump submerged in that third tub? It also looks like you removed the carpet and put in some more ribbed matting in your sluice? If you could post a few more pictures of your setup, I'd certainly be interested in seeing them. I take it that yours does pretty well for fine gold, also?

 

[socalal99]

I have the exact same setup you have: A52 with RDH header box. I find it works well, but the real challenge is dealing with all the clay and silt that gets into the water. Some places with a lot of clay are too much for recirculating. I have tried multiple tubs, filters, etc, with limited success. My best advice is carry lots and lots and lots of water.

 

[bubb1981]

Your welcome. Im using all gold hog matting and I love them. Yeah the water stays a little cleaner with the third tub. But if you do something like my setup use 3" pipe going to each tub. Yes with the gold hog it catches really fine gold.

 

[bubb1981]

 

[bubb1981]

 

[specksandflecks]

Have you considered a dry washer? That might be a better option if its a really dry area and water is precious scarce. You could run a small recirc for your DW cons but you might be able to process more material with DW. Save your precious water for cons?
The least amount of water might be something like a small trommel and a jig?

Sediment heavy recirc might not be so good with Letrap. I Might consider something like a popandsons sluice for that situation. Very effective for small gold and probably your most inexpensive option depending on distance from materials and tools. It's kind of a shame to pack in a good bit of gear and still have to hand classify, though that all depends on your goals I guess.

 

[SHoward]

Don't forget to check out the Gold Cube, It will take a 5 gal bucket of cons down to a 1 lb coffee can and it does not lose gold.

 

[Maitland]

Sorry for the late response here, it's been a little while since I last checked this thread. I know a drywasher wouldn't work very well because of the moisture in the soil here, there are a few places here where (historically) they have used rocker boxes but I don't seem to see very much talk or mention of those these days, I assume they're a pain in the neck to deal with. I've seen the Gold Cube before and I know it's gotten pretty good reviews, but since it's designed for cons I need something to help process material for the step before that.

I am still considering my original idea: an A52 with a headerbox and whatnot. My only problem is I don't really know what I should use for a pump. A friend from my local prospecting club told me 1,500-1,800 GPH is going to be way to low for an A52 sluice box. I did a little bit of research on it and I believe he's totally correct. I think ideally I want at least a 4,500 GPH pump. I did find a 120V 1/2HP sewage pump from Harbor Freight. Does anyone have experience with these, and would it work good for a recirculating sluice setup? I'd like to stay away from anything gas powered because I live in a nice, quiet neighborhood and I don't want to be "that guy" who's waking everybody up at 6AM because he wants to run his recirculating sluice box, so ideally an electric pump would work a lot better for me.

 

[bubb1981]

Thats the same pump im using and it works great. If your going to do a recirculating system similar to mine i would go with 3" pipe.

 

[Maitland]

Thank you, bubb, that is good to know! I appreciate all of your posts in this thread and really like your setup. Just out of curiosity, how big of a difference does having miner's moss in the first riffle sections make instead of having carpet underneath the whole way through? I've always been a fan of carpet because it's worked quite well in my other sluice, but I've never used miner's moss.

 

[bubb1981]

Your welcome. Ive never used minners moss but i herd it clogs up faster ive used carpet and it worked fine for me. But i went to gold hog mats and love them. But i just set up another old sluice i had with miracle mat from keene and some vortex mat i get from my shop with the riffles and that works good with that 4500gph pump

 

[Maitland]

Thanks again, Bubb. The reason I am curious about the miner's moss (other than having never used it before) is because the local prospecting club has a like-new Keene A52 with stands for sale for a fair price and the money would go to a good cause also. I'm just kind of weary about the first two riffle areas being miner's moss and not carpet. I was planning on putting the Gold Hog matting in also but only from the header box down to before the first riffle. Perhaps I'm a little better off going with a stock A52 with carpet as opposed to the miner's moss that the one for sale within the club has.