Which Riffles Work Best in the Sluice Box?

[WildernessAU]

This may seem like a simple question however, it is not!
Not all gravels are created equal. This is my 4th riffle reconfiguration in this dredge.
The trouble is that I have an abundance of flour gold and an overwhelming amount of pea gravel
and larger magnetite that plugs up nearly all riffles.
The other area this dredge operates in has even finer gold and the most fine black sands I have ever seen.
Keep in mind this is a 5" dredge with a massive amount of water flowing through the box.

What would you put in here? To me, it looks like a few hungarians with expanded metal over moss is the way to go.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Reed Lukens]

The best -

How to build an over/ under dredge conversion

Here is a good way to build yourself an over under conversion for your dredge. It doesn’t really matter what brand you are building it for. Mine is a Proline and it works great. I built the over under so that I could run my 4” dredge with a 9hp Honda with the Proline HP500 pump maxed out for the...

www.treasurenet.com

 

[WildernessAU]

That is a really nice box Reed!
I got a whole bunch of gold hog mat for pretty much free so am doing some testing with it.
From what I have seen with my own testing and other setups, none of the new molded mats are suitable for primary recovery in any dredge larger than 2".

 

[RTR]

A good way to test your sluice.....Get 20 assorted size lead shot .....Flatten them with a hammer....Place them in your sluice with the material your running....Run the sluice as you normally would for 5-10 minutes....Then pan the material and count the lead shot to see if it has 'Captured' 20...

 

[Reed Lukens]

That is a really nice box Reed!
I got a whole bunch of gold hog mat for pretty much free so am doing some testing with it.
From what I have seen with my own testing and other setups, none of the new molded mats are suitable for primary recovery in any dredge larger than 2".

If you go to 14minutes in the dredge video, it explains the cut angle iron undercurrent system. That by far, works the best because those wing dams can hold all of the fines. I may do that to my 4" this year now that I'm back in a gold mining friendly state.

 

[russau]

When I was still dredging ,I traveled around a LOT to different places / states so I made various riffle sections that spaced the riffles spacing / heights / angle /and different hole dia'.s for my punch plate classifier's . Each state /creek /stream I went to varied a little bit so that's why I made different set up's for different condition's for the stream. It was very convenient to do this at home rather than in a different location. It appears to me that you need to possibly do a couple of things to stop that loading of the riffles. 1) smaller classification screens and then run those cons separately. 2) slow or speed up the water flow to help clear the mat's . Run another sluice box parallel to your current sluice to help slow the water for your finer gold , and to have a place for the smaller screened material to go. I tried to set my sluices up to trap the finer gold (Mid-west fine gold) and IF I ever got a small picker , it would handle by itself ! You have what it's gonna take to get that fine gold ,knowledge/experience /location ! GOOD LUCK ! I wish I could be there with you! BUT....................

 

[N-Lionberger]

I set mine up like shown in Reeds video with the little wing dams on expanded metal. I run two sizes of expanded metal the bigger at the upper end over deep V ribbed rubber, the lower end has a smaller mesh expanded over unbacked veranda carpet and ribbed rubber.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I went with the deep V under expanded based on a Dave Mack video lemme look for it

 

[N-Lionberger]

 

[Oregon Viking]

That is a really nice box Reed!
I got a whole bunch of gold hog mat for pretty much free so am doing some testing with it.
From what I have seen with my own testing and other setups, none of the new molded mats are suitable for primary recovery in any dredge larger than 2".

There are gold hog mats for commercial operations.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Gold Hog | Modern Gold Prospecting Equipment

Gold Hog's high-tech gold prospecting equipment, devices, and tools have made it easy for modern-day prospectors to increase their chances of finding gold.

www.goldhog.com

 

[Reed Lukens]

I have a friend that started building dredges with that same style screen classification that made a great living on the Bear River below Colfax, above the red ball markers for decades probably 30+ years ago now... His custom dredges were fantastic.

As far as Gold Hog goes, personally... it works, but it doesn't take the place of simple expanded over miners moss. I've ran it for years now and it's easy to clean, but for me, I get better recovery by mixing my box up. I prefer Dream Mat over Gold Hog in smaller boxes like my GoldFox Extreme, but when I have the room... a little gold hog followed by a little Dream Mat up top followed by Miners moss with different grades of expanded the rest of the way down the box works for me. In my over/ under set up, most of the gold drops thru the screen and stops right there in the head of the box with 1/2" expanded over deep V before the water starts speeding up as it travels down the box into the miners moss. The Dream Mat handles faster water great, where the Gold Hog gets scoured out, so I'm always going more aggressive as the water speeds up going down the sluice. That's why I run a bit of Gold Hog up top, then the Dream Mat, then the moss and expanded. The more that you change it up, the better your recovery possibilities.

 

[Rick-SAR]

A good way to test your sluice.....Get 20 assorted size lead shot .....Flatten them with a hammer....Place them in your sluice with the material your running....Run the sluice as you normally would for 5-10 minutes....Then pan the material and count the lead shot to see if it has 'Captured' 20...

i have use shot for years (i call them Markers). I use number 8 shot, pounded flat and painted in fluorescent orange. I then cut them in 1/2", 1/4" size pieces - the 1/4" ones tell you if you are set up right to find flour gold (200 microns or so) then . I find if I am looking at a ripple tray, in either a wet sluice or a drywasher, i have a good chance to see them while the trays are running. I usully use 3 in a run. Shure tells you right away if your system is setup right. Also, if can see them in thr first few ripples (during or during cleanup) your angle of the tray and water flow in wet sluice is about right. Same idea for a drywasher tray. I have had times while in the field that i think i must be missing somthing as i am finding no colors in a good area useing Markers lets you know its not your equipment.

 

[Rick-SAR]

A good way to test your sluice.....Get 20 assorted size lead shot .....Flatten them with a hammer....Place them in your sluice with the material your running....Run the sluice as you normally would for 5-10 minutes....Then pan the material and count the lead shot to see if it has 'Captured' 20...

i have use shot for years (i call them Markers). I use number 8 shot, pounded flat and painted in fluorescent orange. I then cut them in 1/2", 1/4" size pieces - the 1/4" ones tell you if you are set up right to find flour gold (200 microns or so) then . I find if I am looking at a ripple tray, in either a wet sluice or a drywasher, i have a good chance to see them while the trays are running. I usully use 3 in a run. Shure tells you right away if your system is setup right. Also, if can see them in thr first few ripples (during or during cleanup) your angle of the tray and water flow in wet sluice is about right. Same idea for a drywasher tray. I have had times while in the field that i think i must be missing somthing as i am finding no colors in a good area useing Markers lets you know its not your equipment. Rick Goodman

 

[Red_desert]

I've seen double screen classifier setup instructions before on a homemade 2" dredge.