Sluice Help Please

[Bumpstick]

I have been having some problem in running my new sluice box.
Ok for reference when I classifie down a pan full of material I get about 1 table spoon of black/bronze sand.
When I run the same classified material through the sluice do my clean up and take my concentrates home I get Zipped.
Can some one set me straight on what I am doing wrong when running material through the sluice box.
To much water flow? I classified the base down to remove pee size gravel to help the sluice perform.

 

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[EggyOG]

Level usually doesn't work. Just get some water going thru it and either increase the drop or increase the water flow until your material starts moving. Remember, you are not trying to separate the gold from all the material, you are trying to concentrate a bucket of material into a few cups of material. We always look for the V going into the top of the box from the header. If you can see a V of raised water extending into the top of the header five or six inches, it is usually a good set-up for Wisconsin gold.

 

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[Gelmac]

a DFS or a (Popandson) would work really well for this type of gold. Remember to dial the sluice to your own type of material .

 

[specksandflecks]

What size are you screening to? Of course smaller screens are better for smaller gold but classifying #12 is a lost faster than #20 so it's kind of a trade off.

Blue bowl's are great, but they are slow. I used mine all the time when I mined. You probably don't want to be running more than a cup or 2 of classified concentrated material though, takes a while.

If you can modify your sluice to the Popandson specs and classify to 10-12 mesh you should get at least decent recovery. Maybe most inexpensive option?

-Really for that small gold you want some type of low profile or drop riffles IMO. Any of the types mentioned and probably a couple others.

-Classify as close to your gold size as you determine reasonably possible.

-Think thin flat laminar flow, low energy,low turbulence.

The more control you have over the amount of water going through your sluice, the more control you will have over the gold going through it. You might consider some kind of small pump.

This is some -20 concentrate being reduced down from 2-3 gallons to 1-2 cups in my Letrap. With decent classification and water flow control you can see how easily the gold starts to collect.

I wish it didn't collect there where the sluice transitions, but the gold don't care. It openly defies me.

Since these are concentrates I'm running a little more aggressive than if it were non concentrated material.



Reminded me, getting higher recoveries on smaller gold usually means you initially end up with a little more material just because you are trying to hold on to all that finer material.

 

[Bonaro]

Hand panning will always be the most efficient way to prospect. With a pan you can 100% control of classification, feed rate etc. A blue bowl is very efficient but painfully slow. A sluice is actually not very efficient for fine gold because people tend to feed by throwing shovel fulls of dirt at it. Careful classification like you are doing helps but you will still have losses. What you need is something that is efficient at fine gold but faster than panning.

If all the gold is fine and there are no particles larger than table salt (about 15 mesh) then I suggest you classify to 10 mesh and toss the oversize. Buy or build a Gold Cube, Black magic sluice or miller table and get after it

 

[specksandflecks]

Agree 100% with panning for prospecting/sampling. And oh how my sample pans have gotten smaller and smaller.


-Have you given up on the S Umpqua these days? Used to read your posts at old forum for all the good SU info..

 

[kevin1]

You didn't mention what type of sluice you have, so I'll presume it has Hungarian riffles such as the A-52, and that is a poor choice for the glacial deposits that you're working. A fluid bed or drop riffle style sluice would be a better choice, depending on the flow you're working with. I use a drop riffle here in Indiana, which has the same type of deposits that you have in Wisconsin. Most of the creeks here are low flow, so the drop riffle has the advantage.

 

[Reed Lukens]

When Gelmac brings a thread back to life, you guys need to look at the date. This is from 2008, long long ago.

 

[Bumpstick]

Wow you are right. That was when I first moved and started to hunt here in Wisconsin.
There is no easy way to extract that yellow talcum powder out of the streams up here.
I find a hot spot with my detector; scoop up some material and carry it home to clean up in my leisure.
Well I am at it I thought I would show you the mods I made to my sluice box.
Some ribbed mat on the top section then added some miners moss in the lower part.
I was going to cut out a rifel on the top and one more on the bottom.
Slow the water flow down .

 

[Gelmac]

When Gelmac brings a thread back to life, you guys need to look at the date. This is from 2008, long long ago.

I forgot to mention the old thread notice but it is obvious if you look at the post date

 

[huntsman53]

I forgot to mention the old thread notice but it is obvious if you look at the post date

It's all good if the O.P. (original poster or starter of the Thread) backs you up by responding after you which he did, LOL!!!


Frank