Besides a pan and classifier

[advhtgac]

After you buy a pan and some clasifiers whats the next best piece of equipment to get. I just started prospecting in Michigan, haven't found anything yet but a friend I met on the internet sent me 2 bags of dirt from his claim in Arizona and I found gold in both so I think I'm panning the dirt out right. I'm going to Georgia next month and would like to try down there. Was thinking of a sluice but don't know how hard they are to use or what kind.

 

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[kuger]

Sluices really speed things up and allow you to work more volume which you want.Not hard,just get your angle and water flow right.Le Trap is plastic and light(and good),and there are several others on the market,I use Keenes and they will last a lifetime.Classify before you run through the sluice,then pan your concentrates when done.

 

[kiwi jw]

Yep.... Sluice box is the next step & from there you will go to your first highbanker or maybe even a dedge. If you get a sluice box you could keep in mind getting a box that you can add a highbanker/dredge combo unit to at a later date. Or make your own.

I then made a wooden header box to fit the sluice box that I could run a 2" suction hose into

Crevicing tools & hand suction pumps will come in very handy too. These you can easily make your self.

Happy olding

Kiwi JW

 

[Stryker_FO]

ya I would suggest a sluice at first before you even start dredging since its a huge jump in equipment..


And once you get setup there are always things like the Spiral Panners.. ( great time savers imho) and also the blue Bowl and tons of other pieces out there


but first start with a sluice and if you want to upgrade from there you can buy the attachments or make them yourself like the pics above to upgrade.... but once you learn its a blast and the fabricating and experiments will never stop and then you will have tons of fun making new ways to figure out how to get that ever elusive gold ....

 

[rmptr]

A long tom sluice is the next thing to build.... and you can build one out of wood only.

You don't really need the fancy metal bent up ones... Sutter didn't have one!

A wooden sluice can be rinsed into a rectangle plastic tub used for mixing mortar.
They are less than 10 bucks... everywhere.

Also can use restaurant bus trays... the plastic bins about 24 x 36 x 12 high.

When you get tired of your wooden sluice you can burn it in a campfire and pan the ashes.

Buckets. Get lots of buckets with wire bail handles... painter's 5gal buckets.
Invaluable for sampling and carting reduced tailings around.

The sniffer/sniper is a great idea, too!
You can clean out cracks with a longer narrow nozzle on it, or you can work it down below the overburden and get down to the bedrock where the good stuff is..

Gonna be a fun summer!

Best
rmptr