Sluice question

[jet747]

Hello everyone. New guy here. New to prospecting and new to the site . Very cool site with good info. So I moved to NH a year or so ago and I figured I would give prospecting a try along with my son. Now I know that NH is not the best place for gold but my son and I both love the outdoors and I figured what better way to spend some quality time together then out in one of the beautiful NH rivers. We went out for the first time a week or so ago with a shovel, bucket, classifier, and a gold pan. I would like to say we found a lot of gold but that was not the case. I found out real quick that just panning does not seem to be a very effective means of getting gold. Dont get me wrong gold pans are great for catching gold, but for moving a lot of material not very effective. So I decided a sluice is what we need, then we can pan out the concentrates. So today I ordered a sluice, it is the Angus Mac "Foreman". My question about this sluice is can it be used effectively in fast moving bigger rivers or is it better used in smaller creeks? Should I have gone with something like the keene A51 for the bigger rivers? Im told most of the gold in NH is very fine gold and from what Ive read this sluice works good for fine gold. Thanks guys. Hope to catch some gold and post some pics next week when we get out again .

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[Goodyguy]

You will have to find a place to situate your sluice where the water is not moving so fast as to wash out the fine gold. Classification is the key and the finer the material being run the slower the water flow needs to be no matter which sluice you use.

What size is your classifier? You need to classify your material at least down to 1/4" (4 mesh) before running it in your sluice.
1/8" (8 mesh) would be even better for the fine gold.

GG~

[jet747]

GG- I have a 1/4" classifier that we used when we were panning. Slower water flow for fine gold makes sense .Thanks for the tip. I did get a lot of black sand when I was panning and I saved it in a bucket and re panned it when I got home and only found 1 pin head spec of gold and 1 piece of lead shot. I am going to try a new (to me) area next week that is said to have more gold and we will get to try out the new sluice.

[Goodyguy]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Keep us posted on your results.
Remember the closer to bedrock you get the better your chances along with getting your material from the inside bends of the river.
More to it than that but it's a start.

Welcome to Treasure Net
GG~

[jet747]

"Remember the closer to bedrock you get the better your chances along with getting your material from the inside bends of the river."

Thanks I will give that a try and I will report back next week with my findings.

[Goodyguy]

I recommend reading this thread : Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . . to any prospector looking to improve his chances of finding gold. Lots to read but entertaining as well as informative.

[Joel1316]

jet747 - I recently ordered a "Foreman" also. I also have a Keene A52 and was curious to see the difference in perfomance (if I do my part correctly). My main purpose in getting the Foreman is because of it being light.

I can't wait to get my "Foreman".

Good luck and keep us posted on your findings.

[jcazgoldchaser]

I would think as long as the flow isn't washing the sluice downstream, you can limit the amount coming into the sluice (change the angle of the sluice, put restrictions in front of the sluice,..). Low flow is a whole nother ballgame.

But running a lot of material is only useful if you believe it has gold. That's where prospecting comes in, sampling areas to find "color".



Jess has a pretty good series to watch on where to look:

[jet747]

I made the 2hr(each way) drive to a little better spot twice this past week with the new sluice. My son and I are actually getting some color. My son all of 5years old starts putting material in a gold pan right when we get to the river and says to me "dad can you pan this for me?" Im all frustrated trying to set up the new sluice and get set up . I said "sure, give me a few minutes " out of the corner of my eye I see him adding more material to the pan. So after I got the sluice set in the water I grabbed the very full pan and start panning it out for him , sure enough the boy had quite a few pieces of gold in the pan (no nuggets but nice flakes). I looked at him "where were ya diggin son?". both times we went the little guy was sniffing out the good spots.

[jet747]

jcazgoldchaser, good videos. Thanks

[jcazgoldchaser]

I made the 2hr(each way) drive to a little better spot twice this past week with the new sluice. My son and I are actually getting some color. My son all of 5years old starts putting material in a gold pan right when we get to the river and says to me "dad can you pan this for me?" Im all frustrated trying to set up the new sluice and get set up . I said "sure, give me a few minutes " out of the corner of my eye I see him adding more material to the pan. So after I got the sluice set in the water I grabbed the very full pan and start panning it out for him , sure enough the boy had quite a few pieces of gold in the pan (no nuggets but nice flakes). I looked at him "where were ya diggin son?". both times we went the little guy was sniffing out the good spots.

Damn allergies.

If I could only pass on one bit of advice it would be to drop whatever in the hell you're doing and focus on him. That or get him involved in what you're doing. It goes by soooo quickly.

[Barndawg]

Give that boy all the credit and praise him well. This is when he develops his personality and his main interests in life. This is a VERY special time for you and your son. Never, EVER take it for granted. I'm happy to see that you take him with you. It's very important to do things like this with him. Kudos to you for involving him in your prospecting. It only makes it more fun to have him to share it with.

[Goodyguy]

Take him hunting and fishing and camping too!
We don't want him to turn out to be a city slicker