Im building a stationary sluice.

[ShimpZD]

I am very new to gold prospecting. I live in WA where the gold is very fine and I was wondering what angel and water flow I should use on a sluice to maximize my yield. Also any tips on biulding a sluice.
Thanks in advance!

 

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[B H Prospector]

Hi Shimp and welcome to the forum. Good rule of thumb is 1" drop for every foot of sluice. 4 ft = 4" of drop. When feeding material if it clears out of the sluice in 15 to 30 seconds it is set right. Fasater than that it is set too steep and too much water flow. Longer than that and it is too flat and not enough water flow. Also you should see a nice V formed at the feed end in the water.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[ShimpZD]

Thats great help thanks!

 

[KevinInColorado]

As a newbie around really fine gold, I would say to line your custom sluice with gold hog mat or black v mat from the hardware store...no riffles needed. Then feed it kinda slow and watch how things move...you'll learn fast that way.

 

[Fullpan]

Shimp - welcome to the forum! Try to remember that its more about the amount of gold at your location, rather than the equipment used. And a hard-charging
digger who manages to dig 50 buckets of material will always take home more gold than a mellow, laid back prospector who only processes 5 buckets from the
same spot. Having said that, I believe you can build a sluice out of scrap plywood, waterproof and seal the cracks, throw any ribbed carpet or rubber carpet
runner mat in it, and have a sluice for peanuts, which will get 80% of any factory product on the market. The ancient Greeks used sheep fleece and did ok.
The forty-niners used wooden blocks and just large rocks in their wooden sluices. There are hundreds of posts here containing great tips and advice on modern sluices
but don't forget "go where the gold is" and "move material", imo.