Thinking of building a beach box

[wildminer]

I see people use their gold cube with a sluice below that a lot at the beach in Washington. I don't have a cube and am thinking of using stuff I have on hand as much as possible to build a sluice. I've got about 7' of 12" box available with legs and a 2,000 rule pump. I have plenty of deep v matting, but am also thinking of putting in Doc's wave and motherlode mat, and alternating that as I heard Doc mention that in a video. Would this be practical without a cube? Open for suggestions. Thanks.

 

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[N-Lionberger]

I have been wanting to do the same the beaches here close to the Klamath are supposed to contain color, I have a roll of magnetic sign material for a knockoff cleangold type of thing.

 

[wildminer]

Right. We know cleangold works. I've noticed the beach guys using "sawtooth" matting in Washington in their sluices and also in their cubes so I'm thinking of that also. I'd like to make a trip to Wa.within the next couple months, but I may have to bite the bullet to put something together that will work on the beach up there.

 

[arizau]

I'm pretty sure you are restricted to 10 square feet on sluices in Washington but at least you can use pumps etc. on the beaches up there. I try to go up at least once per year myself. Lots of good info on beach mining both in Oregon and lately in Washington in this thread. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/sluicing/454120-got-out-little-today.html. The author, johnedoe will probably weigh in soon or you can PM him "to wake him up".

Good luck.

 

[johnedoe]

Hey .... I'm awake.....
I have several different mats in my beach sluice, You got to give all those od shapes of gold a place to hide.
In Washington you are allowed 10 square feet of collection area, which means the 2 or 3 feet of slick plate doesn't count.
I strongly recommend having a section of slick plate it really does help the gold to stratify before it hits the mats..

Regarding mats....
I am not a big fan of the wave mat but Mother load, UR, and deep V matting are very good.
If you are working beach that has anything other than sand you will be ahead if you can classify out the larger material.

Unfortunately we can't use power on the Oregon beaches so you have to ground sluice, that is placing your sluice in the running creek bed..
Unless you have a water source you can tap into for your high banker setup.
Here are some images for you.

1st pic is ground sluicing.
2nd 3rd & 4th pic is high banker setup using an available water source.
and 5th & 6th pic is Benson beach Washington where we can use power.

 

[wildminer]

Thanks JD. My goal is to put something together for a trip to Washington. My latest thinking is to use a GH multi sluice followed by a sluice with sawtooth matting and probably have some deep v also. I'm also thinking of motherlode mat. Recirculating of course and on legs. The multi sluice will work good also on the cleanup. I'm aware of that 10 sq. ft. rule, thanks. Gotta' get a wagon too. ha

 

[johnedoe]

Thanks JD. My goal is to put something together for a trip to Washington. My latest thinking is to use a GH multi sluice followed by a sluice with sawtooth matting and probably have some deep v also. I'm also thinking of motherlode mat. Recirculating of course and on legs. The multi sluice will work good also on the cleanup. I'm aware of that 10 sq. ft. rule, thanks. Gotta' get a wagon too. ha

Yup.... A wagon helps a lot....... If you need some help let me know.... I'm only about an hour up the hill from ya.

This pic is at Benson beach, Washington.

 

[arizau]

Thanks JD. My goal is to put something together for a trip to Washington. My latest thinking is to use a GH multi sluice followed by a sluice with sawtooth matting and probably have some deep v also. I'm also thinking of motherlode mat. Recirculating of course and on legs. The multi sluice will work good also on the cleanup. I'm aware of that 10 sq. ft. rule, thanks. Gotta' get a wagon too. ha

Do you already have the GH multi sluice?

I just saw that Doc recommends using a 2000 gph pump when you use it as primary field concentrator just in case you did not already know that. I have often wondered just how well it would work with the beach sands even without extensions such as you are thinking about.

 

[johnedoe]

Naw.... I just use my gold cube for cons cleanup.... I run the cons , then pan each tray individually instead of cleaning all the trays into a single pan.

As to the multi sluice for a primary beach sluice.... Why limit yourself to that size? Take advantage of all the mat you can use..... It will allow you to run more material while on the beach.

This is a cleanup I helped a friend with sometime back.... He recovered just over 2 oz. in that cleanup....

 

[wildminer]

Do you already have the GH multi sluice?

I just saw that Doc recommends using a 2000 gph pump when you use it as primary field concentrator just in case you did not already know that. I have often wondered just how well it would work with the beach sands even without extensions such as you are thinking about.

No I don't, but may pull the plug on one this week. I've seen video of it running on the beach with the 1100 pump and the claim of nothing in the tailings running with no extension. (multisluice.com) Pretty good for a small sluice and fine beach gold. I'm sure the through put of material is less than other systems, but hey, I'm a f.o.g. and ain't as good as I once was!

 

[johnedoe]

Wildminer.

What do you presently have in the way of equipment? Sluices, pumps, etc.
Deep V mat works remarkably well.

I run about 1600-1800 +/- GPH over the mats in my beach sluice up at the cape ...

My sluice is 8' long and 16" wide and yes thats more than 10 square feet but the mats do not cover all that sluice are so I stay in the 10 ft limit.

Also I run the sluice at 11 deg.
I have 2' of sawtooth, 2' of deep V, and 2' of cleangold at the bottom end of it all.

The real key to running that sand is having the sluice tuned for the material and feed rate.
The water depth in the sluice is about 3/8" and as you could see in the pic it is a very smooth laminar flow.

Over feeding will lose gold no matter what the collection device is whether it is a multi-sluice, gold cube, or my setup.

Just some thoughts.
Sent you a PM with my ph# if you want to talk about any of this.

Here is a good source for the deep V rubber mat.... Other sites have deep V but it's vital... RUBBER is better

https://blackcatmining.com/products/deep-v-ribbed-rubber?variant=20586337861694

 

[wildminer]

Thanks for the good scoop. Now I'm rethinking my rethinking. I've got just about everything I need to put together a similar system as yours in 12" wide. Just what I needed, different ideas as to what will work before I actually start the project. As you know it will take a day to get there from where I live so I sure want to catch when I get there. Thanks.

 

[johnedoe]

Thanks for the good scoop. Now I'm rethinking my rethinking. I've got just about everything I need to put together a similar system as yours in 12" wide. Just what I needed, different ideas as to what will work before I actually start the project. As you know it will take a day to get there from where I live so I sure want to catch when I get there. Thanks.

Your welcome....
Also here is some Benson beach gold for you to drool over......lol

 

[wildminer]

Ordered the multi-sluice yesterday and plan on a 3 tray gold cube above that with sawtooth in two trays and low profile v mat in the top tray.

 

[arizau]

Winner.

 

[johnedoe]

Ordered the multi-sluice yesterday and plan on a 3 tray gold cube above that with sawtooth in two trays and low profile v mat in the top tray.

That should work for ya...
When you planning your trip to the cape?

 

[wildminer]

Hi JD, I'm pretty sure it will go into March. I'll let you know for sure.

 

[johnedoe]

Hi JD, I'm pretty sure it will go into March. I'll let you know for sure.

Who knows maybe we can meet up there.
Best tides are from Mar. 16th right up to the end of MAR.
ALSO ... There is the GPAA gold show Mar. 21-22 and then a meet up at Benson beach on the 23rd.. Mike Pung is supposed to be there too.

 

[wildminer]

It's coming together. I got the sawtooth mat installed in two of the cube trays and may use one or two more trays w/sawtooth. I have low v mat for the top tray, but may not use it as a little concerned it may slow down the feed rate? I have yet to put the motherlode mat into the multi-sluice which will be fed by the gold cube. Still have to locate some tubs for the water. I'm busy with other stuff for a couple days, but will post a pic when I can, probably on the 'got out today' thread.

 

[X4FRNT]

I’d give the vortex mat a try if you feel up to it, YouTube vortex mat and see the side by side tests of the vortex vs gold hog mats (wave mat, big wave mat, motherlode mat). It’s amazing the difference.