Prospecting Sultan, WA

[ShimpZD]

I went fishing in gold bar and on my way back I barely had tike to get a 5 gallon bucket of gravel and dirt from Sultan creek. The next day (today) I ran it all thought my sluice. I cleaned it out 5 times during the process. I panned the concentrates each time I cleaned the sluice. I saw maybe 2-3 micro micro specs. I attached a few pictures of my set up. Any tips or advice? Does anyone know any places in WA I might be able to find some color?
Thanks in advance!

 

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[jpc8636]

ShimpZD I just moved up to AK from WA. I never prospected there but my inlaws talked about how they new people who have found gold in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties. I believe most of the gold is pretty small.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Well, first all the air mixed into your water flow is going to steal your gold. Second, what made you think you needed to clean out 5 times when you only ran one bucket of material? Third, have you done some sampling around or how did you decide which material to bring home? (If this was easy, I'd be writing this from "my" beach which I ain't got)

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

Your going to have to find a lot of gold just to cover your water bill. Put that thing in a creek.

 

[golden sluice]

Hello, yeah it looks like your sluice is setup for clean up jobs and not for buckets of material. I would personally pan the 4 pans of material than the hassle of sluicing one bucket for gold. Sluice cleanup for one bucket is not worth it. Cleanup of a sluice after 10 buckets is worth it.

 

[SLNugget]

Olney Creek above Gold Bar will usually give up some color if you are in that area of WA. The mining store in Gold Bar, Prospector's Plus, has outings and classes at Olney fairly often. They also have a very active club with several good claims for the use of members. Just remember they operate on a for profit basis. A bit pushy to make sales for my tastes but I did learn from the outings when I first got started.

 

[ShimpZD]

I've only done this a few times as you can probably tell. Now I know not to clean out so much. (A lot more work than I needed to do...) I will have to try some other places around gold bar. I asked some locals at a coffee shop and they told me of a place they got some color. Ill fill 2-3 buckets next time I go up.

 

[SLNugget]

I've only done this a few times as you can probably tell. Now I know not to clean out so much. (A lot more work than I needed to do...) I will have to try some other places around gold bar. I asked some locals at a coffee shop and they told me of a place they got some color. Ill fill 2-3 buckets next time I go up.

Olney is public and open for any one. Take your sluice and run the buckets thru it there. Then you can do a cleanup and just bring the concentrates home to pan. I can't tell from your photos if you have a slick plate before the expanded and carpet. If not you should have one with a ramp to prevent water and cons from going under the carpet. Do not sweat having the latest and greatest mats etc right now. Get out there and get some experience and have FUN!

You also will need to have a copy of Gold and Fish with you while prospecting.