sluice box help

rlborde

Jr. Member
Aug 29, 2012
20
9
Las Vegas, NV
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
The rule of thumb that I have seen posted is one inch of drop for every foot of sluice length. But some experimentation is always helpful. The amount of water passing through the sluice will also affect the performance. So finding the right mix of water flow and angle for optimum performance may take a little experimentation.
 

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southpaw1661

Tenderfoot
Jan 6, 2013
5
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
ok so for example if the water was moving fast id drop it more and if it was slower id raise it more
 

Gold Maven

Bronze Member
Jul 4, 2012
2,288
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Holmes County Ohio
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Tesoro Lobo
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You want to retain some material in your sluice, the space between the large riffles should show some carpet.

In other words if its too flat, the riffles will be full of material and won't be able to catch the gold.

If it is too steep, the riffles won't work either as all the material blows out the end.

Experiment until you find an angle that holds some material behind the riffle, but isn't totally full from riffle to riffle.

Get some old lead tire weights, smash them flat, cut into small pieces, and throw them into the material you're running to see if you catch them. Good Luck. post some pics.
 

EvoQ

Greenie
Nov 9, 2012
11
3
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great Idea GoldMaven ( experiment with small shards of old lead tire irons/weights).........also doesn't the Type of Gold that you are mining play a huge role on your Sluice angle and setup. ie; Flake Gold, Granular, and Fine Sandy Gold ??
 

MadMarshall

Hero Member
Nov 12, 2012
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Personally I think you can watch all the vids and try all the angles but as the river will never present you with the perfect conditions I pay no mind to none of it.. The truth is trial and error. knowing what works with that sluice.. One you see that your losing gold I think you will most likely figure it out pretty quick..
 

B H Prospector

Hero Member
Feb 2, 2010
856
838
Black Hills, South Dakota
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Hi southpaw and welcome.
set your sluice with 1 to 1 1/2 inches of drop. if the water is running fast flatten it out drop if too slow. also use rocks to direct the water to the sluice if it is too slow or not enough volume of water. It should take 15 to 30 seconds for the material to clear the head of your sluice. That will tell you that both angle and flow is correct. the tips gold maven stated are very good tips to follow and learn.

Good Luck!

B H Prospector
 

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southpaw1661

Tenderfoot
Jan 6, 2013
5
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thank You! So what your saying is just the front of the sluice not all the way through right
 

Barry-Goodknight

Jr. Member
Sep 4, 2012
68
14
Black Hawk
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watch a bunch of youtube videos, you'll get the idea.

also if you have really fine gold where you're at, you should run it slower, I think.
 

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