A bit of gold. Sluice setup Questions...

[oidium45]

Hey everyone!
I found a bit of gold on the San Gabriel East Fork over the weekend (See pic). I keep being told that it is a pretty decent amount for only running upwards of 4 five-gallon buckets of material but it seems pretty light to me. Anyway, I was having some difficulty in setting up my sluice. I wish I had taken some video but I will do my best to describe the issues...

I started off not having enough flow to wash down the 1/2" classification so I built a quick dam to increase flow. Then, I found that the increased flow was causing the flair to create a "V" shaped flow in the center just below the flair that would wash all of the black sand out of the matting in a "V" pattern pushing everything to the left and right. I tried increasing and reducing the flow and no matter what these seemed to be my two options... Low flow or "V" pattern in the matting.

The second day I tried setting up in a spot that looked like it already had not only good flow but a smooth flow. I ran into the same issue again. I am starting to think that I will have to stick with the lower flow and classify down to 1/4" or so.

Thoughts?

3-4 buckets (Closer to 4)


This was the first cleanout after one bucket just to see how things were going.


This was one last bucket that I decided to run just before I left the site.

 

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[goldog]

People really try hard to get that "V". You wanna lose it? I see another thread started. Be prepared.

It may be that a shallow rapid flow was scouring the mat and the box. If that's the case a little deeper and/or slower (less steep) will help. But don't be afraid to get the dirt moving. You're not trying to catch that.


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[oidium45]

People really try hard to get that "V". You wanna lose it? I see another thread started. Be prepared.

It may be that a shallow rapid flow was scouring the mat and the box. If that's the case a little deeper and/or slower (less steep) will help. But don't be afraid to get the dirt moving. You're not trying to catch that.


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The "V" was literally clearing the center of the first set of riffles of "everything" including the gold and black sand. That is good?

Sorry, I am pretty rook at this..

 

[goldog]

I would guess that's not optimal. Scouring. I've never seen that sluice. So IDK.

Generally speaking a V will form whether you're running fast, slow, shallow or deep. Gives an idea if the flow is straight. The action of the material is what's important. That next step down in classifying is a pain. I wouldn't. I'll let others chime in.

Looks like a few dollars. Not a lot for all the effort but far from skunked. I know you went up pretty far. I hear the gold is better/bigger up there but you still gotta find it.

Maybe share what you did a bit. Did you begin a hole or continue an existing one?






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[oidium45]

I would guess that's not optimal. Scouring. I've never seen that sluice. So IDK.

Generally speaking a V will form whether you're running fast, slow, shallow or deep. Gives an idea if the flow is straight. The action of the material is what's important. That next step down in classifying is a pain. I wouldn't. I'll let others chime in.

Looks like a few dollars. Not a lot for all the effort but far from skunked. I know you went up pretty far. I hear the gold is better/bigger up there but you still gotta find it.

Maybe share what you did a bit. Did you begin a hole or continue an existing one?






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I dug in an existing hole on the first bucket. Looked like a decent cleanout so I did a bit more digging then had to stop because it was getting dark. Caught a dude digging in the creek and decided to sample a few spots myself. Not much... Ended up back in the original hole.

I dont have a before pic. But this was when I was leaving..

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

If you can get too much flow for the EZ sluice, then you can make adjustments to correct the "v-scouring" that you described. Couple of ideas: Like Goldog said, decrease the sluice angle and possibly decrease the depth of water entering the sluice by slightly elevating both ends. Since you have wing dams, if they are directing too much flow, pull a few rocks out of the middle of each wing to regulate flow to what will work for the sluice.

Take a video of your next setup and post that. As they say, a photo is worth a thousand words, so a video will be priceless and will help folks give you ideas in tuning setup.
BTW - nice color. Look at your area on Google Earth to get an idea of river morphology (bends, gradient, outcropping around it, etc.) This may point you at areas to sample...

Good luck and keep the posts coming.

 

[SunshineMiner]

I started off not having enough flow to wash down the 1/2" classification so I built a quick dam to increase flow. Then, I found that the increased flow was causing the flair to create a "V" shaped flow in the center just below the flair that would wash all of the black sand out of the matting in a "V" pattern pushing everything to the left and right. I tried increasing and reducing the flow and no matter what these seemed to be my two options... Low flow or "V" pattern in the matting.

The second day I tried setting up in a spot that looked like it already had not only good flow but a smooth flow. I ran into the same issue again. I am starting to think that I will have to stick with the lower flow and classify down to 1/4" or so.

Thoughts?

I think you're looking at your matting at the very front of your sluice all wrong. You want that area to capture gold? Don't worry about it. You have more matting/riffles down further right? That flair is there to help create that V-pattern over the mat and push that material down the sluice. You dont want a build up of material on the front mat if it is indeed an indicator mat. Let that scouring action happen at the front, maybe a tad less water flow, but it sounds like its doing its job to me.

Every sluice is different, and I don't think you mentioned what kind of sluice it is?

 

[Goldwasher]

it's a small sluice it doesn't take much to get enough water. Enough water that there isn't too big off a hump over the riffles but, a noticeable hump..

Shallow water and scour is not ideal, an active sluice that only holds on to the heaviest stuff is. A little more depth and only enough sluice pitch as needed to allow material to keep moving.

You will find more gold the way you are set up now than if you classify to a 1/4 inch

Most of the experienced diggers on the San Gabriel run with as much water as they can when they have it and are classifying with milk crates.

 

[oidium45]

it's a small sluice it doesn't take much to get enough water. Enough water that there isn't too big off a hump over the riffles but, a noticeable hump..

Shallow water and scour is not ideal, an active sluice that only holds on to the heaviest stuff is. A little more depth and only enough sluice pitch as needed to allow material to keep moving.

You will find more gold the way you are set up now than if you classify to a 1/4 inch

Most of the experienced diggers on the San Gabriel run with as much water as they can when they have it and are classifying with milk crates.

I am starting to realize that setup will be dependent upon flow and knowing your sluice. But is there a recommended height for the water level in the sluice for most flow situations? Er... "ideal" situations? Just over the largest riffles? Half way up the sides? Etc...

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

What you are looking for in water depth vs angle vs flow rate is the proportional force needed to allow the gold to settle and stay in the riffles, while clearing the lighter material. The water depth can be less if the flow (stream velocity) is higher and/or if the angle is greater. But all of these factors (variables that can be changed- water depth, angle, flow rate) are altered in tuning the sluice to keep larger gravel moving through the sluice (if you are classifying to 1/2", then 1/2" rocks) while allowing heavies (black sands, gold, etc) to settle, with the lighter material exchanging out and flowing down and out of the sluice. Start with 1 to 1.5" depth in the sluice, then adjust the angle that allows 1/2" gravel to flow through the sluice while black sands are holding with blond sands (lights) exchanging out. You will also see some of the lighter black sand material exchanging out. If these conditions are not coming together, then the overall flow may need to be increase (setting up wing dams to channel water). Then start the tuning process over.
It will come together, its just a matter of setting the sluice up in a variety of flow conditions. Before long you will be able to look at the flow and know what you need to do to channel the flow and tune the sluice in just a few minutes - unless you have to build a huge wing dam!

 

[goldog]

Scouring


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[Reed Lukens]

The EZsluice runs good in both high and low water situations, try to get the V to cover about 1/3 of the first set of deep V's, leaving 4 or 5 of them for collection and being able to see the gold right off. You will also see gold up in the V created by the water and it will shine through the water in the sweet spot that looks like glass. Setting up the EZ is easy if you just set the V like stated above. In fast water, run it flatter with maybe only 1/4" of water going thru the flare in the beginning then let it end up 1/2" to1" deep coming out the back. You can have more but the sluice is designed to run well with unclassified material. Personally, I classify to no smaller then 1" for any sluice of my own and I just use a piece of 1" expanded set over the flare. You want enough water flowing thru to roll the cobbles out at an even speed, while being able to watch the black sand and the gold slowly start separating and flowing into the first rifles. Raising and lowering the sluice is a normal part of the set up and running with not enough water is a common mistake when you are just starting out. Drop a 2" rock into the flare, if it rolls out on its own, your fine.

 

[oidium45]

I figured out why the EZ Sluice was not happy. Turbulence! I was looking at a few other sluices in the water and noticed that the ones collecting a good amount of black sand in the first set of riffles (and gold) were in a spot where the water flowed across the sluice like glass. Once I realized this and found a decent spot the results were much better.

 

[Golden_Crab]

You had too much angle for the water speed if it's scrubbing out the heavies, flatten the sluice out till your heavies stay and the lights move out.