Bazooka Gold Trap Sluice Box! (Prospector Extended)

[Notsuredomus]

The image is of the gold I got from the South Forks of Salmon River, near the N. California town of Sawyers Bar. The exact spot is the New 49ers claim San-6 which is on the Salmon at the Whites Gulch tributary. I had just got my Bazooka Gold Trap prospector extended sluice box and was eager to put it through its paces. I new that this sluice design was outstanding because I had used a friends Mini Bazooka quite a few times and was very impressed with its fine gold recovery. My only complaint with the mini was that I couldn't run a large amount of material. Prior to this I would have never paid 340.00 for a sluice box. I reluctantly emptied my pockets to make this purchase because funds were very tight at the time. I told myself it would pay for itself and after a lengthy talk with the Bazooka's designer I opted for the Prospector model with the extended body. This sluice requires a strong water flow to move the material un-assisted. So I spent a couple hours channeling the rivers current into my box and thats where I worked for several weeks. The mini could run 5 buckets in just under an hour. The prospector extended easily kept up with 2 people shoveling our asses off. You could just dump a 5 gallon bucket on the slick plate without any problem. The only assistance the sluice requires is keeping the grizzly clear of rocks. If you don't want to have to tend the box you can classify to a half inch which will help process the material much quicker, keep you from having to clear the grizzly and your tailings will rarely need to be cleared if you do classify. I prefer to fill buckets asap and use the time it takes to run the material as a little break. I would like to put together the components I need to run this thing as a high banker. Riffle sluices use vortex's creating small low pressure zones after each riffle. this system tries to catch the gold as it rushes down the box. Small flat gold is very hydro-dynamic and it is dependent on perfect angle, velocity, and volume of water in order to have a satisfactory recovery percentile. Leaving the sluice in the water when there is no material being run through it can dramatically affect your recovery as well. With the bazooka, once it is through the grizzly and in your fluid bed, it isnt going anywhere. The fluid bed aerates the material causing the heavies to quickly drop to the bottom of the catch basin. Once its there its not going anywhere. Leave it in the river overnight without losing gold. this design is also much less susceptible to mishandling as well. Every so often if you put your finger in the fluid bed and press down. The material should feel spongy or like a fluid, if the material is compacted you need to do a clean up (I've only had this happen once).

I can't wait until winter is finally over and I can get back out there
Keep it Wild!​

 

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[Aufisher]

Whoa! Nice looking pan buddy!

 

[Campngolf]

Very nice pan.

"There's always room for Jello". (the proof is in the pudding....)

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great pic and info about the Bazooka sluice(s)... I TOTALLY agree, they are awesome!

 

[Notsuredomus]

Thank You CampnGolf

 

[delnorter]

Nice write-up Notsuredomus, great gold and it sure is beautiful country up on the Salmon. I'm going to get back over there myself this season.
I too have the prospector 48". It really will eat up the material.

​

 

[afreakofnature]

Nice to hear that the Prospector Extended or I think it is called the Super Prospector works so well. I bought one this winter off of Craigslist for $80. Super steal after hearing all the awesome comments on these threads. I can not wait to use it this summer, plus I am looking forward to the highbanker kit to take this baby out of the river.

 

[Notsuredomus]

Yeah it's a great sluice and the Salmon River is a beautiful waterway for sure. The drive in from the Orleans side is something to see. Man at one spot it is a 1 lane road with a blind corner, an overhanging rock wall to your right and a vertical 200 foot drop to your left lol. I love places that are off the beaten track. Well if you want to hang out and toss back a few while you are around. Give me a call and let me know when you will be in the area.

Kevin (909) 714-1404

 

[Notsuredomus]

80 Bucks. That is a steal. Man what a score. There is a kit? I was just going to jerry rig something. I do have a Proline 3in. Highbanker/Dredge Combo so I have the pump and hoses and I would love to adapt my Bazooka for Highbanking. I actually got to use a Bazooka mini set up as a tiny highbanker. It worked fantastic. You can really fine tune the fluid beds operation using a ball valve.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey Nos, is that pan of gold yours??! From a stream sluice??!

 

[Notsuredomus]

Thanks Kevin. It seems there are quite a few people on this forum with the Bazooka. have never met anyone else who uses one.

 

[Notsuredomus]

Yeah all that gold was caught in a stream sluice. The Bazooka Gold Trap is not like any other sluice you've seen. The top is just a long slick plate that narrows driving the material to the grizzly which classifies out the rocks over 1/2in. before the material enters the fluid bed. Underneath the slickplate is a chamber that uses the rivers current to force the material in the little rectangular box where the gold is caughtto a state of liquifaction. Heavies drop to the bottom while the lighter material bubbles up and out. I got that gold after moving a huge mound of rocks and boulders about 4 or 5 feet above the waterline. The dug down to bedrock. It took quite a bit of effort. The 8000lb capacity Come-a-long was vital. Without it I would have been rock bound within a couple days.

 

[Notsuredomus]

I got that pan of Gold last summer.

 

[Prospector70]

Gorgeous pan sir, thanks for sharing.

I too love that sluice, I wish you all a summers pan like that.
Nice work Notsuredomus!

 

[Notsuredomus]

Thank You Much Prospector. I wish you luck as well.

 

[goldenmojo]

WOW. Thank You BGT!!!!!

 

[delnorter]

I will give you a call when I head that way Kevin. A couple cold ones sound good.

I know what you mean about the road in from the west. That whole country is steeper than a cows face.

Some years back we were doing a boundary survey on the Bloomer Mine, right by Nordheimer campground, and the mine owner (a friend) decided to haul in a D8 Caterpillar (blade intact) over that road to work the mine. We had a pilot rig in front and behind the lowboy trailer the cat was on. When going around this bend you spoke of, the corner of the cat blade dug into the up hill rock face at the exact point of almost clearing the turn. Well, no backing up, he had to go forward using the blade as a pivot point. I remember seeing the outside rear duallys of the lowboy out in space over the long drop to the river. The weight of the cat kept the rig on the road. With a lot of grinding of steel and rock and a bunch of sweating the trucker skidded the whole kit-n-caboodle around the turn. Oh boy!

There used to be a lot of logging trucks over that way as well. They made for interesting navigation too.

Turned out to be a real interesting survey.

Mike

 

[Notsuredomus]

Holy Crap! He took a tractor trailer down that road? Man can you imaging coming from the opposite direction going a lil fast around one of those turns and seeing that bearing down on you lol. A head on would be the only option I sure as hell aint steering towards the Salmon. When you come out here definitely give me a call I look forward to it. Good Luck!

 

[Notsuredomus]

It's like a beautiful drive through the mountains with the occasional unexpected game of chicken. How often do you get the opportunity to shiver like that when its 103 degrees out lol. Better than 20 bucks in double shot expresso's

 

[Featherdfishead]

Beautiful Pan! Always enjoy to see some Whites Gulch Gold
I grew up in an old cabin on the flat to the left when you cross whites gulch bridge- piss firs burnt it down in the late 80's. There was another cabin just up the hill to the left, before gated logging road that my cousins and aunt lived in. My Grandpa owned and built the fenced in shop, pond etcetera that you come to just up the road. Grandpa and Dad mined the main stem salmon from above the bride to below the mouth of whites gulch from 1969 - late ninety's. Dad let them go to the 49ers without my knowing. Sad Fact - but eras change.
The hole above the bridge has filled in a lot but at one time it was a good 15" deep and we kids would watch grandpa pulling enormous boulders out of the river with the D8 while Dad sucked up everything in sight with the good old 8". Dads always saying, Grandpa and I got over 22O Ounces there above the bridge in "81" at todays prices wow, then $19 an ounce. Grandpas been dead since early 2000's but my dad's still on the river, working as he has for the last 20+ yrs as a county road worker keeping the roads passable all season long. As for the log trucks I could tell some stories but in general it wasn't as bad as now with all the flatlanders, drunk teenagers, and bicyclists because everyone had CB's and kept in constant contact calling out mile markers(a kids favorite duty in those days).
The story of the D8 getting walked through the bluffs is familiar. Delnorter - possibly you new my grandpa, his name was Spike Robinson, my dads name is Jack Robinson and I am Adam Robinson.
Happy Days - Happy Hunting