first post first sluices

[TheWaker43]

Hey folks,
I am looking to get my first couple of sluices. Two that would hopefully compliment each other. I've been panning casually over the past year or so and live in the Georgia Gold Belt with a creek just down the road. Been reading as much as I can and meet with local group for few outings. I've pretty much settled on a Keene A51 but would also like to get one a bit smaller and lighter for backpacking. I've read a lot about the Angus Mackirk and was wondering which model to go with.

Also anyone have experience with aptsgold.com. They have pretty good prices on the Keene and offer them with different configurations of Miner Moss. Was wondering if any of those are worth considering. Thanks

 

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[GrizzlyGremlin]

The keene a51 is about as small as you can go and really run any amount of dirt. I can classify and pan about 6 to 8 buckets per day without killing my back. With my keene a51 i can run 10-12 buckets. Id get a keene a52 or the larger angus. Trust me when i tell you that you WILL crave to go bigger rather than smaller. Oh and learn to pan very well.

 

[TheWaker43]

Yeah I was not thinking too much smaller. But the creeks closest to me dry up a bit in the summer (excepting this year). Most do not even allow sluices. Seems like the Recon or the Grub Steak would be a good size. Also what exactly is the difference between the Au Trap and the Stream Master series.

 

[wingmaster]

I got the grub steak and its great for really low flow, of coarse you can't feed the material as fast as you would like and really shocked me at how little flow it took and caught nat poop sized glacial gold. I was worried with it not having any carpet or moss but not now you could see the material dancing and exchanging great behind the riffles. If you want to run more material when its dry if you have any pools that hold water in the creek but it isn't flowing you could setup a power sluice and use a pump.

 

[kevin1]

I have a Hungarian Riffle/miner's moss type, and a couple of drop riffle sluices. These types will cover most streams you're likely to work.

 

[okla. prospector]

I have a royal that folds up and will fit in a bucket or has a strap you can put over you shoulder. I got it off eBay at a good price, it folds out to 3' to make a nice size sluice. I don't know if it's the best out there but it works good for me. It's made out of aluminum with hungarian ripples, it's great for backpacking.

 

[fuseboxxx]

I have a royal that folds up and will fit in a bucket or has a strap you can put over you shoulder. I got it off eBay at a good price, it folds out to 3' to make a nice size sluice. I don't know if it's the best out there but it works good for me. It's made out of aluminum with hungarian ripples, it's great for backpacking.

I've got the same one. Got my first pickers in that one

 

[63bkpkr]

I have an A52 and with the flare taken off but brought in with the bolts I've backpacked it several times down the side of a mountain and found some nice gold with it. So it works in its standard configuration.

The Angus with the new riffle section offers much better gold recovery! That's as simple as it comes. Is it worth purchasing one to get the new riffle section, in my opinion yes. Do I own one, no but I am considering it.

Early this year I purchased one of the Super Mini Bazooka Gold Traps, it is a very specific type of sluice that requires high water to use it properly. When I used it I was Not where I wanted to be, had the wrong water level, had way too much sample to run through it so in general it was a useless trip. This is an example of having the wrong equipment at the wrong place and time. You've already indicated your area creeks "usually" run low water levels in the summer so be sure to factor this Fact into any piece of equipment you purchase as once purchased it is yours whether it works for you or not.

Classification should be done with ANY method of prospecting, it just makes it easier to not have to work with the larger rocks in ones way. My first classifier was a Tuna fish can with top and bottom cut out and 1/4" hardware cloth pop riveted into one end, I still use it for panning!
Many stores sell classifiers though they do not label them as such. Stores label them as Drawer Organizers or Vegetable Baskets for BBQing, or Kitchen Utensil Holders and the like. Usually these items are some form of expanded metal, holes punched in sheet metal or heavy gauge wire welded into the shape of a basket. If one really gets into classifying on a large scale then there is an expanded metal Waste Basket that when 1" holes are drilled through the sheetmetal bottom and then with 1/8" mesh hardware cloth covering the entire bottom - the waste basket fits nicely into the classic Five Gallon Bucket filled with water. Slosh the basket laden with raw sample up and down and around a few times and all the fines are in the bottom of the bucket and the waste basket is full of washed gravel. (note here: any 'nuggets' will be in the gravel so check the gravel with a detector built for gold).

Good luck on your quest to purchase relevant equipment for your type of prospecting!.............................63bkpkr

 

[Rockhunter1620]

I use an army duffle bag w/backpack straps, it can be used as the long tom it is, and will process dirt as fast as 2 fellers can shovel into it so long as you got the volume and velocity it needs, or, you can break it down and use just a single section w/wo the flair. On Fri. Aug. 30 I went to my little crick and put 7/5 gal. buckets of dirt through just the one w/the flair attached and there's the gold I got that day. That's 2 AMS Expeditions bolted together w/flair, 80 ins./48 riffles

 

[KevinInColorado]

Does the double really catch more gold than a single did? What exactly gets down to the second sluice?

FYI I have the expedition myself.

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Hey Kevin,
The only reason fer havin 2 sections and twice the riffles, is the same reason you have a 20 ft. sluice w/100 riffles
attached to a larger washplant or large tromel. A. Longer runs w/fewer cleanouts. Once the first section is completely
full of heavies, to the top, full, more material bein run that contains 100 mesh flour, will wash right over the full riffles.
But once it hits the 2 nd. skid plate area, then it hangs up, begins to drop, it ends up in the next set of riffles.
Now, with all that bein said, I would like to point out that I don't have a spot on my particular crick I'm currently prospectin
to set this monster as a whole, but that doesn't mean I'll never git to set and run it somewhere else in the future.
Right now I'm splittin it in 2 and bringin a friend, settin one section with no flair then a few feet away the other with
the flair, thus givin us both a sluice to run, twice the fun, woohoo!

RH

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Hey folks,
I am looking to get my first couple of sluices. Two that would hopefully compliment each other. I've been panning casually over the past year or so and live in the Georgia Gold Belt with a creek just down the road. Been reading as much as I can and meet with local group for few outings. I've pretty much settled on a Keene A51 but would also like to get one a bit smaller and lighter for backpacking. I've read a lot about the Angus Mackirk and was wondering which model to go with.

Also anyone have experience with aptsgold.com. They have pretty good prices on the Keene and offer them with different configurations of Miner Moss. Was wondering if any of those are worth considering. Thanks

Hey Waker43,
Not tryin to jack yer thread, just tryin to point out to you that the various AMS models all do the same thing. That is, trap fine Au, and they do it very well. The smaller, shorter, compact models
perform as well as the larger, pricier models, and they clean out in seconds, no fumblin with a bunch of parts. If'n you get one, as with anything, you will need to take some time to learnin to settin it,
but once you do, you will love it, I promise.


RH

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hey Kevin,
The only reason fer havin 2 sections and twice the riffles, is the same reason you have a 20 ft. sluice w/100 riffles
attached to a larger washplant or large tromel. A. Longer runs w/fewer cleanouts. Once the first section is completely
full of heavies, to the top, full, more material bein run that contains 100 mesh flour, will wash right over the full riffles.
But once it hits the 2 nd. skid plate area, then it hangs up, begins to drop, it ends up in the next set of riffles.
Now, with all that bein said, I would like to point out that I don't have a spot on my particular crick I'm currently prospectin
to set this monster as a whole, but that doesn't mean I'll never git to set and run it somewhere else in the future.
Right now I'm splittin it in 2 and bringin a friend, settin one section with no flair then a few feet away the other with
the flair, thus givin us both a sluice to run, twice the fun, woohoo!

RH

Ah, that makes sense, got it! Having much luck in SE MI? I am from that area but moved to CO in 89...still have family in Northville and Novi. Next summer when I visit I will bring a pan for sure!

 

[Hoser John]

For light weight,easy backpaking,no carpet hastles Le Trap works righteously with great recovery too-John

 

[KevinInColorado]

For light weight,easy backpaking,no carpet hastles Le Trap works righteously with great recovery too-John

Or EZ Sluice is good, or one of the smaller Angus Mackirk models...just stay away from the clumsy metal stuff!

 

[Capricorn]

My plan is to get a AM Explorer, so I can clean it out quick and easy into a bucket, and run it on streams that have lower flow rates. Then I want to get a bazooka gold trap, to use on higher flow rate waters, and to allow me to be able to skip classifying. Since the gold trap is a bit more expensive I think it will be a bit more time before I get one. Maybe I'll find enough gold with the explorer to justify the expense

 

[KevinInColorado]

Sounds like a good plan!