Gold Well Mod

[gravelMaster]

After having used the 12" X 60" sluice for years to catch fine gold. It had never dawned on me that I had never seen any fine gold in the lower 18" of the sluice... ever. In an effort to reduce the weight of this efficient, but heavy monster, I am going to remove the lower two plate assemblies that apparently are never catching any gold. If I am not loosing any gold, why carry the excess weight? Your thoughts and/or experience are requested. Image below shows a 12" X 36" Gold Well.

 

[Mine Shaft]

Hi gravel master, i have the Dream mat for my 52" X 10" but I also go back to old school and use Riffled Carpet with 1/8" X 1" diamond perforated for my small 24" X 6" and the 52" Sluice, that setup catches more super fine Gold then the Dream mat, I believe the Diamond plate creates more Low Pressure Eddies catching the finest of Gold.

 

[arizau]

After having used the 12" X 60" sluice for years to catch fine gold. It had never dawned on me that I had never seen any fine gold in the lower 18" of the sluice... ever. In an effort to reduce the weight of this efficient, but heavy monster, I am going to remove the lower two plate assemblies that apparently are never catching any gold. If I am not loosing any gold, why carry the excess weight? Your thoughts and/or experience are requested. Image below shows a 12" X 36" Gold Well.

I would run it both short and full length and collect and test pan samples from their tailngs.
Gold in both could indicate the need for a secondary recovery sluice. A drop riffle or vmat setup may meet that need.
Good luck

 

[russau]

Mine Shaft I had some of that Blue ribbed matting for my 4 inch dredge and really liked it . John "Hoser" Oats gave it to me ! I sure miss ole Hoser !

 

[Reed Lukens]

Just turn it into a flared 36" and sell the other 36". The Gold Well works fine on its own.

 

[gravelMaster]

Hi gravel master, i have the Dream mat for my 52" X 10" but I also go back to old school and use Riffled Carpet with 1/8" X 1" diamond perforated for my small 24" X 6" and the 52" Sluice, that setup catches more super fine Gold then the Dream mat, I believe the Diamond plate creates more Low Pressure Eddies catching the finest of Gold.

Where does one get the carpet that you showed in your reply?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Mine Shaft]

Hi gravelmaster. I got it from home depot its a front door mat for whipping your feet off lol and then just cut to size, hope that helps.

 

[sgtfda]

Bernie the inventor of the gold well told me never change his design. That's is the mistake on the knock offs. When he came up with new attachments or changes to one he would give me one for testing.

 

[gravelMaster]

Just turn it into a flared 36" and sell the other 36". The Gold Well works fine on its own.

This is exactly what I am doing. I am classifying the feed with 1/8th inch perforated metal to make certain that I don't bounce the fines off of the sluice. The proposed size of the perforated metal screen is at present 4.4 inches X 8.5 inches. Hopefully, this will permit the smaller sand and gold particle to be separated from the mass.

The sole source of the dredge shall be vertical crevices in the river bedrock, not sand or loose gravel from the general water course.