IS IT A CRIME TO NOT CLASSIFY??

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

I've been working gravels lately and have been doing so with my A52 Sluice. Last weekend (one of my more prosperous trips) I decided not to classify due to me finding a lot of clay and mainly because of my hate for classifying.

I just filled the buckets and ran the material through the sluice. Removing all of the big rocks that I could and breaking up the clay as I went. At the end of the day I found more gold working gravels than I ever have.

Am I crazy for not classifying? I periodically tested my tailings and didn't see anything although I'm sure I shot some gold out the back of the sluice. But I found gold way more efficiently and saved all of the effort of classifying...THOUGHTS??

 

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[Tonto]

You were still classifying, it's just that you waited until the larger gravel was in the sluice, and you did it by hand. I think the reason you found more gold is because you were breaking up the clay with your hands, releasing the gold. Larger rocks in the sluice interrupts the flow, and could cause you to lose gold.

 

[goldenmojo]

That is the concept with the Bazooka Gold Trap. Dump it on the plate, let the grizzles classify it and collect the gold from the fluid bed. Way more time for shoveling.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

The need for classification is all about the size, and type, of gold you have. Larger, chunkier gold, doesn't require much classification. Smaller, flatter gold requires a lot.
It isn't about right, or wrong. It's about the best return for the amount of shovelling you do. Our local gold is so flat, it ends up on the sandbars in paystreaks. It floats right up in the water column. If you sluice for it, without classifiying, and setting the right (shallow) slope on the sluice, you don't recover any. That shallow angle on the sluice won't clear the rocks or gravel, so you HAVE to classify....preferably down to sand.
Jim

 

[Prospector70]

Classifying?


Bazooka Gold Trap <3

 

[Hoser John]

SOHR you had the ability to answer your own question by simply classifying your tailings pile and rerun to find your own truth. Any sluice will lose gold if not run properly classified or not. All equipment is only as good as the man running it...John

 

[425jesse]

Clay is tough, breaking it by hand takes a while, glad to hear the outcome was worth the labor!

JB

 

[MrWareWolf]

SOHR you had the ability to answer your own question by simply classifying your tailings pile and rerun to find your own truth. Any sluice will lose gold if not run properly classified or not. All equipment is only as good as the man running it...John

More specifically that mans understanding and configuring his setup for:

[the proper] water flow,
proper material introduction,
pitch of sluice,
side-to-side angle eliminated..

In order to move material, not clog up the sluice/concentrator.

Working through material efficiently while still trapping gold..

If you're doing that last sentence .. Well, that will make your pans heavy folks..

 

[arizau]

Your final gold tally is probably mostly related to the volume of material that you ran that day. Classifying takes time and in the end reduces the amount of material you can sluice in a day. You did not state to what extent you classified. A properly set up stream sluice can easily handle at least 1" material pretty efficiently and if you feel like you have to classify at all then classifying to that size does not take near as much time as it would to classify to smaller sizes.
As has been recommended above, a bazooka is a good alternative to pre-classifying but since you are running "whatchagot" then run as much reasonably sized material as you can for more gold. Good luck!

 

[nate s]

I dont classify at all,havnt for years.I used to run my a52 the same way,just shovel and remove the big rocks by hand.Alot of the gold is stuck to the rocks and if the rocks go in the sluice you pick up the gold.The small fly poop might get lost sometimes,I get more by running more dirt. the big stuff will stay.A lot of people make a top classifier screen for there sluice which works even better.