Keene A52 matting upgrade **?

TheGoldProspector

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Location
Gold Country - California
Detector(s) used
-Keene A52 - Fab2.5 Highbanker - GoldNSand Hand Dredge

Garrett AT Pro - Bazooka Gold Trap 30" Prospector - Garrett Ace 250 - Blue Bowl Concentrator
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Im curious about changing out my original green carpet matting that came stock woth my sluicebox. At my local shop they have matting that is constructed together (reference photos). It is in a roll just like the green carpet matting would be. The blue moss is about a foot or a foot and a half long, and the rest plastic riffles which are also blue, not green.

The owner told me i would have to lose the metal riffle screen with this system.

Long term, I am looking to turn this sluice into the highbanker system. Would this new matting be a good fit/useful?

Any suggestions? image.webpimage.webp
 

Maybe get some gold hog mats, but the are not cheap , but everybody that has them seems to love them. Most people use the ur mat, scrubber or downdraft for sluice boxes
 

Any photos of those? What os the original green one called? Carpet?
 

Awesome! Checking that out. Any information on the hog moss stuff/blue?
 

Couple feet of vortex works well.
 

Say a foot of blue moss, then the rest the vortex?
 

Moss = classifier....vmat or carpet = bedrock......gold hog = fluid bed/bedrock........think about it!...use accordingly
 

Moss = classifier....vmat or carpet = bedrock......gold hog = fluid bed/bedrock........think about it!...use accordingly

I have never read it as such.. Can you clarify please?
The moss Helps you classify down further?

Thank you
 

Godhog have in depth vids on youtube... its your best guide on matting info. Or talk with doc, here on tn. Hh.:hello2:
 

If you don"t own a Bazooka. Go with the gold hog mats. They will catch the very fine gold. But you will need to classify.I Have them in a stream sluice and love them. Just check out the gold hog video"s. They will tell you whats you need. To get started.
 

Leave it alone..classify and run till the cows come home as all this mat bs ain't a going to do nuttn' but mt your wallet-John
 

Leave it alone..classify and run till the cows come home as all this mat bs ain't a going to do nuttn' but mt your wallet-John
Thats how I originally felt, but I am looking to upgrade; either to a a52 highbanker, or a bazooka prospector / future highbanker.

And these next two weekends are Hopefully going to be very productive.:occasion14:
 

GP just my thought. Take them for what there worth.It works for me. And in an area where there not a lot of gold. Ive tried many set ups. I found this to worked for me.If i was in an area with a lot of gold. My first set up would have been fine. But it wasn"t working so. I tried something else.
 

Get the Bazooka and never look back..........
They don't need no stinkin' mat.

Go for the gold!
GG~
 

You have to be careful with the matting...some of them don’t leave enough room under the riffle for the heavy’s to stay or change the shape under the riffle..Art
 

You have to be careful with the matting...some of them don’t leave enough room under the riffle for the heavy’s to stay or change the shape under the riffle..Art

Shoot! I was ready to go get my moss/matting until now...
 

Ok... Moss look at it it has holes in it..it is actually active when in a stream or in a dredge or banker as long as water is running over it and through it... material will exchange the moss will hold pickers and let lighter material pass by. Fine gold and black sands will actually make there way down to the deck of the sluice.Material of a certain size and density. Pretty much classified right? So guess what happens if you don't have something like carpet or Vmat under it? It can ride out the end of the sluice and out of it. So carpet or vmat is your bedrock it is there to catch and hold your gold. I like Vmat over carpet as it is easier to see gold in it. Also the green carpet will hold onto super fine gold and small sand. You really have to beat the crap out of it to get everything out. And it deteriorates with age and use Vmat lasts longer. The problem with moss is if you shut down all the material will lock up do to the loss of the suspension created by the moving water. You have to do a clean out or try to get it loosened up and active again. Those new plastic riffle sets and gold hog matts are active recovery systems. Flow and angle create a vortex and laminar flow removes the lighter material that is thrown up into the flow from behind the riffles. Several different gold traps catch and hold the gold. It is very difficult to get out. It even takes a bit of extra work compared to cleaning out carpet or Vmat. Drop riffles like Angus, Letrap or Ca. sluice Box work the same way and are light and super easy to clean out. One of the coolest things to see is a drop riffle set up great and seeing the material exchange and watching certain material actually moving upstream in the sluice because of the vortex. Most Any gold coming by can't help but do what the laws of physics tell it to and settle right down to the tune of 90%+ recovery rate all the way down to 200 mesh gold.(and smaller) Think about it if you are catching silt, black sand and other material you are most likely catching the majority of the gold introduced to your recovery equipment. And therein lies the catch.... are you digging the best material.... before you decide you are losing gold... make sure your finding it.
 

Bought and used the moss/matting setup.

A thought I have been pondering..this last time I put the green mat under the moss, before the v-matting in the A-52. It seemed to work fine, im just worried about the height difference from just ising either the green matting/moss, to both sitting upon eachother..
The v-matting seemed to be working as it should..

Should I just use the green matting, then the v- matting..and forget the moss. (I hand classify each bucket by the way)
 

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