Sluice box discouragement.....

[mytimetoshine]

So im new to gold prospecting. Went out with a pan a couple times and was doing pretty good. Bought an Angus Mackirk explorer so i could get more gold. Been out 3 times with it and im catching almost nothing...2 out of the 3 times i got less then when i used pan only! I always to some test pans before i sluice to make sure there is gold but something is wrong. I cant figure out if it is too much water flow or angle...but im not catching ish! Feeling like i would be better off with the pan....any advice?

 

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[B H Prospector]

You want to set the sluice at 1" drop for every foot of sluice. If you have a 4 ft. sluice = 4" of drop. If water is very fast you may need to adjust and run a little flatter. If you feed the material at the top of the sluice and it clears out in 15 to 30 seconds it is set right. less than that water flow is too fast, longer than that flow is too slow. Adjust drop accordingly. Sounds like you had it set too steep and gold was washing out.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[63bkpkr]

That is odd! What does the gold look like that you've found, please post a good picture of it. Angus makes a fine product, wonder why the stuff you are finding washes out of the AMsluice. Have you had your gold tested and if so what karat is it?........................63bkpkr

 

[KevinInColorado]

You want to set the sluice at 1" drop for every foot of sluice. If you have a 4 ft. sluice = 4" of drop. If water is very fast you may need to adjust and run a little flatter. If you feed the material at the top of the sluice and it clears out in 15 to 30 seconds it is set right. less than that water flow is too fast, longer than that flow is too slow. Adjust drop accordingly. Sounds like you had it set too steep and gold was washing out.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

Also try running it with less water depth...it doesn't need much.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Ive been running it fairly flat but i think about 1 inch per foot. a full scoop washes through in like 3 seconds or less so that cant be good.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Ive been running it fairly flat but i think about 1 inch per foot. a full scoop washes through in like 3 seconds or less so that cant be good.

Right...too fast! Pretty clear the gold was blowing right thru!

 

[goldnrelics]

yeah i had some problems myself at first its always best to master the pan before moving to other equipment sometimes that's all you need, Good luck!

 

[Jim in Idaho]

So im new to gold prospecting. Went out with a pan a couple times and was doing pretty good. Bought an Angus Mackirk explorer so i could get more gold. Been out 3 times with it and im catching almost nothing...2 out of the 3 times i got less then when i used pan only! I always to some test pans before i sluice to make sure there is gold but something is wrong. I cant figure out if it is too much water flow or angle...but im not catching ish! Feeling like i would be better off with the pan....any advice?

Check your feed rate....don't just "dump" a scoop in.... a slow, steady feed rate will get the best results....especially on fine gold.
Jim

 

[DesertNuggets]

Also try to wet your material before running it.. If its dry the lighter stuff sometimes floats away.

 

[socalocmatt]

Also, just to double check yourself by tossing a pan at the end of that sluice and test the tailing to see if your actually blowing out gold.

 

[mytimetoshine]

MAterial is always wet before running and tailings indicate loss. Havent been out ina few weeks.

 

[socalocmatt]

Play around with flow and angle while testing the tailings. You could do this at home with lead or practice cons in a more controlled environment.