Sluices, long and narrow vs short and wide

[mofugly13]

I work construction, and m always eyeballing materials that I think would be good for prospecting. The guys who put the metal cladding on the exterior of buildings usually have the most stuff that piques my interest. A lot of metal, usually aluminum, troughs for capping parapet walls or wrapping columns. Perfect sluice channels. The majority are 8”-12” wide and 8’-10’ long. This has got me to thinking...

What are the pros and cons of a short, wide sluice vs. a long narrow sluice, all else being equal....water flow, optimum angle for the material being run, etc....?

Off the top of my head, I would imagine a wider sluice can simply handle a higher feed rate, and the longer the sluice is, the better the recovery rate. Am I right here? What else?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[Goldwasher]

I work construction, and m always eyeballing materials that I think would be good for prospecting. The guys who put the metal cladding on the exterior of buildings usually have the most stuff that piques my interest. A lot of metal, usually aluminum, troughs for capping parapet walls or wrapping columns. Perfect sluice channels. The majority are 8”-12” wide and 8’-10’ long. This has got me to thinking...

What are the pros and cons of a short, wide sluice vs. a long narrow sluice, all else being equal....water flow, optimum angle for the material being run, etc....?

Off the top of my head, I would imagine a wider sluice can simply handle a higher feed rate, and the longer the sluice is, the better the recovery rate. Am I right here?

What else?

Anything over 7.5 - 8" is good for long sluices and perfect for light sampling sluices, and will work just finefo running a good amount of material.

10" and over ( average stream sluice size) also works length does help with fine recovery.

When I have good running water I daisy chain two 10" sluices together so I can run as much material as possible.

 

[mofugly13]

I imagine long AND wide is most ideal, and that it all comes down to logistics and portability.

 

[goldenmojo]

I know a guy that built a bazooka gold trap knockoff, the prospector model out of metal clad. I don’t remember if it was 30” or 36” but he was a craftsman and it was a ting of beauty. We floated the Bear River on inner tubes using two tubes each, one to float on the second to haul the prospecting gear. He brought the metal clad and it caught gold well. You might look into doing something like that.

 

[Underburden]

I would think the capture media would be more important in any size sluice.

 

[russau]

My thoughts would be of classification and run the cons separately to take advantage of the specific gravity of the precious metals ! Then the short lengths would work fine And Underburden has a very good point of the capture material!

 

[BillA]

available water will define the width
longer is always better

 

[Duckshot]

I ve found it easier to clean a sluice if I can fit the end into a five gallon bucket.

 

[Hoser John]

Spread the flow out, slow it down and that gold drops out very easy. No foaming, frothing fast moving mess will do that. I prefer pre-classification as the best means of recovery and the removal of any/all clay clumps/balls. John

 

[et1955]

In my state and maybe others, the law determines the size of sluice I can use, read the laws of your state to determine what you can use and then modify it for the best at separating gold from the aggregate, I only have 3 sqr, ft. lawfully and that is enough.

 

[Goldwasher]

In my state and maybe others, the law determines the size of sluice I can use, read the laws of your state to determine what you can use and then modify it for the best at separating gold from the aggregate, I only have 3 sqr, ft. lawfully and that is enough.

luckily Ca. doesn't have any size requirements or regulations

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

luckily Ca. doesn't have any size requirements or regulations

You Don't hear that very often!

 

[Duckshot]

In my state and maybe others, the law determines the size of sluice I can use, read the laws of your state to determine what you can use and then modify it for the best at separating gold from the aggregate, I only have 3 sqr, ft. lawfully and that is enough.

So if you got a four footer it can be only 9" wide?

Sounds

Does that include the flare and skid plate?

In my state one can only move two yards of creek bottom in any one creek per a year. if you move a yard what difference does it make what size sluice you are using?

 

[Goldwasher]

You Don't hear that very often!

Yea , I probably shouldn't bring it up.

 

[Capt Nemo]

In my state one can only move two yards of creek bottom in any one creek per a year. if you move a yard what difference does it make what size sluice you are using?

Hit the Tomorrow river, then move downstream and hit the Waupaca river. Same stream and you can bag 4 yards. Didn't think about that too well did they! Not much there though.

 

[johnedoe]

Since I beach mine I tend toward long and fairly wide.....
16 inches wide by 8 feet long...........

 

[et1955]

only the riffle area is considered

 

[bedrock bubba]

Spread the flow out, slow it down and that gold drops out very easy. No foaming, frothing fast moving mess will do that. I prefer pre-classification as the best means of recovery and the removal of any/all clay clumps/balls. John

And you don't need to put riffles in the box! Just use that ribbed matting you can glue into the box with G.E. clear silicon cement. The value is in the fines!

 

[et1955]

And you don't need to put riffles in the box! Just use that ribbed matting you can glue into the box with G.E. clear silicon cement. The value is in the fines!

unfortunately ribbed mating is considered to be riffles in my state.