What size mesh for classifying?

[Gold4Mike]

So as a beginner gold prospector I have 1/2" and 1/8" classifying screens for pre sluicing. I also have used a kitchen sieve (unknown mesh size, lol) to classify concentrates for panning. If I were going to add a couple more to my arsenal, what would you all suggest I add next?

 

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[mytimetoshine]

The 1/2 and 1/8 is all you need for field sluicing. Anything smaller is for cleanup. I like to use a 20 mesh before I finish pan my concentrates. I only use smaller mesh for re running all my saved cons for the year thru the Gold Cube

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[et1955]

So your in our state, what river's are you mining ? 1/2 inch is all you need if you are mining in western Washington running a sluice. All you really need is a shovel and a pan to develop the skill to find gold in this state but it is not easy. There is no equipment out there that will take the place of experience.

 

[goldenmojo]

It depends on the size gold you will encounter. I usually don't classify but when I do and I know nothing will be larger that 20 mesh I go with that. Next step up is a 12 the up to 1/2. No sense sorting and then resorting. i quick scan the screen before I toss it and try to slump all toss outs into one pile. Then occasinally will take a sample pan out of the pile if I think about it.

 

[Gold4Mike]

So your in our state, what river's are you mining ? 1/2 inch is all you need if you are mining in western Washington running a sluice. All you really need is a shovel and a pan to develop the skill to find gold in this state but it is not easy. There is no equipment out there that will take the place of experience.

Been to the South Fork Nooksack a couple times because it's so close to where we live and it's a good training ground. I've been learning to set up my Angus Mackirk sluice, still don't have it running like it should, so processing concentrates are a little slow, but we have gotten a little something every time. We do plan on spreading out this summer and trying Canyon Creek and maybe a few spots around Blewett Pass. Also thinking of making a diy miller table so I am holding on to concentrates to run again. I am thinking I'll need to classify down to make that work right.

 

[Gold4Mike]

Actually also curious about what mesh sizes people like to prepare for final panning, miller table or other final processing. I think I'll be dealing with a lot of flour gold so a smaller mesh would be useful to finish panning or miller table? Curious what people are using for those.

 

[mytimetoshine]

50, 70,100. The problem with smaller mesh is time. Those smaller mesh screens take much longer to process. I find that dry classifying the smaller mesh is preferable. Using vibration seems to be easier. 12v on ebay for 5 bucks

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[KevinInColorado]

http://findinggoldincolorado.com/finish-processing-your-concentrates-after-a-day-of-digging/

Here's my approach to finish panning. I'm a big promoter of classifying your concentrates!

 

[Hoser John]

I further classify to run my cons through my blue bowl down to 50- and green bowl the 1/8"-50+ as fast and ez and my roses love them black sands. There are always exceptions as just talking in general only.-John

 

[Capt Nemo]

For beach sands, I go to windowscreen ~#16 to get out most of the organics. I also deal with fine gravel in the beach from 3/4"- +16. The big stuff gets saved in a bucket for check panning and once in awhile you get something. The rest goes through the fluid bed.

For local rivers, I run with 1/4"-1/8".

 

[Duckshot]

Your kitchen sieve is likely around 20 mesh. I like to use my 20 mesh seive after the pan is down to black sand but first checked for pickers. I always check what the seive catches for gems, diamond is occasionally found in my area. Never found one myself, yet.

 

[Gold4Mike]

Thanks for all the comments!

 

[Hamfist]

I just go down to 20 mesh when finish panning. Recently, I bought 30/50/100 mesh screens and ran some old black sand I was saving to see what I was missing by not going beyond 20. There were two or three microscopic pieces that I missed the first time around, out of what was initially probably a .3-.5 gram cleanout. My conclusion was that it wasn't worth my time to collect an extra thousandth of a gram per trip. It definitely depends on how you pan, though. It's a easier to pan material that is consistent in size.

 

[Jeff95531]

I recently filled in the blanks on my classifier set. I have a 1/2, 1/8, 12, 20, 40, 60 and Miller Table. Most of the gold is -12 that I've found and anything less than 60 is up to the table, which can loose gold too if not dialed in properly...right Kevin?

 

[Gold4Mike]

I ended up ordering a 50 and 100 mesh. Those will hopefully make panning easier!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Just remember when sluicing - you don't have to necessarily classify.
There is a place for it, but many times people spend half the time screening material in order to increase their recovery rate by an immeasurable amount.
The pay off is usually not worth the effort in my opinion unless you are panning or reducing concentrates. My theory is... it's OK to let some gold back to the wild as long as a bunch of it stays in your box.

Unless you really like classifying- then knock yourself out.

If you have a good trap in your box, that gold will fall out very quickly and stay there.

 

[Gold4Mike]

No, I've found that pre classifying is not my favorite part. Makes me sore, lol. I've got an Angus Mackirk Foreman and if I can figure out how to set it up right, I'm hoping to be able to cut back on the need to classify, but so far I've needed to in order to not clog it up. I've also got an order in for a Grizzly.

 

[63bkpkr]

Carrying buckets of raw sample along with classifying it is Not fun. Once when I was on a good spot I used my metal detector to check each bucket for a signal, if no signal I did not process that sample batch. Later I checked the pile of "no process signal" material and did not have any additional gold in my pan. Any reasonable way to reduce the work is acceptable, in my book at least......................63bkpkr

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

The specific gravity of gold is usually not appreciated enough. You can run faster/deeper water in your sluice than most people initially think. Most dredge boxes work well running deep fast water with lots of rocks.
It does depend on the style of your sluice box.

 

[et1955]

Reasons why I classify to a 1/2inch is simple, location of the dig site versus where I can run the sluice, most times I am 50 to 100ft from the sluice. More efficient to carry 1 bucket of classified material than 10 unclassified. Another reason is because of all the clay in the material I run, not uncommon to pick up a rock covered with clay and find gold stuck to it, prewashing takes care of that. Also running material that is consistent in size prevents gold loss due to turbulence caused by large rocks rolling threw your sluice.