What is a Gold Sluice?
Sluices are long, narrow "boxes" that water passes through when put in a creek or stream. Nineteenth century gold miners used wooden varieties, but modern gold prospectors primarily use manual sluice boxes made of heavy-duty plastic or aluminum with riffles and ribbed matting or miner's moss in the bottom for trapping gold. You can also choose a power sluice (also known as a highbanker) on legs that comes with a motor, pump, hoses and other accessories to process even more material quicker. No matter which type of sluice you use, the idea is to position a gold sluice box in a running stream so that the water and gravity does the work— separating the dirt and rocks away from the gold. Since gold is heavy, it will stay in the bottom of the sluice, trapped in the miner's moss or in the ribbed matting, depending on what you're using.
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Running your sluice box at the proper angle is vital for best gold recovery, so experiment with the slope. Finer gold generally responds better to decreased water flow because it allows more time for it to settle out of the moving water instead of getting washed away. Larger gold can drop at a steeper angle allowing you to run more water through the sluices and thus process more material a bit quicker.
A good rule of thumb is to set the angle of your gold sluice at about 1 inch drop per foot of sluice box. If you add an optional stand to your sluice, keep in mind that the legs adjust for any terrain, so that you can easily keep the correct slope (angle) for getting the most gold and quickly test and tweak until you get it just right. |
Gold Sluice Box Prospecting
Today's High Gold Prices May Make You Consider Trying It
We all get into a hobby as time goes by. But do any of your hobbies pay you in real dollars? Here is one hobby that will inspire you to get out there and not only have some fun in the great outdoors but might just bring you some nice cash as a result. Sluice box prospecting is an enjoyable way to spend some leisure time productively. They are very lightweight and can be used practically anywhere you find a creek.
Because they are not power driven they do not disturb the environment they are lightly regulated. Because they have no power motor, there is no reason to carry gasoline, they do not smoke and there is no annoying noise to bother others who may be trying to enjoy the outdoors along a creek.
If you are contemplating taking up the hobby you should first have a knowledge as to how gold deposits in the creek or river. This was a question that bothered me for a great many years as well. Just how did it get there? Gold is very heavy. In fact it is the heaviest of all metals. A single gold bar weighs about 42 pounds. How did it get into the stream? Good question.
Walk along any stream and you see it may be tranquil as it flows steadily along on the way to the ocean. During spring thaws and times of heavy rains it may change from that quiet little brook into a raging torrent. Stand nearby while it is full flood and you will see boulders and rocks rolling along the channel.
Every once in so many years the creek will have what is called a once-in-every-500-year flood. This is what hydrologists study before they allow development to take place in hilly or mountain areas. During these floods, huge boulders and rocks may be carried along.
Not only do rocks get carried along, but gold as well. Being heavier that anything else it will quickly fall to the bottom at the first opportunity settling behind riffles in the creek. Everywhere water flows there are riffles. Rocks, sand and gravel bars, bridge footings, tree stumps, curves in the creek. Even when water flows through culvert pipes and canals there are irregularities that cause riffles to form. So when a prospector goes out to work a creek it is in the area behind these riffles that are going to be the most lucrative.
If you look at a sluice box you will note a series of cross pieces called riffles. Along the bottom of the sluice there will be a specially designed mesh containing many hundreds of riffles. Since the gold is heavier that anything else passing through the sluice, it will drop in behind the riffles letting the water and sand and gravel pass overhead.
At the end of the day the sluice is taken to the side and the underlying material under the riffles is taken out and placed in a gold pan where the gold is freed up by swishing in the quiet water. The last of the remaining sand may be taken home where the very tiny gold flakes called flour gold is extracted. If you have been very busy, you may have a five gallon pail of this sand. An automatic spiral gold panning machine can make fine gold recovery quicker and easier!
Sluicing can be very profitable considering today's spot price of gold. Give it a try!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Macmillan
Joe and Irma MacMillan have spent many years backpacking, skiing, and simply enjoying life in the mountains of British Columbia. Their website http://whistler-outdoors.com is full of tips on snowboarding, camping, kayaking, rafting, camp cooking and fishing. They met on a blind date in 1957 and are still married.
Because they are not power driven they do not disturb the environment they are lightly regulated. Because they have no power motor, there is no reason to carry gasoline, they do not smoke and there is no annoying noise to bother others who may be trying to enjoy the outdoors along a creek.
If you are contemplating taking up the hobby you should first have a knowledge as to how gold deposits in the creek or river. This was a question that bothered me for a great many years as well. Just how did it get there? Gold is very heavy. In fact it is the heaviest of all metals. A single gold bar weighs about 42 pounds. How did it get into the stream? Good question.
Walk along any stream and you see it may be tranquil as it flows steadily along on the way to the ocean. During spring thaws and times of heavy rains it may change from that quiet little brook into a raging torrent. Stand nearby while it is full flood and you will see boulders and rocks rolling along the channel.
Every once in so many years the creek will have what is called a once-in-every-500-year flood. This is what hydrologists study before they allow development to take place in hilly or mountain areas. During these floods, huge boulders and rocks may be carried along.
Not only do rocks get carried along, but gold as well. Being heavier that anything else it will quickly fall to the bottom at the first opportunity settling behind riffles in the creek. Everywhere water flows there are riffles. Rocks, sand and gravel bars, bridge footings, tree stumps, curves in the creek. Even when water flows through culvert pipes and canals there are irregularities that cause riffles to form. So when a prospector goes out to work a creek it is in the area behind these riffles that are going to be the most lucrative.
If you look at a sluice box you will note a series of cross pieces called riffles. Along the bottom of the sluice there will be a specially designed mesh containing many hundreds of riffles. Since the gold is heavier that anything else passing through the sluice, it will drop in behind the riffles letting the water and sand and gravel pass overhead.
At the end of the day the sluice is taken to the side and the underlying material under the riffles is taken out and placed in a gold pan where the gold is freed up by swishing in the quiet water. The last of the remaining sand may be taken home where the very tiny gold flakes called flour gold is extracted. If you have been very busy, you may have a five gallon pail of this sand. An automatic spiral gold panning machine can make fine gold recovery quicker and easier!
Sluicing can be very profitable considering today's spot price of gold. Give it a try!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Macmillan
Joe and Irma MacMillan have spent many years backpacking, skiing, and simply enjoying life in the mountains of British Columbia. Their website http://whistler-outdoors.com is full of tips on snowboarding, camping, kayaking, rafting, camp cooking and fishing. They met on a blind date in 1957 and are still married.
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