Prospecting equipment is expensive, making it hard for novice prospectors to afford all of the tools required. As such, many prospectors opt to build prospecting equipment instead.
Sluice boxes are an accessible piece of equipment that any prospector can design with minimal hassle, and will do an effective job of capturing gold.
Aluminum Sluice Box
A sluice box is a piece of gold prospecting equipment that allows its operator to process more gravel faster than using a gold pan, as well as making transport and use much easier and simpler. Furthermore, basic units can often be constructed at a fraction of the cost associated with commercially built units; aluminum and plastic materials make excellent lightweight alternatives that won't rust easily.
Sluice boxes work by simulating natural stream beds, allowing water currents to sweep sediment over it. Debris that has settled onto parts of the sluice where currents slow down is then washed away while denser particles such as gold are extracted from other material in the form of dense particles washed off by gravity. A long narrow sluice usually proves more efficient than shorter, wider models.
Sluice boxes come in various varieties, each designed to suit a different application and particle size of gold being processed. Molded to catch magnetic minerals such as magnetite or fitted with miner's carpet to catch finer particles. A good sluice box should also take ergonomic considerations into account to make its use comfortable for its operator.
Aluminum sluice boxes are lightweight, making them more portable and easier to transport than their wood or steel counterparts. Plus, they're equipped with a hopper dredge that helps get under obstructions such as logs to ensure water flows freely through.
Sluice boxes can be installed along a stream or riverbank or placed directly on the ground, usually raised a few inches off of its bed to enable proper water flow. They may even be constructed on a trestle over excavated ground or in gulleys - either way it is essential that its slope and supply are adjusted so as to allow gravel, including larger cobbles, to move through freely into the stream.
Sluice Box Riffles
Sluice boxes are long, narrow boxes containing multiple obstructions known as riffles that create obstructions for flowing streams of water to pass through. Once in position, gold-rich gravel and dirt is fed into its upstream end through an upstream end outlet while heavy materials pass over them before becoming concentrated by being restricted by obstructions, creating eddies behind them, slowing them down and eventually washing out of the sluice box.
Early sluice boxes were simply wooden or fine clay troughs that allowed gravity to separate gold from heavier rock and sand particles. Gradually, prospectors began using riffles made of wood, stones, logs, grass or sticks; regardless of material riffles serve the same purpose of keeping material suspended in place behind obstructions in a sluice box bottom; when appropriate water flow was directed over these obstructions back pressure kept it suspended continuously behind each obstruction, thus concentrating heavier materials (including gold!) while keeping lighter streambed material suspended continuously - again by gravity!
Riffles are small dams that stop heavy material from moving down into sluice boxes. To avoid "packing up" a riffle with too much material and "oversaturating it", it is important to avoid overloading it too much with heavy material.
Other than conventional angled riffles, some sluice boxes also employ hydraulic riffles which work similarly but actively inject filtered water into the sluice run to form a fluidized bed and protect gold values from being washed over by heavy material flowing up over the riffles. This reduces the time between cleanouts while protecting recovered gold values from being washed over from above.
If you're in search of a high banker kit with hydraulic riffles, look no further than the Gold Well Vortex Drop Riffle Sluice. This high banker set contains everything needed to start mining including a sluice box, aluminum riffle cage, 36-inch miner's carpet and expanded metal riffles (but without pump). A pump may be purchased separately if desired.
Sluice Box Design
One of the most frequently used pieces of prospecting equipment is a sluice box. Sluice boxes provide an efficient means of processing large volumes of material quickly while helping locate any gold that may be hiding out in streams or rivers beds. Sluice boxes make prospecting simpler, whether you are a new or experienced miner.
Sluices are water-driven devices lined with riffles that use moving water to move lighter materials such as clay and sand out of their path, while collecting heavier ones, like gold. Sluices range in size from small, portable aluminum models used by individual prospectors all the way up to commercial units several hundred feet long.
Successful sluice box operation rests heavily on the design and placement of its riffles. Their angle of placement plays an essential part in determining how much gold can be recovered; as steeper angles lead to more fine gold being lost. For maximum recovery potential, ideal settings would include 45 degree angles between riffles.
Prospectors often prefer classifying their gravel before placing it into their sluice, in order to prevent large rocks and debris from altering its flow and improve fine gold recovery.
Furthermore, it's advisable to attach a rock brace across the front of the sluice box in order to prevent it from shifting during use - particularly important if used in shallow waters where fast-flowing currents could wash it away!
Long tom sluices were often utilized by old-time miners and consisted of a long, narrow trough with screens and additional riffles at its end, designed for easy construction with less water consumption than regular sluices.
Before setting up a sluice, it is crucial to locate an ideal location. Find an area where the water flows at just the right pace to move heavier gravel and dirt downstream without washing away your prospecting gear. When you have found an ideal site, install your sluice into the water with some sort of support such as rocks or logs placed across its top edge to hold its position firmly in place.
Sluice Box Materials
If you're serious about discovering gold and want a faster process of sifting through sediment, a sluice box might be just what's needed to speed things up. These devices are user-friendly and can save a great deal of time from laborious hand sifting gravel and materials by hand. A sluice box works by positioning itself along a river and letting its current separate heavy items like gold from lighter debris such as dirt. A must-have piece of gold prospecting equipment!
Aluminum is the ideal material to construct a homemade sluice box, as its lightweight nature makes it more portable than heavier metal options and helps prevent it from rusting. Aluminum also ensures strong enough support to hold its riffles securely without them moving out of position or becoming damaged during transport.
Start by cutting a piece of plywood about 1 foot wide and 4 feet long, screw a dowel into one end, and use another dowel as your first riffle - do this every six inches for six total riffles.
Cover the bottom of your sluice with a piece of ribbed matting. Ribbed matting is made of black rubber with fine parallel ridges running along its length similar to miner's moss; each ridge acts like a little riffle to capture gold. Or alternatively, consider purchasing plastic screens from Walmart's sewing/crafts departments as an affordable alternative that will increase the chances of finding fine gold.
When you're ready to use a sluice, place the device into a stream and begin pouring material in. Before adding gravel, however, it is essential that any large rocks or materials which might be barren are first classified to ensure the efficient classification of gravel for further use. In addition, placing heavy, tightly-spaced screens or bars across the entrance of your sluice may help prevent larger debris from entering and slowing the flow of materials through it