Reedy Creek, Eldorado Vic City of gold?

Hi guys,

I've taken a few days off work between Thursday and Saturday (I had to work over Xmas   ) and was thinking of working some material through my little sluice.

I was going to head up to Eldorado for a few days to check out Reedy Creek. Maybe another creeks as well?

I'm fairly new to using a Sluice. I've been panning for years, only when I'm not swinging my detector.

And panning/sluicing seems to be a lot more relaxing.

Any tips on where a good place to start would be? as I know the gold is very fine.

I'm staying at the caravan park as I believe the creek is fairly accessible.

Any tips or advice is appreciated.


Regards,
Joel

G'day Joel. Turn left out of the caravan park & head out of town. A couple of kms down the gravel road you'll see a concrete water tank on the left at a right bend in the road. Follow the road around to the right & about 200 metres past the bend there's a track on the left. Take this, then right at the next track & at the bottom you'll come to a very large sloping rock next to the creek. Anywhere along here is good.

Back up on the road, if you keep following it, there are numerous tracks on the left that take you to the creek where there some good spots to sluice. The road continues for about another 20 kms & there is some mighty good gold to be had on the Beechworth side of the concrete crossing that is about 7 kms out of Eldorado.

Thanks Mate,

I appreciate the help. I'm just hoping there will be some running water.


What do people think of running moss or carpet when the gold is fine?

Will fine giold get caught with moss? or will the carpet just get clogged up?

I have a EZ Sluice and its got 2 riffle sections where moss or carpet can go and the rest has ribs.

I was thinking of using first section carpet and the second moss. (Also classifying it down as much as I can )

G'day again mate. I was up there last month & there was plenty of running water. More than enough for what you need. I ran short cropped carpet in my big river sluice in the late '90s & early 2000's & it catches the fine gold really well. The only trouble with carpet is cleaning the gold out of it. You can clean it out very well & let it dry, 4 or 5 times, & there's still gold coming out of it. The only way to get ALL the gold out is to eventually burn the carpet & pan the ashes.

The best "Moss" is not actually moss, but a creamy coloured door mat that looks like it. You get it at Bunnings & is about 2 foot by 18 inches or there abouts. A bit on the pricey side but a lot cheaper than Moss. About $35 - $40 from memory. They have 2 types & both have a backing, 1 is a fine weave of strands & the other is course. You want to get the course one. It allows the gold to settle quickly to the bottom & when you wash it out, the gold falls out easily. The beauty of this mat is it catches fine gold well & the backing stops any gold migrating down the sluice.

To wash it out, roll it up with the strands inside, unroll over a tub or big pan & turn over so strand are facing down. Hold each end in each hand & alternate up & down with the bottom curve of the mat in the water.

Another good mat is from BigW. Black rubber door mat with 1 inch holes & NO dimples on the back. Cost is about $5. $4.97 at BigW, Wangaratta. I don't use anything under this one, but you could use small "v" ribbed mat or the above Moss lookalike under it if you want to.

Thanks Andy,

Because my sluice is only about 2/3ft long Is it best to classify your material down to as small as you can before you run it?   

I have a 1/4" classifier and a smaller (home made fly-screen) classifier should I use both? and get the material fine as possible or is only down to 1/4" needed?


Well I'm off for my first sluicing trip tomorrow. So fingers crossed I get some colour.   


Regards,
Joel


***This forum has a great community.

Yes, classifying it first would be a wise move & 1/4" should be fine. I wouldn't use the flyscreen & the 1/4" together. If you did you would want to inspect the flyscreen very carefully before tipping out the spoil, as you will get flakes big enough out of Reedy Ck to get caught in it.

Cheers,
Andy

1/4 is perfect for even a mini sluice.
just be careful if the soil is damp and u shake it on the screen sumtimes it lumps up and can trap gold i have found