recycling sluices

Hello ,i'm a bit of a greeny to this type of prospecting but i want to know if i could use one of the small recycling sluices on old detected nugget patches in arid areas of WA? Has anyone had a go at this,and also some suggestions as to which ones would be best for the job if it can be done.Any advice pos. or neg. would be appreciated. Thanks MARTY

you certainly could but you would need a heap of water as im thinking that you would have a fair bit of red clay which will dirty your water and after a while will carry a lot of fine gold out of your sluice !

Hi Murachu,yes the first spot im thinking of does! Is a rough estimate of water needed a bit hard to give not knowing what the clay is like? thanks MARTY

yes Marty its like that piece of string im afraid

Murachu wrote:you certainly could but you would need a heap of water as im thinking that you would have a fair bit of red clay which will dirty your water and after a while will carry a lot of fine gold out of your sluice !

i wouldnt want to much of that dirt running through my pump ethier

Hi Skysite,so what your saying is the suspended clay in the water will flog the pump alot quicker? thanks MARTY

yes Marty that's a given!! is it dry enough to dry blower it ?

marty wrote:Hi Skysite,so what your saying is the suspended clay in the water will flog the pump alot quicker? thanks MARTY

For sure mate dosent have to be crystal clear water by any means but it will get glogged up quick recycling the water like that if it's the lack of water your worried about try using a mini concentrator it's no where as good as a sluice and slow hard work but will get you some gold......

Marty
with all the gung, clay etc, going through your pump will not only clog up your pump it will also and most
importantly damage the impeller and the seals in your pump and that could be very very expensive.
Eagle653

Hi Marty
I have got a recycling sluice on the drawing board at the moment, As a plumber by trade I am not concerned by the conntaminants/ sludge etc it just takes a little more thinking (but thats good for the brain), I am thinking of using 2 tubs 1 inside the other with the water flowing over some sort of filter medium to strain out the sediments, this also needs to compact to carry on say a quad in the future, I will post mine as I build it but wont be for a while yet.
cheers
You are only limited by your imagination.
PM me if you need some idea's
Lee

G;day Lee
Mate on all our pumps pick-ups we use strainers which stop all large particle’s of foreign material entering the system and clogging the jetting system and wearing away the pump seals in our units. The strainers can be made out of shade cloth or layers of fly screen mesh sewn into a bag with a draw string so you can remove them for cleaning.
James 101 ©

james
i have the fine mesh over the intake i found the fly screen to be too small and restricted the water flow
but when using my pump recycling the water at home the water became thicker the more dirt i put through even when using 2 buckets joined together to stop the small rocks ect from going through the pump ...after i emptied the water from the pump i wasnt too happy with how much sludge and crap was running through it didnt look to good for my pump just my thoughts im not an expert on pumps though????????

Yes Dave clay in suspension is a killer on seals especially but you do need to get the clay into suspension to get all the fine gold because if you dont any minute ball of clay ,even in water,will take the fines out with the overflow water and although its not an expensive thing to replace a seal, mine are about $8, and clay gumming up your impeller is a pain the rear end but clay in itself is not going to do it harm but small stones will, so as long as you can keep the stones out the rest is just dissembling the pump and scraping out the clay and replace the seal. It can be a bit tedious but a well cooled beer when finished is always welcomed!

Dave this is what i use --a 10l bucket with holes and shade cloth made into a bag with a pull tight at the top -- the fine hair like mesh of the shade cloth works wonderfully

They work for me but that is out in the field. I do all my clean up on site and take only gold home. cheers

some good ideas there guys will be using the bucket murachu once the water stops following...
james i do all my cleaning onsite as well i just like taking a bit of dirt home for the gaps inbetween or i start getting ichy feet lol.....
its great to see all different and great ideas on here well done guys great help.....
Dave

murachu
im using the M&D marks with the hungarian rifles and put only a slight incline on the sluice and have the water running fast is this the way to go as i dont think loose much and catch a far bit in the top box and first 10 riffles....if i put the sluice on a bigger incline and slow the water flow it seems to build up in the middle of the sluice....i can shovel more dirt when the water is flowing fast on the slight incline and dont get the build up in the middle is this the way to go???????? whats better???????

Just have a look at the pic above all that gung , why risk damaging your pump for a few specks of gold?? not worth it as far as I am concerned
but i am not an expert like some of the guys it seems. an $8.00 seal is $8.00 bucks out of your pocket and a fair bit of work.
Eagle653

skysite wrote:murachu
im using the M&D marks with the hungarian rifles and put only a slight incline on the sluice and have the water running fast is this the way to go as i dont think loose much and catch a far bit in the top box and first 10 riffles....if i put the sluice on a bigger incline and slow the water flow it seems to build up in the middle of the sluice....i can shovel more dirt when the water is flowing fast on the slight incline and dont get the build up in the middle is this the way to go???????? whats better???????

Mate i have never worked a M&D so im not an expert on those sluices but it is a big worry when you get gold down so many riffles !! all i can say is experiment with different angles and flows and have a gold pan at the end of the sluice to see how much you may be loosing -- and if i can sugest that you make notes of all the changes you are making so you can relax with a coldie and review.

Dave re working clay based soils -- I used to do a lot of fishing years ago,before i got this gold disease,and a good friend of mine said one day " how many lures do ya loose in a day /" none says I !! to costly to loose them !! "ahh says he if your not loosin them your not in the right spot to catch the fish" and thats very true because Mother Nature is a bitch! she puts the good gold in the clay and if you are after a good result and not a mediocre one you have to go for the clay ! yes you will have some wear on your pump over time but ill bet you will have OZs instead of a few grams i know where i will invest my $8!!

Murachu wrote:Dave re working clay based soils -- I used to do a lot of fishing years ago,before i got this gold disease,and a good friend of mine said one day " how many lures do ya loose in a day /" none says I !! to costly to loose them !! "ahh says he if your not loosin them your not in the right spot to catch the fish" and thats very true because Mother Nature is a bitch! she puts the good gold in the clay and if you are after a good result and not a mediocre one you have to go for the clay ! yes you will have some wear on your pump over time but ill bet you will have OZs instead of a few grams i know where i will invest my $8!!

Now ain’t that the truth!
cheers James 101

Murachu wrote:Dave re working clay based soils -- I used to do a lot of fishing years ago,before i got this gold disease,and a good friend of mine said one day " how many lures do ya loose in a day /" none says I !! to costly to loose them !! "ahh says he if your not loosin them your not in the right spot to catch the fish" and thats very true because Mother Nature is a bitch! she puts the good gold in the clay and if you are after a good result and not a mediocre one you have to go for the clay ! yes you will have some wear on your pump over time but ill bet you will have OZs instead of a few grams i know where i will invest my $8!!

Im recycling my water onsite I'm coming straight out of the river mate I do agree I get a lot more gold from the clay

Murachu wrote:

skysite wrote:murachu
im using the M&D marks with the hungarian rifles and put only a slight incline on the sluice and have the water running fast is this the way to go as i dont think loose much and catch a far bit in the top box and first 10 riffles....if i put the sluice on a bigger incline and slow the water flow it seems to build up in the middle of the sluice....i can shovel more dirt when the water is flowing fast on the slight incline and dont get the build up in the middle is this the way to go???????? whats better???????

Mate i have never worked a M&D so im not an expert on those sluices but it is a big worry when you get gold down so many riffles !! all i can say is experiment with different angles and flows and have a gold pan at the end of the sluice to see how much you may be loosing -- and if i can sugest that you make notes of all the changes you are making so you can relax with a coldie and review.

The marks sluice has about 30 riffled mate I'm catching just before mid way but would the fast water take any gold or is having the build up good for the Hungarian riffles would like your thoughts

skysite wrote:

Murachu wrote:Dave re working clay based soils -- I used to do a lot of fishing years ago,before i got this gold disease,and a good friend of mine said one day " how many lures do ya loose in a day /" none says I !! to costly to loose them !! "ahh says he if your not loosin them your not in the right spot to catch the fish" and thats very true because Mother Nature is a bitch! she puts the good gold in the clay and if you are after a good result and not a mediocre one you have to go for the clay ! yes you will have some wear on your pump over time but ill bet you will have OZs instead of a few grams i know where i will invest my $8!!

Im recycling my water onsite I'm coming straight out of the river mate I do agree I get a lot more gold from the clay

Dave you have it now!! you can be a gold prospector or a sand scratcher

The marks sluice has about 30 riffled mate I'm catching just before mid way but would the fast water take any gold or is having the build up good for the Hungarian riffles would like your thoughts


Dave it would be great to see a pic of what is happening -- a Hungarian riffle works with the upside of the riffle bring clear and the area downside holds just enough to have the sands dancing as the stream flows over it there then should be a clear space to the start of the next riffle -- i hope that makes sense

HA HA sand scratcher would be a lot easier mate I do get a bit lazy in the arfternoon and start digging the sand but always take a bit of time breaking down the grey clay

Dave we all have those afternoons now and again

Murachu wrote:The marks sluice has about 30 riffled mate I'm catching just before mid way but would the fast water take any gold or is having the build up good for the Hungarian riffles would like your thoughts


Dave it would be great to see a pic of what is happening -- a Hungarian riffle works with the upside of the riffle bring clear and the area downside holds just enough to have the sands dancing as the stream flows over it there then should be a clear space to the start of the next riffle -- i hope that makes sense

I'll check it out next trip mate and take some close up photos.....and again appreciate all the info from you guys I've only been sluicing since Xmas and finding more each trip....
Cheers Dave

I’ve now been running the same pump since 1993, and have never done a seal yet. The pump has indeed moved a lot of dirty water. Take the time and make some good quality strainers they work and work well. Dave I been sluicing now for the best part of 35 years or more in one form or other. It’s good fun mate welcome to the club.
Cheers James 101

Dave you are very welcome and if I can be of any help dont hesitate to ask and remember as ive always said "the only silly question is the one not asked"