Sluicing for fine fine fine gold

Something I've noticed on the net lately! People are seeking small sluice boxes because there chasing fine gold. Anyone who has sluiced before will bare testament, fine fine fine gold will only be caught in the last couple of rifles, and only if your using carpet, and only if your sluice is of length, 3 to 4 feet forget it.
Sure you can pan the concentrates from your short sluice and recover 95 to 100 & of the gold and say I didn't miss a spec?
What you will have missed is a small fortune that never had time to settle!
All I'm saying is, if you want to recover/ clean out a patch, Don't skimp on size.
Even if your using a highbanker, sit it on another sluice at least 6 feet long with the last 2 feet at least fitted with carpet, your not chasing nuggets your sluicing for fine gold!
Cheers Chris.

Ive got one of them Miners Den 1200mm ali jobs, every time I got to Beechworth I always get some gold, so I could get more?
I use a petrol motored pump and I probably have that going too much to with too much water?

Highbanking is very different to river sluicing in regards that you take the water to the dirt and not the dirt to the water. With highbanking the aim is to only handle the wash once. To get a better understanding of how the equipment you own works take the time and down load the information in the links provided. These reports pretty well covers the lot from Riffles right down to matting.
With matting the problem you will face is clogging when working an area with high mineral concentrate. If you don’t keep the matting clear it will clog the fine gold will not settle through the mineralized concentrate and will be blown out of your unit, self cleaning matting is a must. Gravity is the second tool you must learn to use when Highbanking. This comes down to the angles you work your unit on to the size gold you are recovering, and slurry density all of which is very important when Highbanking. As stated take the time to down load the reports even though they come from Alaska they are very revellent to our equipment.
cheers


ANALYSIS OF SLUICE BOX RIFFLE PERFORMANCE EXTRA.

Link

http://ygsftp.gov.yk.ca/publications/tech/analysis_sluice.pdf

http://ygsftp.gov.yk.ca/publications/tech/placerrecovery.pdf

http://ygsftp.gov.yk.ca/publications/tech/fine_gold_recovery_sluiceboxes.pdf

http://ygsftp.gov.yk.ca/publications/tech/gold_loss.pdf

© JB 2011

Hi James. The only problem I have with the test reports in your links, is the fact that all results are based on continuous feed! Once you take the continuous feed rate out of the equation the results will fly out the window?
My first sluice box I ever built was along similar lines to your links, it was a total nightmare, water flow and angels would never agree with each other, so on the bonfire it went!
Then I came across Rag plants used over in Yanky land that are used to recover fine gold from quarry sand before it's sold as "well, sand"?
The key to success using carpet is, it must be long type shag, and it needs to be held down with punch plate, inch square holes work fare better than inch round holes, when the punch plate is secured hard down on the carpet, the bristles of the carpet will protrude like thousands of tinny tentacles!
The gold I've recovered using this system is so fine you would be hard pressed to see a single spec on it's own, but when you have a couple of grams of this stuff sitting in the bottom of your pan, you know exactly what it is, looks and feels more like gold mud.
Cheers.

Do you any pics someday?

I wish I did, it would make life a lot easier.
Never owned a decent camera in my life! Don't even have photo's of my cars from my mad hoon days or my boats or even the salt water fish I've caught over the years! Oh Well!

I suppose it all about return for effort and while I do agree that most systms do let micron gold through. This gold was a days (4hrs) digging but the tin that was with this gold was kept (2cupfulls) and mercury was used to capture the micron gold . The pic shows 3.5 grms panned and the weight of the retorted gold from the black sands was 1/8 of a grm so i suppose if you are pedantic about ultra fine gold there is some to catch. and over time it all mounts up --as i say an oz is an oz no matter how small the gold!!!

someday wrote:Hi James. The only problem I have with the test reports in your links, is the fact that all results are based on continuous feed! Once you take the continuous feed rate out of the equation the results will fly out the window?
Cheers.

Hi mate yer I see what your talking about, the surge factor. Yep it can be a pain but there are a few ways to overcome this problem. This has been discussed quite a bit on the R.C.P site. {Note} At days end it was deemed if a small low pressure spray bar was fitted at the very back of the sluice box so that the wash from the upper screen falls into a moving fluid bed which gives better stratification and less surging through the box. Hence less chance of gold loss.

Note taken from the R.C.P site.
© JB 2011

Hi guys, sorry for getting up your noses, but if it wasn't for crushing rocks over in WA, I would never have known how fine gold can get, and retrieved with conventional methods!
Murachu, sorry man I don't consider what you have in that pan as fine gold, so what your losing you will never know? If your system isn't set up for ultra fine gold, then how would you ever know what your not catching?? Like you said your fines with merc treatment returned you 1/8th of a gram, but what about the ounce?? of ultra fines that went back in the drink because their allowed to!
Agreeing to disagree on this one.
Cheers Chris.

Hi, I have a friend who is on a spot which he claims the only gold on his claim is very very fine gold. He claims it can float on water and he has devised a way of getting it using detergents and other chemicals. I have not been there to see the process but will get there next year.
Just interesting that gold can actually float.
travelergold

Hi travelergold. It's gold it is still 19X heavier than water! If the gold is under water it has no chance of floating to the top "STILL WATER", yet it will sit on top of the water if allowed, just like floating a pin on water, easily done!
Cheers Chris

someday wrote:Hi guys, sorry for getting up your noses, but if it wasn't for crushing rocks over in WA, I would never have known how fine gold can get, and retrieved with conventional methods!
Murachu, sorry man I don't consider what you have in that pan as fine gold, so what your losing you will never know? If your system isn't set up for ultra fine gold, then how would you ever know what your not catching?? Like you said your fines with merc treatment returned you 1/8th of a gram, but what about the ounce?? of ultra fines that went back in the drink because their allowed to!
Agreeing to disagree on this one.
Cheers Chris.

not up my nose!! but you are talking about a holy grail !gold so fine that you need a microscope to see it !!as I said im not that pedantic about it as the collection of that kind of gold is out of reach of the ordinary person ,either by mechanical means or by chemical attraction

My old sluice I used in the 9 mile at Yack, the 3- 12 X 12 inch carpet squares that lined the bottom between the last 3 rifles, would always blow me away, years after I had finished with my sluice, I would give them another going over with the vibrating sander and every time I would recover more gold dust! Unfortunately they were thrown out, I would have loved to have burnt these suckers and pan the ash's!
Food for thought there to anyone that uses carpet?
Cheers Chris.

Whats your thoughts on Minners moss instead of Carpet.

Jamie

Jamie, never used it haven't even seen it! I think the key here is, when you stop to do a clean up, replace the carpet with fresh stuff! That way your not forcing the fine gold deeper and deeper? My honest opinion is carpet held down with punch plate works an absolute treat in recovering supper fine gold "DUST". Ps. and lots of it!
Cheers Chris.

jarrahrules wrote:Whats your thoughts on Minners moss instead of Carpet.

Jamie

Minners moss instead of Carpet no no no go the carpet. cheers