How many folks here get into a bit of "Sluiceing"

Hi All
Just thought I would try to encourage some activity on this subject.
How many of us are there out there? it seems a little quiet on this subject at the moment so please anybody no matter your level of experience let ue know what you up to, if anybody as any ????????? please ask them & lets promote this area of prospecting.
To you guru's out there, there must be a few, I know you probably don't really want the attention but surely you can share a little of your time to ensure this art isn't forgotton.
Thanks all, so come on start posting.
cheers
Lee

G'day

Been a bit quiet here since James101 and Maruchu(?) vacated the positions of resident gurus
I do sluice but generaly highbank like a mofo every chance I get. 2 reasons- the highbanker is usually more versatile unless I go into rugged country, and I take my young fellas who need watching so having them around a sluice or HB is easier than if I was detecting. I'm always keen to see some chat in this area so lets get the ball rolling

Cheers

Chimpy

Hi Chimpy
Yeah mate a bit quiet, thanks for the reply mate, River sluice, Highbanker, banjo same idea different application so bring it on, I havent done alot of sluiceing up until now I have only use a small 6" wide unit I made for sampleing, it works quite well, you may have seen the project I'm building ATM should be a ripper.
cheers
Lee

Highbanking and have been doing this for years plus detecting, also for years. All this depends on what area I'm planning to go into, for which application I use, highbanking or detecting. Mostly I detect first and if I find a stream or creek that may look promising with find gold in it, I then come back with the highbanker at a later date.
wombat

Hi Wombat
Thanks for posting.
I basically do the same thing as I carry a small pan in my pack when I am detecting & often sample the gullies as I go, this also helps to know that you are in an area that has gold at least shedding into gullies, so your not walking around blind.
cheers
Lee

Hi Guys,

Am only new to this game and have been detecting for about 3 months. Am currently gathering together a few scraps lying around the house and forming some sort of sluicing arrangement. It won't be the flashyest jigger but having read so much info on this forum it should be good enough to get out there and have a bit of fun. And basically cost me nothing!

After a little trialling I am sure to hit you all up for a little further info!

Cheers Pete.

I am only new to sluicing and just bought my first sluice, a boss angus mackirk au trap. Was a bit expensive but got a bonus in the bank from a relo passing away so i am keen to go. I bought a small 4x4 and i live newcastle way and have found a nice creek with three reef mines of old at the top of the gorge up glouster way. I have only been up there for a squiz but looks untouched and virgin...
I panned for about an hour before the weather came in bad but got a few specs on my first pan so i am hoping for a nice find straight up.
The fun will begin on tuesday when i take the sluice and the tent and have a propper go.

yeah guys got 2 down here in tas , one 3 foot keene and 1 fred sims . also making higbanker top for the keene , plus heaps pans , homemade classifier and the trusty whites gmt , still saving for gpx5000









cheers starry

Hi Lee, My mate David and i have been using my home made high banker for the last 2yrs. We are not getting rich but we have a lot of fun. Our gold recovery is very good and anything we lose is so fine it can barely be seen. I modified my high banker into a trolly onto which i can load everything needed including spade , crowbar and pump so i only have to make one trip from the ute down into the creek. I have some times even dragged it along the creek through knee deep water. We hope to spend a day up at Misery creek later in the week and if i remember the camera i will take some photo's of all the action. Cheers Grumpy.

Hi Grumpy
Good to hear from you, sounds like you and your mate are having fun, are you getting some course stuff? It would be great to see some pic's.
I am still working on my big sluice/ highbanker as soon as it is ready & after a local test run (barren creek) I will be on the gold again first time since Nov so you can imagine my level of fever!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some pic's of the area's you are digging would be good as I think this may help the newbies.
thanks & cheers
Lee

Hello people.
This is my 1st post on this site. I have been gold prospecting since the late 1960's. Started out with dredges, gave it all away in the early 90's when dredging was banned in Vic. The ever present and lurking gold fever got the better of me and re-entered the search about 6 years ago with a river sluice, found that way to slow and progressed to highbankers of which I now have 4. Give Oallen a bit of a flogging just about every weekend, gold is very fine but plentiful.
Enjoy meeting other peole with same interests and sharing ideas and experiences.
Love to meet members of this site out there one day.
Thanks for having me.
Jeff

I have been spending most of my freetime on weekends out at Glendon's near Warwick using a highbanker and panning for gold. I met up with Landy (Bruce) and he has taught me how to pan for gold and to use the highbanker correctly. I have found gold on each trip. I am now getting Landy to make me my own highbanker. His ones are not made from aluminium like the commercial ones but from some really tough tin and are designed to take the hard knocks out in the bush.

G'day Jeffu and welcome to the forum. I use to do a bit of sluicing and panning before the detecters became popular, built my own cradle once it use to work ok. The brother in law and I built a longTom to and use to work ok. These days just detect now and the only time I use the pan is to proses any species I find after dollying them.

Cheers.

Mike.

Hi Jeff
Welcome to this site, looking forward to your input.
cheers
Lee

Got a highbanker and small sluice, but love my highbanker to death its only have a modifyed miners den highbanker at the moment but it does the job.
Like most iam not getting rich but get a little every time out wich keeps me coming back
I can be found most weekends with Jeffu at Oallen (iam the scruffy looking one )

Hi Shivan
Thanks for posting, maybe we can liven things up here a bit with regard to wet prospecting.
How do you go about your final clean up of you cons?
cheers
Lee

Hi Shivan
Thanks for posting, maybe we can liven things up here a bit with regard to wet prospecting.
How do you go about your final clean up of you cons?
cheers
Lee

Hi lee
I love Highbanking there's some good areas for it up your way. I also love to Trommel for gold and gemstones down my way done realy well from it. Here's a picture of 1000 carats of sapphire from a trip out on the trommel.

aurumpro there are some lovely stones there, would love to do some fossicking for saphires one day.

Lee my primary cleanup tool is my pan Ill pan down my cons into a tub or bucket whilst in the field to get the bulk of my gold. I allways save the cons though and take them home to run through my blue bowl (helps give me my gold fix at home ) But i have just purchased a small recirculating sluice to reduce the cons a bit before the blue bowl.

HI all, seeing as it is raining im taking my highbanker/sluice to Laanecoorie tomorrow (sat). For anyone interested will be giving a demo (depending on water supply) of sluicing and panning in the morning at Waaneyarra near the camping ground. I know a spot which should produce a few specks as long as i can get water nearby. Will be at the front off the Laanecoorie caravan park around 8.30am. Just look for the Toyota Lancruiser with GRUMPY across the windscreen. Cheers Grumpy (Doug).

Hey Grumpy
Great idea man good onya.
cheers
Lee

Hey Dale
Those stones look awesome, good going, when do you think you will head up this way?

Shivan
How do you rate the blue bowl? is it as hard to get running right as some say?
Have you ever tried a water table like the "catch it II" I am going to make one to give it a go.
cheers
Lee

Hi Lee
I'm heading up in September
quote Lee
"Shivan
How do you rate the blue bowl? is it as hard to get running right as some say?
Have you ever tried a water table like the "catch it II" I am going to make one to give it a go."
The blue bowl is ok and the wave table is ok to but the material has to be classified for them to work properly,
and this is allot of work and not practical in the field you are better off using flotation techniques as the material dose not have to be classified and you can easily separate any minerals using these techniques in the field.

Hi Dale
Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean "flotation methods"
Cheers
Lee

Classifycation is the key thing with the blue bowl as well as patience I claasify down using 30, 50 and 100 mesh classifyers and if you have a bit of material it does take a while as the fine sieves become clogged easily so must be fed slowly. The patience come in kepping the water level at the desired height for the material being run. I enjoy playing round with it all though gives me my gold fix while iam at home

I would like to try and make a miller table as i have been told they are alot quicker than a blue bowl. Just a case of some chalk board paint and a water spreader i believe One day i might get round to it

The device I use for floatation is basically a column about 80mmd x 1500mm long clear polycarbonate plastic tube
with a stainless steel flange glued to the bottom this bolts to the base which is basically a 100mm x 100mm pipe with 1 sealed end and a flange welded on the other end and a 40mm t sticking out the side with a thread to connect a pump hose to, In between the flanges you stick a 20 micron screen.
water is pumped from below the screen and the concentrates are fed in above the screen the pressure is adjusted until a lead bead will just not get washed out of the column now you feed in your concentrates and anything lighter than lead will just wash out of the column leaving behind anything heavier than lead (gold).

Hi Dale
Sounds interesting would love to see a picture of this unit.
cheers
Lee

i ground sluice like the Chinese diggers. Really easy to do and faster than shoveling. You only need water and a dry spell, or room to divert the creek for clean up. The water does all the work.

philski
Don't get caught doing that one.

Interesting topics - all.

On an almost related subject ... I saw a guy at Creswick when Slat(e)y Creek was really cranking a few weeks ago after steady rain and generally miserable weather. He had a metal race (maybe 2m long) in the creek and a pump running on the bank. This guy was shovelling like mad, and it seemed to me that he was probably processing a hell of a lot of material. I didn't approach him because he looked like he was all business. I've been thinking about it ever since. Is that a typical (gold ) operation ?

Cheers.