Bubbling sluice !! help or hinderence ???

[aussiefarmer]

I have a sluicey gold equipment GS16 which came with fine carpet and I refit it with miners moss .it also has 45 degree rifles that sit 15mm high.
Now when it runs, the water is very aerated and I am wondering...

1...if this is normal with miners moss ?

2...are the air bubbles going to carry gold away ?

3... are the rifles causing the bubbles by dumping water back into the miners moss ?

4... Should I remove the rifles and if so should I run mesh or bread crate or flat steel instead of high angles or nothing ?

5... Should I just slow the water down which reduces the bubbles ?

I run some dirt through it and it did catch some very fine gold , I am just interested if the bubbles are helping reduce the density of the water or whether they are robbing me of gold?

I didn't get pictures of it running but here's a picture of the miners moss, mesh and gem trap , they don't come like that, I have made at least a dozen changes already. I also run less water that they recommended probably 5 to 10 mm over the rifles , It trapped fine gold I am just trying to make sure I get it all.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Looks like one photo went mental but anyway it still shows the rifles etc.

 

[AtomRat]

I havnt worked with bubbles in a sluice yet but have seen it used and favoured before.I Personally would be concerned of floating gold.

 

[jethro]

I think it will work just fine as is. You will just have to play with the fall on the box and the aount of water to get it fine tuned. Put a pan at the outlet of the sluice to catch anything that might escape & check that until you get it sorted.

 

[aussiefarmer]

I havnt worked with bubbles in a sluice yet but have seen it used and favoured before.I Personally would be concerned of floating gold.

I am concerned, but yet it trapped super fine gold nearly to small to snuff up , the big unknown is how much did it loose.

 

[aussiefarmer]

I think it will work just fine as is. You will just have to play with the fall on the box and the aount of water to get it fine tuned. Put a pan at the outlet of the sluice to catch anything that might escape & check that until you get it sorted.

That's along the lines I was thinking , a bit less angle/drop , maybe more water moving slower ? I will be honest this is my first sluice so I am only guessing yet.

 

[AtomRat]

Its a good tip that jethro has mentioned. I always have a pan under my sluuce and pan every 10-20 shovels even if I know the sluice is working well to see if anything is lost at anytime.

If you have no losses then its no worry. If you want to prevent it, a flap of leathrr or material to rest on the start of the bottom sluice ontop of the riffles and the water is pushed down by it. It will also cause the mat to get cleared in some areas but can also help concentrate gold in the sluice

 

[aussiefarmer]

What about a flap were the water falls onto the top of it to stop it pushing the air into the matt , maybe curved to help send the flow down the matt?

 

[AtomRat]

Usually the water and material flows under the mat. Like I had mentioned I have seen it favored on youtube. A bloke customized his spray bars to purposely make a froth for some reason I can't remember. You never know mate but I wouldn't let it stress you too much

 

[Tathradj]

Fixed your spelling mate.

 

[AtomRat]

Fixed your spelling mate.

Was that my spelling? Sorry.. phone has a slight delay. I try to proof read before I post but just get too excited Tathradj, I do.

 

[dwt]

Bubbles hey, hmmm, interesting, I get a few on initial start up but they seem to die out, might be a question best answered by the manufacturer, if there is any air trapped in the matting it should work itself out, airbubbles will be introduced via the spray bar system, but I would assume not to the extent where they would be hugely noticeable, if your catching fine gold to the extent that the snuffer bottle is struggling to pick up then I would say most likely your catching a great majority of the gold (at a guess)
What's the water height in your sluice?
I had to add an extra pump to one of my wash units due to the fact of not enough water in the sluice box, I only had about 5-10 mm dancing over the top of the riffles which is on top of expanded which is on top of 10mm thick moss which is on top of carpet, before I added the extra pump I had a lot of riffle clogging, and running a 9-10 deg fall I wasn't prepaid to increase the steepness of the box, however I cannot recall if I had any bubble issues, you may possibly need more water mate, there is a possibility low water in the sluice could be creating an aeration affect as it skips across riffles and the expanded, on that note, I wouldn't be overly concerned about loosing gold unless you were running some type of foaming agent that can carry fine gold to the surface, basic principle used in larger mines after they've ball milled the crap out the dirt and use floatation as the recovery process.
Well after all that I'm still a bit of a loss .............any chance of a pic when your running the sluice?

 

[aussiefarmer]

will try to get a picture next weekend, the bubbles are full width and length of mat and keep forming the whole time , run it for two hours,
my guess is the water is pushing air into the mat every time it jumps the riffles (your suggesting more water would eliminate this) , manufacturer recommended about 230 liters per minute , I was running about 170 L ,running 10 mm over riffles on a 10 degree fall. Had enough water speed to slowly rattle the pebbles that fell through the grizzly bars , That's why im guessing to reduce the fall to 7 or 8 degrees and increase the water above 200 L.

I am very happy It caught gold on its first outing and appreciate the advice I am getting on fine tuning( keep it coming), my mate that was with me reckoned I was running too much water, but from youtube videos and the advice on here I think I am on the right track .

 

[aussiefarmer]

Fixed your spelling mate.

my spelling is a bit wild , Looks funny to be running rifles instead of riffles , Sure stops them bushrangers nicking my loot :lol:

 

[dwt]

Cool mate no worries, just keep in mind not enough water can create issues with the riffles not working properly, the eddying effect needed at the downstream end of the riffle is there to drop heavies out and keep lights traveling down the sluice, experimentation is sometimes the best key, being an 'aussiefarmer' I'm sure you would have some No 10 or bird shot shotgun cartridges lying about(lead pellets) flatten a few out with pliers and leave some round, count em out then throw them in some dirt and run through your banker, then on clean up just make sure they're all still there, change angles and water flow all with the knowledge your not loosing gold, shaving the pellets down with a sharp knife can also help to mimic small flat gold
Best of luck mate.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Thanks dwt I learned the lead shot trick panning I actually went down to rat shot from a .22 , it sure gives confidence in your panning. didn't have any with me the day I run the sluice but I will next time.

 

[yobskin]

I like bubbles helps break the surface so the gold drops out....i have seen gold float.

 

[Swinging & digging]

You are worried about nothing! I suspect you have watched too many U Tube video,s like the LONG & BORING ones Mr Gold Hog Does.

For the most part the majority of sluices, high bankers etc will recover 90-95% of the gold specs in your material at an average daily production of around a gram loosing 5% is $2.50 and you keep $47.50.

What you should be worried about is finding a place to work that gives constant results.

 

[aussiefarmer]

You are worried about nothing! I suspect you have watched too many U Tube video,s like the LONG & BORING ones Mr Gold Hog Does.

For the most part the majority of sluices, high bankers etc will recover 90-95% of the gold specs in your material at an average daily production of around a gram loosing 5% is $2.50 and you keep $47.50.

What you should be worried about is finding a place to work that gives constant results.

The dream is to find something I can pick up and roll between my fingers .lol.

 

[Jafnob]

I have the same sluice, same as a few of the others have said, reduce the angle of the hopper and I think you'll find it flows better, and also breaks up the clay and soil better anyway, cheers