Thinking of Building my own Sluice

[HeadsUp]

i got a foreman model from Prospecting Supplies Australia for $ 160 and i think postage was 20 - 25 bux or so

they are very lightweight but you want to classify first if there is very very fine gold in your area

if you put larger rocks through the sluice they will disrupt the water flow and you risk pulling out fine gold with them

classifying sieves are available to fit on top of a 25 litre plastic pail . i use 1/2" screen on mine so far but some guys use 1/4"

http://www.prospectingsupplies.com.au/products/209-14-sieve-with-deep-sides-14-mesh.aspx

 

[Kingsy]

I've got 1/4" and 1/8" classifiers for panning so that's one less thing to worry about. I was worried about the Foreman being a bit more sensitive to water flow being fairly new to gold prospecting and completely newbie to sluices.

 

[HeadsUp]

I've got 1/2" and 1/4" classifiers for panning so that's one less thing to worry about. I was worried about the Foreman being a bit more sensitive to water flow being fairly new to gold prospecting and completely newbie to sluices.

email angus mckirk in the states and ask their opinion ?

i wonder why they need to have so many different models to confuse the issue

they are all lightweight and there isnt really a huge variation in size

 

[Kingsy]

I've emailed them, just waiting on a reply. I've thought that myself, but I guess like they say on their site "A Sluice for every need. a Price for every Wallet!".

I wonder if these are any good.... http://goldpanprospectors.com/Pyramid.html

 

[G0lddigg@]

those pyramid pro pans look awesome! bit pricy but i can appreciate being able to keep loading material in all day, imagine automating the side to side so you could just dump material in.

 

[Kingsy]

I wonder if they work as well as they say, I'm tempted to buy one.

Do the Angus MacKirks catch gemstones?

 

[Ag Man]

I wonder if they work as well as they say, I'm tempted to buy one.

Do the Angus MacKirks catch gemstones?

I only look for gold - never taken any notice of any stones unless they really stand out.

Are MacKirks as good as they say? I swear by mine & trust it.

The Pyramid pan? Any pan will catch nuggets & coarse gold. I like the it they say about "Retains up to 100% of the fines!" LOL
Any pan can retain up to 100% of the fines - depends on the operator...

I recon they'd work. As for them being epxpensive - I recon it's not tooo bad. Recover 2 grams of gold & it's paid for itself.

 

[Kingsy]

I'm not sure if it's worth buying one over a sluice though, you still need a regular pan as well with the Pyramid Pro.

 

[Ag Man]

If they are as good as they say they are, then a lot more people would have and use them.

Go out to a creek with others & have a go with what they use. Otherwise just go with independent reviews to help make your mind up.

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Kingsy, If you buy the Garret Pro starter kit, you will three pans, 1 x Super Sluice, these are awesome, 1 x 14 inch "regular" pan and 1 x 10" small pan that is good for chucking in the backpack and doing the recon work ... you also get a classifier and some other goodies. And the DVD that comes with the kit is pretty entertaining to boot!

http://detectaden.com.au/products/Garre n-Kit.html

 

[WalnLiz]

I wonder if they work as well as they say, I'm tempted to buy one.

Do the Angus MacKirks catch gemstones?

Drop riffle sluices are great on gold but will not trap gemstones. Ironstone / Spinel /Sapphires / Garnets / Zircons, ie most material of similar specific gravity need a raised riffle to slow their progress through a sluice.

Once a drop riffle is full of this material, (usually only takes one bucket) then all the rest of the material (Heavies),minus the gold, will run over the sluice. This is where the displacement theory comes into effect. Ironstone makes up the majority of the heavies and this will be the first trapped. 90% of the subsequent heavies (including the gems) will now have too small a vortex to hold them up....hence back to the stream they go.

Cheers Wal.

 

[Kingsy]

I just recently bought a 15" Super Sluice, that look's like it would have been a better deal :/ .

Thank for the clarification Wal, that's given me a fair bit to think about. I might stick to panning for a while and leave choosing a sluice for later because I'm after gemstones just as much as I am gold (I actually joined this forum for the gemstone fossicking section but after browsing for a while started to gain an interest in gold).

 

[WalnLiz]

G'day Kingsy,

If you make your own sluice, similar to the one i use as my test sluice, you will trap close to 90% of the Sapphires and 100% of the gold. Send me a PM if your interested, and i can give you the dimensions and talk you through the build. You should be able to make one for about $30.

Here's the link.... https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1576

Cheers, Wal