Using Rockers

A rocker looks sort of like a folded up sluice that has been refined. A rocker is much easier to move from one place to another and it is able to process more dirt than a pan can. It is generally not easy to process more than half a cubic yard of dirt per day for the average miner by simply using a pan. On the other hand two people using a rocker can run anywhere from two to five cubic yards of dirt in one day.

Rockers are constructed in three different parts; they consist of a body or what is known as a sluice box, a screen and an apron. The bottom part of the body holds the riffles which is where the gold is going to be caught in. the screen then catches the harder materials and this is also a place where the clay can get broken up to remove all the small pieces of gold. The apron serves to carry all the materials to the head of the rocker.

 A rocker is like a sluice that can be rocked back and forth sideways to fling the or toss the gravel around a little bit more and help the gold to settle in a bit better. This also contains a longish piece of nappy carpet and this is what is known as an apron. The gravel flows along the apron and the carpet nap grabs onto the gold flakes and holds on to them. The main idea is that the apron be set up at somewhat of a steep angle, anywhere from thirty to forty five degrees.

The riffles prevent any gold that gets over the apron. In standard mining work, the rocker is cleaned up after each two to three hours, or when rich ground is worked and gold starts to show itself on the apron or in the riffles. In cleaning up after a run, water is poured through as the washer is lightly rocked, and the top surface sand and dirt are washed away.

The apron is then dumped into a pan. The material back of the riffles in the sluice is taken up by a flat scoop that is located at the head of the sluice and then washed down softly one or two times with clear water. The gold stays behind on the boards, from which it is scraped up and placed into the pan with the concentrate from the apron. You will also need to make sure to clean the apron and it can be taken off for cleaning by simply fastening it to a couple of thin boards and these should be fastened to the 2 x 4’s that are in the corners of the box.

The last thing you will want to do is place some rockers on the bottom of the monster so that it can be rocked back and forth sideways. This will help the gold to fall onto the carpet nap and will catch it.

Normally this job is done by having one person shovel the dirt over the screen and have him check on the supply of water, which can be done by rerouting a stream or by using a bucket. A second person can then take care of rocking the machine from one side to another by jerking it. The water will make sure to wash the water down the apron to the sluice area and then out the back door of the rocker. As soon as the rocker is full of sand and gold (we hope), the rocker then needs to be cleaned out.

 You will then need to move the apron out and wash it very carefully in a bucket of water so that the gold settles down to the bottom. Then scrape and brush the sand out from behind the riffles. The sand and the gravel from the sluice and the apron area need to be panned in order to get the gold out or you can pan it. 

While it is true that the sluice and rocker need panning or amalgamation at the end of the process in order to get the gold out, panning the concentrate from either one of these is a lot easier then just panning straight dirt.