How to use Sluice Boxes

First Step: Getting set up
Once you have found a possibility of a good deposit of gravel that could have gold, you should walk along the river or stream bank and search for a place where you can set up the sluice box. Try to find a place where the current is moving very rapidly. After you have found this, you can place you sluice box right in the current so that the box is full of water nearly to the top.

You can usually make it up by putting the sluice box so that the higher part of the sluice box is higher than the lower end where the discharge is done. If you notice that the sluice box is a little bit unstable in the current, you can put some rocks around the outside of the trough to support it. 

At times you will not need to move the brace when you dump the first pail of gravel inside the sluice box because it will give just enough heavy sand in order to hold it down.