Using a Sluice Box

A sluice is very trouble free to use. All you have to do is set up the head a little more elevated than the tail. You can apply this by setting the angle at ten degrees to start off with and see if that works and if not, you should carry on until you get it right. You will then need to dig a channel so the tailings coming out of the bottom do not build up and cause it to obstruct the flow of the water. The head needs to be set close to the stream so that you are able to redirect some of the water in the stream into the sluice, and then you will need to shovel dirt inside the head end through the growler.

The water will take care of washing the dirt away while the gold will take of getting stuck in between the riffles. You will need to go on with shoveling and sluicing until the sluice is full of gold or until you get tired of it. After the sluice is full or you are tired, you can stop the water and the get gold out and this can be done by either picking it out, amalgamating it with mercury or by scraping the sand out from behind the riffles and then using to the pan to pan it.

Within the sluice box, a different range of types of riffles may be used, depending on the accessibility of material and whatever you prefer using. The riffles, which go on the bottom, are commonly set diagonally in the box, but they can also be resourceful when positioned lengthwise. They might be made out of wood, or of strap or angle iron, or an arrangement or combination of both of them. Straight, round poles or a pattern of square blocks or stones can be used as riffles as well. Rubber or plastic strips have also been used.

Stability is indispensable when you are going to get involved in longer operations, so wood can be reinforced with metal. Expanded metal, heavy wire screen, or cocoa mats all serve as very good quality riffles for accumulating fine gold.

Those who are interested can even put together their own sluice, as it is not a complicated thing to learn. The nature of the sluice is not the most important thing, on the other hand the length of it is. In general if it is longer it works better, it should be at least eight or ten feet long. It is acceptable to make the sluice entirely water tight, however you need to be sure the joints where the sections are overlapped are bolted together in a way that the water flows over the joints without becoming obstructed. If it is not done right you will end up with a riffle that has a leak in it and this will cause the gold to drop back onto the ground.

If you are going to be working in a place where there is not a good amount of water you will need to use a dip box which is a type of modified sluice. A dip box is like a sluice but it is shorter. A dip box can be made by nailing the sides of 1 inch by 12 inch floor, then nail another 1inch x 6 inch board along one end in order to make a back for it. You can then coat the bottom of this channel with burlap or even with carpet in order for it to grab hold of the gold.

Riffles are considered necessary in order to slow the runoff and allow the gold settle in. One simple way to make the riffles is by setting a sheet of wire mesh on the bottom five feet of the burlap or carpeted channel. Make a steep slope for the dip box by placing it on top of some trestles.

In order to use the dip box, you can shovel some dirt into the top foot of the trough and wash it on top of the riffles with buckets of water. Evidently you do not want to pour the water too harshly on top of it or you will threaten washing absolutely the whole thing away. In some cases you will need to get rid of the larger rocks that will be on the trough with your hand in order for the box to function the right way.