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An Ideal speed is for a larger rock to clear itself out within 3 to 5 seconds on a medium sized sluice box. You don't want the material zipping through but rather kind of tumbling through slowly. It's usually between 5 - 7 degrees of slope and should allow most round rocks and pebbles to pass through easily. When setting up a sluice the proper angle must be observed. You can adjust the angles for fix that though. You should be catching lots of fine gold at that speed but at the risk of larger rocks getting caught in the riffles and disrupting the flow. 5 is a tad long or just about right depending on the coarseness of the material you're sluicing. 3 is a bit quick but will allow for much faster production of concentrates at the cost of losing some fine gold. all but the heaviest particles should be washed clean within 3 to 5 seconds depending on the length of your sluice. Drop it in the inlet of your sluice and watch as it flows through. The proper flow can be judged by using small pebbles or a handful of sand. Volume is usually separate from the speed of the water so you can adjust it easily by lowering the sluice into the water more or by finding deep spots in the creek bed that act as a funnel for your sluice. A good recommended minimum depth is about 2 inches. The more water volume the better and generally speaking it doesn't hurt to fill the sluice with water right to the top of the sides if you can.
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Chances are, if moving rocks in the stream bed is considered a violation so is using a sluice box. Depending on where you're prospecting this could be considered a violation of your local Fish and Game laws so be aware of them. This can be accomplished by making a small dam with rocks in the creek or river bed. It can be tricky and might require you to block the flow of water from the inlet of your sluice, or feed extra water in. It's ability to catch gold and specifically fine gold are decided by and far by the designs of the riffles and or catch mat systems.įinding the appropriate water flow and speed for your circumstances is absolutely essential. It will cause you to lose gold! Those points being the most critical, next is the construction and design of your sluice. If the angle is too shallow bigger rocks and clay chunks can settle on or around the riffles and cause turbulence in the water that will effectively kill the back eddie action created by the riffles. The angle will effect the speed of the water as it travels down as well as how fast the sluice is able to clean itself out. Furthermore, the angle at which the sluice boxes lay are also very important. Water speed and volume are critical! Even in a poorly designed sluice, if you have the volume and speed of water dialed in you will still catch gold more effectively than using a pro high end sluice that's set up wrong. To remedy the problem you must be aware of the main factors involved. The problem with fine gold is that its so small and improperly set up sluice boxes can let it pass through unintentionally. NovemWHERE can I go detecting gold in Queensland ?ĭid you know that fine gold recovery usually makes up for the majority of gold found by small time prospectors? Its much more plentiful and it's usually found in places that are easier to get to.
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