One of our blogs this past winter was our introduction to prospecting for gold (posted 2/24/14). We met Bill and Kathy Langley from Veneta, Oregon who were camped near us when we were boon docking at BLM land in Winterhaven, California (aka Sidewinder) in February of this year. Bill and Kathy have been actively prospecting for gold for some time and asked us if we wanted to accompany them on their next dig, not too far from where we were staying. Well, that’s all it took and we were hooked!
When we were in Colorado this past April we stopped at a prospector shop in Florence and talked to the owners at length about panning for gold. It was fun to listen to their stories and to see the products that they sold. After purchasing some miners moss and a prospecting pan, the wheels started to turn for Jeff at how he could make his own sluice box. That was just the beginning for him as he began researching this new future hobby of ours via the world-wide Internet. For us as for all beginners, you learn as you go so it’s best to get as much information as you can. Since we want to share with you some basic information on what a sluice is and the process for gold panning, we thought it would be good to include some information for you below. Just exactly what is a sluice and how does it work?
Wikipedia info
Sluice boxes are often used in the recovery of black sands, gold and other minerals from placer deposits during placer mining operations. They may be small scale, as used in prospecting, or much larger, as in commercial operations, where the material is first screened using a trammel or screening plant. Typical sluices have transverse riffles over a carpet, which trap the heavy minerals, gemstones, and other valuable minerals. The result is a concentrate. Gold panning, or simply panning, is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts especially because of its cheap cost and the relatively simple and easy process. It is the oldest method of mining gold. The first recorded instances of placer mining are from ancient Rome, where gold and other precious metals were extracted from streams and mountainsides using sluices and panning. Gold panning is a simple process. Once a suitable placer deposit is located, some gravel from it is scooped into a pan, where it is then gently agitated in water and the gold sinks to the bottom of the pan. Materials with a low specific gravity are allowed to spill out of the pan, whereas materials with a high specific gravity sink to the bottom of the sediment during agitation and remain within the pan for examination and collection by the gold panner. These dense materials usually consist primarily of a black, magnetite sand with whatever gemstones or metal dust that may be found in the deposit that is used for source material. For more information, just click on the link below to view some interesting articles Jeff found.
Dealing with Black Sand and Using a Sluice Box to Find Gold
Being at our home in Wisconsin gave Jeff the opportunity to put his thoughts down on paper and begin the process of making his sluice a reality – especially having the space, needed tools at his finger tips and time to start the assembly. With his materials list in hand, he went to see a man called the Pollock, who sells steel at his business named, Polish Enterprises. His inventory is huge! He was referred to us by a gentleman whom he met outside of Harbor Freight in Eau Claire one day where we were purchasing a cargo carrier for the Jeep. You have to have a spot to carry your panning equipment when you’re on the road, don’t you? I think you know where we’re going on this one.
The inventor at work creating with his grinding wheel.
Once all pieces were ready for a trip to a welder, Jeff loaded all parts into our RAV4 making sure that each piece was labeled for its appropriate place in the sluice.
Assembling the Sluice
The sluice is made up of four (4) items:
- The sluice and input (or inlet) pan.
- Miners moss on bottom of sluice.
- Screened 1” mesh on top of miners moss
- Riffle rack on top of screened mesh.
Walla! . . . the finished piece. How are we ever going to get that in the motorhome? Jeff has a plan!
At the time this picture was taken, Jeff’s mom was staying with us for a short time. She definitely showed an interest in what he was making and how we were going to use this sluice. We do believe that she would love to come with us if she could! And, now how are we going to travel with our new package? The inlet pan travels separately because of its awkward size, but the remainder of the sluice folds in half containing the riffle rack, miners moss and the screened mesh nesting comfortably inside the “package”.
The cargo carrier will work perfectly with Jeff still working on the finishing touches that will include new camo tie downs. Under the tarp are two large older recycle containers that we acquired, 2 buckets, a concrete mud boat and the sluice “package”. We were hoping to have tried the sluice while we were home; we were either just too busy or the weather didn’t cooperate. I do believe that we will have to give it a try in the Arkansas River in Colorado. Wish us luck!
Hugs
Kay & Jeff
“Attitude is everything; pick a good one”
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