Anybody have a 6 inch Mini Cells Dream Mat Sluice?

Hi All,

Im thinking about getting one of these within the next week or so. Haven't seen much about them online but they look well made.

Im wondering how much material they will take before needing to be cleaned out. For example a place like Reedy Creek in Beechworth with lots of black sand, would this require more regular clean outs? Would it handle a 20ltr bucket of classified material or more?

For $110 plus shipping it seems like a bargain but im worried about limiting myself with a sluice that won't handle much matieral.

This will be my first sluice. Reckon its worth waiting and getting something a bit bigger?

Thanks for your help.

I have been looking at getting one of these also. I think it would be perfect to chuck in my prospecting backpack for when im out hiking.

I will watch and wait for any reveiws

HippyProspecting said:

I have been looking at getting one of these also. I think it would be perfect to chuck in my prospecting backpack for when im out hiking.

I will watch and wait for any reveiws

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I agree, i like the idea of a small sluice. Easy to transport to harder to reach places and with little flow you can still use them (i could be wrong about that).

I believe when it comes down to a size issue, the 6" has its advantages. Finding a decent flow can often be tricky. A 6" would require lesser flow.
Bit unsure what you mean about a 20ltr bucket. As in dumping it all at once or in total.
My opion is if you have it set up right, the gold will work itself into the cells pushing any black sand out to make room for itself. In theory it should always win over black sand.
Being new to river sluices, I would go the 6" ,
if you have a creek that has a great flow generally, yeah then you can go larger with that issue.
Crevice hunting has a slow volume ratio, so a 6" is fine for this.
And being lighter makes the temptation to explore much further on foot more so.
Nothing wrong with up grading later on.
And then if you have a friend who wants to tag along on a trip, they can use it.
Small investment two have units in time.

Try this:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=17726

mudgee hunter said:

I believe when it comes down to a size issue, the 6" has its advantages. Finding a decent flow can often be tricky. A 6" would require lesser flow.
Bit unsure what you mean about a 20ltr bucket. As in dumping it all at once or in total.
My opion is if you have it set up right, the gold will work itself into the cells pushing any black sand out to make room for itself. In theory it should always win over black sand.
Being new to river sluices, I would go the 6" ,
if you have a creek that has a great flow generally, yeah then you can go larger with that issue.
Crevice hunting has a slow volume ratio, so a 6" is fine for this.
And being lighter makes the temptation to explore much further on foot more so.
Nothing wrong with up grading later on.
And then if you have a friend who wants to tag along on a trip, they can use it.
Small investment two have units in time.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice mudgee.

I meant would it be able to handle 60ltrs of classified material before being cleaned out or would it need to be cleaned out after 20ltrs of material. But you seem to have answered that too. I think i'll get one when im paid next.

Thanks for your help.

I have a couple of them now, really love them, the smaller cell size allows for less water but the capture rate even on super fine 200 mesh is amazing and being backpack size you really do tend to think whats around the next corner more than if you were lugging something larger. Often I have them running in tandem maybe feeding one myself and my partner feeding the other. Make sure you classify down to at least #8 mesh.
You won't be disappointed, my ones have easily paid for themselves several times over.
I have been working an area with tons of black sand, and comfortably feed several buckets before a cleanup, if the water is right you won't have a problem clearing it.

Jaros said:

Try this:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=17726

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Thanks Jaros. Thats where i first saw them mentioned.

AussieChris said:

I have a couple of them now, really love them, the smaller cell size allows for less water but the capture rate even on super fine 200 mesh is amazing and being backpack size you really do tend to think whats around the next corner more than if you were lugging something larger. Often I have them running in tandem maybe feeding one myself and my partner feeding the other. Make sure you classify down to at least #8 mesh.
You won't be disappointed, my ones have easily paid for themselves several times over.
I have been working an area with tons of black sand, and comfortably feed several buckets before a cleanup, if the water is right you won't have a problem clearing it.

Click to expand...

Never thought of running them in tandem. Good idea mate.

I'll buy one and leave a pan on the discharge side to see if im losing any gold. Then maybe get another one.

Thanks mate.

They are fantastic mats. I have not come across better technology for sluicing. They need very good flow or the cells won't clear too well. As AussieChris said, you must classify down to #8 mesh. You can run them for ages before needing to do a cleanup

1968falconxt said:

They are fantastic mats. I have not come across better technology for sluicing. They need very good flow or the cells won't clear too well. As AussieChris said, you must classify down to #8 mesh. You can run them for ages before needing to do a cleanup

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It took me a while to be comfortable with the amount of flow the cells can handle, always second guessing that I had to be blowing out fine gold, but it's amazing how they grab the fine stuff (anything of size takes care of itself the real test for a mat are fines) I have the 12" and 8" as well and I'm amazed how hard I can push them.
The 6" ones are just great little crevicing and backpack sluices and are fantastic for when you are up for long hike into a more remote spot, one thing I would love Dustin to do though is market a small flare for the 6" that perhaps fits inside the mouth, either way, I love his products. :Y:

This is the latest sluice I have made. It has the header section that fits inside the sluice for carrying in a backpack. They are now for sale on Ebay. Dustin has been very helpful to me when I was dialing in my recirculating system.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gold-Sl...274054?hash=item4d74930586:g:UnoAAOSwaZFbDn79

Postage is a bit of a killer, but these are fantastic for creeks with small flow, dream mat is fantastic, but it needs a good volume of water to work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Angus-MacK...m=253458946399&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Occasional_panner said:

Postage is a bit of a killer, but these are fantastic for creeks with small flow, dream mat is fantastic, but it needs a good volume of water to work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Angus-MacK...m=253458946399&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

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Yeah i would avoid that because of the postage alone.

This dream mat has mini cells rather than the regular size cells which i think can handle lower volumes of water better.

Hurry up pay day, i want to order a sluice. Aiming to get out either monday or tuesday after the queens birthday weekend so need to find somewhere with some water flow that isn't too far from Melbourne. Plenty of time to research.

With river sluices, do you need to season them like you do with a new pan?

Not that I know of, gee just get ouf there and christen it I say!!!

Don't underestimate how much flow the 6" needs though, it's always going to require much more than that Angus Mackirk or Le Trap type sluice, if you are in an area with very low flow the majority of the year it might not be for you, but if its just that it's been a bit dry and you are used to more water go for it.

And yes Dream Mat does need seasoning of sorts, Dustin provides full details in a flyer with his products. Simply you need to wash the mat a few times with detergent to remove the greasy feel from the manufacturing process, toss it in the bath add some detergent, give it a scrub with a soft brush.

You might find it to still feel greasy even after a few outings, but as Dustin pointed out to me, it does not impair the performance of the mat, I actually find that small gold sticks to it if anything and I just have to check that my mats are really well washed in the cleanup bucket. After a few trips out the greasy feel is minimal.

Take into account that Dustin offers Afterpay in his payment options, pretty easy to pay things off over a few months, yet have them on your doorstep right away.

AM1990 said:

Occasional_panner said:

Postage is a bit of a killer, but these are fantastic for creeks with small flow, dream mat is fantastic, but it needs a good volume of water to work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Angus-MacK...m=253458946399&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Click to expand...

Yeah i would avoid that because of the postage alone.

This dream mat has mini cells rather than the regular size cells which i think can handle lower volumes of water better.

Hurry up pay day, i want to order a sluice. Aiming to get out either monday or tuesday after the queens birthday weekend so need to find somewhere with some water flow that isn't too far from Melbourne. Plenty of time to research.

With river sluices, do you need to season them like you do with a new pan?

Click to expand...

AM you need to understand how the dream mat cells work, have you actually seen both in action? I have
The Mckirk is a drop riffle design, which is excellent for low flow, the dream mat needs a certain water flow to create the low pressure zone in it's swirl, not enough flow and it simply doesn't work.

Not trying to get into any fights but that is the difference between the two.
Low flow... get a drop riffle,
Better flow get a dream mat

Both great products and both have their place.

Occasional_panner said:

AM1990 said:

Occasional_panner said:

Postage is a bit of a killer, but these are fantastic for creeks with small flow, dream mat is fantastic, but it needs a good volume of water to work.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Angus-MacK...m=253458946399&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Click to expand...

Yeah i would avoid that because of the postage alone.

This dream mat has mini cells rather than the regular size cells which i think can handle lower volumes of water better.

Hurry up pay day, i want to order a sluice. Aiming to get out either monday or tuesday after the queens birthday weekend so need to find somewhere with some water flow that isn't too far from Melbourne. Plenty of time to research.

With river sluices, do you need to season them like you do with a new pan?

Click to expand...

AM you need to understand how the dream mat cells work, have you actually seen both in action? I have
The Mckirk is a drop riffle design, which is excellent for low flow, the dream mat needs a certain water flow to create the low pressure zone in it's swirl, not enough flow and it simply doesn't work.

Not trying to get into any fights but that is the difference between the two.
Low flow... get a drop riffle,
Better flow get a dream mat

Both great products and both have their place.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I don't have a particular area that i go to, i tend to try different places. I don't usually know what the water flow situation is like until i get there. I think i'll probably end up getting both in the end but for the time being i'll just get one.

I have seen both in action on youtube so i know what you are talking about it regarding the different systems and how they operate. I havent seen them in person so i appreciate your advice.

Coming up to winter, im guessing the water flows in most creeks will increase with the additional rain. So i'll probably get the dream mat sluice now in anticipation for that, and then when the creeks flow start to drop latrr in the year i'll look at getting a mckirk or other drop riffle system.

I cant get both at once as the minister of finance is touchy at the best of times.

Glad you took that advice well, all too often here many don't like the answer and BAM it's all on.

Pity the Mckirk isn't stocked here, it's seriously the best sluice for a novice as it's so forgiving of settings, getting dream mat just right took me a little while to master.
Just remember you can always lessen water flow by setting it up differently in the creek, but if the creek isn't running enough you simply can't increase water flow.

I think an ideal arsenal would be
Mckirk sluice (testing)
10in dream mat sluice (quick trip when water flow is ok)
12in dream mat banker (one day or more trip)
Trommel feeding 12in banker (two or more days trip) (need to justify the expense if going this far).
(all above legal in vic)

Anyway, have fun, that's the goal :Y: :Y:

I have a 6 min sluice. Ive made my own recirculating system with it to do clean up at home using an 1100 gph bilge pump. Still mucking around with set ups etc but seems to be working really well. Looking forward to taking it out for some real action to give it a good test. Am a little unsure of when I should clean it out though so I just keep an eye on how its loading up and when it looks full I clean it out.