New G14 River Sluice Box

[isolation]

Looks like not enough slope. Assuming you had let the sluice clear you shouldn't have that much light material above the first riffle and the mesh looks packed at the end so there is not enough water velocity to keep clearing the mesh and to push the material through. Water velocity will create the vortex required to fluidise the material in the mesh and behind the riffle. Look for the mesh clearing reasonably quickly, you might get an initial build up on the immediate riffle upside but this should dissipate reasonably quickly. The water level is hard to tell but looks a bit on the light side but ultimately it should clear the mesh and roll the larger stones. If you increase the slope you will in turn need more water but just enough to do the job. Stick your finger into the material behind the riffle when running it should not be packed and you should see the little stones dancing in the mesh, the heavies would have already sunk to the mat.
Jon

I felt like i was getting a good vortex at the riffles, that's why tried my first run as it was. There was some very small gold found after the clean up, as well as some bigger flakes, so i think it was working, but i think you guys are right, the flow needs adjustment. I think as it was, it would fill up quicker than it should, and i would start losing gold.

I might try more water at the mouth to start, then increase slope if i need to... Sound ok?

 

[blisters]

Sounds good to me it's trial and error for the material and size you are processing.
Jon

 

[G0lddigg@]

get her out of the slack water and into the fast water for a start, thats right where the water is falling away, use that momentum to drive your vortexes.

how long before a clean-up is impossible to say, how many heavies are in each bucket? how much black sand are you contending with? how much ironstone? how big is the gold. you see where i'm going. use your best judgement and look at whats happening in your sluice. when a sluice is stagnant i.e. there's no jostling of material you need more angle or too cleanout because what make it work isn't working any more and its just a matter of time.

you dont ahve to do a mass cleanout every time you can stand your slcuie in a bucket and throw water out of it to remove 80% of the material then dump it back in with a pan at the end.

hope that helps GD

 

[Goldrocs]

Two guys I know brought those' sluices from Mudgee where the fan meets the first part of the matting you need to put an up lift as if you drop your wash dirt in the fan it will get stuck on the lip before going through your sluice,I took the expanded mesh out and the riffles worked a lot better as there is no fluided action under the riffles just a thought....
Cheers Dave...

 

[isolation]

get her out of the slack water and into the fast water for a start, thats right where the water is falling away, use that momentum to drive your vortexes.

Funnily enough, I did move it a bit further down the creek on the weekend, and tried a faster flowing area. The video is not the best, and I should have fed it some material while I was filming... Too fast in this spot? It seemed to be cleaning quite well, and tucking material back under the riffles with the vortex.

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1VIwxrI2O8[/video]

 

[isolation]

Two guys I know brought those' sluices from Mudgee where the fan meets the first part of the matting you need to put an up lift as if you drop your wash dirt in the fan it will get stuck on the lip before going through your sluice,I took the expanded mesh out and the riffles worked a lot better as there is no fluided action under the riffles just a thought....
Cheers Dave...

I know what you mean about the lip, but I found it cleared well when I improved the flow in.

I was considering cutting out the carpet under the mesh up to the first riffle, and replacing it with some v-matting... Silly idea?

 

[Occasional_panner]

Hold the phone sideways before you start filming, then it will be widescreen.

 

[G0lddigg@]

yes that water is moving much faster and better, now you just want to get more water over by putting the flair/feeder into the water get it right in there and set the angle from there, dont be affriad to have lots of water in your flair mate, its there to grab water and funnel it into your sluice.
Once you get enough water you can angle down until you get too much turbulence like in your above video, then pull it back.
i would say the top 1/3rd of your sluice is perfect and the bottom is all over the place

 

[isolation]

yes that water is moving much faster and better, now you just want to get more water over by putting the flair/feeder into the water get it right in there and set the angle from there, dont be affriad to have lots of water in your flair mate, its there to grab water and funnel it into your sluice.
Once you get enough water you can angle down until you get too much turbulence like in your above video, then pull it back.
i would say the top 1/3rd of your sluice is perfect and the bottom is all over the place

I wasn't really thinking about posting the vid, so sorry about the crap quality.

That was my first set up position, I did muck around with it a bit more after that, but I still wasn't quite happy. As you said, I don't think it's action was even throughout the whole length of the sluice. I did try one more spot at the end of the day, back near the first spot, and the flow in was more even, so I will process some material in that spot next time. I was under the impression that you didn't need too much water in the flair, so I will allow more in next time, and adjust the speed with the angle height. There was some very fine gold again in the clean up, but I think the total retrieved was less than it should have been, so I probably lost some.

Thanks for the help