What matting to use in a DIY 4 inch "Mini River Sluice"

[Jay Ell]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have just finished fabricating up in the shed a 4 inch wide mini sluice. We have all of the Expanded Mesh, Miners Moss, Riffle Angles and Ribbed Matting etc (from generous friends and what we have here at work)

However I was just wondering, seeing as the sluice is going to be only around two feet long, not including the removable flare at the top. (as I intend to classify the material right down before running it through, to say 5mm or so)

Would it be practical to have just the 3mm ribbed matting only and three riffles? Say one riffle 100mm down from the top, one half way and one 100mm from the bottom? And would standard 10mm or 15mm aluminum angle from Bunnings be fine at 90 degrees for a sluice this small?

Cheers in advance everyone!

 

[AtomRat]

because its only 4" your going to get a really quick flow through it unless you can ctrol the flow.

the v-matting I use in the top of my highbanker as a per-shovel preview but it usually washes the gold out after a short while into the bottom half of the sluice.

I still feel that expanded mesh works very well.

90 angle riffles are pretty much yukon riffles and need about double ir more the flow to actually work. Mist the time you would space them 2" apart but you dont have the flow for that.

Id reccomend making hungarian riffle by trimming angle iron ( the top part if the riffle ) and bending it out slightly. These work better when spaced randomly.

riffles that get taller towards the end of the box work ok as well and help to stop gemstones.

most matting catches gold, its just what suits you or the area you are digging in. I dont use mats, I rely on vertex to hold tge gold in my sluice

 

[Jay Ell]

Thanks Atomrat!