If you are thinking about mining for gold or becoming a gold prospector, you might have encountered the term “sluice box” during your research. This is a gold prospecting tool that makes use of the fact that gold is heavier than other materials to speed up the gold-recovery process.
So, what is a sluice box used for? A sluice box is a gold recovery tool that is used to help prospectors make the process of examining the collected streambed material up to 200 times faster than by simply using a pan. When placed into a stream, the sluice box leverages the heavy density of gold to trap nuggets and flakes, and fine gold in a series of obstructions that run along the length of the sluice box.
This device can undoubtedly save you a lot of time and effort if appropriately used. Keep reading to find out everything that is there to know to make the most out of your sluice box.
What Is a Sluice Box Used For?
Before diving into the techniques that allow you to make the most out of your sluice box, let’s have a look at what this device is and how it works.
A sluice box is a gold recovery system tool that helps you speed up the process of scanning the streambed material you have collected. While gold panning with a gold pan is a perfectly viable way to process material, you inevitably are quite limited by the recovery speed. Having to pour the material into the gold pan, and then work your way down to the gold and black sand simply takes a lot of time.
While you might be patient enough to use the gold pan for gold prospecting to find out where the gold is hidden, if you have quite a lot of material to filter, you might prefer a different, faster approach. That is when having a sluice box comes in handy.
Indeed, by using a sluice box, you can process and scan material much faster, as you can just pour the streambed material through the box’s entrance. Therefore, you can expect to speed up the process and make it 20 to 100 times faster than simple panning.
You still need a pan!
Now, the sluice box doesn’t completely eliminate the need for a gold pan. Once you have run all the material through the sluice box, you’ll have to take the heavy material that has fallen to the bottom and got trapped, and pour it into a gold pan. Then you will have to use gentle motions to separate the gold from the other material, which should mostly be made up of black sand.
So, of all the material you have shoveled into the sluice box now remains only a small amount equivalent to around the volume that goes into one single gold pan! Convenient, isn’t it!
Characteristics of a sluice box
A sluice box is essentially composed of three sides, a bottom edge, and two side panels. Along the bottom edge, you can find obstructions – also known as baffles or “riffles” – made of rubber, plastic, or metal. Depending on the model, you can even notice a rubber mat on each side of the “riffles.”
Just above the mats and baffles, some sluice boxes boast a mesh-like fabric or net, which keeps in place the whole structure and provides an additional layer of protection for the gold – preventing it from flowing away.
The simplest models are small, light, and easy to carry around. This also means that when positioned along the course of a stream, it might need to be kept stable with a mid-size rock on top of it. The extra weight will ensure that the box won’t become loose and flow down the river.
However, depending on the extent of the operation you are planning to complete, you can also find bigger sluice boxes that allow for more material to be processed, and that often boast adjustable feet. These components can be extended from the main body of the box and planted in the stream bed for extra stability.
Ultimately, sluice boxes are available on the market in several shapes and sizes, and you can pick the one that reflects the needs of your project.
Some are lightweight, portable, and composed of a single piece of ABS plastic, such as the Le Trap River Robber Sluice Box. Others boast multiple pieces of gold catching obstructions, such as the Stansport Aluminum Sluice Box.
How Does a Sluice Box Work? : Quick Instructions
A sluice box works by using the fact that gold is much denser than other materials on the streambed. As the collected material flows through the sluice box, the gold will rapidly fall through the gaps and ends up being trapped on the rubber mat or along the “riffles.” The other materials will just run through the device and back in the stream.
After collecting the material to scan for gold, without a sluice box, you would generally proceed with the panning process. However, now that you have one, instead, go ahead with the steps below to speed up the operation while increasing your chances to save all the fine gold in the material you have shoveled.
1. Position the Sluice Box
To notice the best results, you will need to find a reasonably steady-flowing river or creek and position the box just off the banks, or where the body of water is at its shallowest. Naturally, this will prevent the device from drifting away.
However, you should make sure that the location benefits from a constant stream of water. To start with, position the box at a 5° to 7° angle compared to the stream level, and ensure water depth of at least 2 inches (5 cm). The exact angle depends on the speed of the water and the size and characteristics of the box itself.
2. Ensure the Sluice Box Is Stable
Independent of whether you have opted for a lightweight box or a large-operations one, it is essential to make sure the device won’t drift away carrying all of your gold with it.
Therefore, you could opt to nestle it between rocks and position a heavier rock on top of it to weight it down. However, it is crucial to avoid blocking the stream of water: most pebbles and round, small stones should be able to flow through the device freely.
To ensure a steady flow, use a mid-size, heavy rock that is slightly elongated and place it on the edges of the device’s side panels. Since it will not be obstructing the riffles, this strategy is ideal for keeping the device in place without reducing its performance.
3. Pour the Streambed Material Through the Sluice Box
As the steady stream of water passes through the body of the sluice box, a prospector will start pouring the collected streambed material through the entrance of the box.
This step should be completed slowly, allowing the material to flow through it before pouring more sand and pebbles through. At the same time, you should avoid letting large amounts of water flow through at a rapid pace, without other elements in the box, since it could sweep away some of the gold with it!
4. Remove the Sluice Box From the Water
Once most of your material has been run through the sluice box, remove the device from the water. Make sure to do so with care. Indeed, there might be some gold trapped in the components of the box, and you don’t want to lose it in the water.
If your sluice box is composed of multiple components, remove them one by one, and rinse them, allowing the leftover to fall into a bucket. Ideally, the rinsing process will be completed with a bucket underneath at all times, so that no gold gets away. This step should include the rinsing of riffles, mates, nets, and mesh fabric, as well as the body of the sluice box.
5. Pan the Leftover Materials
The sluice box can help you remove the majority of impurities and black sand, but you will still have to proceed with the panning process for the gold to actually emerge.
To do so, take the bucket you have used to rinse the components of the box and pour it onto a pan. Then start to carefully pan the material to get rid of most of the lighter material, until you are left with only a smaller amount of black sand. Then start a gentle swirling gesture so that the water goes around in circles, as described in our gold panning guide, to make the gold emerge in the pan.
We recommend that you put some jet dry into the pan at this stage. This will remove the surface tension of the water and decrease the chances of some small pieces of gold floating away with the black sand.
Once the gold has appeared, use a snuffer bottle to remove the gold, and save the black sand. You might want to run through the black sand again at home, to capture the really fine gold using just your pan, or other fine gold recovery methods.
And even if you don’t want to keep your black sand for yourself, it might be valuable to others!
Conclusion
Independent of whether you are an experienced prospector or you still need quite some time to scan the collected material for gold, a sluice box can indeed speed up the process.
Since today you can find lightweight and portable sluice boxes, you can easily set them up anywhere when looking for gold. These simple devices leverage the property of gold of being denser than other materials. This characteristic allows the device to trap it between the riffles while the rest of the sand flows through it.