MoonRakerSCM Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hi there!I have a question about sluicing alternatives. I've never been panning proper, but have a lot of experience with paydirt and my panning technique isn't too shabby. I'm a geologist that specializes in river terraces, so I've been putting together an attack plan for my local gold area (san gabriel canyon East Fork). So, I have the looking and panning part down (we'll see if a slightly educated approach even gets me a flake lol), but what I do not have is a sluice. None of my friends have one either and we're not looking to buy at this time.So, with that in mind, we'll all be classifying into our buckets with 1/4 inch mesh and going from there. I was wondering, instead of going straight to the pan from the classified material, (normally you'd sluice), would it benefit me to perhaps... fill the bucket half with water, half with material, and then agitate for a minute or two, and then discard say... the upper half of the material?I'm just wondering what I can do with a bucket, maybe a garden hand rake , or say anything else from around the house so as to further refine the material before I start breaking my back panning.Thank you for any suggestions!- Shawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azoverland Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 First bit of color in your pan and it won't be so back breaking.... For real, if you get into a area with some gold I don't think you will be dumping out the top half of your classified dirt in your bucket. I'll take home some classified dirt and pan it down just cause I enjoy panning. Sometimes I even get a little speck or two.Bring a hammer and a pry bar or good flathead screwdriver to clean out the cracks in the bed rock, let mother earth do some of the best classifing for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted July 30, 2011 Admin Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Hey Shawn, I would just keep it simple, just like the old-timers. With just th basic tools you can do enough sampling to say whether it's worth even looking any further. My suggestion would be to search out bedrock, if you can find it, or any gravels that are near bedrock and sample them in many spots with just a bucket, classifier and gold pan. If you're able to work some of the bedrock, or hardpack gravels and find some gold, then you have to determine if it's worth trying to pack material to water, bring water to the site or even consider working the area dry with a drywasher and maybe Vacpack. Just my suggestions to keep the overhead down and determine if gold is in the area. Rob Allison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Border Boy Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 check out a rotopan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugbomb510 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 I got my setup of a 5 gallon bucket my lil sniper pan and a lamp right in front of the T.V. I multi task.. And love panning.. I wish I would have started when I was younger rather then the beginning of spring this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Shawn, if the area is dry a mini sampler will produce the results you are looking for. Heres a pic folds flat for backpacking or to tie down on an atv weighs about 7 pounds. The link at my signature will take you to the specks and more pics. Frank C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRakerSCM Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Hey all!Well, I ended up throwing together 4 bucks of material to create a 'poop tube' sluice and took that up with me. Ended up sort of being stuck in an 'ok' area as my other buddies abandoned me with all the gear as they did a hike up to a feature upriver. I worked some sands behind a boulder, classified them through my 1/4in mesh, then ran them through my poop tube. I ended up getting the 1st half of the tube showing black sands per run... and after about 6 hours of work I got 10 teensy weensy pieces of gold (fly poop). So, I believe in my current setup (for the time being) and just need to get into a better area next time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reno Chris Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Remember that the East Fork has been prospected over and over and over again. That gravel you panned has been worked for a century by others. Secondly, most places the bedrock is many feet down, unreachable by the average guy. If there are larger pieces, thats where they are. See:http://nevada-outback-gems.com/prospecting_info/calif/san_gabriel.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandtrap Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 My old ,old, stomping grounds-- I sent you a private message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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