How To Use A River Sluice Box To Fully Capture The Gold - Methods and Techniques

[@whiteglovestudio]

Love the thorough educational videos you have on your channel, so much useful knowledge!

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you like them!

[@whiteglovestudio]

@@ChrisRalph How do you feel about drop riffle sluices for fine gold recovery? My understanding is they require less water flow than conventional riffles like the one in this video, any drawbacks?

[@alvinuselton912]

I really enjoy your video’s. Thanks for passing on your professional skills. Very classy and informative. Can’t wait for the next one.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you like them!

[@michaelbrick9730]

Nice creek area. that area looks like the fire came through there last year...Great tutorial on the method use of the sluice box...your time showing us the method on the use has given me the bug, the itch, the get up and go to head out and do some prospecting to some my favorite area's...thanks again Chris...

[@ChrisRalph]

It was a little further back than last year, but it was not many years ago.

[@Ravenraps]

East Belt? Looks like Murray. Thanks for the content you're doing great. I appreciate you. #skullcounty #goldprospecting #sluiceboxmod #placermining

[@ChrisRalph]

Eastern gold belts of the Sierra Nevada in California - but I could see why it looks similar to other places too.

[@Ravenraps]

@@ChrisRalph oh I see now my comment was vague. I grew up in Railroad Flat and have spent much of my time digging around the area. Treasures come in many forms in the area, clusters, bottles, artifacts as well as nuggets.

[@Smithsgold]

Nice finds !!!!!

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks 👍

[@DeenanTheKemon1]

I got a sluicebox for xmas and I'm super excited to try it this spring. Thanks for the info 👍

[@ChrisRalph]

Best of luck to you.

[@TROTS1]

Awesome video! 👍

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you liked it!

[@gregsanderson2470]

I use a basket of 1/2 inch hardware cloth to size the material. it sits in the apron . I watched edie currents clean out behind the riffles. I also paint the apron a flat green to reduce the glare. The pan bought the sluice which bought the dredge . Lots of fun. Thanks for the videos.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you liked the video.

[@GSProspecting]

What a blast. Great job all around fam. Keep on having fun getting that au and living the dream. Thanks for the class. Gold Squad Out!!!

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks! Will do!

[@myrnaporras4123]

Hi sir, i need buyer of diamond stone but here in Philippines only gold they can accept

[@davidwalker8359]

Why do you only have the option in biying it in gold? ​@myrnaporras4123

[@danbosch-]

If the water just barely dances over the riffles from your angle and water flow the sluice will clean itself out very well. The gold will always flow to underneath the riffles and the gravel will flow out. I know you didn't have a steep enough drop available at that site. When I was able to go sluicing if the creek was that flat and narrow I used to build a small dam I could rest the flare on to achieve a better drop angle. Love your videos. Cheers mate!

[@ChrisRalph]

The steepness and the flow determine how fast the gravels will clear.

[@cabojay12]

Great job appreciate all the info

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kamaldaher1670]

Good job! Very clear and full with Informations! Keep on this good work! 💪

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks. Glad you liked it!

[@Leaveittobubbles]

Sarcasm the refuge of the evil.

[@Leaveittobubbles]

See ya wouldn’t want to be ya!!

[@seanb3516]

One of the ideas I am trying with my sluice is to use a water 'calmer'. Basically a sheet of plastic that lays over most of the water flow that is supposed to calm the turbulence and allow the riffles to work. Not sure yet if this is a good idea however the results are somewhat positive so far.

[@danbosch-]

I used to use two sluices. One for calm water flow, and one for faster flow. The faster flow sluice had steeper angled rifles on it. If you don't have that available, yes, a header skirt will help.

[@gregsanderson2470]

​@@danbosch- can you explain this skirt. Thankx

[@ChrisRalph]

I used to use that type of skirt / cover with my dredge, but never with a river sluice - they are usually much calmer already compared to a dredge.

[@danbosch-]

@@gregsanderson2470 its just a flap of soft rubber or plastic that touches the top surface of the water for several inches up at the top of the sluice that calms down the water if it is too turbulent. people who dredge sometimes have them on their dredge sluices. i only ever used one if i had my sluice in crazy fast water. it helped to keep my sluice from cleaning gold out of it. 95% of the time you shouldn't need one for a manual sluice

[@gregsanderson2470]

@@danbosch- thankyou

[@michaelarmbrust8415]

Great video. Could you show how the water should look running through the sluice

[@ChrisRalph]

its supposed to be smooth but enough to move the sand and pebbles through the box. You can see it in this video. Perhaps you watching on a cell phone? If so you need a bigger screen to see the sluice flow.

[@jeffkeller9009]

You make me want to go out prospecting for gold and treasue !🤠

[@ChrisRalph]

That's a good idea. Go out and prospect

[@alesp6552]

Nice gold learned new things thank you. What creek is that. Do u know Where can I find not claimed hydraulic pits to prospect or access to them ?any club or something

[@ChrisRalph]

Try a club. If you are interested in claims, check out the two videos I made on staking a claim.

[@seymourrivers6169]

I enjoyed this episode 🎉 and highly recommend your book to anyone interested in learning more about this hobby. The book could be compared to an encyclopedia on the subject

[@ChrisRalph]

Awesome, thank you for the kind words!

[@seanb3516]

I'm enjoying the Fists Full of Dirt (and a bit of Gold) currently. It's got a HUGE amount of information. This is the only book that I have seen that mentions the Blue Bowl,,,which is a truly frustrating piece of Analytical Equipment. Argghh!

[@ChrisRalph]

What problems are you having with the blue bowl? You know I also have videos that demonstrate it, right?

[@michaeldonovan6076]

Thanks Chris, very educational video. Em, using a battery operated pump would dramatically increase water volume at that pitch, However this further supports getting more done with a battery operated pump, you can measure the widnes of the Y where the water feeds, You can then use a predrilled pvc pipe predrillled 1/4 inch apart in single or two varied lines,,connecting to the pump hose with a pvc T connection,,this will create a faned pressure ofcwater from the creak through the pump intovthe fan chamber wochvwill feed the required water at volume this method allowed you to run 5 to 10 buckets an hour, At the end of the sluice if you make a a tray with minors moss incerted this will allow to catch lost gold particles, So technicaly your feeding the sluice and checking residue increasing and retrieving lost gold at the end of the process.

[@ChrisRalph]

Sounds interesting. Give your theories a try and let us know how it all works out.

[@tj6193]

Thanks for all the information. After watching your vids for almost a year I think I'm ready to start dirt fishing. I joined the GPAA. They have a special, buy a Garrett Axiom and get a Lifetime GPAA Membership. I ordered a copy of Fist Full of Gold and I have a spot picked out to prospect in July. I don't think I would have the guts to actually give this a try if it wasn't for you taking the time to provide this information. Wish me luck.

[@paulbegley1464]

He knows what he's talking about. And he's easy to listen to.

[@ChrisRalph]

I wish you the very best of luck, but I also wish for you persistence. It takes work and time to learn when you want to acquire a new skill. You will become good at finding gold if you stick to it.

[@shanelocke237]

"ONYA CHRIS"I LEAŔNT ALOT IN THIS UPLOAD,THANKYOU FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE AS I'VE LEARNT HEAPS FROM YOU.ONCE AGAIN THANKYOU VERY VERY MUCH CHRIS WELL DONE YOU ARE A LEGEND IN MY VIEW.SHANE LOCKE FROM BATHURST AUSTRALIA

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks much friend.

[@azau79]

Great idea to do the narration afterwards.

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@toddeftsadams5909]

The one thing I have learned lately is that the outlet of the sluce needs to be out of the water. Then the last ripples clean out better. But I do find super fine gold with my keen sluce. In Wyoming we can't highbank or dredge until July 1st so I use my sluce until July.

[@ChrisRalph]

I would not say that is always true. In flat streams like the one I was on, if the end would out of the water, the end would have been higher than the entrance and no water would have flowed.

[@mattnelson4387]

Isn't it about water flow and slope, not sluice box end placement?

[@dirtypawsgoldadventures]

Looking good. Seems like a nice easy spot to work. See any morrels in that burn scar?

[@ChrisRalph]

No I did not see any, but parts of that area would be good for looking. I have only very rarely seen morels in the Sierra Nevada, but I will keep my eyes open.

[@sparks4025]

I've prospected the WC drainage area recently, it's nice to easily hike through those burned out areas, but the vegetation is starting to come back. I heard a large crash then later came back to my car to see a tree burned at the base had fallen 6 feet in front of my car.

[@ChrisRalph]

Those trees are going to begin to fall and access in the back country will be tough.

[@EM-ig7ib]

I'm a real novice where sluicing is concerned. As green as they come. I really enjoy your videos and I was going to request that you do a sluicing instructional. But you beat me to it. I have a Keene River Sluice set up pretty much like the one you used in this video only its about 1ft shorter and I have miners moss on the deck instead of the black matting you use. The one thing I have to ask is this... I noticed that my test pans tend to capture some really fine even micro gold that can only been seen under magnification. But when I run my sluice with the same material that I know has fine and micro gold, I cannot seem to capture them in my sluice. Only flakes and a rare picker the size of a pin head seems to end up in my concentrates. I tried slowing the rate of material feed and changing the water velocity to a point where its barely able to clear the small gravels. I'm just not capturing the fines that I know are there. I've watched several videos by pros some of whom you know and now your video. So my question is ... Is sluicing just inferior to using a good pan for capturing fine and ultra fine gold? Am I wasting my time sluicing areas where only flour gold exists and flakes and nuggets are rare or non existent?

[@ChrisRalph]

Its hard for me to say as you are, by your own admission, a new and green prospector. So real hard for me to say where the problem is. Yes, for the very finest of gold, a sluice is not the best recovery device. Commercial operators will use shaker tables, centrifugal concentrators or jigs as their primary gold catcher. Could you do better with your sluice than you are now? - its possible but I just don't know.

[@EM-ig7ib]

@@ChrisRalph Well. . .I think its a combination of problems with the most problematic being "User Error" But I did find one of your videos from 3 yrs ago where you ran some different materials through your sluice attempting to recover fines. I learned a few things by watching that one. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer these comments. Thanks!

[@paulbegley1464]

I was thinking that if you can put a couple of straps on the back or even the front. You can put it on your back to carry it and leave your hands free for other stuff. Or even just to keep your balance as you walk to the creek. Were not getting any younger you know. Might even want to get a walking stick or two.

[@ChrisRalph]

That would work great if you needed to carry the sluice a long ways. That spot was only about 50 feet from my car.

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

i have a a52 (free). supposed to go to the east fork ,but got a equinox 700. go to the beach ,start learning. the 700. the surfing championship is at the end of july. (google us open of surfing huntington beach). like 300,000 to 400,000 people in the course of a week. i've only seen a few people with detectors there. great video. have a good day boss.

[@ChrisRalph]

I grew up in the LA area, but man, crowds of hundreds of thousands of people make me want to go to someplace with solitude and where the thousands upon thousands are not around. I was disappointed the other day when I was out prospecting because I saw 6 other people........

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

@@ChrisRalph to hot to go by myself. get jacked up from the heat. or a rattle snake. but end of september go back look for the rhyolite i saw exposed from the rains. always good to talk to you. have a good day.

[@paulbegley1464]

From the looks of those trees I'm going to guess your in California but maybe your on the Nevada side. At least there's not so much brush on the ground.

[@ChrisRalph]

Its northern California - literally millions of acres have been burned in recent years.

[@karlfonner7589]

Was that a public place where you sluiced? Can you give me a hint as to where it is?

[@ChrisRalph]

Yes, it's in a part of the Plumas National Forest that burned 🔥 in the fires of the last few years.

[@karlfonner7589]

@@ChrisRalph thank you very much sir. I’m looking forward to purchasing your book and keeping you happy.

[@jbowerman50]

Chris, I built my sluice from a stainless steel steam table insert. Yes I know, heavier than aluminum. When I tested it, I found the riffles I welded to expanded metal, (with miners moss underneath) were All wrong, to tall, wrong angle. So I cut them out. So without riffles, I ran all my panning tailings (I setup a recirculating system) and found gold I lost from my pan. So, the question is just how essential are riffles, I trapped fine gold that I lost in panning without riffles. I'm headed for the desert with my drywasher and detector and expect to bring my DW cons home and run them in the recirculating sluice. As a side note, I've saved all my tailings from everything so I can run it again just to be sure.

[@ChrisRalph]

If you screen all your gravel to less than a quarter of an inch, you don't need the riffles. If you run gravel with larger stuff, you need riffles.

[@douglasbrown4775]

Try Gold Phenoms gravity panning give it a view

[@ChrisRalph]

I watched some and was not impressed at all. Just regular panning done fast without shaking the gold down. Guaranteed he is losing fine gold. Just because you get some does not mean you are not losing some too.

[@TheDSP1970]

I think the design & methods are dated back to the early 1900's. Gold recovery has move forward since this.

[@ChrisRalph]

Where in this video did I say that the sluice was state of the art for placer gold recovery? Yet they are still used by millions of small scale miners across the globe - so no, you are wrong, gold recovery has not moved on from the sluice.

[@TheDSP1970]

@@ChrisRalph not the box, whats in the box.

[@KhairulNizamBakar]

I glad to find your channel when starting my journey in metal detecting. Keep up a great content!

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks, will do!

[@NikolaiGordeev-wb7kb]

Hi friend

[@ChrisRalph]

Greetings.

[@alwayslearning8365]

I wish we could use small sluice boxes in BC, but the BC government makes mining of any sort very difficult. They want people to just look at the trees and rocks.

[@tradermunky1998]

Can't have you moving some pebbles around in the streams, why do you hate the planet!? 🤣

[@tedritchie7252]

Sooner or later people are just going to ignore what these government technocrats impose. Any day now would be fine by me

[@paulbegley1464]

That sucks. And I'll bet it's Trudeau that came up with that decision or one of his fellow liberals. But he signed it into law I bet. What a little tyrant.

[@ChrisRalph]

Sorry mate. Big brother government knows what is best for you, and you must obey their orders. The US is just a bit more conservative, but we will catch up with the more left leaning and socialist UK, Australia and Canada.

[@eugen-m]

Great material . Thank you ❤❤❤ I think it's a stupid idea to use a metal detector specially adapted to be used in water and detect metals or to use a detector in the washing process only in the final stage.... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Ok , stupid , sorry ☺

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you liked it.

[@israelgabriel1989]

You should get knee pads saves the back

[@ChrisRalph]

I have them and use them sometimes.

[@123Goldhunter11]

I found that any Hungarian riffles lose you fine gold.

[@ChrisRalph]

That's why you need a good material under the Hungarian riffles, like miners moss or something similar.

[@mikesorenson5505]

Cris woulx you allow me go go with you

[@ChrisRalph]

Sorry. I get many requests like yours and I don't offer individual training.

[@tradermunky1998]

Looks like bikini weather, but no bikini? You have to show some skin to make it on KZbin 😉🤣

[@ChrisRalph]

That only works for cute young girls. Fat old men should keep all their clothes on and avoid sunburn and skin cancer.

[@jeffinphx517]

Thanks, Chris. Excellent video, Fists Full of Gold is a great book, well worth the price. I think it would be really cool if you also did a campfire series, gold prospecting, and gold finding stories. In fact, that would make an excellent book. I'd buy it. Peace.

[@ChrisRalph]

My website has a lot of stories like that - and they are free to read.

[@jeffinphx517]

@@ChrisRalph Cool, thanks.

[@karlfonner7589]

Was that a public place where you sluiced? Can you give me a hint as to where it is?

[@ChrisRalph]

Yes, see my other reply.