Greenhorn Prospecting Equipment questions

[IdahoGoldGettR]

Good for you Mike in your pursuit for gold. I think by using a sluice with a punch plate, you will move a whole lot more gravels and pick up more gold. I have tried the bars & expanded diamond metal mesh on grizzlies and sluices but have found that the punch plate works the best. No rock jams, plugs, or wear on the gloves. Here is a closer look at that home made Long Tom Griz. I prefer the pre-fab factory made slate boards over the store bought. They are slightly strong and a bit thicker. My board has 1/8-3/16" wide groves (width of a saw blade) slightly scored by my table saw. These groves are only 1/16" in depth and are spaced 1/2" throughout the board. I do allow myself an 8" non-scored surface on the top portion for feeding my concentrates. This boards really catches the fine gold well. So-much-so that when I no longer see any gold, I reluctantly give up my panning for this unit. It was good talking with you. I wish you and the wife a good prospecting trip. Bound to be a nugget still out there in those gulches. cheers - Randy

 

[moondog2000]

Hey good talking to you too.I've learned quite a bit from your posts.your highbanking longtom sluice looks like it does the job real well, I like the punch plate.If I find a nugget I'll post it here . Mike

 

[jamesinwesttexas]

I have another dumb question or two. When you classify the beach sand to the 40 mesh as you advise, should this be done with the sand absolutely dry or could it be done effectively with the sand in water? Where would be a good place to buy the slateboard? Thanks and I really enjoy reading these posts. James

 

[pan4au]

good info posted...The way we sampled the beach on our trip to Nome.... we dug a hole in the sand a foot or so deep.. then examined the walls of the hole for dark layers(concentrated heavy material). if you find any especially if they are an inch or so thick.. take a teaspoon and get a sample and put in a gold pan and see if there is gold in the sample. If there is then you know gold is there.. The thicker layers are best to work since they contain more concentrated material.. you want to run the dark layers and not the black sand... good luck...