The Sluice Box allowed miners to process far more gold bearing gravel than they could with a pan alone. Sluice boxes were built at the mining site out of materials at hand. Often they were placed right in the river to take advantage of a constant flow of water. The miners would then shovel gravel into the top (head) end and let the water wash the material through. The lighter gravels would be carried out the downstream (tailings) end. The gold and other heavier minerals would fall out of the flow and be trapped behind the riffles. When the riffles accumulated a large quantity of black sand it was time to cleanup. The miners would block the water flow into the sluice and remove the riffles. Large nuggets were picked by hand and the remaining material was removed for panning.
Gold bearing material was also carried to the sluice in buckets. Places such as exposed cracks in the bedrock above water level and tree roots that have been exposed by the river can be excellent sources for gold bearing material.
Sluicing hasn't changed much. The priniciple is the same today but sluice boxes are now made from aluminum and steel. Modern sluice boxes are lighter and can be easily moved from site to site. One miner sluicing can process far more material in a day than can be attained using a pan only.
A sluice box is often used to sample an area before bringing in the dredge. If an area proves to be barren you can move on and avoid having to carry in the heavier dredge equpiment. If a good gold bearing area is located then Eureka! Bring in the dredge. |
