How to Sluice for Gold

Choose a stretch of flowing water where a sluice box can rest at a slope of approximately 1 inch per foot. Orient the sluice so that the water flows along the box's length and fills it about halfway. Anchor the sluice against the current with a heavy weight or weights.

Scoop up a shovelful of sand and gravel to add to the sluice. The spots where flakes or nuggets of gold are most likely to concentrate are on the downstream sides of obstructions or drop-offs. The presence of a few flashes of "color" is usually a good indicator.

Pick larger rocks and stones out of the shovel by hand and set them aside.

Pour the smaller material into the upstream end of the sluice, emptying the shovel slowly and steadily. Allow the moving water to wash everything through the sluice. Add more sand and gravel until there is a visible concentration of particles in the lee of each riffle, or crossbar, in the bottom of the sluice.

Lift the sluice from the water carefully and place the bottom into a bucket or tub large enough that the sluice doesn't hang over the edge. Pick out and store visible flakes or nuggets. Wash the remaining concentrate from the riffles, capturing both sediment and rinse water in the bucket. A commercial sluice usually has removable riffles and perhaps a liner on the floor, so disassemble and rinse clean.

Re-assemble the sluice and place it in the stream again. Repeat the cycle of shoveling in sand and gravel, sluicing and cleaning the sluice box.