Hobbies And Interests
Gold Panning Equipment
Gold pans can be found in any prospecting store for a very reasonable price, but you can use any large shallow container with sloping sides to pan for gold. Most people can find a number of adequate containers in their kitchen or garage. Anything that can contain a fair amount of river gravel in the bottom and allow enough room for water to be swirled in the container to wash away the lighter material can be used as a gold pan. Pans can be made of metal or plastic, just make sure the color is dark so the flecks of gold will be easily visible.
Sluice Boxes
A sluice box works on the same principle as a gold pan but on a larger scale. Typically, a sluice box is a long and open on both ends, with a series of ridges along the bottom of the box to trap the gold as you wash river gravel through the box. Place the box into the river so that water can flow through the length of the box, then put a scoop of gravel into one end of the box and lets the water wash the heavier material through it and out the other end while capturing the gold on the ridges. A sluice box can be easily made with wood. Build a box four feet long, a foot wide and six or eight inches deep. Leave both ends open to allow for the flow of water and attach a series of ribs along the length of the bottom of the box across the flow of water.
Rocker Box
A rocker box is a modified sluice box for use in areas where the flow of water isn't sufficient to operate a normal sluice box. A rocker box takes a sluice box and adds sloping boards to each end of the box and then places the entire thing on a teetertotter-like rocker. Place gravel in the box and poured water in. Gently rock the box back and forth, allowing the water to carry away the lighter materials and wash over the end boards, leaving the heavier gold trapped in the base of the box.
Modify a sluice box by attaching boards to the inside of either end at an angle of 30 or 40 degrees to allow water to wash over them as the box is rocked. Turn the box over and attach two boards an inch apart across the middle of the box to create a pivot point. Build a rocker stand with two two-by-10-inch boards about two feet long. Attach the boards together with tw-by-four-inch boards at either end so they stand on the two-inch end about 14 inches apart. Attach a one-inch diameter dowel across the top of the two-by-10-inch boards with brackets. Place the sluice box on the dowel at the pivot point. You can now rock your box back and forth to wash excess material away from the gold.