Sluice Box | Gold Sluice Box |Types & How To Choose

What is Sluice Box?

Sluice box is one of the most widely used gold mining equipment to recover gold from sand. It separates gold from sand through the action of water flow to achieve the goal of gold enrichment and recovery. Whether it is a gold boat or a dry separation equipment, the figure of a sluice box is often seen in the configuration of gold benefication schemes.

Sluice Box Working Principle

Sluice boxes can handle materials with significant differences in particle size. After the slurry is fed into the chute, under the combined action of water flow force, mineral particle gravity (or centrifugal force), and frictional force between mineral particles and the bottom of the chute, mineral particles with different densities are loosely layered and separated. The heavier ones become concentrates at the bottom of the tank, while the smaller ones become tailings.

In order to improve the effectiveness of gold separation, the gold sluice box is usually equipped with some auxiliary equipment, such as water sprayers, brushes, etc. These auxiliary devices can help clean the surface of the sluice box and flush the gold particles deposited at the bottom.

At the same time, the angle and length of the inclined surface of the gold sluice box can also affect the separation effect, and reasonable adjustments are needed.

Sluice Box Types

According to the structural form of the sluice box, it can be mainly divided into the following types:

1. Fixed Sluice Box

The fixed sluice box is used for selecting placer gold in dry land, with a length at around 15 meters and a width of 0.5-0.6 meters. When using, a certain slope should be set to facilitate the flow of placer gold, with a slope of 5-6°. The bottom of the box is paved with a rough surface to capture small gold particles.

The fixed sluice box is an important placer gold separation equipment, which is the earliest type of sluice box. It is simple to use but has a relatively small processing capacity.

2. Stirring/Wriggling Sluice Box

Stirring sluice box, also known as wriggling sluice box, use mechanical force to generate certain vibrations or peristalsis in the box, in order to enhance the separation effect.

Stirring sluice box takes about 30 minutes to process 1m3 of fine sand, and the recovery rate can reach 98%. Gold particles with a particle size of 0.02 millimeters can be fully recovered.

3. Automatic Discharge Sluice Box

Automatic discharge sluice boxes are usually composed of multiple parallel inclined planes. When working, slurry flows in from inlet of the sluice box. Heavy minerals deposit at the bottom of the inclined plane, while light minerals are carried away by the water flow.

Automatic discharge sluice boxe can periodically flip the slope, and heavy minerals are discharged into the collection chute, achieving automatic ore discharge and greatly improving production efficiency. Automatic discharge sluice greatly improves production efficiency and is an important equipment in gold ore beneficiation plants.

4. Belt Sluice Box

Belt sluice boxes are often used in conjunction with centrifugal beneficiation machines and are widely used in 74-10μm separatin of ore slurry. However, its disadvantage is that it has a small processing capacity per unit area, occupies a large factory area, and has high infrastructure investment, so its scope of use has certain limitations.

5. Vibration Belt Sluice Box

The vibration belt sluice box is mainly used for the separation of fine-grained materials, and its structure includes main working parts, arc-shaped infinite belts, electric motors, and other parts.

When working, under the drive of the electric motor, the arc-shaped infinite belt moves upwards, and at the same time, the electric motor drives the belt to sway left and right through the eccentric rocker mechanism. The eccentric connecting rod type shaking head is used to cause the belt to vibrate, thereby forming a “slurry flow layer” in the box and gradually gathering during the flow process, ultimately achieving the separation of heavy minerals.

Compared to traditional fixed sluice box and circulating sluice box, vibrating belt sluice boxes have the advantages of large capacity and high separating efficiency, and have been widely used in gold mineral processing.

6. Fully Automatic Sluice Box

Fully automatic sluice box can achieve fully automated operation without manual intervention, improving production safety and stability. The fully automatic sluice box can also be automatically adjusted according to different ore properties and beneficiation requirements, achieving more accurate beneficiation results.

7. Other Sluice Boxes

Spiral chutes, disc-shaped chutes, etc. are designed according to different ore benefication requirements. These types of sluice box each have their own characteristics and applicability, and suitable chutes can be selected according to actual needs.

How To Choose A Suitable Sluice Box?

1. Applicable Environment: The gold sluice box is suitable for different environments such as placer gold mines and ancient rivers, and suitable equipment needs to be selected according to the specific environment.
2. Processing Capacity: Select a sluice box that can meet the processing requirements based on production scale and ore properties.
3. Equipment Material: Select suitable materials based on the properties of the ore being processed and the requirements for wear and impact resistance.
4. Technical Parameters: including the length, width, tilt angle and other parameters of the equipment, which can affect the processing effect and production efficiency of the equipment, and need to be selected reasonably.
5. Manufacturing Process: The level of manufacturing process directly affects the quality and service life of the sluice box, and it is necessary to choose equipment with reliable quality and advanced technology.
6. Reliability: The gold sluice box needs to have high reliability, be able to operate stably for a long time, reduce faults and maintenance costs.
7. Price: On the premise of meeting the above requirements, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the price and cost-effectiveness of the sluice box.