Intro and a question.

[Dan M]

Hi all,

So I'm here to learn, my 12yr old daughter and I went for a walk from Woolshed falls to Spring Creek cascades, as we were reading the information boards along the way, she started talking about gold panning, what she had been taught in school and what she had already researched online. At her request we purchased some equipment and went from there.
Currently have found a grand total of about $10 worth of specks flour gold and 1 tiny little picker. But have already made numerous priceless memories.
Next step is a river sluice, looking at the 6 inch dream mat from Gold Rat engineering.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[Hawkear]

Welcome Dan, and great to see your daughter taking an interest.
My thoughts on getting a river sluice are positive. I have had no experience of the dream mat but perhaps others could say whether it offers benefits over the traditional sluice matting. From the look it seems to offer better ability to clean up and probably transport in a car rather than the soggy mats I used to have to deal with.
Given you seem to want to increase your processing rate, I wonder whether you should consider an 8” sluice rather than a 6”. A 6” is quite small may be ok for loading say garden trowel sized loads, but an 8” would probably better cope with a load of wash dug out from deeper levels with a long handled spade. Just a thought.
Apart from the Beechworth area where the gold seems generally very fine, there are many other smaller goldfields in the North East area near Wodonga. A bit of trawling through on line old mining records and maps on both the Victorian and NSW side of the Murray could identify some within easy driving distance that may be worth a visit.

 

[Jaros]

Welcome Dan and daughter-enjoy.

 

[Dan M]

Welcome Dan, and great to see your daughter taking an interest.
My thoughts on getting a river sluice are positive. I have had no experience of the dream mat but perhaps others could say whether it offers benefits over the traditional sluice matting. From the look it seems to offer better ability to clean up and probably transport in a car rather than the soggy mats I used to have to deal with.
Given you seem to want to increase your processing rate, I wonder whether you should consider an 8” sluice rather than a 6”. A 6” is quite small may be ok for loading say garden trowel sized loads, but an 8” would probably better cope with a load of wash dug out from deeper levels with a long handled spade. Just a thought.
Apart from the Beechworth area where the gold seems generally very fine, there are many other smaller goldfields in the North East area near Wodonga. A bit of trawling through on line old mining records and maps on both the Victorian and NSW side of the Murray could identify some within easy driving distance that may be worth a visit.

Thank you so much for the input. We have definitely discovered that the gold is fine. Milli got herself a picker the other day. But it was only a picker by virtue of her having small 12yr old girl fingers with longish nails.
By my fingers, it was a speck.
I will have a look through old records, cheers for the idea.

 

[Dan M]

Welcome Dan and daughter-enjoy.

Thank you.

 

[Lazyfisho]

Hi all,

So I'm here to learn, my 12yr old daughter and I went for a walk from Woolshed falls to Spring Creek cascades, as we were reading the information boards along the way, she started talking about gold panning, what she had been taught in school and what she had already researched online. At her request we purchased some equipment and went from there.
Currently have found a grand total of about $10 worth of specks flour gold and 1 tiny little picker. But have already made numerous priceless memories.
Next step is a river sluice, looking at the 6 inch dream mat from Gold Rat engineering.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Cheers.

Welcome
I have a 6 inch with a dream mat.
I find it works really well as long as you have a nice steady flow of water (same as all of them).
Really sturdy build and easy to clean with only 2 bolts.
I am a fan.
Cheers

 

[Dan M]

Welcome
I have a 6 inch with a dream mat.
I find it works really well as long as you have a nice steady flow of water (same as all of them).
Really sturdy build and easy to clean with only 2 bolts.
I am a fan.
Cheers

Thankyou for that info, the 6 inch sounds perfect for what we want to do. Spend some quality Dad and Daughter time together doing something that is both relaxing and exciting.
Cheers.!