General Principal of Opertation

The Vortex Drop Riffle Sluice System is a heavy particle concentration system. This meaning it will capture and concentrate the heaviest particles of the material being fed into the system. The heaviest particles will work their way to the bottom of the Vortex wells / drop riffles and build up thus pushing out the lighter particles. A 12-inch x 12-inch section of Vortex plate will hold approximately 1 cup of material in its Vortex wells and drop riffles when being cleaned out. This material will be the heaviest of the materials being fed through the system. This does not mean all the material being caught will be the same material. This means that the heaviest materials will be caught at the top end of the system and work their way to the bottom of the Vortex wells and drop riffles, as the top rows fill up with the heaviest material the process will move down the system. There is usually about a four-row spread working its way down the plate as the rows get filled up with the heaviest material.

The Vortex wells work by the helix spirals directing a certain amount of water down into the wells to keep the material on the top of the Vortex wells in motion allowing the heaviest particles to work their way to the bottom of the wells. With the correct water speed and setup angle you should see the material on the top of the Vortex wells bouncing around while running clean water and no material (white water). The Vortex wells will appear to be about 3/4 full with material. Too little water speed and the material will not be bouncing around and the Vortex wells will be fuller. This will cause the wanted heavies to skip over the Vortex wells and out of the system. Too much water speed and the Vortex wells will be washed clean or have less material in them. Faster water speed can be used to provide a cleaner result but losses will be slightly higher. You must try various water speeds to find a suitable speed that will provide the best result for the type of material being processed.

Set-up angle/Water volume/Water speed

The Vortex Drop Riffle sluice system has a operating angle range of 5 to 15 degrees. The water volume is determined by the width and operating angle of the system. The set-up angle and water volume will determine the water speed. The water speed is the most important factor when operating the sluice system. The steeper the angle the less water volume needed to acquire the correct water speed needed for proper operation. The average angle of operation is 6 to 8 degrees with a water depth of approximately. 3/8 of an inch above the surface of the Vortex plate.

The average water volume required for the widths of sluices are as follows:

6 inch - 20/40 IGPM

8 inch - 30/50 IGPM

10 inch - 40/60 IGPM

12 inch - 50/70 IGPM

General Operating Instructions

Side Tip Clean-up Longtom:

An operating angle of 5 to 15 degrees will cover all the different types of material that may processed. A good starting point is about 7 degrees as this will cover the most common types of material. Setup Longtom so it is level side to side and at 7 degrees angle. Adjust water volume until there is about 3/8 inch of water above the top surface of the plate. The water should be flowing fairly smoothly down the plate. If there is not enough water speed there will be a hopping of the water as it exits the vortex wells, increase water volume until the hop is mostly gone. Feed enough material though the system until you have a build up of heavies in the wells, stop feeding material and wait till the water runs clear. Upon observation of the wells the material at the top of the wells should be bouncing around and the wells should be about 3/4 full of heavies such as black sands etc., (lighter material will not stay in wells so it is important you make your observations only after you have processed enough material to get at least the top 2 rows built up with heavies such as black sands etc.). If the material on top of the Vortex wells is not bouncing around slightly then water volume or sluice angle must be increased. IMPORTANT!! Not enough water speed will result in gold being washed out. Too much water speed will result in the top row being washed clean after several minutes of running white water (clean water with-out material). The top row may clean out to about ¼ full after several minutes but never wash clean completely. If so, reduce water volume or sluice angle. Once you have it set, then proceed feeding it material.

To do a clean up first allow the unit to sit a couple minutes to allow the water to drain as much as possible. Next rotate the aluminum angle stopper located on the side rail at the bottom end of the plate into the down position to block the material that may wash down the edge of the side rail while tipping the sluice up. Next decide where how far down the plate the wanted heavies fade out to unwanted heavies and this is where you will want to wash the bottom half down into the trough and into a pail placed at the end of the trough. The material from the bottom part of the sluice will contain some wanted heavies but hardly enough worth the effort to clean. This material should be added to the next clean-up processed. Next place a gold pan on top of the pail at the bottom end of the trough, (unit should be setup so that a pail with at gold pan sitting on top will just fit under the bottom edge of the trough). Starting at the top end of the plate, gently wash the material from the low rib matting, vortex rows and drop riffles down into the trough. Try to avoid washing water over the material that is already in the trough. This will wash some of the material down into the gold pan before you are ready to do further cleaning in the trough. After the sluice has been emptied into the trough, lay the sluice back down out of the way. Next take the water nozzle that is attached to the clean-up hose and adjust water flow to a gently flow, take the nozzle and gently start working the material up the trough. While doing this periodically take the nozzle and wash some water down the sides of the trough into the material. This action will work the wanted heavies to the bottom and the lighter heavies will work there way to the top and be washed down the trough into the gold pan. Repeat doing this until you get a suitably clean product. During this process a small amount of wanted heavies may get washed down with the unwanted heavies. This can be added to the next batch to be processed or panned down. Next take a clean gold pan and switch it out with the one at the bottom of the trough and then wash the remaining material in the trough down into the gold pan. With a little practice you should be able to do this final cleaning process in a few minutes. (note: the higher the concentration of wanted heavies there is in this material the quicker it can be cleaned, I have personally cleaned a half gram of very fine gold out of the top 12 inches of a 12-inch-wide plate in approximately 15 minutes and ended up with a very clean finished product and lost very little during the process.

Highbankers:

The setup and adjustment are the same as for the Longtom. The Highbanker attachment is a boil-box style highbanker. They are either equipped with 2 or 3-1-inch nozzles depending on model. The nozzles are adjustable and can be rotated to get proper material wash and exit from the hopper according to what ever angle the sluice is setup at. For cleaning the side tip units, you must remove the highbanker attachment. This is easily done by removing the 4 bolts and wing nuts that attach it to the sluice. The Side Tip Highbanker units can be lowered close to the ground for easy feeding into the hopper. Clean-up of the Side Tip Highbankers will be the same as the Side Tip Longtoms mentioned above.