Fine Gold Recovery: Equipment & Techniques

The Fine Gold Challenge

Fine gold — also called flour gold or micro gold — is one of the biggest challenges in placer mining. These tiny gold particles (smaller than a grain of sand) are incredibly difficult to capture with conventional equipment. Many miners lose 20-50% of their gold because their equipment can't handle fines. Here's how to solve that problem.

What Is Fine Gold?

Fine gold generally refers to gold particles smaller than 30 mesh (0.6mm). "Flour gold" is even smaller — 100 mesh (0.15mm) and below. At these sizes, gold particles behave more like sand than nuggets, and standard riffles can't trap them effectively.

Why Standard Equipment Fails

Most wash plants and sluice boxes are designed for coarse gold. Their riffle patterns create turbulence zones optimized for larger particles. Fine gold particles get swept right over standard riffles and out the end of the sluice. This is where money is literally flowing away.

Our Solution: Engineered Sluice Design

Our wash plants capture fine gold down to 200 mesh (0.075mm) — that's 95-98% recovery including the fines. How? Our sluice boxes use a scientifically-designed riffle pattern that creates micro-turbulence zones specifically calibrated for fine gold capture. Combined with proper water flow rates and classifier-prepared feed material, the result is industry-leading fine gold recovery.

Tips for Maximizing Fine Gold Recovery

• Proper classification: Remove oversized material before it reaches your sluice. Our integrated screen system handles this automatically.
• Correct water flow: Too much water washes fine gold away. Too little causes packing. Our systems are calibrated for optimal flow.
• Clay breaking: Fine gold trapped in clay won't be captured unless the clay is broken apart first. Our aggressive scrubbing action frees clay-bound gold.
• Regular cleanup: Don't let your sluice overload. Clean up before the riffles become saturated with black sand.
• Secondary recovery: Use a gold wheel or blue bowl for final cleanup of concentrates to capture the finest particles.

Where Fine Gold Recovery Matters Most

Fine gold is common in many gold-bearing regions:

• Alaska — Interior Alaska deposits often contain significant fine gold
• California — Sierra Nevada flour gold is notoriously fine
• Oregon — Beach placer deposits are predominantly fine gold
• Africa — Alluvial deposits with clay-bound fine gold

Don't leave gold behind. Our wash plants capture the fine gold that other equipment misses. Get a free quote and start recovering all your gold.