I'll start. Freddy and Juan almost always improve fine and flour gold capture in placer operations with a specific type of sluice similar to the PopAndSon sluice. It's essentially 3 different sizes of expanded metal (e.g. 1", 3/4", 1/2"), over alternating sections of miner's moss and astroturf, giving different sizes and shapes of gold varying situations where one type of gold might not like one spot, but will like another. When you multiply the numbers out it's 6 different capture surfaces. Variety! This setup builds on the Clarkson study and others, and is now a proven gold getter, significantly raising the capture rates of fine and flour gold even in industrial placer operations. Why miners wouldn't use this system from the beginning is a mystery to me, when the template is so easy to follow (assuming one has capital and can source materials and labour for the build). Anyway, this sluice setup is one major thing I have learned from the show. How about you?

One of the improvements that I saw that I hadn't considered is on one site where they had a transition from a roughing jig to a cleanup jig. Typically they have a pvc or some trough for that transition and what they did on that episode was convert that to a small sluice. More places to catch gold is not a bad thing.

@slatcoau - yes, never hurts to put in an additional sluices and capture surfaces in transition areas!

Six seasons of Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan have basically turned into a masterclass in what not to overlook. One of the biggest lessons is that gold recovery problems are usually systemic, not just a “sluice issue.” Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibarra constantly trace losses back to improper classification, poor water balance, or uneven feed rates. If your hopper is surging, your trommel is overloaded, or your distribution box isn’t actually distributing evenly, your mats and expanded metal never even get a fair chance to work. I’ve learned that dialing in water flow to match yardage per hour — and ensuring even slurry across the full width of the sluice — often recovers more gold than simply adding more riffles or swapping matting. Proper ground testing is another repeated theme: tight grid sampling, controlled test pits, and tracking actual ounces per yard before scaling up. Guesswork is expensive; measured data keeps you alive.

The show also reinforces how critical material handling and fine gold recovery are. Overfeeding a trommel reduces wash efficiency and sends clay balls straight into the sluice. Incorrect pitch (too steep) blows fines; too flat packs the box. Expanded metal over miner’s moss works well when water velocity is right, but many operations benefit from modern rubber matting or astroturf-style vortex systems for fine gold retention. Cleanup processes matter just as much — thorough, frequent cleanups prevent compaction and allow you to monitor losses in your tailings. Even the gold room setup — proper lighting, clean tubs, controlled water flow during final concentration — impacts recovery. The real takeaway? Efficiency isn’t about running bigger equipment; it’s about balanced systems, consistent feed, disciplined testing, and understanding that every stage — from prospecting to cleanup — either protects your gold or loses it.

I agree Sebo --- flow, feed and classification appear to be 80% of the gold capture equation for gravity concentration. With the right flow, feed and classification size, a sluice lined with dog turds would catch all coarse gold and a decent amount of the fines. I would imagine the flour gold capture would be lacking though ; )

I would also imagine it's much easier for consultants such as Freddy and Juan who have seen hundreds, if not thousands of different operations, to spot bottlenecks or problems that the miner may or may not be aware of due to many/most placer washplants being home-grown, DIY builds. A consultant has the luxury of having far more data, knowledge and experience in a multitude of situations than any individual miner ever would. Perhaps it can be hard for miners to 'zoom out' and see the bigger picture, even from day 1.

I presume most placer operators cobble together whatever equipment they can that is locally available within their budget, rather than having their rig match proven best practices.

Additionally, each area has different material characteristics; in some places trommels are mandatory, in others, shaker decks are fine. I have done a bit of professional placer exploration as a field tech (passive seismic to determine depth to bedrock and slightly beyond, reverse circulation drilling to collect samples, then sluicing and panning samples. As Sebo mentioned above, it's all about systematic grid sampling, and when drilling is involved you aim to get roughly a 3D model of gold grades.

I have been told that the top placer mining operation in the Yukon, Stuart Schmidt (supposedly bigger than Parker) has a separate testing team that samples ground *10 years* ahead of when they plan to mine it.

If the big operations are doing that, then it shows the critical importance of sampling.

Combine strong sampling with the right flow, feed and classification and you have a strong foundation to build from.

Oh, and remember to test pan the coarse and fine tailings! Time and time again Freddy and Juan have spotted problems this way!

I have learned that its more profitable to make mining shows than it is to go mining :-)