What started as a relaxed weekend prospecting trip quickly turned into a high-stakes, head-to-head battle. We packed up our gear and hiked into Trunkey Creek—a legendary spot known for its chunky and fine gold, scenic beauty, and brutally heavy ironstone.
The mission? Put two very different sluice box inventions through an absolute pressure test. We went bucket for bucket to see which design could process the most dirt, handle the tough Australian ground, and lock down the most gold.
On one side: The Chris Undertaking 10" OG Drop Riffle Sluice. On the other side: Nick’s Franken Sluice (from Picket Prospecting).
Here is how the battle went down, how these two unique inventions compare, and what happened when we put them to work in the creek.
The Contenders: Two Different Philosophies
1. The Chris Undertaking Drop Riffle Sluice
The drop riffle sluice takes a modern approach to fine gold recovery. Instead of using raised metal riffles or standard mesh that can choke up, this design uses gravity pockets and recessed drop zones.
- How It Works: As water flows smoothly over the top of the riffles, high-density gold (which is roughly 19 times heavier than water) drops straight down out of the main current into recessed wells. Lighter gravels, sands, and unwanted material wash straight over the top.
- Why It Matters at Trunkey Creek: Trunkey Creek is famous for heavy ironstone. Traditional Hungarian riffles or fine matting like Dream Mat can quickly become overwhelmed or clogged by heavy black sands and ironstone. The open drop pockets allow high-density fine "flour" gold to drop into safety while the heavy flow sweeps the ironstone clean out the back.
- Hiker-Friendly: Built out of lightweight, ultra-durable materials, it’s compact and effortless to pack in when you have a long trek to your favorite spot.
2. The Picket Prospecting Franken Sluice
The Franken Sluice is built for raw processing speed and high-volume throughput. Made from precision-folded 2mm aluminum, it’s engineered to handle pre-classified material continuously without missing a beat.
- How It Works: Designed as a self-feeding powerhouse, you set the sluice at a stable pitch, test your water levels, and pour your pre-classified material (10mm to 12mm) directly into the front hopper while feeding water into the rear header.
- Heavy-Duty Construction: Cut with a CNC router, deburred, riveted, and TIG welded, it’s an absolute tank. It features integrated clamp components (so you can't lose small parts in the river), a heavy-duty front handle for long hikes, and comes fitted with rubber-backed miner's moss and expanded aluminum mesh.
- Customizable: The channel width allows gold prospectors to swap out matting, making it fully compatible with 8" Dream Mat configurations depending on the ground you're running.
The Battle at Trunkey Creek: Bucket for Bucket
The rules were simple: dig, classify, run identical bucket counts, and see who ends up with the heavier gold vial at the end of the day.
However, tactics started before the first bucket was even dumped. Nick quickly executed his primary strategy: exploiting my irresistible urge to clear any boulder in my path. Before I knew it, I was moving massive rocks out of the creek bed while Nick casually prepped his gear. Realizing I was falling right into his trap to drain my energy before the dig even started, I feigned a very convincing, age-appropriate 40-year-old back strain and promptly shifted into an executive "supervisory role."
When Nick offered to lend me a second bucket, I remained suspicious. A seasoned prospector knows never to trust a competitor’s bucket without checking for false bottoms or hidden siphon traps!
Tactics aside, we got down to business.
Processing Heavy Ironstone
Running material through Trunkey Creek demands constant attention to water flow and sluice pitch. As the buckets went through, the contrasting strengths of both inventions were on full display:
- The Franken Sluice chewed through material effortlessly. The self-feeding hopper setup let Nick dump classified dirt at a relentless pace. The miners moss and expanded metal held a tight pack of heavy concentrates, maintaining a stable bed even under heavy water flow.
- The Drop Riffle Sluice proved why drop pocket engineering excels in heavy ground. Because ironstone tends to clog standard matting, the gravity drop zones kept flushing themselves clean. Light materials rolled right off, while micro-flour gold sank instantly into the recessed pockets.
The Verdict: Which Sluice Won?
At the end of a long day of digging, hauling, and supervising, both sluices performed exceptionally well under tough conditions.
If you want a lightweight, virtually un-cloggable setup that packs effortlessly into the bush and catches microscopic gold out of heavy ironstone without constant tuning, the Chris Undertaking Drop Riffle Sluice is a total game-changer.
If you want a heavy-duty, fast-processing machine built to eat through pre-classified material as fast as you can shovel it, the Franken Sluice is a beast of an invention.
Which invention do you think pulled out the win when we cleaned out the cons and panned down to the gold?
Watch the full YouTube video to see the final weigh-in, check out the gold recovery up close, and drop a comment to tell us who you think won the battle!
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