Washing Mineral Ores with Sluices

guide

Sluice systems harness the natural flow of water to wash loose sedimentary materials, separating valuable mineral nuggets, gem shards, and fossilized remnants from common excavation soil. Constructing a continuous channel system allows miners to process bulk earth effortlessly at cave streams or surface settlements.

Constructing Channels and Sluice Grates

A functional washing network relies on aqueduct channels to guide water and specialized grates to catch dense sediments:

Wooden Channel: Crafted using five wooden slabs, one Honeycomb, and two wooden fences arranged in a U-shape. The beeswax waterproofing prevents seepage, producing channels that carry water streams along horizontal lines.
Stone Channel: Crafted using five stone brick slabs, one Honeycomb, and two stone brick walls, offering a fireproof aqueduct suited for deep underground installations.
Sluice Grate: In modern setups, craft a Sluice Grate by placing three wooden slabs across the top row of a crafting table and three Chain items across the bottom row.
Sluice Block Assemblies: In earlier installations, a Wooden Sluice is constructed by placing a Wooden Channel in the center surrounded by four Chain items, while a Stone Sluice surrounds a Stone Channel with four Iron Bars.

Mounting the sluice grate at the end of a flowing channel creates a washing basin. When water rushes through the channel and cascades over the grate, dropped sediment blocks dissolve into their component mineral treasures.

Washing Loose Sediments

Feeding shovel-harvested blocks into the sluice water flow yields distinct mineral outputs based on sediment composition:

Gravel Washing: Washing gravel through the sluice yields Flint, Stone Pebble, Deepslate Pebble, Raw Copper Nugget, and Raw Iron Nugget. Patient prospectors will also occasionally sift out Nephrite Chunk, ocean Prismarine Shard, and valuable Rough Emerald Shard fragments.
Clay Washing: Directing clay into water sluices produces building Brick, ceramic Bowl, crafting Bundle, Shears, Spyglass, and crystalline Saltpeter. Most importantly, washed clay is the prime source for recovering Rough Diamond Shard and smooth Nephrite Chunk deposits.
Sand Washing: Sifting desert and river sand through running sluice channels produces Raw Gold Nugget, Rough Lazurite Shard, Rough Cinnabar Shard, Nautilus Shell, Turtle Scute, and ocean Kelp.
Red Sand Washing: Desert red sand washed in a sluice separates into Raw Gold Nugget, Raw Iron Nugget, Rough Cinnabar Shard, and Bone fragments.
Soul Sand Washing: Channelling water over soul sand yields nether minerals, washing out Sulfur, Basalt Pebble, Raw Gold Nugget, Quartz, and Nether Wart.
Dirt and Mud Washing: Common dirt yields useful organic and stone debris, including Stone Pebble, Deepslate Pebble, Wheat Seeds, String, Stick, and Feather.

Setting up an automated item hopper or dropper above the sluice inlet creates a perpetual sifting station that processes mine tailings while you explore deeper caverns.