Description of the Observed Dredging System

Given the characteristics of the occurrence of auriferous deposits that have been described, these have been exploited by a dredging method and utilizing in this case the suction dredge which consists of picking up auriferous material from the bottom of the river through a large suction tube and bringing it up or elevating it up to the surface to then place it in the sluicing system through the usage of a centrifugal pump denominated as a suction pump. The group of equipment, machinery and accessories required to implement this exploitation system make up what we denominate a unit of dredging through suction.

Suction dredge unit
The suction dredge unit is basically made up by the following parts or sections:

• Dredging sector
• Washing or gravimetric processing sector
• Navigation sector

The capacity of a suction dredge unit is given by the diameter of the entry of the suction pump which is related with the power of the motor that is going to be utilized. In the following we will get into briefly describing the process and equipment that each section of the suction dredge unit makes up.