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Gold Dredges

For the period of the time of the gold rush, the miners were restricted in many ways since they were only able to work in areas where only hand tools could be used, which was along the banks of the rivers and streams. The only kind of tools they had were gold pans, sluice boxes and rockers. Evidently as time went by they rapidly became conscious that the deeper gravels in the riverbeds regularly had a greater amount of gold than the surface gravel that were next to the banks.

At the beginning of the 1900’s a number of simply built steam powered dredges were used on some of the northern rivers in California. The divers that worked inside the bottom of the rivers dressed in very weighty diving helmets & uncomfortable diving suits.

Although it is correct that we have seen that throughout history dredging has existed all around the world for a many number of years, we are only now able to see that it has reached a very high level of status due to the highly developed technology we now have in dredging equipment. The dredges that are used now a days are a lot lighter, are much easier and more convenient to carry around and work in a very competent way.

There are backpack dredges that only weigh about forty pounds and that cost around seven hundred dollars. This backpack dredge is able to process the same amount of gravel a huge three hundred pound could in the past. One of the greatest things about this type of dredge is that it gives the prospector the capability to get into areas that would not be possible before, since they used to weigh a great deal and were rough to work with. Backpack dredges are in addition a lot more capable than the older machines were in the past.

There are two most important types of dredges that can be found these days in the market. You have the surface sluice and the underwater submersible sluice. The surface dredge is more accepted and the one that saves the most amount of gold.

There are many different types of portable dredges and each one has a use for different types of situations and some will work better than others. In general though, all dredges work based on the same idea with just a few variations of design that does not change the general idea.

Dredges are first determined by where the sluice is placed; this can be either above the surface of a stream or underneath the surface. Then they are determined as to where the ejector is which can either be above, close to, or below the surface and to conclude by if the ejector can be moved or if it is fixed on.

In cases where the sluice is situated on top of the surface the dredge is known as a surface dredge. When the sluice is situated between the surface and bottom, it is known as an underwater or submersible dredge.

Gold Mining & Gold Prospecting How to Find Gold Dredge Operating Before you begin Dredging Setting up your Dredge Underwater Dredges Gold Dredges Classifying Types of Dredges Gold Panning and Dredging Hobby The Hand Sluice Box Instruction on How to Pan for Gold Tricks on Panning for Gold Gold History in California First Found Gold in California Gold Prospecting How to get the Gold Out Necessary Gold Prospecting Tools The Geology of Placer Deposits