Skin Diving & Suction Dredges

Skin Diving
Skin diving is something that has been done on a small scale basis in the recent years and is mainly done by those interested in hobby and weekend mining, as well as those looking for an occasional profit. There are many types of equipment and clothing that can be used for skin diving, however it is not convenient to go spending crazy as the expense is simply not worth it. There are a few things though that are absolute necessities such as a wet suit and canvas as you will probably be going inside cold water and streams in order to look in the beds and pockets that might have gold in them. It is also vital for those that are new at this to wear a snorkel, face mask, gloves and weighted belt, finds, a crevicing tool, as well as gold pan. Those that are more experienced generally use scuba equipment however this is something that should only be done by professionals. There are many diverse types of crevicing tools that can be used some of which include big spoons, crow bars, knives, etc, and really anything that is able to fit inside the small spaces and get the nuggets from the bottom of a stream. You will need to utilize the pan to test the sands in different areas where one suspects the gold would have settled like the down stream side of obstructions. If the gold pan indicates you have spotted a favorable area in the stream, you will need to search this area more thoroughly.

Suction dredges
This is a type of centrifugal pump that is placed in a metallic or a wooden pontoon. It sucks by the means of a semi rigid hose or steel tubing, mixture of water and auriferous material that can be found in the river beds, lakes, swamps etc, emptying out the suctioned material into a conventional sluice made out of wood or steel in one or two stretches in back currents. For the process of the suction in diameters of hoses of 6 inches is required the usage of scuba outfits; for suction hoses or tubes of 8 inches or more, the performance of the suction element is by the means of a hoist chain and winch that is run on a diesel motor, the head or tube terminal submerged consists in a milling cutter, the mixed material of gravel and water, which is of thirty percent and seventy percent, is absorbed by a gravely pump or from solids of moulded or forged steel construction, wrapped with sheets of steel, the roll and impact face with extra strong welding, sealing system, the material that is suctioned goes into a primary screen that takes care of eliminating the bigger gravel of half an inch, and the material that is smaller goes into a system of sluices, positioned with three layers of jute with riffles of 1 inch. 

Surface Suction Dredges
Surface dredges are devices that float or sit on the surface of the water. Suction on the other hand, refers to the fact that it utilizes a type of vacuum in order to build up or lift material to the surface, whether it is water, mud, gravel, coins, silver, gold, rocks etc. in a nutshell, anything that is small enough to fit through a suction hose. After it has been sucked up, the material is then released through or into a classifying device more frequently known as a sluice box. The size of a dredge is determined by the diameter of the hose and its intake. Recreational and weekend prospectors often times prefer using the 1 ½ to 2 inch ones. The grand thing about the dredges these days is that they are not heavy to carry around and are portable and they are built out of very simple to use components all of which need to work well in order for a successful operation to be carried out.