A Gold Rush Life Cycle:

Gold Rush – a natural phenomenon of U.S. history!

During each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge. Many also progressed from the high unit value of gold, to a lower unit value mineral such as silver, and then to base metals like copper, lead or zinc. The rush usually started by a discovery of placer gold made by an individual or small group. At first the gold was washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners using a gold pan. Once it was clear that the volume of gold-bearing sediment was larger than a few cubic yards, the placer miners built rockers or sluice boxes. With these a small group of miners could wash gold from the sediment many times faster than using gold pans. So far, recovering the gold required almost no capital investment, only a simple pan or equipment that may be built on the spot. That operation requires only simple organization as well. The low capital investment, along with the high price per unit weight of gold, as well as the ability of gold dust and nuggets to serve as a medium of exchange, allowed placer gold rushes to occur even in remote locations.

After the sluice-box stage, placer mining became increasingly larger scale, requiring larger organizations, and higher capital expenditures. Small claims owned and mined by individuals sometimes needed to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits often were mined by tunnels. Water also was often diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds, or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of ground sluicing, hydraulic mining, and dredging also were often us