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Now that we have found a claim, and have identified a spot that is likely to produce gold for us. What do we do next? Well, that depends on where the spot that we have picked is located. It could be in a stream of water, or along side the stream. It might even be on the bank above, but close to the stream, or it could be high and dry where there is no water at all to use. Lets look at each condition, one at a time. First, if the location is in the stream we will need to use a suction dredge. Now if we are lucky, and the water isn’t more than a foot or two deep we can suction the material out without having to go under water. If not we will need more than just a dredge, we will need diving equipment. I am not going to cover the use of diving equipment. Diving is dangerous, and if you are not a diver you need to take lessons and have others with you when you dive. Some streams have strong currents, especially during the spring snow melt. I have had to wear as much as 125 pounds of weight to maintain enough footing to handle the dredge nozzle. Then if you turned your head the wrong way the current tried to tear your mask off. DON’T TRY IT without the proper training and experience. For info on how a dredge works click here. If the location is along side of the stream, just an ordinary sluice box can be used, placed in the stream so water is running through it. You then can shovel the material into the sluice to get rid of the brown sand and gravel that is in the bank material. The sluice will let those materials run on out of the lower end into the stream. The sluice will capture the black sand and gold concentrate on the down stream side of the riffles in the sluice. You can remove the concentrate and recover just the gold with a pan. To see how a sluice works click here. If the material you want to dig is on the bank above, but close to the stream, a high-banker can be used. It is a sluice with a hopper on it. Water is pumped from the stream into the hopper. You shovel the material into the hopper, and the water washes any gold sticking to the rocks that are too big to go through the grate, as well as the rest of the material into the sluice. Again the sluice will let the non valuable materials run on out of the lower end onto the ground. The sluice will capture the black sand and gold concentrate on the down stream side of the riffles in the sluice. You can again remove the concentrate and recover just the gold with a pan. To take a look at a high-banker click here. Water is the best, most efficient media to use to reduce the bank material down to a concentrate. However, if water is not available air can be used. This equipment is called a dry-washer. There are two types of dry-washers. One uses a constant flow of air, and the other is called a bellows machine. I prefer the bellows machine because it lifts and drops the material constantly as it moves over the riffles and down the tray, which collects the black sand and gold on the up hill side of the riffles. The bellows machine is known for saving very fine gold, which can be blown out of the constant air machines. The one requirement for dry washers is that the bank material must be completely dry for them to work properly. For more detailed info on dry-washers click here. However you reduce the bank material to a concentrate, you will need to use a pan to finally recover the gold from the black sand. There are some wheels, and other devices that can be used, but the pan has been the basic piece of equipment for that task for over 200 years. For more info on cleaning up the concetrate by panning click here.
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