![]() It is almost all about moving the oversized material out of the way. Once again, I invite you to closely watch the underwater video segments on my videos and see what is happening underwater. Please trust me on this one: It is all about the size of rock that will go up the suction nozzle. It is the size of the suction nozzle opening. The limiting-factor on a suction dredge is not the horsepower or the size of the suction hose. Because of this, some locations may be too remote to support a larger-sized dredge. The other side of this equation is that each larger dredge-size about doubles the bulk and weight of the equipment that must be moved around and managed. And a 10-inch dredge can double production over an 8-inch dredge and excavate even deeper holes. An 8-inch dredge can about double the production over a 6-inch dredge and excavate even deeper into the streambed material. A six-inch dredge in experienced hands can process about four times as much material as can be accomplished with a 4-inch dredge - and can also dredge several feet deeper into the streambed material while remaining efficiently-productive. ![]() Sometimes, when streambed material is deep, and there is a lot of oversized material (large rocks and boulders) that needs to be moved out of the way, as many as four or five persons can be utilized underwater to operate a production gold dredge.Ī single, experienced operator who is sampling with a four-inch dredge can process multiple times more streambed material than could be processed at the surface using conventional pick & shovel methods. Two men commonly operate six, eight or ten-inch units. A single person customarily can operate a four, five or perhaps even a six-inch dredge. The size of a gold dredge is determined by the inside-diameter of its suction hose–usually anywhere from two to ten inches. Just to give you some idea, a top-of-the-line five-inch gold dredge and the miscellaneous gear needed to run a small dredging operation can be obtained for less than $6,000. At present, very good equipment for suction dredgingcan be obtained at relatively low cost. This has caused a lot of interest in suction dredging equipment, which has resulted in a competitive market. Therefore, the success-rate in modern underwater mining is much greater than it has ever been using other technologies. One of the main advantages of having the capability to process more streambed material is that an area can be more-effectively sampled. It is especially true in remote locations and/or within developing countries where modern technology is generally not available to village-miners.īecause a modern (experienced) dredger is able to process substantially more volume of streambed material with better gold recovery, the gravel deposits of today do not need to be as rich in gold as was necessary during the past. This is true in the deeper rivers (3-meters or more of water depth) all over the world. Suction dredge technology allows modern-day gold and gemstone miners to prospect and mine for mineral deposits in places where earlier miners were not able to go. During those early days, the deposits had to be easy to find and recover because recovery methods and processing capabilities were very limited. ![]() The early miners who came to California (and elsewhere) during the 1849 gold rush (and later) did find and recover many of the easy-to-find gold nuggets and rich deposits. As demonstrated in the following video segment, air for breathing underwater is generated by an air compressor, passes down through an air line, and provides air to a diver through a regulator, similar to what is used by SCUBA divers: These attach to the same engine that powers the water pump. Most intermediate and larger-sized gold dredges come with built-in hookah-air systems. Pieces of gold, which are very heavy, are separated from the other streambed materials and trapped, as the gravel and other material wash through the recovery system and are then washed back into the stream to fill in the hole as the dredge moves forward in the waterway. It sucks up streambed material (rocks, sand, gravel, silt, gold and other minerals), passes it up through a suction hose, and runs it across a recovery system floating at the surface. A suction dredge is a powerful underwater-type of vacuum cleaner. Most gold mining today is done in small operations - one or two persons working at a time - often with the use of suction dredges.
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