sluice box
Miner's water trough
A sluice box is a long, narrow channel used in gold mining to separate gold from sediment.
Water flows through the box, carrying lighter materials away while heavier gold particles settle behind ridges or riffles built into the bottom.
Prospectors shovel gold-bearing gravel into the upstream end and let gravity and water do the sorting.
We set up the sluice box where the creek ran fastest.
The device has been central to placer mining since the Gold Rush era.
Shallow, turbulent stream sections
- mattingWoven protective surface
- paydirtValuable find after effort
- gravelLoose small rock fragments
- panningLateral camera traverse
cradle · dredge · gold pan · concentrates · black sand · classifier · nuggets · flakes
Display or barrier
- meshInterlocking open weave
- classifierAssigns items to groups
- separationState of being apart
- trapDevice for catching animals
retention · concentrate · sieve · exclude · intercept · debris · particles · grate
1849 gold rush migrants
- KlondikeYukon gold rush region
- YukonNorthwestern Canadian territory
- CaliforniaWest coast megastate
- Sutter's Mill1848 gold discovery location
boomtowns · prospectors · gold fever · mother lode · goldfields · diggings · claim jumper · grubstake
riffles
Shallow, turbulent stream sections
panning · cradle · dredge · gold pan · concentrates · black sand · classifier · nuggets · flakes · fines
screen
Display or barrier
- meshInterlocking open weave
- classifierAssigns items to groups
- separationState of being apart
trap · retention · concentrate · sieve · exclude · intercept · debris · particles · grate · sorting
forty-niners
1849 gold rush migrants
- KlondikeYukon gold rush region
- YukonNorthwestern Canadian territory
- CaliforniaWest coast megastate
Sutter's Mill · boomtowns · prospectors · gold fever · mother lode · goldfields · diggings · claim jumper · grubstake · miners
gravel
Loose small rock fragments
alluvium · deposits · particles · detritus · overburden · cobbles · fluvial · erosion · sorting · stratification
current
Directed flow of charge
discharge · drop · turbulence · velocity · spillway · drainage · outflow · flume · watercourse · stream
- mininggold, mines, gold mines, mine, coal
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- frontier gearax, axe, canteen, covered wagon, hatchet
- frontier towngeneral store, saloon, sheriff's office, livery stable, hitching post
- Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush, gold miners, gold mining, gold flakes, gold nuggets
- gem miningdiamond mining, gem cutting, gem quality, rough diamond, rough stones