Gold dredge

A machine that excavates river or stream sediments and separates gold from them, often using floating equipment and onboard processing.

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Suction dredge: A dredge that lifts underwater sediment through a hose using a pump. Its suction hose draws gold-bearing gravel from streambeds into the processing system.
Gold rush: A rapid migration of people to a region after the discovery of gold. Gold rushes created demand for faster methods of working alluvial deposits.
Placer deposit: A concentration of valuable minerals in loose sediment, formed by weathering and transport. Dredges target placer deposits where stream action has concentrated gold.
Gold dredge tailings: Ridges or piles of coarse sediment deposited after gold dredges process stream gravel. Repeated discharge can leave conspicuous tailings fields that persist long after mining.
Bucket-line dredge: A dredge that excavates material with a continuous chain of digging buckets. Its buckets raise riverbed gravel to onboard gold-recovery equipment.
California Gold Rush: The mass migration to California following the discovery of gold there in 1848. Its placer deposits helped spur successive innovations in gold recovery.
Yukon Goldfields: A historic gold-producing region in Yukon, Canada, including the Klondike district. Large dredges worked the region’s stream and terrace gravels.
Sediment pollution: The harmful addition of suspended or deposited sediment to water or land. Dredging can increase turbidity and redistribute fine sediment downstream.
Sluice box: A sloped channel that separates dense particles from lighter sediment using flowing water and obstructions. Dredges commonly pass excavated gravel through sluices to retain gold.
Hydraulic mining: A mining method that uses high-pressure water jets to dislodge gold-bearing sediment. It mechanized placer extraction on land, while dredges worked submerged deposits.