Amador ledger., 1900-03-23
GOLD SAVING BY Dredging
Process Is Becoming General
In California.
MUCH CAPITAL IS INVESTED IN THE INDUSTRY
Many New Dredges Being Built, and
Many More In Contemplation,
On the Feather River
IUCH CAPITAL IS INVESTED IN THE INDUSTRY


sands of our rivers, but the fact that
these gravels and sands are generally
covered by depth of water, which
renders the usual machinery and
methods of recovering that precious
metal inadequate. the matter of saving
it has been neither systematically at
tempted nor successfully accomplished
until recently.
Methods of washing gold from the
gravels above water level and in such
position that there is an abundance of
room for tailraces and tailings
have been successfully operated here
for years; but successful methods of
recovering gold from the sands and
gravels of the river beds aud banks are
among the latest achievements in gold
saving.
The most successful plan SO far
known and operated is dredging, but
it is within the bounds of human pos
sibility that some other and more pre-
ferable method may be discovered and
ultimately become more successful.
Today that method is growing rapidly
in favor and many individuals and
companies are constantly putting much
money in the enterprises connected
Herewith. But little more than two
years ago tho first dredge was put in
operation on the Yuba river and Just
two years ago the first one was COM
pleted and entered upon its gold-saving
career on the Feather river near the
town of Oroville, Butte county. To-
day there are five at work within
distance of five or six miles of that
place and three Others are in various
stages of completion, while plans are
being laid for the construction OF three
more which it is designed shall be at
work within the year. Since each
dredge thoroughly equipped costs from
$50, 600 to $50, 1000, and the land upon
which they operate costs from SIS to
$3.50 per acre, the fact that the growth
of the dredging industry in that local.
ity has been so great in the short
space of two years proves beyond the
possibilit of doubt that the business
is success from the standpoint of the
investors, and is destined TO he "a very
important factor in the d-prOducing
record OF this state during the coming
years.
In general way there are two diff
ferent styles of dredges; one, the ordi-
nary shovel dredge quite similar in ap-
pearance to those in general Use for the
ordinary work of dredging along our
rivers and in our bays; and the other,
the continuous bucket-type of dredge,
for which California is indebted to
New Zealand, where it was brought to
perfection for gold saving In the rivers
of that country years ago.
The conditions in New Zealand are
somewhat different from those en-
cauntered in this State. The rivers
there ars beth swift and deep and the
matter of drsdgermiqing in the main.
consists of lifting the gold hearing
gravel and sands from the beds of the
rivers, separating the gold, and then
| shooting the tailings overheard and
into the river again without thought
or care as to their final disposition. In
the rivers of California and the ada
cent gold bearing lands the conditions
differ In that the tailings have to be
that will convey them far enough from
the boat that they will not roll or wash
down under it and prevent it floating
| freely. This has been in part over
come by adding to the mechanism OF
the dredges a stacker. which. by
means of a series of trays on aa endless
back of the boat from forty to fifty
feet and at on elevation of twenty We
feet more or less, discharges it.
There are but two general types OF
dredges in use at the present time, but
each dredge-master has introduced
methods of his own for some parts of
the work on his dredge, which makes
the work vary in many respects, but
only as to the minor details, of course.
The shovel dredge, as above stated,
| is, in general, similar in construction
to the ordinary mud dredge, used in
our rivers, the shovel having capacity
of from one to one and one,half yards
when full The hull of the boat for
this capacity of shovel and the accom-
panying machinery is about fifty feet
wide and eighty feet long. At the
front of the boat and near the port
side is fixed the crane which carries
the shovel. The shovel works from
twenty to fifty feet below the level of
the surface of the water. The shovel
is submerged and forced forward, cut
ting into the bedrock, and then up
ward to the limit of the bank. In it's
movement forward the shovel is filled
and its movement continues forward
and upward to the hopper, erected
about twenty feet above the boat on
the front starbOard corner, where its
contents are dropped and from thence
undergoes the washing process. From
the hopper, the rocks, gravel, sand; in
fact all the product from the shovel
drops to swinging 'grizzly" made of
sheetirOn with holes three-eights to