Gold Mining
The main type of gold extraction today is hard rock mining using either open pit methods or sub-surface mines. Mining gold from water was a method that was widely used during the California gold rush but is not commercially viable today and is used mainly by artisan gold miners.
Gold Mining: Panning
The original method of mining gold from water was known as panning and is a manual technique to sort gold from gravel and sediments present in a stream. The pan is filled with material from the stream bed and then submerged underwater and shaken. As gold is much denser it falls to the bottom of the pan.
Gold panning is probably the easiest technique to find gold but again it is not commercially viable for large scale production. It is sometimes used as a method to identify placer deposits of gold which can later be evaluated for their commercial value.
Gold Mining: Sluicing
Another method that is still used to day of mining gold from water is sluicing. The technique uses a sluice box, a channel with riffles set in the bottom, where the material is placed at the top and water carries it to the bottom with the gold dropping out of the water due to its density.
Larger scale mining operations also use screening plants to remove larger debris and boulders before the resulting material is moved to a sluice box. These types of operations involve much more gold mining equipment such as excavators, rock trucks, loaders and many more to remove the material from the stream or river and transport it to the different stations where the gold is separated out.
Dredging
Dredging is mainly used by small scale operations and usually suction dredges are used rather than the classic bucket and line method. The former is much more efficient and different size hoses can be used to target difficult to reach areas such as behind large boulders. Essentially a floating processing unit sucks up the material from the river bed in a temporary pond, processes it on board and expels the water and unwanted gravel or sediment back into the pond.
This is a very cost-efficient method of mining gold from water and also has a low environmental impact because no vegetation needs to be stripped and all the water is recycled. The operation is also seasonal as permits are issued only for periods that do not conflict with the spawning season of fish.
In terms of efficiency and commercial viability for large scale mining operations, hard rock mining is still the preferred gold extraction method.
If you have a desire to take up gold mining on a small scale then your best option would be to start with panning as the investment in gold mining supplies is minimal versus other methods of mining gold from water. Once you get a feel for gold mining you can graduate to more complicated methods if you have the necessary investment. Of course you could also consider starting a junior exploration company of your own with backers to become the next big gold producer.
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