With a little bit of research, you can easily find a good area where gold has been turning up. States such as Colorado, California, and Alaska have streams and rivers that have a heavy yield of gold. Of course, not every river or creek you find will bare gold. They can also be used in ponds and lakes with a water source inlet like a stream or waterfall, though this usually requires more specialized equipment, such as scuba gear, and submersible dredge.

Finding A Gold Bearing Spot To Dredgeĭredges are normally used in rivers, creeks, and streams. This trough, called a sluice, catches the heaver gold material while allowing silt, sand, and water to wash away. There are a multitude of different dredges, coming in all shapes and sizes, but most of them follow a simple principle – a pump sucks sedimentary material from a riverbed and runs it through a ridged trough along with the river water. Their speed and effectiveness make them a very popular method for gold extraction. Gold dredges today are much smaller and more manageable – and some dredges can even be worn as a backpack for easy carrying. When the gold dredge was first created to mine placer gold from rivers and streams it was a multi-story piece of heavy equipment that took several people to operate effectively.

Placer gold mining dredge