help uderstanding hydraulic sluicing

[yournutz]

ok i understand the basic principles of mining with water.......
how did they catch the gold ? settling ponds, sluice ?
in the 1850's how much water was available ? pressure ?
was it a case of you have a hose i have a hose how did they keep there run of separated
or was it a combined effort

what to look for
reading the lay of the land 150 years ago

any info would be helpful

 

[Horse]

As far as I remember...the hydraulic sluicing claims in California were owned by a syndicate. Most of the workers under the Foreman were working for wagers.
Huge areas claimed, so separating the run off would not be an issue.
Sluices were the catching method.

The force of the water from the Monitors (brand name of nozzle) reached around 50m/s

A bit of a read here, and some photos of the destruction left behind including a current day pic

http://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jsnhb/v2n1/monitors.html

 

[Marked]

There are a couple of 45 minute walks around old hydraulic sluicing sites on the Omeo Highway in VIC - one at the Pioneer Claim in Mitta Mitta, and another further towards Omeo.

The height of the cliff walls is quite daunting, and although the Pioneer claim has largely revegetated on the floor, there are still large areas of exposed bedrock where nothing grows.

To think there were only 1/2 a dozen men employed at the site of the Pioneer claim, and seeing the amount of material removed is quite amazing.

The Pioneer claim was closed due to diminishing returns and increasing pressure from downstream users of the river...