In terms of gold and silver, if this mountain of unbacked debt, now reaching several trillions of dollars, Euros, Yen or other currencies begins to truly collapse into an inflationary spiral, we will witness the onset of the mother of all precious metals bull markets.

Then I came to a section of recently exposed gravel that looked unworked. Water seeped out all around, making the ground beneath a sea of slick mud.

If the material drops down out of the hopper too fast, it can overwhelm the riffles and you can blow the gold right out. If it runs too slowly, the riffles can clog up and the process is too slow.