It is not necessary to have a PhD in geology, but you need to know the basics, so that’s what I am going to try to dig into here—the understandable basics of these gigantic gold deposits.

Common thought is the switchback slows the velocity of the rushing water and gold drops out from the cut bank to a fill gravel bar within or below the switchback. I am not going to disregard that model; however, I hope to improve upon it.

There are a few questions you will need to ask yourself before you apply for a suction dredge permit from the State Water Resources Control Board.

It’s not easy to figure out what is best without testing, and so a certain level of confusion has developed about how small the ore ought to be crushed.

George was considering filling his dredge floats with closed-cell foam, ensuring that there would be no area available within each float for flooding.

So let’s dive in and see what I can do to convince you that this is the year you should be out staking your own claims.