Since gold is heavier than sand, the gold flakes become trapped in the riffles. The sluice boxes are at a slight angle to allow water carrying the gold-bearing sand to flow over the riffles. Inside the Snowstorm Dredge are multiple, parallel sluice boxes with removable riffles made of wood. Cables mounted to the edge of the pond help in positioning the dredge. A large foot lowered from the bottom of the dredge allows the pivoting action. Dredges in Colorado have moved slowly many miles through streambeds.ĭuring operation, the dredge pivots back and forth. The waste rock is sent up a conveyor through a long aft-mounted boom.Īs the dredge moves forward in its own pond, grinding away at the gravel, the waste rock fills in the pond behind the dredge keeping the pond about the same size. Inside the dredge, a rotating cylinder called a trammel separates the fine gold-bearing sand from rocks and gravel. Using large buckets on a continuous chain much like a giant chain saw, river gravel is pulled into the dredge. Gold dredges are floating ore processing plants. The Middle Fork of the South Platte River, however, had never been mined. The Snowstorm Dredge was constructed in the 1930s after most of the gold mining activity in the state had long diminished. There are only bits and pieces of other gold dredges in the state, but this one is nearly complete. Tucked away out of sight from Colorado 9 between Fairplay and Alma is the only remaining gold dredge in Colorado.
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