The Redundant Thread
- Thread starter Gypo Logger
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Interesting! I had no idea these dredges existed. Here on the East Coast we dredge mud out of harbors, not gold. I will have to look in to the operation and history of these amazing pieces of equipment that look more like factories than dredges. Thanks for sharing these photos. Unfortunately it seems the dredges did a lot of damage, not to the extent of coal mining by mountaintop removal in West Virginia, but still destructive.
Gravel buckets or scoops for the dredge.
Did a google search and found this site: http://www.yukoninfo.com/dawson-city-yukon/dredge-mining/. There were lots more sites. I posted this for anyone else who like me was not aware of these dredges, and is interested in knowing more about them. It would be interesting to hear more info from anyone who is familiar with the operation of these dredges.
towingace
ArboristSite Guru
On the last Gold Rush show I watched, they were mysteriously missing two buckets. They ended up locating a couple at a scrapyard but one was busted. It still served as a link to connect the chain back together. Those machines are massive!
Gravel buckets or scoops for the dredge.
I don`t see it as real destructive, the dredges scooped up existing gravel, washed it over riffle boards and this settled out the gold from the rock, the rock was then re deposited back where it came from. This would produce some discoulored water with mud and fine particles being deposited back basically where it came from. No where close to what the glaciers deposit into the rivers of the North.
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Nice pics Jerry....I am envious.......Alaska is on my bucket list.....but alas....the bride has us on another UK trip this May.....Wales, Stonehenge and such.....I wanted to rent a new dresser and do a northern Arizona trip this spring.....but......the purse is bigger than the wallet I guess...LOL!!
I have to say it was a fantastic trip, got to see the things that most tourists do on that trip although I was my own guide...LOL
Your UK trip will be just as exciting in a different way, I like the wide open spaces and the natural wonders much more than what man has done to this planet...
The photos of the tailings on the website I visited don't make it look quite so benign, but of course I have not seen the actual site.
Here's another gold dredge. I've seen this one working.
http://science.kqed.org/quest/2013/03/07/still-mining-gold-in-the-golden-state/
Thanks Bob! Big and noisy I bet.
If the gravel , which is not really tailings, as it is still in its original state, not crushed or broken, were leveled back out it would just be a big gravel bed, same as it was before going through the dredge. The dredges just scooped up the natural existing gravel and sorted out gold from the regular stone and only worked the gulches/low areas between the mountains. Today the big machinery out there is tearing the landscape to shreds, redirecting rivers and brooks, even tearing down mountains of gravel to go through the tumblers and over the washboards to get the gold out. These operations use huge amounts of water to wash the gravel and it usually just finds its way back into the adjacent rivers or waterways but since they are only relocating the natural gravel to find placer gold there is very little going back into the environment that was not there before it was processed.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Here's what Atlin looked like at the height of the gold rush about 1905.
Looks like they were relocating some gravel there!! Some water rushing down the bank on the left?
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Ya, there were about 10,000 people there at the time, I lived 5k away. There is only one person living there now. Her name is Shirley.
Really wish I had made it down to Atlin, some of my relatives on mothers side of the family spent some time there on their way back from the Dawson gold rush. The population was very transient back then, a city could spring up or become a ghost town in a few months.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Just found the pic of Shirley at her cabin.
When you think about it: the gold rush all started when some caveman (or, likely, cave woman) started collecting pretty rocks. LOL
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Ya, Atlin is great little town.Here's a cabin in Atlin that a bear got into. I helped clean it up. The owner had too much bulk food inside.
