Placer Mining

Once a miner staked a claim and built a camp, it was time to look for gold. Placer mining is the term for mining a stream bed for minerals. At the beginning a miner might only have their gold pan, but if a claim proved fruitful, the entire operation became bigger and other methods of looking for gold were employed. All three of these methods used during BC’s gold rushes had benefits and drawbacks, but all had the potential to make the miner rich.

All the methods have the same aim: to separate gold from other materials (rocks, sand, other sediments) by using water so that the gold, which is heavier than other minerals, falls to the bottom.

Gold panning:

PANNING FOR GOLD IN THE KLONDIKE, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Gold panning is the simplest method of placer mining. The only equipment needed was a gold pan and a shovel, which were also easy enough to transport through the wilderness. Gold panning was and remains a simple process. A miner put a shovel full of sediment in their pan, added some water, then began to wash and remove larger pieces of sediment. When only smaller pieces remained, they would gently swirl the water to mimic the flow of a stream which would help any gold separate from the rest of the material. This method was good for finding small flakes of gold in addition to larger nuggets but was incredibly slow and time-consuming.

Rocker Box:

IMAGE FROM BC OPEN TEXTBOOKS

A rocker box is the next step up from gold panning. Also known as a cradle, it was a box with an opening on one side and the top, with screens to filter out larger pieces of sediments, and a small sluice with riffles (ridges) that would catch gold. The entire thing was set on rockers. Water and sediment would be poured into the top and the box would be rocked as the sediment and water made its way through the box. This process was called “rocking the golden baby.” Rocker boxes could be easily made with a few materials and some knowhow and could process twice as much material in a day as gold panning. Although heavy, they were still portable. However, care had to be taken to ensure gold was not being lost.

Sluice Box:

IMAGE COURTESY OF UBC DIGITIZED COLLECTIONS

If a miner wanted to move a lot of material, they could build a sluice box. They were used extensively, first during the California Gold Rush, then BC’s gold rushes and the Klondike gold rush. The sluice box was a similar construction to the rocker box, although larger and not portable. They could be only a few feet long or longer than ten feet (called a Long Tom). It was constructed in a way that used the natural flow of a river or stream to move water through the box, with gold and other small particles getting caught on the many riffles along the bottom of the sluice. While miners were able to move a lot more material in search for gold, sluice boxes were less efficient, only retaining about 40% of the gold that made its way through the sluice. This was good news for miners who took over abandoned claims because there was often more gold to be found.

Although it is unlikely that you will strike it rich, gold panning is still a fun hobby to try! The BC Government has provided a list of places that are suitable for recreational gold panning, with the closest place being in Hope.

Coquitlam's Heart of Gold is on display at Mackin House until June 17, 2022.