Mining Equipment Rentals

Mining is an integral part of our industry and resources. It provides hundreds of thousands of well paying jobs and it provides a larger portion of our GDP. There are several main types of mining operations that are conducted.

Placer mining defines any type of mining where the raw minerals or ore is located in either in sand, gravel, or on the surface so it is retrievable without the use of dynamite or other extraordinary means. Placer means “sand bank” in Spanish so the term is very appropriate to the type of mining.

There are different types of placer mining which include sluicing, dredging, and panning. In sluicing the placer gravel is shoveled into a sluice box which sits on an incline. The sluice box has a mix of traps and riffles that catch the material as it passes through. Water is fed into the sluice and the riffles trap the heavy minerals.

Sluicing allows the capturing of very fine gold particles as does panning. Panning is a method used by hobbyists and personal miners using a gold pan. The pan is moved in a circular motion which removes waste material leaving the gold particles trapped in the ridges.

Larger placer operations use large tools for excavation including bucket wheel excavators, powers shovels, draglines, and conveyors. Dredges are large pieces of equipment that devour tons of earth quickly in search of the gold.

For dredges to be effective, a lot of money is initially spent for prospecting and testing the ground to determine the location and size of the gold. Usually companies will use extensive drilling programs to determine where the largest accumulations of gold are. Dredges are capable of being used to great depths, however if the gold is less than 2 feet deep they are often not effective because the gravel doesn’t stay in the buckets long enough to reach the hopper.

Hydraulic mining uses high pressure water which sprays an area of rock. The pressure of the water helps to break the rock up and dislodge any placer or ore deposits. The mix is then milled. Hydraulic mining is used infrequently these days because it is very destructive so it has been outlawed in most places.

Source: Article Click