Is this man searching for gold or diamonds ?

[Goldfreak]

There is a photo from the Echunga gold feilds. The description says this man is gold mining and was taken during the depression. Is it possible though he is actually looking for diamonds ? A few were unearthed in Echunga. The second photo is a recent one of people in liberia " sifting for diamonds ". Photos are about 100 years apart but there are some similarities there.

 

[grubstake]

There is a photo from the Echunga gold feilds. The description says this man is gold mining and was taken during the depression. Is it possible though he is actually looking for diamonds ? A few were unearthed in Echunga. The second photo is a recent one of people in liberia " sifting for diamonds ". Photos are about 100 years apart but there are some similarities there.

That's because both pics show people undertaking the same task - sorting higher density material from lower density material, using water and gravity. Prospectors/miners for alluvial tin and miscellaneous alluvial gemstones, also utlise the same process because it's cheap, accessible even with very limited resources and efficient enough to be worthwhile if conditions are right and you're lucky.

 

[Moneybox]

That's because both pics show people undertaking the same task - sorting higher density material from lower density material, using water and gravity. Prospectors/miners for alluvial tin and miscellaneous alluvial gemstones, also utlise the same process because it's cheap, accessible even with very limited resources and efficient enough to be worthwhile if conditions are right and you're lucky.

That would be difficult given the specific gravity of diamonds. Not too much different to the surrounding dirt.

 

[Hawkear]

SG of Diamonds is 3.4 as against 2.6 for quartz (about 30% heavier) so reckon should still be some value in gravity sorting. Probably would need much more care and thoroughness than for gold.
Really not sure that either photo represents gravity sluicing however. Also noted in the second photo the background dirt seems much clayier so both processes may just represent puddling to remove the fine clay particles that could form a significant portion of the bulk before the resulting clean gravel is further processed.

 

[Goldfreak]

That would be difficult given the specific gravity of diamonds. Not too much different to the surrounding dirt.

About half what tin is.

 

[grubstake]

Really not sure that either photo represents gravity sluicing however.

The pic of the bloke at Echunga shows he's been cradling, presumably to produce the concentrate that he's now working on.

 

[Hawkear]

Thanks Grubstake. I missed the cradle in the background.
I think that the man is actually puddling before the resultant gravel is washed in the cradle. Also the pile of stones at the back seemed to indicate a lot of discarded material typical of a puddling operation.
Most people would be familiar with the round doughnut shaped puddlers sunk into the ground in the Victorian goldfields. But a more common form of puddling done particularly by individuals or small groups was done using puddling tubs. These were commonly shown as round half barrels as shown in this picture but in reality any large container in which clayey material could be "puddled" around with a puddling tool or even a shovel would suffice.
The image shows a man holding a puddling tool. I have never actually seen one but I imagine it may have had something like a raking type end at the bottom that could be operated in a circular manner. Maybe if the puddling tub was a square or oblong container a flat rake could be used in a back and forth manner.

 

[Hawkear]

Slumbering away overnight, I can remember one of our PMAV West Gippsland members designing a “plunge puddling” device.
It consisted of a stout rod at the bottom of which was a round plate. Into or onto that plate he had attached many thin steel bristles that he recovered from a street sweeper.
The puddling was accomplished in a white plastic bucket by repeatedly plunging and twisting the tool into the mix.
it worked brilliantly and quickly reduced about half a bucket of clayey mix to pannable or sluicable gravel in about two minutes of working.
I also remember there was some talk of him marketing the idea but don’t know what became of it.

 

[Goldfreak]

Slumbering away overnight, I can remember one of our PMAV West Gippsland members designing a “plunge puddling” device.
It consisted of a stout rod at the bottom of which was a round plate. Into or onto that plate he had attached many thin steel bristles that he recovered from a street sweeper.
The puddling was accomplished in a white plastic bucket by repeatedly plunging and twisting the tool into the mix.
it worked brilliantly and quickly reduced about half a bucket of clayey mix to pannable or sluicable gravel in about two minutes of working.
I also remember there was some talk of him marketing the idea but don’t know what became of it.

A faster way to break down clay would always be helpful. I know a couple if places that have good gold in clay but breaking it down is so tedious no one tries doing it for long.