Panning was the simplest and first form of mining. The order you did it was, you filled the bottom of a pan with dirt and water. Then you would swirl the pan. The heavier gold would stay at the bottom of the pan and the dirt and sand would fall out.
The next method of mining was the rocker. The rocker was a two-person job. One miner would shovel dirt, sand, and rocks into the top of the rocker. Another miner poured in water and rocked it. The water washed the dirt, sand,and rocks through holes in a canvas screen. The water carried the sand past wooden bars, but the gold (which is heavy) sank between the bars.
The long tom is another method of finding gold. The long tom separated gold from dirt. The miners shoved dirt into the long tom. A sluice (a trough) was positioned so that water ran down it from a streamto the long tom. A wooden wing dam (like a gate) would stop the water.
See more pictures of hydraulic mining.
Hydraulic mining is a kind of gold mining where miners took a big hose and washed away mountain sides and riverbanks . Hydraulic mining may get the gold out, but it kills fish, clogs streams, and washes away mountainsides.
Hydraulic mining was invented in 1853 because gold was getting scarce in California rivers. Some miners would join companies that could afford hoses.
Read more about hydraulic mining at Gold Rush Changes.
by Josh, Alex, and Matthew