Mining History: Dredging Up The Past

Tony Beets of Gold Rush fame, has made a name for himself by reviving historic dredges to mine his claims. Today, these massive multi-story mining machines are relatively rare. Back in the day, however, they were the giants of the industry.

Pennsylvania Dredge near Oroville. Built by Golden State Miner's Iron Works.
Pennsylvania Dredge near Oroville. Built by Golden State Miner’s Iron Works. (1901)
The Preston and Oroville Dredging Company dredge, Oroville.
The Preston and Oroville Dredging Company dredge, Oroville. (1901)
Syndicate Dredging Company's dredge at Folsom. This dredge, constructed by the Risdon Iron Works, was of the open-link-bucket elevator type, electrically driven and equipped with 5 cubit foot buckets.
Syndicate Dredging Company’s dredge at Folsom. This dredge, constructed by the Risdon Iron Works, was of the open-link-bucket elevator type, electrically driven and equipped with 5 cubit foot buckets. (1901)

River Monsters

Gold dredges were all-in-one placer mining assembly lines: a belt of buckets picked up gold bearing material and dumped it onto a sluice box while oversized tailings would be discarded behind the dredge. These machines could process yards of gold bearing sand, gravel, and dirt in minutes. Dredge No. 4 near Dawson City, Yukon could process 18,000 cubic yards of material in a single day. Unlike pick and shovel wielding miners, a dredge could operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Dredge of Isabel Gold Dredging Company, Jenny Lind. Buckets have a 6.5 cubit foot capacity. Equipped with Bucyrus machinery. Dredge has two stackers. View of bucket line.
Bucket line of the Isabel Gold Dredging Company Dredge. Jenny Lind. Buckets have a 6.5 cubit foot capacity. Equipped with Bucyrus machinery. Dredge has two stackers. (1919)
Trinity Dredge with view of sluice and manganese cast grid plates over Hungarian riffles.
Sluice and manganese cast grid plates over Hungarian riffles on the Trinity Dredge. (1922)
Trinity Dredge with view of sluice mounted on pontoon at stern of dredge.
Water running through the sluice mounted on pontoon at stern of the Trinity Dredge. (1922)
Dredge of Isabel Gold Dredging Company, Jenny Lind. Buckets have a 6.5 cubit foot capacity. Equipped with Bucyrus machinery. View of stern showing two stackers. This boat operates on a center spud and the stern spud is never used.
View of stern showing two stackers for the Isabel Gold Dredging Company Dredge, Jenny Lind. Buckets have a 6.5 cubit foot capacity. Equipped with Bucyrus machinery. This boat operates on a center spud and the stern spud is never used. (1919)
Dredge #3, American Gold Dredging Company on the Mokelumne River near Clements (9 cubic foot capacity buckets, rebuilt with Bucyrus machinery.) View of stacker.
Stacker of the Dredge #3, American Gold Dredging Company on the Mokelumne River near Clements (9 cubic foot capacity buckets, rebuilt with Bucyrus machinery.) (1919)
Pennsylvania Dredge near Oroville. Built by Golden State Miner's Iron Works.
Tailings piles from Pennsylvania Dredge near Oroville. Built by Golden State Miner’s Iron Works. (1901)

Big Stakes

These dredges represent an era of gold mining with big steaks, high risks, and huge profits. Companies would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a dredge—an investment that could sink the endeavor if the land was was not as rich or accessible as anticipated. (Also, the dredge could literally sink.) Yet, a successful dredge could extract hundreds of ounces of gold in a day. The Dredge No. 4 extracted up to 800 ounces in a day. But The story of most gold dredges would conclude with that day that the profitability of the dredge became less than the cost of operating it.

Gold dredge under construction.
Gold dredge under construction.
Broken buckets (9 cubic foot capacity) of the Pacific Gold Dredging Company, Carville. Buckets torn due to heavy digging.
Broken buckets (9 cubic foot capacity) of the Pacific Gold Dredging Company, Carville. Buckets torn due to heavy digging. (1922)
Dredge operators and a border collie dog at the machine shop of the Isabel Gold Dredging Company.
Dredge operators at the machine shop of the Isabel Gold Dredging Company. Can you spot the border collie in the picture? (1919)

Visiting Historic Dredges

Yet, many dredges remain in historic parks where anyone can now visit them. The Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge is preserved by the state of Oregon in the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area.

Estabrook Dredge
Estabrook Dredge. (1929)
Dredge #3, American Gold Dredging Company on the Mokelumne River near Clements (9 cubic foot capacity buckets, rebuilt with Bucyrus machinery.)
Dredge #3, American Gold Dredging Company on the Mokelumne River near Clements (9 cubic foot capacity buckets, rebuilt with Bucyrus machinery.) (1919)
Tailings piles after dredging, Marigold Dredging Company, Oroville.
Tailings piles after dredging, Marigold Dredging Company, Oroville. (1901)

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