River operations at Murders Bar (USA)

[RKC]

G'day,

River operations at Murders Bar



Regards,
Rob (RKC)

[oro e lavoro]

Good evening  Rob

Are those undershot waterwheels and what are they powering?

Emilio

[RKC]

G'day oro e lavoro,

My guess would be that the water wheels positioned in the diversion sluice are powering pumps (which look like California pumps). The pumps would be being used to pump out seepage from the exposed ground where the men are working.

Did you notice the steam engine? The steam engine would probably be used to power pumps that are also getting rid of water seepage. I can't see any sluice boxes in the picture so those men carting wash in wheelbarrows must be taking the wash dirt to a sluice box located somewhere else (or they could be getting rid of barren overburden).

Or ... there is what looks like a pipe near the steam engine, so the engine could be pumping water into the pipe which feeds the sluice box (located out of sight).

Regards,
Rob (RKC)

[oro e lavoro]

Hi Rob

Makes sense,but difficult to spot. 
It,s been a little time now i,m thinking about a waterwheel powered  c.a 3 feet long trommel with some  demagnetising device for a gravity  dredge . Try to figure out which type waterwheel(undershot,breastshot,overshot) to choose for 2 to 4 feet average drop available.The trommel don,t need to run fast but needs to have the force to keep turning with,i don,t know, up to 20 kg,s of rocks in it.
Guess with that little drop i may have to go with a broader (3 feet?)waterwheelstyle  like in the picture of murders bar to generate the waterweight needed. Advices are very welcome.
Those pics with the old knowledge are interessting,thanks for sharing Rob.

Besides that..
I got to know a craftsman on a construction site  i worked on.
He emigrated to chile ,near victoria (riquelme) some 12 years ago but comes ocasionally back to make some better paid jobs here.
I asked him about alluvial gold there and he told me he saw some small ops going on . 
Best thing is he is good friend of a landowner that has gold in the ground .
He also told me theres a resident that has permission from the landowner to make some bucks washing gold,in change for watching the cattle from time to time.
He also invited me to come anytime i want and that it probably would  be no problem to get permission for me but i can,t really tell if i will be able to go there anytime soon or ever,for a vacation with some testing.


However the craftsman is no expert in such things  and its difficult to estimate what scales and grades of gold there is there.
If somebody knows some  actual or historical things about goldmining  near victoria riquelme please chime in .

Thanks,Emilio

[golddigger7]

are you sure this is murders bar, looks more like the High Dam project at Clyde, :-D