Underwater Prospecting

[DiveDeep808]

Hey all,

When I lived in Hawaii I became a very good free diver and I was thinking of putting my skills to work in some of the nor cal rivers. I'm just curious on the best way to get material from around the bedrock in the middle of the river. I was thinking about a boogie board with a cutout for 5 gallon bucket to fit in. Then Ill get cup like scoop on a short stick to dig the material. If anybody had any advice or ideas they would be much appreciated.

Happy Hunting
DiveDeep

 

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[Bejay]

Don't think your idea is worth the effort. Might try sniping or a suction tube.

Bejay

 

[Geochemdog]

I do some sniping and hand dredging with a snorkel and suit around SF and MF of the American and occasionally the Yuba. Trying to move any quantity of material in fast moving water is a pipe dream. However working a hand dredge in bedrock cracks on breath holding can work in medium velocity waters, but if its fast forget about it, the water will take everything from you and send it downstream. You need to be VERY careful in deep channels, sieves and log jams exist underwater, get stuck if front of, or in one of those and your done mining for good. Oh yah and I've came across very gnarly underwater caves ands what I call "the abyss" which are areas that the current/channel runs to that are deep as hell and pitch black, and you want nothing to do with any of these areas so be careful out there.

 

[Fullpan]

In "Bacon and Beans from a Gold Pan" - a true story of 1930's depression era gold mining, there is an account of "Big Red", a huge Norwegian prospector, who specialized in diving all day in the middle of the streams. He did as well or better than his mining friends on the banks. But he seemed to be immune to the
bone-chilling cold of the typical sierra stream water. You would have the same difficulty in trying to work under water for extended periods of time, as well as fighting the current in the "gut" of most streams. the accepted practice of using wet suits and hooka equipment, along with heavy weight belts, is pretty much
the better alternative.

 

[Armchair prospector]

That is a great read. Everyone would pull together.