Dredges & parts: where to buy
A suction dredge is an underwater vacuum cleaner for gold, built to reach gold that sits deep in the gravel and on bedrock under the water, where no pan or shovel can get. An engine drives a pump that moves only water, and that water goes to a jet that creates suction in a large hose. With a power jet, the jet sits between the hose and the sluice and pulls the material up; with a suction nozzle, it sits at the working end of the hose and pushes the material up. The gravel arrives in a flare that spreads it across a sluice box on a floating frame, where riffles over carpet catch the gold and the waste falls back into the creek.
Hobby dredges are sized by the nozzle, usually from 2 to 5 inches, and permits are usually written around nozzle size too. A bigger nozzle moves far more gravel but needs a bigger engine, pump and sluice, and fine gold is easier to lose over the end of the box. Every inch the material is lifted above the water costs suction, which is why the sluice floats right on the surface. Many dredges are combos that can also run as a highbanker on the bank.
Dredging is the most regulated way to prospect. California has banned suction dredging, the BLM in Arizona requires a Notice or a Plan of Operations before you dredge on its land, and other states have their own permits and size limits. Check the rules for your state and for the water you plan to work before you buy or build one.
4 shops across the US that sell dredges & parts, 1 of them building their own. Each one links to its own website, so you can compare them one by one.
RDH Prospecting
Builder · Online or by order · Mesa, Arizona · Ships nationwide
Makes: 58 Highbanker; 6-inch and 10-inch power sluice setups
Family business building highbankers and 6- and 10-inch power sluices
Family business in the Mesa area that builds highbankers and power sluices in the USA, sold directly and through Arizona prospecting stores such as A & B Prospecting.
Also sells: Sluice boxes · Highbankers & power sluices
A & B Prospecting Supplies (Mesa)
Dealer · Storefront · Mesa, Arizona · Ships nationwide
Prospecting store since 1979: Minelab, Garrett, Fisher, Keene, Falcon
Prospecting supply store in Mesa and one of the best known in Arizona, listed by ICMJ as a trusted vendor. It sells Minelab, Garrett, Fisher and Falcon metal detectors; drywashers, sluices, highbankers and recirculating units; dredges, pumps and parts; pans, classifiers and fine-gold concentrators; hand tools, rock crushers, books and beginner kits; and assay and refining supplies such as furnaces, chemicals and labware. A second store is in Prescott Valley.
Also sells: Metal detectors · Gold pans & classifiers · Sluice boxes · Highbankers & power sluices · Drywashers · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Assay & refining supplies
A & B Prospecting Supplies (Prescott Valley)
Dealer · Storefront · Prescott Valley, Arizona · Ships nationwide
A&B's second store, a short drive from Lynx Creek
Second store of A & B Prospecting Supplies, in Prescott Valley in the gold country of central Arizona, with the same range as the Mesa store: metal detectors, drywashers, sluices, highbankers, dredge parts, pans and classifiers, fine-gold concentrators, hand tools and assay supplies.
Also sells: Metal detectors · Gold pans & classifiers · Sluice boxes · Highbankers & power sluices · Drywashers · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Assay & refining supplies
Miners Depot
Dealer · Storefront · Quartzsite, Arizona
Quartzsite dealer: Minelab, Camel, Falcon, Keene, Gold Cube; seasonal
Prospecting store in Quartzsite and full-line dealer for Minelab, Camel Mining Products, Falcon, Keene and Gold Cube: metal detectors, drywashers, dredges, sluices, highbankers, rock crushers, fine-gold concentrators, hand tools, books and paydirt.
Also sells: Metal detectors · Gold pans & classifiers · Sluice boxes · Highbankers & power sluices · Drywashers · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Paydirt
Other gear
Metal detectors · Gold pans & classifiers · Sluice boxes · Highbankers & power sluices · Drywashers · Sniping & crevice tools · Rocker boxes · Trommels · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Assay & refining supplies · Paydirt · Mineral specimens · Rough & slabs · Lapidary equipment · Fossils · Meteorites · Petrified wood · Classes & training
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