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Drywashers: where to buy

A drywasher recovers gold from dry dirt with air instead of water. On top sits a classifier hopper: you shovel dirt straight onto its screen, the big rocks roll off, and the fines drop into the hopper, where a gate meters them onto a sloping riffle tray. The tray has a cloth bottom, and air pushed up through the cloth lifts the light sand over the riffles and off the end, while gold and black sand settle behind them. Drywasher riffles face the opposite way from sluice riffles, and most machines have a vibrator that keeps the material from packing. Dry washing goes back to the 1870s, and drywashers are still used across the dry washes of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and the California deserts.

There are two main kinds. A puffer moves the air with a bellows, worked by a hand crank or a small 12-volt motor: it is quiet and easy to carry, and many users find it holds fine gold well, but it needs bone-dry dirt and takes it slowly. A blower uses an engine-driven fan: it moves much more dirt and copes better with slightly damp ground, at the cost of noise, fuel and weight. Some prospectors sample with a puffer and come back with a blower once they find good ground.

The dirt has to be dry and free-flowing, because gold locked in clay lumps or stuck to rocks goes straight out the end. Set the hopper so rocks just start to slide off the screen, keep a steady, even flow onto the tray, and run your tailings a second time. Rules on engine-driven equipment differ by state and land agency, so check them before you go. Many drywashers are still built in small workshops, and some makers build to order: ask them about the tray, the cloth and the size before you buy.

5 shops across the US that sell drywashers, 2 of them building their own. Each one links to its own website, so you can compare them one by one.

• Desert DryWashers

  Builder, builds to order · Online or by order · San Tan Valley, Arizona · Ships nationwide

  Makes: Redwood bellows puffers, blower drywashers and rocker boxes

  One man in a garage builds redwood drywashers by hand, one at a time

  One-man shop in San Tan Valley that builds redwood drywashers and rocker boxes by hand, one at a time, to order. Ships in the USA.

  Also sells: Rocker boxes

  desertdrywashers.com ↗Eureka listing →

• Dry Mining Equipment

  Builder · Online or by order · Congress, Arizona · Ships nationwide

  Makes: Snorkel 12V drywasher, Mag-Zip dry magnetic separator, Vibra Bucket screener, Tilt-a-Bucket handle

  12V drywasher with a 6-ft clean-air snorkel, built by a retired chemist

  Small Arizona maker of desert gold gear invented by a retired chemistry professor: a 12-volt drywasher with a clean-air snorkel and a dry magnetic separator for black sand. Ships nationwide.

  Also sells: Fine gold recovery

  dryminingequipment.net ↗Eureka listing →

• 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 · Dredges & parts · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Assay & refining supplies

  abprospecting.com ↗Eureka listing →

• 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 · Dredges & parts · Picks, shovels & hand tools · Fine gold recovery · Assay & refining supplies

  abprospecting.com ↗Eureka listing →

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