Desert Dry-Washing

In the high-desert valleys of Nevada, there is plenty of gold but almost no water. This has led to the development of specific equipment designed to do the impossible: concentrate heavy gold using only air and vibration.

The Physics of Air: Dry-Blowing

A Dry-Washer (or Dry-Blower) works by using a motor-driven bellows to pulse air through a tilted sluice box. This creates a "fluidized bed" of sand. Because gold is 19 times heavier than water (and much heavier than sand), it drops through the vibrating sands and gets trapped in the riffles, while the lighter dust is blown away.

Finding the Lead: Alluvial Fans

Nevada gold isn't in rivers; it's in Alluvial Fans. These are massive deposits of desert gravel that have been washed out of the mountains during flash floods over millions of years.

The Grid Strategy: Bulk Processing

Dry-washing is a volume game. You aren't hunting individual nuggets with a detector; you are processing tons of dirt.

• Drying: Your dirt must be bone-dry. Even a 5% moisture content will cause your gold to stick to the sand and blow out the end of the machine.
• Screening: Pre-screen your dirt to 1/2 inch. Waste time processing big rocks, and you'll miss the gold.

Desert Survival Protocol

The desert is unforgiving. Heatstroke and dehydration can happen in under an hour.

Summary

Dry-washing is a dusty, loud, and physically demanding way to mine gold, but in the right Nevada wash, it can be incredibly lucrative. Master the air-flow, find the caliche, and you'll be harvesting the wealth of the desert in no time.