Sluicing

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments he was greeted by a sight he did not expect. The people he led out of bondage in Egypt were worshipping a false idol--a golden calf crafted by his brother Aaron. What is striking about the whole story may not be the worshipping of the idol, after all they were human, but that a recently enslaved people had all the gold required to build the large calf. Until melted, it was mainly jewelry for those who had arrived from bondage in Egypt. Gold, I conclude, was more prevalent 3,500 years ago than it is today. Today, gold is mined with large machines that sluice the burden in which it is contained, the mats, which receive the gold, are cleaned and if fortunate, to find small flakes of the mineral. Gold nuggets are a rarity. Two television shows my wife and I have been watching show the power of gold--Yukon Gold, and Billion Dollar Wreck. Sluicing is how the first gets the gold, the second is an attempt to salvage gold coins from a shipwreck. Both shows involve people who are obsessed with getting gold.

Golden Calf, Ten Commandments movie

The obsession is created by the power and promise of gold, which translates into wealth. Gold is a sign of wealth, and recognition. There is the gold standard, gold records, a gold star. The gilded age, about 1865-1902, received its name due to gold gilding. Gold is a unique mineral on earth that has commanded attention for thousands of years. A large number of cultures recognize its importance. It showed up as a tooth filling on an Egyptian mummy about 4,500 years ago. One could say it is one of the defining characteristics of mankind, as it spans much of human history. Gold has become even more important as the "low-hanging fruit" of gold veins have been mined, making people search for what was left or new veins in far out lands. 

Some of the main protagonists in Yukon Gold

The Yukon Gold, television show tells the story of varied individual miners, who at times have crews from two to about eight. Large heavy machinery is involved which makes Caterpillar proud. Large dozers, excavators, some have the gigantic mining dump trucks with tires as tall as a man. Then most use large sluicing machines that vibrate and deposit the gold on mats that look like artificial turf. But, they also have in common is the rape of the land. Some are mining land previously mined during the Klondike gold rush era others try to find virgin ground missed or failed to excavate by long since past miners. The thing is gold is generally found along streams. The amount of water used to sluice is enormous, and the waste water produced is just as great. Pumped from holding ponds by damming up the creeks, it appears only one of the several groups focused on reuses the water by sending the sluice water to a detention pond and pulling it out again. This option has only been mentioned for this one operation. Only twice did the show mention environmental practices, the operation with the reuse water, and once on reclamation. To get an idea of the extent of the operations and environmental impact, you have to try and discern from fast panning video until they get to the next piece of heavy equipment that has broken down. The focus tends to be on equipment breakdowns how that is stopping them from sluicing. Imagine "sluicing" being said in a Canadian accent. "Gotta be sluicin'" A worker gets a severe injury, and they wail about how it has stopped them from sluicin'. A beaver dam stops their water supply, and they complain about the time it takes away from sluicin' to remove the dam. The whole story is about sluicin'.

With all the sluicin' going on, one thing I do not see is erosion control. Hence, the creek is not just dammed up, moved or relocated, but as it leaves the property it is probably full of sediments, even if they use holding ponds for the waste water.  Water is pumped a good distance from where the sluicing machine is located., sometimes more than a half mile by large 4 to 6" hoses or pipes. Headwater health is an important indicator of how an ecosystem will function, and there seems to be little care in the Yukon for this. Lack of erosion control can be seen in an air photo of the Yukon River, up and downstream of Dawson City. The water is brown for a reason--sediments.

Karl, in front of part of sluice plant built by his dad
Ken Foy's new sluice machine, built by a partner, weighs over 50 tons.

I did read that many of the other miners in the area are upset at the show because it fails to show how they try to be stewards of the land. Or, perhaps it shows how bad it really is. The local unit has seen complaints increase since the start of the show. My wife found that one miner focused on the show, Ken Foy, was fined over $140,000 for failing to properly reclaim a site, probably his Moose Creek site. Ken, like many of them, have wagered their life savings to get gold. He has, so far, been more in debt than successful. Yes, it is their obsession.

Ken Foy

That takes us to Martin Bayerle who has been on a quest to salvage gold from the sunken British wreck RMS (Royal Mail Ship)  Republic that sank in 1909 about 50 miles off Nantucket. He insists gold is with the wreck. He believes the ship had over $800,000 in gold for US Naval operations in the Mediterranean and Europe. And, a now billion dollars worth of gold double eaglets for the Russian Empire. He says he has followed the money trail. The thing is, an ill-fated attempt in 1987 led to him to spend most all he had on the expedition. This led his wife to divorce, meet another man, a man he would kill and serve only a few years on manslaughter charges. His son, now a lawyer, assists him. Currently, he is fundraising for a 2025 excursion. 

RMS Republic sinking at stern

On the first dive of the series we are watching, a diver loses air and comes up too quickly. He is actually lucky to be alive. The container he is in is dependent, as is the ship, on a generator that breaks down, and Martin complains how taking the several hour trip back to port is costing them diving time. When a person dives at a certain depth helium is added to the mix due to pressure helium can work. Helium may be more rare than gold and is more important as its uses in medicine such as cooling MRI machines. Yet, he has no gumption about using an increasingly rare substance to try and bring him fame and glory.

Martin Bayerle

Gold is just as much an obsession today as 3,500 years ago. It is a cultural phenomena from before the time of Moses until today. I am not sure priorities are right, but in both shows we see people giving up most everything, whether sluicing or diving to go to a shipwreck 270 feet deep in extreme conditions.  The idol of gold is still present today as it was 3500 years ago when Moses came down with the ten commandments to see the golden calf. Today, we have more modern and mechanized means of obtaining gold, whether by sluicing or deep sea diving. 

Images from Google