What is Hydraulic Mining?
Developed by Edward Matteson during the middle of the 19th century, hydraulic mining is a process that uses water to move sediment and dislodge rock material so that the location can be stripped of valuable ores and minerals. Also referred to as hydraulicking, the process of hydraulic mining relies on using a large amount of pressure to drive the water through the mine shafts, effectively clearing the way of debris and sediment deposits that would take long periods of time to remove and sift through. Here is some information on the history of hydraulic mining and some examples of how the technique is still used today. First developed as a modern technique in 1853, hydraulic mining was implemented as a means of sifting through rocks and sediment to find traces of gold ore. The usual application was to construct paths and canals that would free water from the higher mountain ranges and store the collected water in ponds located several hundred feet above the terrain that was to be mined.
Mr. Stewart, however, never went through with his plan for a referendum. So that there may be some records of the contents of this pamphlet, and as it contains a rather complete history of that long contest between the valley and the mountains, it is given herewith complete. QUESTION: JUST WHAT IS HYDRAULIC MINING? ANSWER: In the famous decision of Judge Lorenzo Sawyer of the United States Circuit Court, in 1884, he states, Hydraulic mining, as used in this opinion, is the process by which a bank of gold-bearing earth and rock is excavated by a jet of water, discharged through the converging nozzle of a pipe, under great pressure, the earth and debris being carried away by the same water, through sluices, and discharged on lower levels into the natural streams and water courses below. Where the gravel or other material of the bank is cemented, or where the bank is composed of masses of pipe-clay, it is shattered by blasting with powder sometimes from fifteen to twenty tons of powder be
