This Machine is a dry Sluice box, and was used extensively throughout America by prospecting hopefuls attempting to find Gold or other valuable materials through the practice of Placer mining. This method of material collection focuses on separating out minerals from the silt of running waterways or streams through the use of perforated holes or barriers along the bottom of the contraption, called riffles.
When water isn’t practical for use, other methods are employed to move the silt through the machine, such as using forced air, gravity, or vibrations to utilize the difference in weight between gold and other materials to sort the gravel that becomes caught in the reciprocating belt powered collection system. Sluice boxes can be as short or long as needed, with some extending well over ten feet long. While this passive method of collecting gold might be tempting to try, and requires few materials, it lacked efficiency and speed, mostly having been replaced by the more industrial Dredging method.