hydraulic mining

hydraulic mining, use of a powerful jet of water to dislodge minerals present in unconsolidated material, including mine tailings, placer deposits, alluvium, laterites (soil rich in iron oxides), and saprolites (soil rich in clay). It has also been applied to consolidated materials from sandstones through coal to hard rock. Hydraulic mining encompasses hydraulicking, sluicing, and educing. Hydraulicking is the process of breaking up material and suspending it in a slurry. This is often done by using a large water cannon called a giant or monitor. The process of moving the slurry is called sluicing. Educing is the process of introducing the slurry into an enclosed circuit. In the hydraulic mining of gold the rebounding stream of water and mineral fragments is directed into sluices in which the gold settles behind baffles but the lighter waste matter is washed away. In hydraulic mining of coal the water simply breaks the coal from the seam and washes it to a collecting point. See also placer mining.