For the early gold-focused miners of 1849, gold panning was the way to acquire ore in a hurry, without all the fancy tools. According to Sierra Foothill Magazine, gold pans were probably the most ineffective of all the miners' tools. Prospectors filled potential gold-bearing dirt mixed with water into the pan and gently swished the compounds, resulting in small particles of gold rising to the surface.
Popular from the beginning of the gold rush and requiring at least two men to work, cradles and rockers were faster and more productive than panning. Dirt, sediment and water were placed on top of a wooden box resembling a cradle, which would then be rocked and sifted. A grate stopped larger stones from going through, and finer gold or sand would be caught by ridges and canvas.
Water was essential to be successful in finding gold and separating it from the residue of dirt and gravel. Because water wasn't always nearby or available, miners created flumes, or long wooden chutes, that brought water down to the digging site. A sluice box did most of the work for the miners. It contained an open trough where dirt and rock debris would be placed, and a shaft where it could be washed out with water coming from an attached flume. Gold would be caught by ridges in the bottom, while rocks would be washed out.
Large rocks or chunks of gravel sometimes contained gold or quartz, and miners from Sonoran Mexico invented the horse-drawn arrastre to pulverize the ore. Horses or mules were hooked to large spokes with masses of rock attached to the inside. As they turned the spokes around an axle, the rocks were crushed over a rocky surface. A stamp mill consisted of heavy metal weights dropped on the ore, breaking it apart.