Hydraulic mining in Venezuela for Diamonds

I have found a few extraction operations using hydraulic mining in the Venezuelan jungle. The local Diamond miners were the first in this area. It is always a good idea to see what the local miners are doing and get an idea to what you are going to be up against. This was a particularly rich area in central Venezuela near where we were exploring and later set up a Diamond recovery plant.

The photos here are a hydraulic Diamond operation I stumbled upon deep in the central part of Venezuela. We heard of a La bullia (a shout) meaning a new Diamond discovery has been found, several miles away from our camp. We embarked on a stiff hike, navigating the spiderweb of jungle trails heading deep into the jungle.

Still a couple of miles from the area we could hear the unmistakable rumble of a Venezuelan water pump. These water pumps are usually an old air cooled engine and a home made pump coupled together with strips of carefully cut tires to attach these incredibly reliable machines together.

If you want to truly understand hydraulic mining, this is the place. I  worked the nozzle and the little gravel pumps they had for hours and hours to get hands on experience. It was pretty cool.   Visit the web site to get more information - click here.