Chapter 530: Gold Nest

It must be said that Wang An's attitude toward being beaten at this moment is quite proper.

And not only is his attitude proper, but his posture while being beaten is also quite standard; the whole person squats there hugging his head, and combined with that cowardly tone, a proper image of a punching bag emerges.

The group sees Wang An's appearance and can't help but laugh; after each person kicks Wang An twice, they disperse to search for the location of the gold mine.

After all, compared to dealing with Wang An, finding the location of the gold mine is the most important thing.

And Wang An squats there and waits for a while, discovering that those few who had urine on their hands aren't kicking him anymore, so he stands up and turns to look at the mud on his butt.

That's right, it is indeed mud, not dirt.

It is mainly because in the mountains at this time, due to the melting snow, one can't even find a dry place.

Plus, the black soil of the Northeast is very sticky, so everyone's shoe soles have a thick layer of black mud.

Wang An finishes looking at the mud on his butt and then stops paying attention to it, acting like nothing happened, and also goes to look for the location of the gold mine.

Having already determined the approximate location, then one only needs to find a nearby river, and that is actually equivalent to finding the gold mine.

Speaking of this, some might not understand: why isn't the dog-head gold in the river? Why does one need to find a nearby river? That is because dog-head gold is not something that can be formed in a day or a night, but requires a fairly long time to possibly form.

How long this time is, one might have to use centuries as a unit.

And it is well known that the location through which a river flows, if there is no human intervention, is never unchanging.

It could be a simple heavy rainstorm that causes the river to directly shift its course; this is all very normal.

That is to say, although the location where dog-head gold appears is not fixed, there must have been a river at this location in the past.

Soon, Seeing Mu Xueli finds this long-shifted river in a mountain hollow behind two ridges.

It must be said that this river has shifted quite far, and the map in Wang An's hand can be considered completely useless.

The river has shifted, so what use could the map have? The river Seeing Mu Xueli found is not wide, about four meters or so, but whether there is gold in the sand inside, one will have to try to know.

Wang An inserts an iron shovel into the river and discovers that the depth of the river water is only about half a meter; it is truly not deep.

When the iron shovel scoops up half a shovel of sand from the river bottom, Wang An discovers that the gold color in the sand, although not much, only a few reflecting little dots, is truly existent.

Wang An, discovering this scene, feels the heart that was hanging finally land.

Because this kind of gold dust mixed in the sand is actually placer gold, and the purpose of Wang An and the others' trip is mainly these things.

The reason it is said to be the main purpose is because there is also a secondary purpose.

And the secondary purpose is that when the placer gold contained in this kind of sand is washed away by Wang An and the others, it will be time to smash the ore to pan for gold.

After confirming that there is placer gold in this river, Wang An lets the group take iron shovels, in groups of two, and start shoveling sand out along the river, one shovel at a time.

The purpose of Wang An doing this is actually to search for a "gold nest."

Gold, because of its high density, always sinks to the bottom, and even gold dust doesn't really want to follow the water.

Simply put, although the river water is always flowing, the speed at which this thing flows at the bottom of the water is very slow.

Therefore, whenever there is a pit or a crack in a stone at the bottom of the water, this thing will stay there and stop flowing. Over time, a lot of gold dust will accumulate in this pit or stone crack, and such a place is called a "gold nest."

The reason those who know how to pan for gold pan more gold dust is because of these "gold nests."

And if one just shovels randomly in the water, it will be like the first shovel of sand Wang An shoveled, with only a few specks of gold dust existing.

Although one can pan gold from this kind of mud and sand, the efficiency is truly too low.

One can imagine: after panning a shovel of mud and sand, the harvest is only a tiny bit of gold dust the size of one-hundredth of a millet grain; is panning for gold like that very uninteresting? Therefore, finding a gold nest is the top priority in panning for gold!

Just like that, every time the group finds a gold nest, they mark it before moving forward.

Soon, the gold nests of this section of the river are all found and marked by the group.

In many people's impression, panning for gold is taking a winnowing basket, standing in the water, and shaking it left and right to wash away impurities.

But although Wang An also knows how to pan for gold like this, Wang An will absolutely not do it this way.

It is mainly because doing it this way, the efficiency is truly too low.

After marking the gold nests, Wang An lets the group go peel tree bark.

Feng Chengmin asks, not understanding: "Xiao An, what kind of bark is suitable to peel?"

Wang An looks at the group, who also don't understand, and says casually: "Longer, wider, and there can't be any holes in the middle."

After Wang An finishes speaking, the group all leaves.

Actually, the reason Wang An lets the group go peel tree bark is mainly because Wang An wants to make a few gold-panning troughs.

A gold-panning trough, as the name implies, is to let the gold dust stay when it wanders over it.

To make a gold-panning trough, it is actually best to use wooden boards and then artificially scrape some barbs on them, and the main function of these barbs is to hold onto the gold dust.

Of course, because the inner wall of tree bark is relatively smooth, the barbs after scraping are also very few, so the gold-panning trough made of this thing will waste some gold dust, but this thing wins in being simple and convenient.

The matter of panning for gold can almost mobilize everyone's enthusiasm and can truly make people crazy.

Just as Wang An is pondering where else there might be dog-head gold under the water, the people who went to peel tree bark all return.

Then Wang An takes off his shoes and socks, rolls up his cotton pants, and walks into the water.

To tell the truth, in the Northeast at this time, as long as it is outdoor water, the vast majority is bone-chillingly cold.

And as soon as Wang An puts his feet in, he immediately regrets it; it is mainly because this is just too damn cold! Fortunately, Wang An is young, his internal fire is strong, and most importantly, Wang An has been a bit overheated these past few days, so Wang An gritted his teeth and held on in the river water.

The main principle of a gold-panning trough is actually to use the impact force of the water as it flows to wash away the mud and sand containing gold dust, while the gold dust hangs on the tree bark.

Wang An making this thing is, after all, something he is well-versed in, so the speed is also quite fast.

When Wang An finishes making the first gold-panning trough and sets it up in the water, the group impatiently shovels mud and sand and puts it on top.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 531 =====