Draga no Rio Madeira - Dredge on the Madeira River

Gold mining dredge.
According to our boatman, Tião, the gold boom on the Rio Madeira began in 1992, when one of these dredges could mine one kg of gold dust per day.
5000 such vessels, of varying sizes could be found between Porto Velho (the capital of Brazilian State of Rondônia) and the Bolivian border - this mining method is also used in Bolivia, though no stats were given for that country.
Today, a dredge tipically mines between 30 and 70 grams of gold per day, consuming 10 lt of diesel oil per hour. Carrying 10k lt and staying on a spot for over a month. The bigger dredges are towed to a spot by a dedicated tow boat, while the smaller ones, I've seen towed by canoes.
The boats constitute small enterprises, owned by the miners and tipically a crew of four or five.

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