How does hydraulic mining use high-pressure water?

Hydraulic mining utilizes high-pressure water to efficiently extract minerals from various deposits. The process, known as hydraulicking, involves directing a powerful jet of water through a nozzle—often attached to a large water cannon called a giant or monitor—directly onto a mining face.12

This high-pressure stream serves two primary functions:
* Disintegration: The force of the water breaks up unconsolidated materials, such as placer deposits, alluvium, or laterites, and can even dislodge coal from seams.12
* Transportation: The water suspends the dislodged material in a slurry, which is then washed into downgrade channels or sluices.12

Once in the sluice, the mixture is processed so that heavier valuable minerals, such as gold, settle behind baffles while lighter waste material is carried away by the water flow. While effective for surface mining and stripping overburden, this method is also occasionally employed in underground coal operations.12