The Malakoff Diggins was the largest hydraulic mining operation in the world. Invented in 1852, hydraulic mining is a technique which uses large water cannons, called monitors, to wash away mountains. The runoff, called tailings, is then run through a sluice to extract the flakes of gold. The process is particularly profitable when done on a large scale. A profitable operation exists when one cubic yard contains only five cents worth of gold.

Malakoff Diggins was so profitable that the operation grew rapidly to 1,585 acres. In 1869, when water dwindled, the company purchased a nearby ranch and built a dam capable of storing over 400 million cubic feet of water and a 40-mile waterway to feed its monitors – requiring the work of 1,100 laborers. Once the water supply issue was solved, the operation began using up to seven monitor water cannons – each spraying just over a million gallons of water per hour.

In 1873, to recover more gold and handle the vast tailings, the construction of a huge tunnel and sluice began. It took two years to build the 7,878 foot tunnel at a cost of $550,000 – while miners were earning 21 cents an hour.

The tailings were always a huge problem – the mix of mud and hard rock moved down the Yuba River and in 1875, Marysville was flooded when the tailings forced the river over its banks. The tailings also ruined the water supply for downstream farmers. Evidence has shown that at one time, a foot of sediment at the bottom of San Francisco Bay came from the mountains of Malakoff Diggins.

The mine survived for several years after hydraulic mining was banned. Having installed the first long distance telephone line in the United States, Malakoff Diggins’ telephone lines proved critical in warning the operation when officials were en route. But the legal system caught up with the mine in 1884 and it was closed. Between 1866 and 1884 the Malakoff operation excavated about 41 million cubic yards of earth which yielded $3.5 million in gold.

Today, the destruction of the mountains has created a mini-Grand Canyon with beautiful chasms and ruffled walls, all layered in different colored sediments. The "canyon" is 7,000 feet long, as much as 3,000 feet wide, and nearly 600 feet deep in places. The 3,000 acre state park maintains the 556-foot Hiller Tunnel, through which water for the mining operation once flowed and the historic ghost town North Bloomfield, which was once home to 1,500 Malakoff Diggins families.

Malakoff Diggins Icy Pond- Print Ratio 1 : 2.5 (a print 1" tall would be 2.5 " long)
	Collector Series Mini w/o Frame (click here for more information) 16" Long Panoramic Print, Matted to fit in a standard 16" x 20" frame	$75
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	Collector Series (click here for more information) Our Best Selling Size 30" Long Panoramic Print, Matted and Framed in a 24" x 36" frame	$450
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