Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 86 Installation of the Ore Washing Machine

With a clear goal and a well-planned route, the return trip went much more smoothly.

They returned to their previous camp in just over a day.

When Edward saw the two reappear, he rushed over, his face flushed with emotion, almost to the point of tears.

Logan excitedly ran towards his owner, pounced on Zhou Xin with his front paws, and wagged his tail excitedly.

"Thank God you're finally back! I've been so worried these past few days, I've barely slept at all!"

Looking at his heavy dark circles, Zhou Xin knew he wasn't exaggerating.

While those who guard the camp don't experience the hardships of the journey like the others, they still have to endure more mental stress.

Because this is a primeval forest fraught with danger, even the most skilled survival experts cannot guarantee 100% that they will not encounter life-threatening situations.

Edward had no idea what the two of them would experience on the road, or even if they would ever come back.

This fear and worry is an extreme torment to the heart.

Zhou Xin hugged him and patted him on the back to comfort him.

"I'm sorry to have worried you, but all our efforts have been worthwhile!" Zhou Xin said with a smile.

"Could it be...could it be that you've already found a gold mine?" Edward understood the implication in Zhou Xin's words.

Zhou Xin nodded: "Perhaps our harvest this time will be much richer than that of Western Australia."

Seeing Zhou Xin's confident demeanor, Edward's face finally broke into a look of ecstasy.

"I knew you could do it, because you are the all-powerful Xin!" he shouted excitedly.

The pressure I've been under these past few days has finally been released at this moment.

Alo watched them silently from the side, a smile appearing on his face.

Since it was only around 10 a.m., Zhou Xin decided not to delay any longer and set off immediately.

Just as he announced that he was packing up to leave, Edward came up to him.

"Shin, you'd better call Hathaway before I dismantle the Starlink equipment. She's probably more worried about you than I am these days."

During his search for gold in the jungle these past few days, his cell phone has been out of signal, so he has lost contact with the outside world.

They had prepared walkie-talkies, but the terrain in the jungle was too complex and there were too many trees, so the communication range of the walkie-talkies was less than one kilometer.

Therefore, he was unable to contact Edward.

After discovering she couldn't contact Zhou Xin, Zhang Jianing immediately contacted Edward.

After Edward set up his Starlink device there, he was able to receive network signals, and the two were able to make contact.

After learning that Zhou Xin had gone deep into the primeval forest and had disappeared without a trace, Zhang Jianing was extremely worried and called Edward countless times every day to inquire about Zhou Xin's situation.

Zhou Xin was deeply moved by the thought that Zhang Jianing had been worried about him.

As he was contemplating whether to call her now or wait until he arrived at the mine and settled in, Edward's phone rang.

"Look, she's calling again!" Edward said with a smile, handing over the phone.

Zhou Xin answered the phone: "Feed."

Upon hearing Zhou Xin's voice on the other end of the phone, Zhang Jianing was visibly startled. After a long pause, she tentatively asked, her voice trembling, "Zhou Xin?"

Zhou Xin smiled and said, "That's right, I've already returned to camp."

After a while, Zhang Jianing's voice came through again: "You're finally back! You have no idea how worried I was about you these past few days!"

"Don't worry, we're well prepared, there won't be any danger," Zhou Xin said casually, trying to put her at ease.

But Zhang Jianing was clearly not a girl who could be easily fooled. She scoffed, "If it were as simple as you say, Edward wouldn't have seemed so worried!"

"Well... Edward doesn't know my abilities either. I'm a wilderness survival expert, this jungle is my home turf," Zhou Xin joked.

"Don't give me that, I know you too well, you just like to show off!" Zhang Jianing said coquettishly.

After Zhou Xin's witty banter, she visibly relaxed a lot.

"I won't be reckless. I'm the kind of man who's going to build a huge mine in Alaska and hire the best female saleswomen in the world. I won't put my life in danger."

Finally, Zhang Jianing's suppressed laughter came from the other end of the phone.

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and only after receiving a promise that he would contact her as soon as the new camp was established did Zhang Jianing allow Zhou Xin to hang up the phone.

When Zhou Xin handed the phone back to Edward, he noticed a half-smile on Edward's face.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Edward chuckled: "You're a completely different person when you're chatting with Hathaway compared to when you're with us."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xin was slightly taken aback, realizing that Edward was absolutely right.

He himself didn't know when it started, but the way he talked to Zhang Jianing had become different.

The three loaded the goods onto the mules and headed towards the mining site.

Mules carrying heavy loads walk slowly, especially when traversing jungles, where their speed is greatly reduced.

It took them three days to finally reach their destination.

Looking at the wide riverbed and the river bends filled with silt, Zhou Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After such a long and arduous journey, we can finally start panning for gold.

Under the direction of Edward, a mechanical expert, they assembled and set up the ore washing machine.

This is a very compact ore washing machine, which consists of several parts: ore conveyor belt, pre-wash box, vibrator, jig, wave table, and gold-absorbing blanket.

Despite its small size, it is fully functional and can automate the entire process from ore feeding to gold collection.

Although the power output is not high, it is far more efficient than manual gold panning.

After setting up the ore washing machine, they quickly installed the generator and sand suction machine, thus completing this simple gold mining factory.

Next, all that's needed is one person to operate the sand suction machine to remove the river sand accumulated in the inner bay of the river, and then send it into the ore washing machine to harvest gold.

Of course, before that, the operating parameters of the vibrator and jig in the washing machine need to be adjusted according to the shape and size of the gold in the mud and sand to ensure that the gold can be fully washed out.

Anyway, everything is now fully prepared, and we can officially start panning for gold.

They decided to conduct a trial run of the gold mining factory first, adjusting the parameters and seeing how it would go.

Even Zhou Xin was very curious about how efficient their gold mining would be after they had this rudimentary gold mining factory.

After the generator started, Zhou Xin started the ore washing machine amidst the expectant gazes of the others.