Bit of a segue I know, but some might be interested to know that the first gold at Ararat was discovered by an Afro-American using a dryblower. Water is better but there are plenty of areas where sufficient water is not practical - there were goldfields where they would pile up the washdirt to treat with the winter rains - which were insufficient for working some years, so they would have to wait another year (e,g, Tallangalook).