David Cake:
> For example 'panning' for alluvial gold specks was a very common technique in at least the Australian gold rushes, and I presume others as well - essentially swirling sand around in a shallow pan of water to separate out the heavier metal fragments.
Sure, that's the usual means. However, have a look at the location and the actors...
The only source of water nearby is the Krjalki Bog. That's not what I'd call a safe work environment. And I'm not sure that the water there wouldn't be too clogged with fines to make panning feasible.
The other problem is the waste of that extremely precious resource, water. I don't think that this is something culturally acceptable to Praxians.
What can work for Praxians and under the conditions out there in the Wastes would be aerial separation. Dunes would be expected out there, and while it may take longer and be less efficient, wind separation would remove the sand from the copper dust. (Actually, what you get is a mixture of large grain sand and small grain metal dust which has similar wind resistances, but could be sieved.)
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