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The rocker was tool invented by the Forty-Niners to extract gold from gravel, unlike the much larger long tom that required four men to effectively man the rocker could be worked by one man although two were better. The "Rocker" looks like an old fashioned baby's cradle.

Today the rocker is still in use not only by amateur miners, but by professionals in locating deposits to develop into a larger mine. It is especially useful for sampling the cuttings from a churn drill. The rocker is also used by the miners who operate large gold dredges to check the richness of the gravel they are working. The fact that the rocker is still in use today in direct competition with more modern technology is a testament to its usefulness, and the reliability of its workings.

A rocker can be built by anyone capable of using a hammer and saw. They are built in a variety of sizes and designs depending on the skill level of the builder. The individual parts of the rocker are a screen bottomed hopper for receiving and sizing the raw material. A canvas apron is attached to this to deflect the feedstock from the sizing screen to the head of the rocker. The rocker body is equivalent to a sluice box on the long tom with a series of riffles across it to catch the gold which is 19 times as dense as water. A bedplate or frame is the last component upon which the rest of the rocker is mounted. There is usually a handle attached so that you can rock the rocker. The rocker can be made in several different sizes that are convenient to use. They are usually built from sugar pine with metal fittings. They can also be built from redwood or for a lighter model use marine plywood. Seal the cracks in the rocker with waterproof glue.

There are several devices being sold commercially through Gem and Mineral dealers that can do the same job, but at a much higher cost. Another interesting device sold commercially is a Spiral Gold Separator that even has its own electric motor. Other devices available are a whole plethora of suction pumps and small scale dredges.

Another device that is invaluable for gold prospecting is a good waterproof metal detector since gold is a metal. If there is gold or other metals present in your stream gravel the metal detector will squeal like a stuck pig. In a stream or river environment quite often this is also a good way to find lead sinkers lost by the fishermen.

Gold itself along with the platinum group metals occurs as a natural (native) metal. Gold is a common constituent of a whole series of alloys with other metals notably silver, but it can also include copper. Another type of gold compound is gold compounded with either selenium or tellurium. Most of these metals will react to a metal detector.

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