Turn sifted sand into gold nuggets.

Unlock Miner, then Gold Digger

Route described in the linked community video; perk-tree wording is quoted from its footage.

1. Open your inspirations and find the mechanical perks.
2. Take Miner first — Gold Digger is locked behind it.
3. Take Gold Digger. Its text reads: gold starts appearing when sifting sand.

Miner has its own payoff: mining copper veins can yield gems, and copper nuggets feed bronze ingots. Check your own perk tree for the point cost before respeccing anything.

Run a sift batch at the sluice box

1. Bring sand to the sluice box and start sifting. The box also produces tin — that is the normal output, not a failure.
2. Sift in batches you can count. The linked video observed 21 nuggets in 50 sifts (about 40%), and estimates roughly 40 per 100 attempts. One tester, one session: treat it as an order of magnitude, not a rate promise.
3. Do not assign a zombie to the sluice box expecting gold. In the same test, zombie-operated sifts (100+ attempts) produced no gold nuggets.

Success check: your own batch ends with gold nuggets in the output alongside the tin. If a batch of 50 yields none, re-check that Gold Digger is actually unlocked before sifting more.

Other reported routes

Player reports from the linked Steam discussion; none measured as income per hour.

• Philosopher’s stone: craft it via alchemy later in the game. Players report using it on an iron bar to get a gold nugget, and warn that spending iron ore or iron nuggets on it wastes potential.
• Thief and looter keys: on Lust day, the thief can be asked to loot valuables using keys, returning gold nuggets or bars. Keys also appear in the stock of the restored, upgraded town jeweler, so sewer battles are not the only source.
• Selling: plain gold rings were reported around 75 silver; fine jewellery had no reliable buyer beyond the jeweler paying 1 copper. Check your own trade screen before crafting for sale.

A mining zombie keeps the iron supply flowing for the philosopher’s stone route — see keeping transport moving.

Confirm the route before scaling it

Pick one route, note your inputs (perk points, sand or iron, keys) and run a counted batch. Record what comes out, then decide whether to repeat it. The economy was rebalanced after launch (delivery rewards, vendor trade likes and battle Gratitude all increased), so older income reports may not match your patch — check the official patch archive ↗ for the current state.