The jig box was used in the 1860`s, the miners used it to separate the galena ( lead ore ) from the waste minerals. The inner box has a sieve on the bottom gravel placed on the sieve and galena on the top, using a long handle the box is dipped into water and moved quickly up and down this is called jigging. The jigging motion allows the heavier galena to move down through the gravel bed, the top layer being waste and lighter than the galena is thrown away.