Tag Archives: Gold Panning

Alaska Trip Planning

Hello Folks,
Seems there are some of you that are planning trips to Alaska. I
thought I might do a little post with places I’ve been and pay-to-pan and free
areas where I have gotten good gold.
Kennecott Copper Mine in McCarthy, Alaska. If you guys are planning a trip here, message me and I’ll give you some tips on making this trip, its a little tricky with shuttles and places to park, etc.  Its breathtakingly beautiful to see the old mining town overlooking a glacier.

Kennecott – Wrangell – St Elias National Park &Preserve

Independence Mine. This is not too bad of a drive from
Anchorage, they even rent pans and let you work the tailing piles.

independence

Independence Mine State Historical Park, Alaska State Parks

Now, my most favorite, pay-to-work claim. Its a little spendy, but I’ve always gotten my monies worth in gold in the end. In face quite a few people have joined the “one ounce club”
on their facebook page this week. This is quite a drive, but if you are driving
through Canada to get here, its not too far from where you cross the border in
Tok.
Chicken Gold Camp ,Chicken, Alaska: RV Park, Cabins, Caf, Gold Mine & Dredge

I have never worked here myself, but I have heard realty good things about Crow Creek
Mine in Girdwood, only a short drive from Anchorage.
THE HISTORIC CROW CREEK GOLD MINE Girdwood, Alaska

I recently met some of these guys in a Mining Safety class I had to take, I have never been to their camp, but have heard good things.  I have prospected in the area (see below petersville).  In fact the first gold I ever found was near their camp.  They run a bed and breakfast with gold mining.

http://www.cachecreekcabins.com/

Now for free to pan areas:
This publication is for areas on the Kenai Peninsula. I have gotten good gold in most of them, though some of the streams require a permit to dredge and
open\closed dates if there are salmon in the stream. If you have any questions
on these I may be able to help you, as I have worked most of them.  I’ve had the best luck on Resurrection Creek.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5195151.pdf

I have also visited the Petersville area and had good luck, the road can be
treacherous. If you are going to visit Denali National Park, its on your
way.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/factsht/mine_fs/petersvi.pdf

There are many others in the interior, I have not visited them all but here’s a little
bit of info on them.

http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/factsht/mine_fs/caribou1.pdf
http://www.alaskacenters.gov/upload/…ning-in-AK.pdf

For you GPAA folks, there are a lot of really great claims, some are not too far from Anchorage.

http://www.goldprospectors.org/Community/Chapters/Chapter-Directory?state=AK
Also, my biggest piece of advice, if your driving around
Alaska, you need to buy a Milepost book, you wont be sorry.

http://www.themilepost.com/

NEW TOY!

Well the wife got this new gold pan on her birthday and we are itching to try it out, looks like it will be an effective concentrate recovery tool. It is called a turbo pan… We’ll see about that. We will try to set some time aside next month to test it’s turbo ability, I will write a review post once we try it out. In the mean time you can check it out at www.turbopan.com

The Mining Operation at Quartz Creek

Here we are dropping a load in the wash plant, The wash plant runs off of a two inch pump, the hopper has a vibrator motor attached to the bottom to assist in getting the dirt to slide down the hopper and fall into the sluice box, the vibration also help to break apart clumps and shake the gold stuck to rocks off.  All of our water runs off into settling ponds, you can see part of one in this picture.  We built the wash wash plant, although we will be constructing a larger one for next season, the more dirt you can move the more gold you can find.

Have not talked gold in a while

Its been a while since I posted anything, been kinda busy.  This summer I did find a little over two ounces of gold this summer, that however does not cover the cost of repair on the backhoe.  The above picture is a fallen tree on the trail into the gold mine.  Stay tuned as I will be posting some more Pictures of our Quartz Creek claim and of the gold found this year.

Crescent Creek Recreational Panning Area

Crescent Creek is located in cooper landing, access to crescent creek is by Quartz Creek road.  Fairly easy access to this recreational area through state campground.  There is a day use parking area.  Dredges may be used from May 15th to July 15 with a free permit from the State of Alaska.  The gold here is very fine but hey there is always a chance of finding that NUGGET!  Have fun and respect the environment.  The below map  is from a free book provided by the state of Alaska, they usually give you one when you get your dredging permit.  It is however hard to find a copy online.