Tag Archives: Recreational Gold Dredging

To Everything..

To everything there is a season.

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We’ve been forced to admit that we’ve reached the end of this mining season.  The cold has caught up with us, and while we can work through numb fingers and toes, the equipment can’t handle the freeze.

flat tire

Our decision was helped by the event of getting two flat tires on the dump truck in as many days, we seem to be spending more time repairing equipment than running it.  We got a very short run, but managed to get just a little more gold out of the ground before it froze.

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Unlike other mining operations, we have to clear everything out when we’re done for the season.  This year we decided to use water to dig out the trommel instead of our backs, and it worked pretty well.  I don’t know why we didn’t consider it before.

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Hoses rolled up, camp broken down, and now its time for the long parade of trips to bring the bigger stuff home for the winter.

Its hard for me this time of year, though at this point I’m almost too exhausted to be sad.  I won’t deny that I look forward to long showers, warm wood stoves, and catching up on all the movies I haven’t seen.  Also, I get to dream about new digsite we hope to explore next year.  It doesn’t look like much, but if the results of our magnetometer survey and bulk testing are any indication, this might mean our next season could be the best yet.  We’ve got a lot of planning to do.

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We gave it everything we had this year, then we reached down and found more to give.

Thanks for following along with us.

end of season party

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.

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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

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.