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Alaska with all of it's wondrous beauty, rancorous citizens and quirky politics is unique in the world. If you love rugged outdoor activities, you've just discovered nirvana.

Shhhh, .....it's all about Alaskan Gold

February 17th 2008 02:51
Gold prospecting is reportedly alive and well in Alaska, according to the Juneau Empire newspaper. With refined gold selling at 900USD per troy once (12 oz to the pound), it is becoming viable to prospect again. And, god help me, it’s an enchanted siren’s call to these grizzled old ears; the only reason I haven’t disappeared into the wilderness, with a dredge strapped to my back, in search of gold is that there is someone much more important to my life than the lure of the wilds or the siren’s beckoning call, my wife.

But, I must confess that there is a plan in the works to entice her to join me while we (I) prospect for a week or two this summer - as a vacation of course; we’ll be searching for the rare, perfect rose quartz impregnated gold nugget, to make her a one of a kind ring or necklace. That’s my story and I’ll stick to it until hell freezes over, or we locate the perfect nugget for that ring, ..or necklace.

Anyway, once again, miners are struggling through knee high snow to haul camping equipment, food stuffs, sluice boxes, metal detectors, panning gear and dredges to their wilderness claims. Where they sometimes don drysuits and work chest deep in glacier fed streams in search of gold. Winter is the best time of year to work some streams and was a standard method during our gold rush years. When streams froze over, the miners would tunnel under the ice and haul the gravel out to stock pile it for warmer weather when they would extract the gold by panning it out.

Small dredges can out perform most under ice mining and panning methods, but will not guarantee you an entry into the select group of miners that have discovered glory holes in mining country. You can make a living, but it’s doubtful that the individual miner will get rich; unless you like hard, sometimes hazardous work and rough living conditions, take an office job.

But, if you’re an adventure junky, you should try it once or twice in your life time, just for the rich contribution it will bring to your book of life experiences. The smoky camp fires, the hyperthermia from constant exposure to rain and snow or leaking wet suits, half cooked food eaten on the go and demonic insects that creep into your sleeping bag at night with every intention of draining you of your essential life force; lord how I miss it.

Oh, heh, uh, should you need a guide , camp cook, gofer or something, …it may be possible for me to tear myself away from the busyness of life this summer to show you how it’s done. Y’know. How to safely prospect, and mine for gold, while providing some additional protection from marauding critters. It’s a wilderness out there.


Raven

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Comments
4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by katyzzz

February 17th 2008 03:02
I'll have some please and goodness me see what you've done to yourself spending too much time in that hammock.

Comment by Damo

February 17th 2008 04:20
Probably better to open a pub where gold is discovered and charge inflated prices.

Comment by Kleonaptra

February 19th 2008 03:12
I felt like you were speaking just to me....
Despite being an adventure junkie, I havnt found that many. I have great ideas - just too tied down to up and go after them these days....
But this sounds FABULOUS......Oh, Id love to let you teach me how to survive the ice and the critters, dear Raven....

Comment by tlcorbin

March 4th 2008 05:14
Hahaha, katyzzz, if I had a pocket full of nuggets I’d be more than happy to share it with you; yeah, sleep deprivation is hell on nerves. Got any eye drops?

Wow, Damo, you cut straight through to the heart of the matter, the bars and service specialists always seemed to wind up with the gold at the end of the day.

Princess Kleo, it’s a tough adventure, but if the only treasure you’re after is the gold, you’d be disappointed, however-the gold is out there waiting for the stalwart individual willing to wrest it from the land. Survival is 70% will power, 25% hard work and 5% luck-I believe that you have that in good measure! It’s great to have you visit.

Raven

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