Gold mining history

July 6^th, 2026

Fairbanks, Alaska

Woke normal time today and got ready.

Went out and checked on the seals I cleaned last night, but did not expect anything since bike had not been ridden.

Pulled off cover and got bike ready though as I would be taking it out for a short ride today.

Sorted stuff inside and worked online a bit, then gathered up some of the cameras and a small backpack along with some other stuff to take with me.

Changed into the bike gear as trip is too long to ride without it.  I only do that for a few blocks at most.

Rode over to the northeast corner of town near the highway that heads north out of the city to have lunch.  I had found a sandwich shop there that looked interesting.

Place was in the parking lot of a Lowes, so busy place, but found parking near the place and went inside.

They seated me at the bar, ordered drink and food, and then waited.  Very slow, but the food was really good, but I would say a bit over priced for what it was and portion sizes.  But I did enjoy it.  Had some fries with sauce and toppings and a Cuban sandwich.

Back on the bike, I then found the highway and headed north.

After a few miles I pulled off at a viewing stop for the Alyeska Pipeline.  This is one of the sections where the pipe runs above group, supported on moving supports to allow for expansion.  About half the pipeline runs above, and half underground, depending on the ground conditions and various factors.

Walked along the pipe to see the displays about the various types of pigs they use for cleaning and testing the pipe, and then got back on the bike to go the last mile to my destination.

Today we are visiting the Dredge 8 gold mining site.

The site was used from 1927 to 1959 (with a break during WWII) to dredge mine the gravel layers of soil for gold.

This required the use of water and steam to first thaw and remove the top soil layer to reach the gravel layers below.  In this spot that was roughly 80-90 feet of soil that was thawed and washed away.

They diverted a river upstream to bring water down, creating a man-made river of sorts for many miles to allow the water flow over the gravel area where the dredge would float.

The barge like structure had the dredging arm and processing on board and would navigate up to the banks and then start digging up the gravel, sorting and processing the found gold and depositing the tailing out the back onto the previously dug sections.

They were very successful for a long time with this type of mining, though it sounds like larger chunks of gold would get missed and tossed out the back, so later groups would come check the tailing piles for stuff.

The operational costs combined with the restrictions on gold possession and the total price control the US Government had over gold finally shut the dredge down in 1959, and it was left there, where it sits today.

So, the site, which is privately owned, and the ownership predates statehood, has been built up as a tourist site over the years with some additions brought from other locations and created for the site.

You start your tour sitting underneath an above ground section of the Alyeska Pipeline, and a presentation is done about the history and creation of the pipeline (currently done by an old guy that actually helped build it, before he went into gold mining himself).

This is actually a decent background on the pipeline and its history and even current usage of the pipeline, which right now is scheduled to run for another 15-20 years, at which time it will be completely disassembled and removed per the conditions of the original building permits and permissions from land owners.

It is interesting in that the original pipeline took way longer to build than expected, and cost way more than budgeted, but still made its money and has lasted far longer than its expected 20-year plan. (49 years currently).

After this talk, everyone walks over to board a small steam train that was built onsite to move people around.  The trains are modern creations if I understood it right, but they were built to specs from the same early 1900s time period.

They actually have 2 trains, though only running 1 of them right now.  Each train has at least a dozen passenger carriages, so the groups can get quite large.  (There were 3 full tour busses, a few smaller vans and plenty of cars to feed the group I was in.)

The track wanders through the forest at a very slow pace, you could probably walk just as fast, but that gives the presenter time to give history on various mining types and people from the early days of the mining in this region.

They also have a visual presentation on screens in each passenger car.

Along the way the train will stop for demonstrations of various mining techniques used in the region, most appear to be recreations using original equipment restored to operation that was found or used in the area or even on the original mining stakes that made up the current land ownership.

You eventually arrive alongside the Dredge 8 structure, which sits, slightly sunk, in a pool of water that is what is left of the man made river system they had made, though I am sure at times it might dry out completely, the winters usually keep it full, but the dredge is also partially beached as that was how it would be left for periods of time when it was not in use to prevent it from sinking too far.

It sites slight off level, with the back-end dipping about a foot lower than the front and even has a slight tilt to one side.

The train stops and they talk about the way the dredge would have worked, and someone on board points out and holds up various artifacts as they are mentioned.

You can also see some building in behind and off to sides, many are original buildings brought over from the original mining camp that was located a few miles away, but had to be removed at one point for a land use change, so they were brought here to add to the sites charm and history.

Today was a bit of a wet day though.  It had started sprinkling lightly when we were at the pipe talk, and had continued on the early train ride, but just as we stopped at the dredge it started to come down much heavier, and the wind picked up and was blowing it into the cars.  It even hailed for a short time, small gravel sized stones.

During all this, the talk went on, and the poor guys on the dredge just got soaked, though they started taking umbrellas out to all the workers standing in various spots.

During this time, they also gave a demonstration of gold panning, several stations setup alongside the train had large pans of water and they would stand there (in the rain now) and show how the gravel was put in the pan, sifted and cleared with water until the gold was reached.

Once done, the train moved around to the other side of the dredge location where all the buildings were, and stopped again.

This time we all got off the train, and around the side of the building was a large covered spot with water basins and pans and bags of gravel all ready for us to all give gold panning a try.

They had everyone find a spot, then we dumped the bag of gravel and dirt into the pans and they then had someone at each basin to show everyone how to do it.  They actually used my pan as the demo as I was standing at the end of the long water basin.

We spent about 15-20 minutes sifting the dirt, getting the larger rocks out and the dirt to leave behind the small gravel and the gold.  I had a few challenges with some of the steps, and guy showed me the trick to get it to work.

I finally had the pan down to just a fine grain sand and when you swirled the pan just right several small specks of gold were indeed in the pan.

Took a few tries, but finally got the hang of the swirl to wash the dirt away and the heavier gold would stay on the bare pan.

Then had to carefully pick it up with a dry finger (harder to do since everything was wet, including us) and place it in a small plastic canister provided.

I ended up pulling about a dozen small gold specks from the soil, swirled it a few more times but did not see anything else, so if there was more, I had already washed it out.

Once you had your gold, you then went inside the big building next door which was mostly a gift shop selling tons of stuff, but also acted as a museum with lots of artifacts and displays about the history of the site and mining in general.

They also had a large area where they would weigh your gold and give you the approximate value (guessing based on current price of the day?)

From here you could also go outside to view the dredge again and walk down the path to get onboard.

I first used the restroom, then wandered the museum sections a bit before going outside and over to the dredge.

You cross a small bridge and board, and they have it roped off to prevent you from going into places that you should not be in (either dangerous, or tight spots, or few areas where they look to be storing stuff).

You go up a flight to see some more of the internal working, and eventually go up to the deck where the controls are for the dredging arm.

Spent a bit of time wandering and filming inside, then left to go back to the building.

As I expected, most of the people had waited to get gold weighed first as the lines were huge when I first went in.

Now the counter was mostly empty, so went up and had them weigh my few specks of gold.

Was told it was roughly $40 worth of gold.

Not sure how one would go about selling it, and guessing that would not be the price I would be paid.  No plans to try, will just put it back as a souvenir.

I then bought a soda and stood around for a bit, but was hot and stuffy inside (I was wearing my bike gear as there was no place to leave it, and actually had been nice when outside and it was raining, but now as overheating.

I used the restroom once more and then went outside to wait till we boarded the train, which was actually just a few minutes wait.

The train took us then back to the beginning, passing more old junk and the other train on the way.  Also passed several beaver ponds formed from the old water flows which also house other wildlife at various times of the year.

Once back, the tour was done, so everyone got off the train and moved toward the exit by the pipeline.

I got over to my bike, which thankfully had dried off a bit since the rain had stopped about 30 minutes back, and started to get bike ready to ride.

A guy came up to me and started talking, he had noticed the plate on the bike.

Spent probably 20-25 minutes chatting with him, till eventually his car (and his wife waiting inside it) and myself were only things left in the lot.  Even many of the staff had left as I saw a few getting in cars here, though think they also have parking elsewhere on the property.

Finally finished talking, gave him my media card and then we left.

Back on the highway we made quick time getting back to the hotel so I could change into regular clothes and set this out to dry out the rest of the way.

Worked on moving footage off the cameras, then went to dinner, walking over to Taco Bell again.  Really only place close enough to walk that does not require crossing a major road.

Then came back and worked on a video which I had mostly done before I decided it was time for bed.

Will get bike sorted in the morning and finish the video as I have no other plans tomorrow.

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