Wednesday, 16 August – Dawson City YT
We grabbed a quick (and very
costly) breakfast at the hotel, before joining the Gold Bottom Mining Tour. We
drove about 30 minutes out of town to a small, family-run placer mining operation. It
is at what used to be a small community of 300 people.
Many cabins have
disappeared, some buildings are in poor shape, but the operation goes on with
about 4 people and a lot of heavy equipment.
They dig down through permafrost
to bedrock (about 10 – 40 feet), then dig out the approx. 2’ layer above the
bedrock, where the gold is found.
That layer is processed through many steps,
all involving water, gravity and agitation, until flakes of gold are all that
remains. The land is then returned to its original form and plants quickly
regenerate, putting down deeper roots than before. The creek is also kept clean
through the use of settling ponds to remove silt from the water before it’s
returned to the creek. No chemicals are used in placer (pronounced “plasser”
and meaning loose gold) mining, unlike hard rock mining for deep veins of gold. After it had all been explained and we’d seen the heavy equipment and modern
panning equipment, we had a chance to pan the old-fashioned way. Larry decided
to be the photographer, so I donned rubber boots and waded into the very cold
creek with my pan of dirt.
We were carefully instructed and had the skill
demonstrated, but I still could only go so far. Luckily, our guide came along
and helped me wash out the last of the mud and debris, revealing
6 good-sized
flakes of gold! One lady actually found a loonie in her pan, a surprise to the
staff as well as to herself. We transferred our gold into little vials as
keepsakes and came back to town. A fun and informative morning for sure. Back
at our room, I bundled into bed, trying to get warm. Oddly, my hands, which are
always cold, and had spent 20 minutes or so immersed in a frigid creek, were the
only part of me that was warm. Larry worked on getting photos into this blog. [took until Fairbanks, AK to get good internet] Finally,
we were ready to go looking for the next meal, and we headed out to the
waterfront in search of Sourdough Dan’s.
It certainly lived up to its reputation,
as did the ice cream place next door. We enjoyed our cones by the river. As we
wandered through the downtown, we picked up some supplies so we can eat our
next couple of meals in the room, especially breakfast. This morning we each
had a bowl of cold cereal, a muffin and a cup of coffee and it cost nearly $50.
Prices here are a little hard to swallow sometimes, [tsk] even knowing the
circumstances and enjoying the people. Our evening was spent at Diamond Tooth
Gertie’s Saloon and Casino.
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