Can I strike it rich looking for gold in Alaska?

Yes, you most certainly can. But it is not easy. This post is aimed specifically at the large number of new inquiries we are getting in Alaska due to high gold prices and a certain TV show.

The problem is gold is VERY hard to find at a profit even when you have years of experience. Beginners have to plan on having sufficient funding to just chalk up a season or two to learning as it is almost impossible to make money right off the bat. Unless somebody who does know what they are doing takes you on as a partner.

The number one problem is getting access to ground that has enough gold to pay well. All the good stuff is 99% claimed up or off limits. People do not want to believe this but it is true, even in the most remote portions of Alaska. So you usually have to buy or lease a claim. Good claims cost a lot of money. Leases can work well if structured properly but can have issues of their own.

There are also a pile of regulations and permits to deal with. That alone is enough to make a new prospectors head spin. There are different rules for different land status types. You can get a start in that regard near the bottom of the page at http://www.akmining.com/forums/showt...als-for-Alaska along with a lot of good research material.

Last but not least in Alaska you can only mine for half the year or less. Most of us here hold regular jobs and prospect and mine on the side. The ones that mine for a living have a lot of money invested in bulldozers, excavators, and washplants to be able to make enough in the short season to live on through the winter.

The cheapest way a person can go is a one man operation running a 6" suction dredge. You can get fully outfitted for about $10,000.00 not including food, gas, transportation, lease overhead, maintenance. If you can find some good ground and work at it, you could average 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz per day. Very rich ground could give up an ounce a day or more. I am talking good ground with experienced operator. Trust me there are lots of people who are not even doing as good as that who would like to. You get better days and you get worse days - they average out. And ALL days count. People tend to just figure the gold they get the days they are mining. But travel time counts. Days to fix breakdowns, the days you get flooded out, they all count against the gold average. Your expenses do not stop just because you are not getting gold.

Your food, gas, transportation, lease overhead, maintenance, depreciation of equipment, etc. all come out of the gold you get. The gold is not pure. Figure you will end up with about 75%-85% of whatever the current market price is. Maybe more if you get jewelry gold and can market it effectively.

I have some exceptionally rich ground that I could perhaps average an ounce or more a day with a six inch dredge. But it is very remote, with at best a 90 day operating season. Fuel flown in will run over $10 per gallon on site. About $1 a pound for every pound of gear/food flown in. And lots of floods which can shut you down for days or weeks. It is like farming - mother nature can really mess with you.

Metal detecting gets a lot of interest since people think it is easy and because many detectors can be had at very reasonable prices that can do the job. But for nearly everyone metal detecting is more of a hobby activity, with few people ever finding enough to pay for the detector. Even more so than other types of prospecting you must have access to premium ground. I do believe there are good opportunities for the serious detectorist in Alaska but it will take a lot of research and dedication to do well detecting in Alaska.

The current high price of gold sure makes things easier, but the fact is it is just not as easy as people who have never done it think. That is not being negative, that is just years of experience talking. So if you want to give it a go by all means do so but be realistic. Frankly, if you are starting cold with nobody to guide you figure the first trip is a money loser just to get the education. If you are willing to invest time and money into the trade and persevere then you can be one of the few who do actually succeed.