Pannin' dreams

Valley Life editor

"The solitary seeker with his grubstake on his back,

The restless buccaneer of pick and pan.

On the mesas of the Southland, on the tundras of the North,

You will find us, changed in face but still the same;

And it isn't need, it isn't greed that sends us faring forth --

It's the fever, it's the glory of the game."

Robert Service

The Prospector

It's a small little rock, if you are lucky. In most cases, it is tiny flecks of bright metal, in a puddle of mud. The face of Helen may have launched a thousand ships, but those tiny little pebbles and brightly colored specks sent hordes more north to Alaska.

It's gold, and it's up in those there hills. The allure of gold has always existed -- it has caused people to pick up their lives and move north through the most adverse conditions throughout history. Even today, sales of gold pans are brisk and people can be found sluicing and panning in streams across Alaska, more for fun than for fortune.

"Chances are that you won't get rich, but it's that idea that you could find that big nugget sitting in your pan that nobody else has found," said Rob Neider of Palmer, who likes to pan in the Little Su up by Hatcher Pass. "The mystery of it is what is the most intriguing.

"I've panned up here recreationally for years, and I don't have much more than a couple of vials of gold dust to show for it," Neider said. "But you never know if or when you'll find a nugget sitting there."

The Hatcher Pass area is about as good as any in Alaska to recreationally pan for gold. The area is home to Independence Mine State Historical Park, where nearly $6 million worth of gold was mined before World War II.

In September 1906, Robert Lee Hatcher discovered and staked the first lode gold claim in the Willow Creek Valley. Others, chasing fame and fortune, soon followed. Two mines were established as companies combined resources -- the Alaska Free Gold Mine on Skyscraper Mountain, and Independence Mine on Granite Mountain.

For 30 years, miners tried to harvest as much gold as possible. Due to limited resources, neither mine was terribly successful. In 1938, the two mines merged under one company, the Alaska-Pacific Consolidated Mining Company (APC). With a block of 83 claims, APC was the largest producer in the area.

In 1941 alone, the mines produced 24,416 ounces of gold worth $1.205 million -- which would be worth $17.2 million today.

Those riches were short lived, however. When the United States entered World War II, gold mining wasn't deemed essential, and the mine shut down a few years later. Gold could be sold to the government at a fixed price, and as inflation rose incredibly, gold mining wasn't profitable.

Still, there is gold in the area, and recreational prospectors like Neider see the area as a fun way to spend a summer afternoon, with the notion that the big claim is still out there.

"You know there is gold up here," Neider said. "People have been saying it for a hundred years. It's just a matter of finding it."

Hatcher Pass isn't the only place in Alaska where people still pan for gold. Throughout the Kenai Peninsula, recreational panners have hit streams like Quartz Creek, Crescent Creek and Sixmile Creek for years in search of gold.

Finding gold isn't all that difficult -- finding large quantities of it are, however.

Water transports large amounts of materials in streams, and that includes gold that is removed from rock by weathering. Because gold is more than 19 times heavier than water, it sinks to the bottom and is often found in the silt.

The best places to find gold are in streams where turbulent water changes to slower-moving water. Below rapids and waterfalls, the downstream side of boulders and upstream of sand bars are good places to start panning.

Crevices and pockets created by large rocks are also good places to pan, as are cracks in wood located in the streams.

The best time to pan and sluice for gold is in the spring, early summer and just before the water freezes, when water is low and gold-bearing gravel is exposed.

When panning, remember to respect streamside vegetation and private property.

How to pan for gold in Alaska's rivers

Panning for gold takes plenty of patience and lots of determination, and the realization that you probably aren't going to strike it rich.

Other than that, a minimal amount of equipment is required to get started, making it a cheap and fun way to spend an afternoon.

To get started, all you need is a gold pan. Of course, there is plenty of equipment you can buy to make panning easier, such as a grizzly pan that helps filter out larger rocks, and a sluicebox, but they aren't mandatory to get started.

First, put a couple of handfuls of material in the pan, and then dip it in the water. While holding the pan under water, swirl it in a circular motion so that some of the lighter materials are carried out of the pan, on the side with the riffles. Don't go too fast, or you'll lose the sand and potential gold. Keep doing it until half the material is washed away.

Lift the pan out of the water and swirl it around, with it slightly tipped to the side with the riffles. When all the water is gone, dip it into the water again and start swirling. Keep doing it until nearly all the material is gone.

Eventually, you'll be left with very fine particles, and hopefully some gold flakes.

You can remove gold flakes from the sand in a number of ways. You can do it relatively easy with a magnet, a tweezer, a pocket knife or even a special suction pippet.

Very experienced panners can process around 10 pans an hour.

The key to successful gold panning is being patient and taking your time. While it is easy to want to rush, it does not lead to any more success. Equipment such as a sluicebox speed the process up quite a bit.