Steve Herschbach
Hero Member
Dead Man's Claims For Sale in Alaska
Well, I almost bought a few more claims. These ones have history galore and I have set foot on them.
Back in the last gold rush in the 1970s the Fortymile country of Alaska was a hotbed of dredging activity. A very rich strike was made on the South Fork of the 40 Mile River at the mouth of Napoleon Creek. Hundreds of ounces of nugget gold were recovered that no doubt sourced out of Napoleon, known for it's large gold.
Later, two groups of miners attempted to dredge through the ice on the river on the same ground. They fought constantly, and finally one of the only genuine miner shot the other miner murders in Alaska in recent menory actually happened. Two young prospectors bushwhacked and killed the other two miners back in 1977 Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search
The ground was hit hard by 8" and larger dredges and pretty much mined out. The ground went idle and changed hands over the years. Finally it was staked again in 2009 by a non-miner smart enough to go out and find what open ground he could. More power to him. Now three of his claims are up for sale - the infamous claims at the mouth of Napoleon Creek.
And I almost bought them. I see the ads posted at Alaska Gold Mining Claims For Sale or Lease first and yes I do look at them hard! These were so cheap I had to really think it over and so called the owner and held them off the market a few days.
They are state river bottom claims in the middle of BLM administered Wild & Scenic land. This means you need an APMA from the state to dredge and permits from BLM to camp onshore. No big deal and the gov people are fine to work with but it is a pile of paper. Access is from the bridge a few miles upstream by jet boat or overland by a couple ATV trails.
My interest was decent access and a bunch of river ground. No doubt all the good stuff is gone but there are probably places that got missed. The main thing is the 8" dredges of the day put most of the small gold back in the river. A good fine gold recovery system should eke out wages. This would not be get rich ground. This would be getting leftovers ground. Like maybe a gram or two an hour on -20 mesh with an 8" dredge - but do not hold me to that.
Still, I thought, love the area, and for $6000 a claim I figured I could get my money back easy enough. Then my fantasies subsided and I realized I have enough ground to keep me busy for years already. Even then I was tempted to buy them as an investment. Be a good place to lease to wannabe miners looking more for the experience than a ton of gold. There is a least a chance of making a buck or two, not because the ground is hot, but because the price of gold is what it is.
Anyway, this sounds like a sales pitch but I have no vested interest in the ground other than I almost bought it myself. It just really is an interesting spot and I wanted to tell the story behind it. If you have your head screwed on straight it could be a good spot for somebody and affordable enough. Probably could debate that $6000 is too much for a worked out claim but I have a $6000 metal detector so it does not seem like much to me. If somebody buys it (I am sure someone will) I would like to keep up with what happens as I am just over the hill mining myself this summer. Be fun to have somebody get it and do real well so I can kick myself in the butt later!
I took the photo below back around 2001 standing at mouth of Napoleon looking downstream.
Well, I almost bought a few more claims. These ones have history galore and I have set foot on them.
Back in the last gold rush in the 1970s the Fortymile country of Alaska was a hotbed of dredging activity. A very rich strike was made on the South Fork of the 40 Mile River at the mouth of Napoleon Creek. Hundreds of ounces of nugget gold were recovered that no doubt sourced out of Napoleon, known for it's large gold.
Later, two groups of miners attempted to dredge through the ice on the river on the same ground. They fought constantly, and finally one of the only genuine miner shot the other miner murders in Alaska in recent menory actually happened. Two young prospectors bushwhacked and killed the other two miners back in 1977 Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search
The ground was hit hard by 8" and larger dredges and pretty much mined out. The ground went idle and changed hands over the years. Finally it was staked again in 2009 by a non-miner smart enough to go out and find what open ground he could. More power to him. Now three of his claims are up for sale - the infamous claims at the mouth of Napoleon Creek.
And I almost bought them. I see the ads posted at Alaska Gold Mining Claims For Sale or Lease first and yes I do look at them hard! These were so cheap I had to really think it over and so called the owner and held them off the market a few days.
They are state river bottom claims in the middle of BLM administered Wild & Scenic land. This means you need an APMA from the state to dredge and permits from BLM to camp onshore. No big deal and the gov people are fine to work with but it is a pile of paper. Access is from the bridge a few miles upstream by jet boat or overland by a couple ATV trails.
My interest was decent access and a bunch of river ground. No doubt all the good stuff is gone but there are probably places that got missed. The main thing is the 8" dredges of the day put most of the small gold back in the river. A good fine gold recovery system should eke out wages. This would not be get rich ground. This would be getting leftovers ground. Like maybe a gram or two an hour on -20 mesh with an 8" dredge - but do not hold me to that.
Still, I thought, love the area, and for $6000 a claim I figured I could get my money back easy enough. Then my fantasies subsided and I realized I have enough ground to keep me busy for years already. Even then I was tempted to buy them as an investment. Be a good place to lease to wannabe miners looking more for the experience than a ton of gold. There is a least a chance of making a buck or two, not because the ground is hot, but because the price of gold is what it is.
Anyway, this sounds like a sales pitch but I have no vested interest in the ground other than I almost bought it myself. It just really is an interesting spot and I wanted to tell the story behind it. If you have your head screwed on straight it could be a good spot for somebody and affordable enough. Probably could debate that $6000 is too much for a worked out claim but I have a $6000 metal detector so it does not seem like much to me. If somebody buys it (I am sure someone will) I would like to keep up with what happens as I am just over the hill mining myself this summer. Be fun to have somebody get it and do real well so I can kick myself in the butt later!
I took the photo below back around 2001 standing at mouth of Napoleon looking downstream.
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