Bering Sea Gold

[Master Dan]

 

[Master Dan]

Our DoJang is just below the Arctic Circle and featured in the Discovery Channel program Bering Sea Gold. This thread will help some of you who are contemplating getting rich quick the real real reality of comming here. I will be showing some of the more successful commercial dredges and the failures which sit after millions of dollars expended as a monument to Gold Fever. The dredged above is one of the featured dredges in the reality series. However some of the more successfull dredges I will show later you will not see on the series becasue in true gold miner fashion they do not want attention due to it is a cash business and they guard thier information for many reasons.

 

[Master Dan]

This next picture shows just about 10% of the fleet of hopefuls now harvesting just off shore in about 20 feet of water. wind current and Turpidity can you see effects if your having a good day. you can actually see the gold on the floor and you vacume it up just like dirt on your rug. you are allowed up to a 8 inch hose for recreation and can get as much as 1 ounce per hour if your on it. The larger commercial dredges shown here can get much more and not unusuall to get 50 0unces per clean up with totals from the hundreds to thousands of ounces per season.

 

[Master Dan]

 

[Master Dan]

This is part tank and part submarine cost about 3 million to build three years ago neve harvested a single ounce just sits owners have lots of experience on land not water but now have a huge ship with large crane and another joint venture large boat from Oregon on off shore claim. Many people build equipment with out understanding what is successfull here and are broke the day they show up and end in failure.

 

[Master Dan]

The dredge on the left of picture is good example of successful commercial dredge and the think with the large wheels on the right is an example of anther failed attempt cost 25 years ago about $2million was supposed to roll in and out from the beach it got stuck almost fell over never worked right.

 

[Master Dan]

This commercial dredge is one of the more successful you will never see the discovery channel on they have been known to collect up to 2,000 ounces in a summer season

 

[Master Dan]

This is a good example of a recreational dredge with 8 inch hose very typical of a one man or two man operation. This equipment if built right can earn $250,000 to $500,000 in a season. Heat is made to pump into the wet suit divers stay down 4-8 hours with a air hose. We do have deaths here. people not in good health will do this and have health issues while down or problems with air flow. It is safer to have one man on top to monitor equipment and take turns diving some machines have crew of 4 diving in shifts. Interesting is they go out in later season when we finally get dark at 2-4 am and they can still see the gold at night it glows.

We have supposed about another 100 dredges comming on the first barge this year I will take more pics. There is 2,000 acres set asside by the state for recreational off shore dredging. You can beach dredge also but on public or native lands must only stay on the edge of the water at the beach and cannot leave any equipment. There are no rentals for housing for get it it taken you can lease a camp on west beach from the gold company if you are bringing a truck put a camper on it one company who is bringing a large commecial dredge with multiple hoses is shipping 5 RVs and a specail site is being prepared for them with electrical and septic tank hook up for $600 a month.

SEASON: break up is happening now we just got our first open water dredges may go in just after first barge arrives end of May or first of June. You should arrive ready to go in water. If you have to build you will not make any money till second season. wind and heavy seas shut down all the small dredges. City has just requred a permit for $500 beach mining $1,500 dredge mining and wants 5% sales tax on any gold sold also state requires 10% of revenue from gold reported taken plus permit fees. Most all commercial sites are owned but share on % split 20% to 40%.

If you are a diver and just want to show up don't if your not dedicated to a current successfull dredge you will wind up on some rookie who abuses you and you won't make any money.

If you think you just want to come to Nome and don't have much don't you will end up broke hungry and cold.

If you have $50,000 to $100,000 to invest but no current gold dredging experience do your self a favor and spend one season comming here watching and learn who is successfull build exactly what they do in lower 48 have it ready to do in water the minute it gets off the barge. study the weather lots of people gave up went home in August we have bad weather in August but September to October 15th can be one of the best dredging times of the entire season.

Any one can go to the beach take a gold pan and find color here but we have lost 25% to 40% of housing abandonded here due to high cost of heating over the last 10 years and due to the gold rush and Dicovery channel rentals have gone up a smuch 25% to 100% and any seasonal rental for gold mining has been taken or is paid for in March. A miners camp is being built on west beach but I will get more info on that.

 

[Master Dan]

This is a good example of our ice just starting to open up in ocean. Note the blocks of ice those are holes from divers and dredgers camping on the ice and dredging through the ice this winter these particular holes are from local kids not long out of high school as much as 13 ounces per hole in some cases they made money but hard core job and dangerous. Dicscovery was filming this one and others this winter should be on next season show

 

[ballen0351]

are you part of the show or just in the area? They rigs that didnt work out do they just sit and rot left abandon?

 

[Master Dan]

are you part of the show or just in the area? They rigs that didnt work out do they just sit and rot left abandon?

I am not part of the show I have lived here 17 years as a contractor and a TKD Master with club who has taught from the 15 villages in our area to 700 miles from the North pole. Where we live is right on the river that goes out to the ocean and from the fishing port. The Gold rush has caused some negative impact directly on the communities children, elders and general community where we live polution, loss of traditional fishing and recreation areas as well as unsafe activities that have almost killed young children. I organzied and gathered enough support to have the city pass a use ordance and actually improve areas for use by all the people including the miners but since the show was aired we are facing as many as 100 new dredges and peopl who know little or care nothing about our community. It will be interesting to see what happens this year with all the coverage of the show.

For my self if time intend to do some prospecting but with gold detectors on hikes out of town nuggets have been found as large as two pounds due to the fact that all the historical land dredgign has screens that kicked out anything larger than 3/4 inch but just for fun nice way to walk the dog or take the students for a hike.

before I got the city enforcement the minors completely illegally took over our land pissed on the ground all hours dumped bucket of human waste in our river where we swim and fish made noise all night so we could not sleep and got in fights as well as drove like maniacs with children present with no licens no registration no insurance on thier vehicles. Last year was wonderful we got our land back and the area was improved for better use for all except we had a 100 year low tide and the dredges were stuck and idiots tried pushing them out with truck no mufflers all hours this year I will be patroling for noise and notifying any dredge of illegal moorage in our area.

Regarding abandanded dredges one such rig the first one you see above used in the show is pieces of an origingal dredge the man spent $500,000 building in Seattle a restruant owner and he was bankrupt in 3 weeks he sold parts for 50 cents on the dollar an the tug boat he gave away and the miner who has it is in trouble with the city having left in froze and unoperable in the port for two years now. he get two weeks to put an engine in or the city removes it at his expense and lots of fines.

 

[Master Dan]

Just update sounds like Discovery Channel may fire entire cast of crews and dredges from last year since they are in disagreement on how much they want to get paid one was saying in March I have to get a talent agent?? Well the gold is the main actor and there are over 100 new dredges and who knows how many people decending on us this month so I think Discovery Channel has plenty of options how funny