USA/Alaska: Gold Dredge 8 – Panning for Gold
Fairbanks came to fame for vast amounts of gold that were discovered in the gravel around here. Early 20th century saw a massive rush of gold prospectors coming here in hopes of getting rich, some individually, and some establishing massive gold dredging operations. One of the biggest was Gold Dredge 8 in the town of Fox near Fairbanks where a humongous alien-looking Dredge machine was floating on a lake and scraping gravel from the banks, shaking it and washing it to dislodge the tiny gold particles. Besides seeing this monstrosity, one can also try panning for gold the simple way. You buy a bag of gravel for $10 and then sit with a gold pan and shake the gravel away leaving the gold specks washed out on the bottom. First panning yielded $6 worth of gold. I bought another bag. Second panning have $18. With net profit of $4 i stopped gambling and continued with the tour, but I can see how people could get addicted to this like to gambling.
