Today, Gold Dredge 8 National Historic District serves as a monument to the hard-working miners who built Fairbanks. Over a 30 year period, the mammoth dredge extracted millions of ounces of gold from the frozen Alaskan ground. Today it remains a typical example of the machines that mechanized Alaskan placer mining, providing more than a third of the production for the state.This National Engineering Landmark in Goldstream Valley - described as a floating workhorse or a mechanical gold pan – is an absolute must-see while visiting Fairbanks. During that time it cut a 4.5-mile track from which miners produced more than 7.5 million ounces of gold. It was operated by the Fairbanks Exploration Company (part of USSR&M) from early 1928 until operations ended in 1959. The dredge had a reputed 95 percent efficiency. The gold was trapped on the riffles of the gold tables. The gravel was scooped up in buckets, carried up the ladder, and deposited at the top of the dredge for sorting. Using the water to warm the ground, the ground was thawed at an average 9 inches a day. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Company (USSR&M) brought water to the area via the 90-mile Davidson Ditch. Ladder dredges came to Alaska in the early 1920s, after the U.S. During 32 years of operation, a fortune in gold washed through its sluices. This floating dredge is one of the last mammoth gold dredges in the Fairbanks Mining District that traveled an ancient stream bed, thawing the ground ahead of it and scooping up the gravel.
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