January 2013 Program


Presented by club member John Schlabach.

John spent 18 days mining for gold in Nome, Alaska. The trip was sponsored by Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) and opened to paid club members. John was picked up at the Nome Airport on 28 July only carrying a few essentials to include sleeping bag and air mattress. He was assigned to a 4 man hutch (small plywood shack) heated by a wood stove.

The temperature only reached a high of 45 degrees on one day. Two man teams were assigned to a claim on the beach of 50’ by 100’. The camp owned a total of 2500 acres of beach property. All provisions such as food are provided by the camp. To reach gold bearing rock they had to dig approximately 3 feet to reach the ruby sand level which contained the most gold. John and his partner dug and ran the dirt though a high banker with water from the ocean.

They cleaned out the sluice twice a day. You get to keep everything you find. John sent home the black sand in 32 oz plastic water bottles to be processed at a later date.

John had beautiful pictures documenting camp activities with interesting stories of his adventures. In his spare time, he successfully fished for Silver salmon which he smoked and sent home to Ruth. Thanks John we all want to go next year!