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With key discoveries in the surrounding hills and creeks following Felix Pedro’s strike in 1902, prospectors spread out to pan and sluice, followed by small manual drift mines and draglines to the monster floating dredges and lode mines. Fairbanks grew as a supply center attracting retailers and service providers and has continued as the hub and gateway to Alaska’s Interior and the Arctic for over 100 years.
Historic visitor attractions and modern day mining operations celebrate the quest for gold as Fairbanks enters its second century. Try your hand at gold panning and uncover your own Alaskan gold. See the largest public display of gold in the state at the UA Museum. Visit the Pedro Monument in tribute to gold’s first discovery. Find that perfect gold nugget souvenir to take back home. Discover why Fairbanks is the “Golden Heart” city. |
- Felix Pedro was an Italian prospector who discovered gold north of Fairbanks in 1902. Pedro Monument marks the spot 16 miles from town.
- During its 30 years of operation from 1928 to 1959, Gold Dredge #8 took in approximately seven million ounces of gold.
- The Fairbanks Exploration Company, an early corporate mining company, was the major employer in Fairbanks between 1928 & World War II.
- The largest gold mill in North America at Fort Knox Gold Mine grinds 40,000 tons of ore each day to extract gold.
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 “My first summer out of high school I worked in a gold mine in the Central District north of Fairbanks. The common question between miners was ‘doin’ any good?’, and the pat nondescript response ‘we’re gettin’ a little color’ – which could mean ‘we’re going broke’ or ‘we’re getting filthy rich’ and you never really knew which was closer to the truth. A couple of years later, taking up the goldsmithing trade and having spent the last 25 years making jewelry with locally produced gold nuggets, local mining has directly affected me. But everyone in Fairbanks is impacted by the economic trickle down of past and ongoing gold mining. It’s the very basis of our local history and it still employs thousands and adds millions to our economy. Gold gives you a warm feeling when you wear it, and with gold and oil being your locally produced choices, gold nuggets are the best souvenir choice. After 32 years in Fairbanks, I know that no matter how much gold has and will flow out of this area, its most golden and precious resource is its people.”
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Mike Webb, goldsmith
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