El Dorado Gold Mine

We used one of the 2-for-1 coupons here at the mine near Fairbanks. Originally this mine was opened in the early 1900s, in the area where the gold rush began in the district in 1902. There is a recreation of a narrow gauge train (now electric) that still serves the visitors, and goes thru part of the original mine. They found a lot of animal artifacts, like the ivory mammoth tusk in the picture. It was interesting to learn that they had to thaw the perma-frost, dig down to the bedrock, then haul the bedrock to the surface and piled it up. That was done in the winter for several reasons, one was that they didn’t have to use much to shore up the tunnels since it was frozen. Once the short summer came, they processed the ‘piles’ they made during the winter. At the end all us visitors were given a pouch of dirt and instructed on the fine art of gold panning. At the weighing in, Gary’s gold was worth about $4, and Eloise’s about $2. We had a great time learning and doing. Glad we went.