000 Moore Creek Gold Mine, McGrath, AK 99000 (MLS# 25-2576)

Business Type: Other

gold extraction, with secondary commodities including chromium, silver, tungsten, mercury, titanium, and zircon ores. This placer mine also contains hard rock gold deposits and has been worked for both ancient terrace gravels and modern stream alluvium. The gold-rich area stretches about two miles long and 300 to 1,300 feet wide, with gravels up to 20 feet thick. Older terrace deposits are inferred to be Late Tertiary to early Pleistocene, based on similarities with other dated deposits in Interior Alaska, lending the area both geological significance and exceptional placer deposits, with gold nuggets up to 19 ounces having been found, though the gold's fineness is relatively low. Mining began in 1911, with operations shifting from hand methods to mechanized equipment like draglines and bulldozers by the 1930s. Large-scale mining continued until 1986, with intermittent activity afterward. From 1911 to 1986, the mine produced at least 53,990 ounces of gold and 12,520 ounces of silver, with peak production in the 1930s and 1950s. Fossils found in the area date back 36,000 years, and reserves remain undetermined, with coarse nuggets still being discovered in old tailings. The Moore Creek Gold Mine is an exceptional investment, blending the allure of gold with the rugged beauty of Alaska's frontier. It promises both economic opportunity and a chance to work in one of North America's last great wilderness areas.