The story of mining these claims

A lot of gold remains frozen in the banks of these claims.  Every time I worked the claims I came back with gold.  The gold is kept secure from thieves by a covering of frozen mud.

Anglerock LLC is the owner of these claims.  My son and I are the sole owners of Anglerock LLC.  The name of our company comes from the broken bed rock that comes out of the ground in jagged chunks.  The bulk of the gold comes out along with this bedrock.

My family traded for these claims in 1992.  The previous owner, Don Coombs, staked the claims in 1973. He made his entire living from this property until 1992 when he sold the property to us and retired on the proceeds.

The creek bottom, which has been mined by the previous owner as well as us, was quite rich.  I have started recently on a bench that is proving to be quite rich as well.  In 2013 I leased the lower claims to a local who took out 500 OZ. from claims that the previous owner mined out in the 70s.

In February of 2011 I travelled north with my old friends Todd and Jack Hoffman and the Raw TV production crew. They were producing the show "Gold Rush" for The Discovery Channel. Of course this was more about making a show than seeing the claims since they were covered by snow, but on that trip we flew a helicopter to the Bonanza claims where we filmed at -40 degrees. It was a fun trip, other than the cold. We were planning for the Hoffman's to mine some of the claims for us in the summer of 2011, but we found that it would take a whole year to get the permits for mining. We later applied and received the permits, but by that time they were committed to other sites and we decided to mine our own property.

The episode was called "Full disclosure". It was the last show of first season. The Yukon portion was in the last segments of the episode.

In 2019 my wife and I found pay on undiscovered benches (ancient river channels well above current stream beds).  Often benches are the sources for the gold in the valley and can be even richer.   We have done some bulk testing with good results.  The property has only been mined by small scale mining with the exception of the 2013 lease.   That operation had only 4 people but larger equipment.

Since 1973 mining has taken place on several of the claims, but there remain several more claims that have been untouched.   There are several un-mined benches above the richest parts of the creek bed.

The claims lie on Upper Bonanza Creek and Ready Bullion Creek and 2 other tributaries.  Bonanza Creek was where gold was discovered in 1896 starting the great Alaska gold rush.  The Dawson mining district is in Canada, but in 1896 few people were really sure. 

In 1973 the United States removed strict controls on ownership and price of gold.  This did not directly involve Canada, but Don Coombs being a forward thinker snow shoed the 11 kilometers to the claims in March of 1973 to put in his claim stakes.   He made his living in the summer months for 19 years.

I am 68 years old and my wife 70.   We have been doing everything ourselves for quite awhile.   My son and I own the claims, his work and family responsibilities keep him from working the property.

I have decided, with very mixed feelings, that now is time to pass on the opportunity to someone younger.