Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 11 Drying and Preliminary Purification

It is now early May.

The sunrise here is around 5 a.m., and the sunset is around 10 p.m.

With nearly 17 hours of daylight, he had more time to pan for gold.

Moreover, with prolonged sunshine, the temperature gradually rises, and the air becomes warmer.

The surrounding snow is gradually melting, and although it will still freeze at night, there will be less and less ice and snow.

In another month, except for shady and higher areas, the ice and snow here will completely melt, and then he can finally unleash his full potential.

We ate lunch around 2 p.m., just on the spot.

They also skewered a fish on a stick and stuck it next to the fire, continuing to pan for gold while waiting for the fish to cook.

Although no seasoning was added, after eight or nine hours of hard work, my stomach was already growling with hunger, so I ate with great relish.

After finishing their meal, they continued panning for gold.

He was busy until 9:30 p.m. before he finally stopped working.

Although his back ached and his limbs felt like they didn't belong to him, he felt refreshed as he looked at the small pile of gold dust in the bowl.

He stood up and went back to the cabin.

The preparations he had made recently meant he no longer needed to spend time gathering firewood every day, allowing him to focus his energy on the gold panning work.

After lighting the furnace, he began to dry and initially purify the gold he had collected that day.

Place the iron bowl containing the gold dust on the stove, and then pour a little gold dust from the glass bottle from yesterday into the bowl.

The temperature in the bowl gradually rose, and he stirred the gold dust with a spoon, like he was stir-frying vegetables.

The gold dust was quickly dried completely, becoming loose and dense.

He removed the bowl from the stove and, after the gold dust cooled, took out a magnet and used it to remove the iron mixed in with the gold dust.

Of course, this can only achieve preliminary purification. Impurities such as unwashed sand and gravel mixed in need to be purified and removed by using fluxes such as borax and pyrometallurgical methods.

But that step can only be done when I go back.

He estimated that the purity of the gold in front of him was less than 90%, and that as his gold panning skills improved, this value would gradually increase, but it would not exceed 95% at most.

Take out the portable troy ounce scale and scrape the gold dust into the scale pan.

His eyes were wide open, staring nervously and expectantly at the numbers displayed on the scale.

0.4 ounces (about 12.4 grams)!

"YES!"

He clenched his fists and shouted excitedly.

I never expected that I, a gold panning novice, would actually harvest 0.4 ounces of gold on my first gold panning attempt!

Based on current gold prices, 0.4 ounces of gold is worth approximately $960. Considering purity issues, its final value should be around $700.

In just one day, I earned what I used to earn in almost half a month!

The harvest before me once again proved that choosing to come out to pan for gold was a wise decision.

He carefully placed the gold dust into a glass bottle, then brought his nose close to the opening and smelled it.

The rich and wonderful golden aroma made him feel as if he were in a dream.

I put the cap back on, shook it a few times, and listened to the soft, rustling sound of the gold dust rubbing against the bottle—it was so wonderful.

Zhou Xin felt a sense of satisfaction as he put the bottle into his backpack.

Next, we need to work hard to pan for gold and try to fill the bottles we brought!

He had a vague feeling that, with the continued turmoil in the international situation, gold prices would continue to rise.

Gold mining is definitely a very lucrative business!

For dinner, we continued with fish, but instead of grilling it, we added salt and pepper and cooked it into a thick, milky-white fish soup.

He stewed it until it was very tender, and the fish meat was almost completely broken into the soup.

I slurped down the soup and meat, feeling extremely satisfied both physically and mentally.

In the days that followed, he spent every day panning for gold.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated. Since the last heavy snowfall, there have been continuous sunny days, which is very conducive to his gold panning work.

……

Two weeks passed quickly amidst the busy and fulfilling gold mining work.

During this time, his gold-mining skills became increasingly refined.

Now, he only needs five or six minutes to wash a plate of mud and sand.

Of course, the harvest was also plentiful.

In two weeks, he had already harvested 11 ounces of placer gold.

Its value is approximately $20,000.

It's almost equal to my income from the previous year.

No wonder so many people flock to Alaska to pan for gold; it really is possible to get rich quick.

Of course, most of them weren't as lucky as him.

If he hadn't awakened his "Scent of Gold," he would never have been able to find land rich in gold so easily.

Although this period has been tough, it has also been relatively free.

The more effort you put in, the more you will reap, and the rewards will be readily apparent.

So far, life in the wilderness has been quite comfortable.

In this icy and snowy landscape, staying in a warm tent or wooden cabin, warming yourself by a fire, and eating steaming hot food always has a unique charm.

Especially after a long day of work, watching the gold dust in the glass bottle gradually increase makes food taste especially delicious.

The only downside is that you can't take a bath.

Despite the cold weather, I still sweated quite a bit from all the running around every day.

Simply wiping the body with hot water is not enough.

I desperately need to take a shower to wash away the fatigue I've been feeling lately.

He began to fantasize about returning to his warm cabin after a hard day of gold panning, bathed in the setting sun atop the snow-capped mountains, his feet sinking into the soft, melting snow.

Take a hot shower first, then have a sumptuous meal.

Then they turned the fire up to its brightest point, and the room was bathed in a dim, yellowish light.

Lying on a soft bed, snuggled in a warm sleeping bag, listening to the howling wind outside, I watched a classic movie.

As I thought about it, the corners of my mouth unconsciously turned up.

He made up his mind that he had to find a way to take a hot bath.

After thinking for a long time, he came up with a possible solution.

I brought two waterproof tarpaulins with me; one was used on the wooden roof, and the other was still left.

He envisioned digging a pit in the ground, tamping it down, and then laying a curtain inside to create a simple bathtub.

Pour in hot water and you can take a bath.

He only had one cup to boil water, and by the time he had boiled it cup by cup, the water would have gone cold before the basin was even full.

After a moment's thought, he came up with a solution.

Simply build a fire outside, collect some large stones, heat them until they are hot, and then throw the stones into the bathtub to easily heat the water.

The only thing to be careful about is putting a shelf in the bathtub to prevent the stones from burning the curtain.

He got right to work and finished early that day, digging a pit the size of a bathtub in the open space next to the house.

Clear and level the surrounding soil, then lay the curtain down.

Arrange the cleaned wooden sticks in a row and weigh them down with stones at the bottom of the basin; the bathtub is now ready.

Then he found some larger stones, built a firewood pile, and heated the stones until they were scorching hot.

Use a damp twig to clean the dust off the stone, then place the stone on the wooden stick in the bathtub.

The moment the stone hit the water, the surrounding water instantly boiled violently, and a thick fog filled the air, making it almost impossible to see.

I put my hand into the water and touched it; the water had gotten hot, and eventually it was even a little scalding.

After removing the stones and sticks, I could finally enjoy a relaxing hot bath.

Even with all my clothes off, I didn't feel cold in the rising steam.

The moment he immersed his entire body in the hot water, he let out an indescribable moan of pleasure.