Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau, Nome, Alaska

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Tours

There are two tour companies in Nome that offers gold panning as a part of their tour itinerary.

Nome Discovery Tours
P.O. Box 2024, Tel: (907) 443-2814

Personalized custom tours. Fees vary depending on activities and length of tour.

Suggested activities:

Historical tour of Nome
Gold Panning
Tundra Tour
Drive to an Eskimo village
Visit Pilgrim Hot Springs
Ivory Carving Demonstration

Nome Tour & Marketing
P.O. Box 456, Tel: (907) 443-2323

Available twice daily
Walk-on fee $25.00

Other activities on tour:

Historical Slide Show
Dog Team Demonstrations
Live Reindeer On Site

Pan For Gold On Your Own

With an inexpensive gold pan (sold at the local stores) you could try your luck at panning on the beach in Nome. Panning is permitted on the beach east of Nome between town and the Fort Davis Roadhouse (2 miles). This area is privately owned, but is available to visitors as a public service.

There is gold in the sands and it's yours to keep, but don't expect to strike it rich. Gold panning can be fun and adventurous, but it certainly constitutes no avenue to wealth.

One-Two Week Mining Camps

Gold Prospectors Association of America
P.O. Box 891509
Temecula, CA 92589
Phone: (909) 699-4749

Recreational Mining

Every very year, a handful of miners come to Nome to live on the beach and mine for gold. Recreational mining is allowed on the beach east of Nome and is defined as "panning, use of a small, hand-fed rocker box, or the use of a portable dredge with an intake of less than six inches." All other areas of the beach or inland are owned by private claims, the government or one of the Native Corporations and are not open to the public.

For Additional Information on Mining

State Division of Mining
550 W 7th Ave. Ste. 1070
Anchorage, AK 99510
Telephone: (907) 269-8600
or within Alaska 1-800-478-2154

Bureau of Land Management
1150 University Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99709-3844
Telephone: (907)474-2200

Bureau of Land Management
Nome Field Station
P.O. Box 925
Nome, AK 99762
Telephone: (907)443-2177

Department of Natural Resources
Public Information Center
550 W 7th Ave. Ste 1260
Anchorage, AK 99501
Telephone: (907) 269-8400
Fax: (907) 269-8901