About

In September 2011 my family, consisting of my parents, Thomas and Melva Palmer; my brother, Tom; as well as myself, purchased 10 year leases for Bering Sea lots from the state of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining, Land and Water. This event was a long time in the making. For years, my parents had harbored a love for the “Final Frontier,” but taking this fondness up a level by participating in gold dredging in Nome, Alaska was not something that was considered lightly or decided quickly.

After my brother experienced a personal heartache, he wanted to take his mind off the situation and the allure of gold and Alaska entered his blood. After a few initial trips to Alaska, my parents also caught “gold fever.” Even then we had some misgivings, but with some extensive research we decided to take a huge leap of faith; at this time we officially formed our company, Palmerosa Mining, LLC, beginning our journey towards Nome Alaska, gold dredging, and adventure.

After purchasing the leases our family started work on our suction dredge boat, the Kentucky Goldenrod, which was named for our state flower. My father and brother both designed and engineered the boat themselves, adding their own personal touches, one of which includes a robotic arm connected to a camera. The actual construction took months full of long days to complete.

Finally the summer of 2012 arrived and with it the rest of my family left Kentucky for the still frigid waters of the Bering Sea. While I was unable to personally participate in dredging for gold in Nome, Alaska, I was there in spirit, as were my two teenage boys. Through daily phone calls with my family, as well as extensive research on my part, I have still been able to experience and participate in this adventure dredging for fold in Nome, Alaska with my family. By writing and recording their experiences, I hope to involve others. You can read about the details of our first season of marine mining on this site and, eventually, compiled together into a book for modern adventurers.

We hope you keep coming back to learn more about what it’s like gold dredging in Nome, Alaska as we gain more experience over the next few marine mining seasons.