I have an established offshore suction dredge on gold bearing ground in Nome, Alaska. I’m currently designing and building a remote, deep water submersible suction dredge.
I operate a custom built - hard pipe suction dredge. I designed and fabricated the ‘Hard Pipe’ in 2021. It took me 7 months in both Washington state and in Nome, Alaska to get operable and had it’s first full season this year (2022).
The Hard Pipe requires a crew of only 2 people, can operate up to depths of 35-feet, and is not hampered by water clarity. I own a 201-acre lease and the 2022 season produced a solid 15-16 grams per hour.
There are two primary reasons for expanding Sturgeon Mining with another dredge:
- The Bering Sea mining season is short to begin with (4-1/2 months) and storms or high winds greatly reduce mining hours. The new submersible will be able to mine in all but the roughest of storms.
- My current lease extends to about 22 feet of depth and the known, barely tapped deep water leases are known to have 100-150 grams per hour of ground.
There are 3 existing crawler dredges currently operating offshore of Nome and they all require a substantial surface vessel that can raise and lower a crawler, as well as needing large umbilicals for communication, control, and facilities to sluice the material brought to the surface.
My submersible design incorporates concepts used in submarines, uses onboard gold collection, drone technology for visualization and control, and the ability to mine as deep as 300-feet. All of this in a small maneuverable package - I’m targeting submersible and trailer fitting within a 20-foot shipping container.
The funding would allow me to get a head start on building out the vessel and possibly target the middle of the 2023 mining season.
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