There's gold! With the goldrush, many prospectors flooded Alaska in the hopes of striking it rich.
From wikipedia primarily:
The Juneau Goldbelt is approximately 100 miles in length and extends southeastward to Windham Bay, 60 miles southeast of Juneau trending north-northwest of the Cretaceous Terrance complex. The complex is hosted in an accretionary terrane of Permian to Cretaceous sedimentary and volcanic rocks which have undergone greenschist grade metamorphism. Resulting lithologies include: phyllite, basalt, and andesite(greenstones), along with minor marble and quartzite. Gold bearing veins and fissure fillings of the area are comparable with the California "mother lode" deposits. The belt contains over 200 gold-quartz-vein deposits with production nearing 7,000,000 ounces of gold. More than three-quarters of Alaska's lode gold was mined from the Juneau Goldbelt.
PHYLLITE
BASALT
ANDESITE
QUARTZITE
Gold mining in the belt became active after an 1869 study of the Juneau mining district, of which the Juneau gold belt is but one part. Chief Kowee was one of the earliest gold prospectors in the belt area. In 1880, he revealed to prospectors Joe Juneau and Richard Harris the presence of gold in Silver Bow Basin's Gold Creek, after which Juneau was founded in the same year. The Juneau gold rush of 1880 resulted in some of the largest gold mines in the world.
In 1895, southeastern Alaska was the first part of the Territory of Alaska to have its mineral resources researched by the U.S. Geological Survey. It surveyed the gold deposit areas of Juneau and Sitka. Systematic surveying began in 1902 which included a topographic map of the gold-bearing area adjacent to Juneau. In the following year, a detailed map of the Juneau region's geology was mapped in detail.
At the listed coordinates, you will find a sculpture of a couple of these hardworking miners as well as a plaque detailing the process used to extract the gold from the hard rocks in the area. From the plaque, please answer the following questions:
1. What type of drills replaced the hand drills in the late 1800s?
2. As a result, what type of ore deposits became profitable to drill?
3. How many holes were traditionally used to set charges to cut a tunnel?
4. What was the total output of the Juneau Goldbelt from 1897-1944?
5. There are hard stones from the mines under the sculpture. Using the photos above, identify which type of stone(s) was removed from the nearby mine.
For bonus points, post of a photo of yourself with the miners, being careful not to show the plaque.