While Bering Sea Gold on Discovery may not be short on drama, it can be short on some details about the gold mining industry in Nome, and for good reason. It’s a complex industry with a lot of specific rules and regulations, and it’s often boring.

But one question people are asking all the time is this: who owns the offshore gold mining claims in Nome?

The short answer is this: they aren’t (for the most part) privately-owned “claims” as portrayed on the show. The mining rights on “claims” featured in BSG are actually owned by the state of Alaska and sold as 10-year “non-competitive offshore leases” at auction. The state then collects a predetermined annual rent from the lease owner and a 3% production royalty.

See which Bering Sea Gold miner dominated the 2020 Lease Auction

Through the duration of the lease the owners have the option to sub-lease the rights to mine to another dredge in exchange for a royalty payment, which is a % of gold mined. Some owners work their leases exclusively, some just sub-lease and collect royalty payments, and some do a mix of both.

But there are actually several types of offshore mining areas. According to Alaska Department of Natural Resources, “There are many mining opportunities offshore of Nome in Norton Sound including two public mining areas, 89 offshore lease tracts, and numerous mining claims. There are currently no available offshore mining leases.”

Let’s just talk about the ones you’re familiar with.

Learn to pan gold at home with our 2 Gram bag of Eroica Paydirt!

Buy real gold paydirt from the Bering Sea and prospect at home!

We know where it’s from, because we sucked it up the nozzle ourselves.

Shop

Tomcod is the largest lease tract portrayed on the show. It’s a whopping 2000 acres and apparently is actually made up of a number of smaller leases combined into one. It’s currently owned in a 50/50 split between Shawn Pomrenke and Dave McCully.

Lease 56 is owned by Vernon Adkison – which he purchased in the offshore lease tract auction offered by the state of Alaska in 2020. Of the eleven lease tracts up for auction, 56 was the largest at 375 acres.

Lease 14 has been worked by Emily Riedel for several years now. She does not own it, but sub-leases it. It’s a bit larger than 56 at 550 acres, and is sub-leased by up to four dredges at a time, making it a competitive spot close to town.

The Rec Areas There are two public “recreational mining” areas maintained by the state that have been worked by many BSG cast members over the years – including Zeke and the Kelly’s in recent seasons. One is limited to 6″ diver-operated (non-mechanical) dredges and the other is limited to 8″ diver-operated (non-mechanical) dredges. These are open to anyone who applies and is within the nozzle and engine size limits. If you’re watching an “experimental” or very small dredge operation on tv, it’s unlikely that they can secure a coveted sub-lease on productive ground on one of the leases mentioned above and there’s a good chance they’re working one of the rec areas.

Every 10 years, in theory, the state of Alaska auctions off the leases that are up for renewal. The most recent auction was in 2020, where eleven tracts totaling 1,060 acres were up for bid.

Before that you couldn’t get your hands on a lease at auction since the 2011 stampede where 83 leases totaling 23,793 acres were sold by the state.

————

If you want exclusive access to cast-and-crew content, want to join the discussion as we rewatch episodes, and consider yourself a true fan – join us in the Bering Sea Paydirt Facebook Group today!

Follow Emily Riedel on Youtube for behind-the-scenes videos!

You can also follow Emily on Facebook and Instagram!