Alaska gold is not one thing. Assays across the state range from roughly 620 to 927 fine depending on the district, and pricing it with a single blanket assumption costs somebody money every time.
We price against your region’s real numbers, then test your actual lot and show you the figure in writing. The calculator is preset to Alaska’s typical band.
Preset for Alaska. No email, no phone number.
A troy ounce is 31.1 g, a pennyweight is 1.56 g.
Based on typical purity for Alaska (82–93% gold). Drag the slider if you know yours and this tightens up.
Estimate only, at $4,101/oz gold. Your firm offer comes after we weigh and test the actual lot, and you are free to decline it.
Fineness is parts of gold per thousand — 893 fine is 89.3% gold, with the balance mostly silver. These figures come from published USGS and Alaska DGGS assay summaries:
| District | Fineness | Gold content |
|---|---|---|
| Morelock Creek | ~922 | 92.2% |
| Koyukuk–Chandalar | 893 avg, 46 localities | 89.3% |
| Fourth of July Creek | 892 avg, 22 assays | 89.2% |
| Moran Dome | 835 | 83.5% |
| Fortymile River region | 620–927 range | 62–92.7% |
District averages, not lot guarantees. Fineness measures the metal alloy; adhering quartz or iron staining lowers the effective purity of an uncleaned lot further.
A buyer who assumes 18k when your creek runs 89% has taken 16% off the top before any payout rate is applied.
That is the specific risk with Alaska material. Some mail-in buyers describe placer gold generically as “typically 18k to 21k” — 75% to 87.5% — which sits at or below the bottom of Alaska’s real range. If your gold assays near 890 and you are paid as though it assays 750, the loss is invisible and permanent.
What we pay
Alaska produces everything from flour gold to serious nuggets. Coarse material earns above melt because we sell it whole.
Fine material that sifts straight through a 40 mesh screen. It sells by weight, so the rate tracks refinery pricing closely.
The classic panning result. Jewelers and hobbyists both want it, which lifts the rate above plain melt value.
Big enough to pick up one at a time. Collectors buy these by the piece, so they earn very close to full metal value.
Sold whole to collectors and never melted. That is exactly why the rate clears 100% of the gold content.
It varies enormously by district. Published USGS and Alaska DGGS assay summaries put many districts near 890 fine — about 89% gold — but the Fortymile region alone spans roughly 620 to 927 fine. Yours depends on the creek, which is why it should be tested rather than assumed.
Yes. Prepaid insured shipping works from anywhere in the United States, Alaska included, and return shipping is free if you decline the offer.
Among published figures, Morelock Creek runs near 922 fine and the Koyukuk–Chandalar district averages 893 across 46 sampled localities. Moran Dome sits lower at about 835. These describe districts, not individual lots.
Yes, at any scale. A vial from a weekend on the creek and a full season’s clean-up go through the same process. There is a minimum below which shipping costs more than the gold, but it is lower than most people expect.
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Priced on your district’s real numbers, then tested and shown to you in writing.
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