Judy Ann (dredge)
The M/V Judy Ann (USCG id: 1263237) is an excavator-based sea gold mining dredge motorized barge operating out of Nome, Alaska, USA, in the Bering Sea, used to mine seafloor placer gold deposits. It was shown in the background on Bering Sea Gold, and featured in an episode of Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue. It was built and operated by the Martinson land gold mining family. Unusually for barges operating out of Nome, it was built completely in Nome. The dredge was launched on 26 September 2015.[1][2][3]
History[edit]
The barge was built as an excavator barge as the Martinsons did not want to do scuba suction dredge mining, which is common out of Nome. The Martinsons chose to build a barge to go seafloor mining, when the bought ocean floor claims at auction.[3][4][5]
The barge was constructed in Nome, from the junkyard; unlike other barges that are imported, and then adapted in Nome, or built elsewhere.[3][6][7]
The Judy Ann was designed and built by the Martinsons. It was built out of four pipe-pontoons, with a deck laid over it. The excavator would be used to extract seafloor material to dump into an on deck hopper, that would feed into sluices, concentrators, centrifuges, that would extract the gold.[3][8]
The barge was completed and launched in 2015.[3]
The 2019 dredging season ended for the Judy Ann on October 16.[9]
In 2020, the Martinsons and their barge became part of Discovery Channel's Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue, where the modified the barge with Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibara to increase gold catchment efficiency by adding additional sluicing runs. The episode featuring the barge aired in 2021.[1]
Specifications[edit]
- Vessel 1263237
- Launch date: 2015
- Length: 80 ft (24 m)
- Width: 30 ft (9.1 m)
- Depth: 6 ft (1.8 m)
- Net tonnage: 56 short tons (51 tonnes)
- Gross tonnage: 56 short tons (51 tonnes)
- Construction cost: $1.5 million USD
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sink or Swim". Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue. Season 1. Episode 6. Discovery USA.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "JUDY ANN (1263237)". boatdb.net. Boat Database.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Sandra L. Medearis (8 October 2015). "Local group launches Nome-grown, Nome-made gold dredge" (PDF). The Nome Nugget. CXV (40). pp. 7–8. ISSN 0745-9106.
- ↑ "Bitter End". Bering Sea Gold. Season 1. Episode 8. Discovery Channel USA.
- ↑ "Dead Men Gather No Gold". Bering Sea Gold. Season 2. Episode 2. Discovery Channel USA.
- ↑ "Closing the Gap". Bering Sea Gold. Season 10. Episode 9. Discovery USA.
- ↑ "Bigger and Badder". Bering Sea Gold. Season 10. Episode 11. Discovery USA.
- ↑ @bering_sea_gold_pans (30 May 2019). "Launching the Bering Sea gold dredge, M/V Judy Ann for the summer mining season" – via Instagram.
- ↑ "The Dock Walk". The Nome Nugget. 31 October 2019.
See also[edit]
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