Photo by Roger Topp.
At his home in Fairbanks in the summer of 2024, Roger Burggraf holds one of the nuggets
from his gold collection, which reveals facets of Alaska’s mining history.
By Theresa Bakker
At his home in the summer of 2024, Roger Burggraf holds a unique nugget from the collection he and his wife, DeLois, donated to the UA Museum of the North.
On a recent winter afternoon at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Roger Burggraf placed an extraordinary collection on the table.
Carefully tucked away in envelopes and little plastic bags were gold samples curated from across the state. From hefty fist-sized nuggets to tiny grains, the items gleamed with significance.
Burggraf was there to meet with the museum’s director and earth sciences curator, Pat Druckenmiller, to discuss the provenance of the individual pieces and how they would fit into the museum’s exhibits.
“The current display is good, but it doesn’t tell the full story,” Burgraff said. “Gold is the lifeblood of this community. People might not realize how much mining contributed to the economy and to Fairbanks. The city wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for mining.”
With that, he and his wife, DeLois, entrusted his personal collection — spanning nearly 50 years of mining — to the university. And now, the museum is building an exhibit worthy of this remarkable gift.
A lifetime in gold
Burggraf’s collection is no ordinary assortment of gold nuggets. It tells a story of discovery, resilience and transformation. From filigree-like structures to smooth, water-worn pieces, each sample reveals a different facet of Alaska’s mining history.
“It was just my curiosity,” Burggraf said, explaining what first drew him to gold. “I was interested in how the gold came to be.”
He picked up a particularly smooth nugget, holding it to the light. “Now, you can see this here — this is from a location out at Sheep Creek. See how smooth the gold is? It’s really beautiful.”
Longtime miner Roger Burggraf wears one of his helmets at his home in the summer of 2024. Burggraf and his wife, DeLois, have donated their gold collection to the UA Museum of the North.
Over the decades, he worked in some of Alaska’s historic mining areas, using methods that ranged from traditional panning to metal detecting. “We would take a metal detector, get into a rich area, take a metal detector over it, and if we found big gold, we’d process it through our wash plant.”
His donation to the museum includes not only gold in its raw, natural state but also samples that showcase the geological story of its formation. “You could generally tell the gold was mostly found in quartz,” he said. “And so you’d look for a quartz vein.”
Burgraff came to Alaska in 1953. He worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and served in the U.S. Army. He held the position of commander for the Fairbanks National Guard unit from 1961 to 1963. He worked in banking and resource development and is often consulted for his historical perspective and experience.