"Independence Valley Diorama."
I built this diorama for the Dorothy G. Page Museum, Wasilla, Alaska, in 1994. Scale is approximately 1:700 except for the Gold Cord Mine in HO (1:87) scale. The diorama is fourteen feet wide and about three feet deep. The larger scale mine up front helps to give the illusion of distance to the valley. The mountains are modelled in Plaster of Paris using molds made from liquid latex rubber with coal as the pattern.
Up until World War 2, large amounts of gold was removed from these granite mountains by miners working deep beneath them. Independence Mine was the largest and most productive, and the quartz ore was very high-grade. More about this coming soon.
Independence Mine complex, looking north.
Independence Mine complex, looking west.
The Gold Cord Mine
The Gold Cord Mine
