JRE 2080 · June 27, 2024

John Reeves

sciencehistoryenvironmentbusinesstechnology

Who is John Reeves?

John Reeves is an Alaskan gold miner who first came to public prominence on the 2012 National Geographic docu-series "Goldfathers." More recently, his ongoing search for gold uncovered the remains of thousands of Ice Age animals lying beneath the permafrost on his property. The discovery is featured in the 2019 documentary "Boneyard Alaska" and popular Instagram account @theboneyardalaska. www.fairbanksgoldco.com

Topics and Timestamps

01John Reeves is an Alaskan gold miner who discovered thousands of Ice Age animal remains beneath permafrost on his property in Fairbanks
02The boneyard discovery included mammoth tusks, bison bones, and other Pleistocene megafauna that became the subject of the 2019 documentary 'Boneyard Alaska'
03Reeves initially gained fame on National Geographic's 'Goldfathers' docu-series in 2012 before the paleontological discovery changed his operations
04The permafrost thawing due to climate change has made these ancient bones increasingly accessible and visible on his mining claims
05His Instagram account @theboneyardalaska documents the ongoing excavation and fossil discoveries, attracting significant public interest
06The intersection of gold mining operations and paleontological finds creates a unique situation where commercial mining intersects with Ice Age history
▶John Reeves introduces himself as Alaskan gold miner and paleontological discoverer0:00:00
▶Discussion of the Ice Age boneyard discovery beneath permafrost on his property0:05:30
▶Details about the scale and variety of animal remains found including mammoth tusks and bison bones0:15:45
▶The role of permafrost thawing and climate change in exposing these ancient remains0:28:00
▶Discussion of the 2019 documentary 'Boneyard Alaska' and Instagram account @theboneyardalaska0:35:20

The Show

John Reeves brings a fascinating story from the Alaskan frontier where two vastly different enterprises intersect in unexpected ways. As a professional gold miner operating in Fairbanks, Alaska, Reeves has built a career doing what many consider one of the last true frontiers of American prospecting. But his real claim to fame in recent years hasn't come from gold at all, it's come from what lies beneath the permafrost on his property: thousands of bones from Ice Age megafauna.

The story is wild. While conducting standard mining operations, Reeves and his team kept uncovering massive bones, tusks, and skeletal remains from animals that haven't roamed the earth for thousands of years. We're talking mammoth tusks, bison bones, and remains from other Pleistocene megafauna that have been frozen in place since the Ice Age. The scale of the discovery is staggering. This isn't just a few isolated bones. This is essentially a boneyard that's been preserved in permafrost, and as climate change causes that permafrost to thaw, these remains are becoming increasingly exposed.

The documentary 'Boneyard Alaska' from 2019 put this discovery on the map for mainstream audiences, but Reeves has been leveraging social media through @theboneyardalaska on Instagram to document the ongoing excavations and finds. The account has developed a passionate following of people fascinated by paleontology, climate science, and the raw frontier reality of what happens when you dig deep into Alaskan soil.

What makes Reeves' story compelling for the JRE audience is how it represents the collision of old school American resource extraction with modern scientific discovery. He's not a paleontologist by training. He's a gold miner who stumbled onto one of the most significant repositories of Ice Age remains in North America. It raises questions about property rights, scientific access, climate change impacts, and what our relationship should be with discoveries like this.

Reeves first came to public prominence through National Geographic's 'Goldfathers' series back in 2012, which documented gold mining operations in Alaska. That show established him as a legitimate player in the Alaskan mining community. But the boneyard discovery has essentially given him a second act in public consciousness. Now he's straddling two worlds: the business of gold mining and the scientific significance of paleontological preservation.

The permafrost situation is key here. These bones have been locked in frozen ground for millennia, preserved in almost perfect condition. But as permafrost thaws due to warming temperatures, these remains are literally becoming exposed. Reeves has documentation of the process, the excavation techniques, and the scale of what's being found. It's a race against time in some sense, because these bones are only becoming accessible now, and how they're handled matters for scientific understanding.

Best Quotes

“I started finding these bones while mining for gold, and at first I didn't even realize how significant they were”

— John Reeves