Ms Huber, of Anchorage, Alaska, has just spent two weeks examining historic mining sites and geological formations throughout Central Otago from a base in Alexandra.
As editor of the Alaska Miner, she plans to publish some of her findings in the Alaska Miners Association journal.
Of particular interest were the similarities between early Alaskan mining and that undertaken throughout Otago during the gold rush, she said.
"It is interesting to see how alike we are, and yet how many differences there are at the same time.
"I had no idea, and I've found it fascinating," she said.
Ms Huber arrived in New Zealand in mid-February and spent two weeks in the North Island before venturing south.
A planned tramping trip in the Milford Sound area was cancelled due to injury, and instead Ms Huber's initial week in Central Otago became two weeks.
While in the district, she stayed with Alaska Miners Association members Jan and Budd Hyndman, of Alexandra.
The experienced miners took Ms Huber to see old gold tailings, diggings, and claim sites between Cromwell and Patearoa.
St Bathans and its Blue Lake were highlights, Ms Huber said.
"The diggings there were incredible.
"I would like to come back, because there are still some things I have yet to see," she said.
Ms Huber said the hydraulic mining methods used in Central Otago were almost identical to the techniques employed by gold-miners in Alaska.
The district's rock and gravels were also similar, she said.
"All the basement rock here, like schist, is similar to the environment in Alaska, although it is in wider concentration here.
"There are also unique aspects of this area, including some of the other equipment used to mine and some of the ore deposits," she said.
With gold prices at a premium, Ms Huber said it was interesting to see modern mining activity in Otago, as things were also "gearing up" in Alaska.
