Going To Try This For A Living

[Jonsered]

Well, I'm finally at a point in my life where I have a little time and money, and I figured there was no quicker way to use up both than going mining, except perhaps for a 19 year old mistress. I've spent a few years slowly acquiring equipment, prospecting my chosen area, acquiring claims, getting my state mine certs, getting the money together for the bond, etc., and I think I'm ready to go. I'll post pics as the weather warms up and I start setup. What I need from the experienced folks here is an honest source to sell my leftover black sand. I've had my sand assayed, and I'm getting some platinum group metals as well as a good bit of tungsten, and a good bit of super fine gold that is evading my equipment. Obviously I need to maximize profits, so a point in the direction of a reputable buyer would be much appreciated. Wish me luck!

 

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[Jonsered]

I suggest you be careful about your physical condition and work up to heavy labor as mining is Work and lots of physical stuff at that. No use laying yourself up crippled for a long period of time so gradually work up to it and even do simple exercises at home frequently.

:-) You sound like my girlfriend! "Be careful! You're getting older." Damnit woman, I'm 47, not 77! I appreciate the concern, but I think I'm good there. I'm a marathoner, and I've owned a little logging company for years. I'm actually going down 1,000 feet in elevation from my house to my claim!

 

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[63bkpkr]

Tee, Hee!!! Well, I'm not but I will be 70 in late April 2014 and I hurt myself when I was your age and it is still with me and it is not fun. So, while you are still 10' tall and bullet proof don't mess yourself up. Just sincere wishes of well being towards a brother miner as sometimes when we are say prying a bunch of big rocks (2010) with a short pry bar (4.5' in length) for days on end we can over do what the muscles and ligaments can take and later on (2013) we could need surgery (rotary cuff AS well as the muscles).

So give your girl friend a hug and tell her thanks a bunch for caring about you (do not try that with me) and have good safe fun...............63bkpkr

PS - I still carry in 85 lb packs down a canyon wall with a 3000' elevation drop and to be able to do that I exercise.

This is what I carry in

This is why I carry it in

 

[Fullpan]

RE pics of my evolution. Is there a thread or category here on TN for photos of wash plant set up and growth, or is this an appropriate place to put up things as I go?

For heaven's sake man, this is THE place to post pics, lol. We are all starved for stimulation of any kind relating to mining, in the winter. Get-r-done.

 

[63bkpkr]

Like Fullpan says, pictures please!

 

[Goodyguy]

GoodyGuy has a solid place to sell your black sands, he asks that you donate 10% to the Make A Wish foundation. Send him a pm for the details.

PS congrats on getting everything organized for your mining op to get rolling. Looking forward to your pics and stories along the way

Thanks for the recommendation Kevin.
The Info was passed on to Jonsered last month. (I just now happened upon this thread)

I wish him all the success in the world.
From my conversation with him I could tell he is most deserving and a really fine fellow.

GG~

 

[Jonsered]

Tee, Hee!!! Well, I'm not but I will be 70 in late April 2014 and I hurt myself when I was your age and it is still with me and it is not fun. So, while you are still 10' tall and bullet proof don't mess yourself up. Just sincere wishes of well being towards a brother miner as sometimes when we are say prying a bunch of big rocks (2010) with a short pry bar (4.5' in length) for days on end we can over do what the muscles and ligaments can take and later on (2013) we could need surgery (rotary cuff AS well as the muscles).

So give your girl friend a hug and tell her thanks a bunch for caring about you (do not try that with me) and have good safe fun...............63bkpkr

PS - I still carry in 85 lb packs down a canyon wall with a 3000' elevation drop and to be able to do that I exercise.

After re-examining my post, I came off as a bit of a smart ass. My apologies. I periodically realize I'm not 19 anymore, I just never admit it in public! The girlfriend worries about me because I actually do disinfect cuts with carburetor cleaner and duct tape a dirty shop rag over the wound. She watched me put a couple of stiches in my arm, and decided I had serious issues, but she stuck around for some odd reason. Must be my charming personality, because its not my looks! Regardless, I appreciate your concern, and if you are still humping it at 70, perhaps I should listen more and talk less. :-)

 

[travelerga]

Tell us more about the 19 year old, all that prospecting stuff sounds like hard work! good luck and find much. I would be out there looking for Turquoise and gold if fate was kind to me.

 

[goldenIrishman]

You sound like me there Jonsered. I'm ex-infantry and my girl gives me "that look" when I shrug something off. At 56 I'm still as hard headed as I was at 21, but I have learned to work smarter, not harder. Some of those little accidents from back in my youth like to come back and remind me of past "Adventures" from time to time..... Just saying....... Oh... that kind of stuff usually starts happening when ya hit your 50s.

 

[Jonsered]

Tell us more about the 19 year old, all that prospecting stuff sounds like hard work! good luck and find much. I would be out there looking for Turquoise and gold if fate was kind to me.

I'm charming but not THAT charming. Laura is 30 and still has a regular day job....which allows me to indulge my foolishness on my own time!

goldenIrishman, I hear you man, I do. I won't deny I'm looking forward to digging with a Bobcat instead of a shovel!

I'm not a photographer, and my phone is a POS, but here is a little teaser. Taken off my claim this weekend, and hit with a little nitric acid to remove iron staining. Appox 1.2 yards with a shovel into my little trommel into my gold cube, and finally cleaned up with a spiral wheel. .19 grams not counting whatever I get from the black sand leftovers.

 

[63bkpkr]

After re-examining my post, I came off as a bit of a smart ass. My apologies. No problem, there are moments when my posts come across as less than what I meant. I periodically realize I'm not 19 anymore, I just never admit it in public! By now I just smile at the numbers as they are only a number and I still do what I want to do. The wrinkles are starting to catch up with me and that is also OK. The girlfriend worries about me because I actually do disinfect cuts with carburetor cleaner and duct tape a dirty shop rag over the wound. She watched me put a couple of stiches in my arm, and decided I had serious issues, but she stuck around for some odd reason. Doing your own stitches, now that is interesting! Due to where I hike (well into the outback of wilderness country) I carry a significant first aid kit with me including a needle and some thread, I've not needed to use it "yet". Once I hiked out with a broken leg, not bragging and not fun, did it just because it was the only way out. Must be my charming personality, [Ok] because its not my looks! Regardless, I appreciate your concern, and if you are still humping it at 70, perhaps I should listen more and talk less. :-)

Yup I am though I did that in California (for the past 50 yrs) and Texas is kinda flat and that is where I've just moved to, south of Houston.

Your adventures, pictures and posts will be/are welcomed here so keep them coming................63bkpkr

Also, I notice you own an XLT and so do I. I suppose my XLT will enjoy getting back out of the box to go looking for some old Texas coins.

 

[Jeff95531]

As you can see from his picture..Herb is actually the 6 million $ man. His entire left hip and leg has been replaced with something supremely strong and versatile enough to carry his pack at the same time. Not to mention... "bathroom breaks? I don't need no stinkin bathroom breaks!"
JK
Sorry Herb, it's raining hard and I'm stuck inside...couldn't resist.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Hey Herb! I've got a friend that's in Houston you should meet up with. He's a rather colorful character and DJs a bluegrass radio show on Sunday afternoons. He's going to be out here on the 17th of next month to help me do some work at the claim for a week. He's also got a claim on the Lanno (spelling?) river.

 

[dave wiseman]

Did snorkling and fanning for gold for five years and then hardrock for almost 30 years and it was a great adventure....remember these words from an old Oscar Wilde poem...Every rock one breaks by day,becomes one's heart by night.

 

[Jonsered]

........and it was a great adventure.....

I just noticed this. That's just what it is, isn't it? I own a business, I've had jobs, and making money isn't really the issue. I want to love it. I want to throw the dog in the truck and go to work stoked about the day. I'm just enough of a romantic to see this as a treasure hunt, as a quest for something more than a dollar. That may become a problem, but without it, I wouldn't be doing it at all.

 

[63bkpkr]

JEFF,
LOL, LOL, LOL!!!!

You know that picture has been posted a few times and neither myself nor anyone else, till now, has noticed that perfect lineup, cool. It's known as a KA-52 Hip Leg/urinal replacement. Glad I could inadvertently add some joy to your rainy day blues!................63bkpkr/Herb

 

[63bkpkr]

For The Adventure, The Beauty and the Solitude








The real draw is just being out there and seeing places and things like these as experiences like this take me away from the every day world...................63bkpkr

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

I just noticed this. That's just what it is, isn't it? I own a business, I've had jobs, and making money isn't really the issue. I want to love it. I want to throw the dog in the truck and go to work stoked about the day. I'm just enough of a romantic to see this as a treasure hunt, as a quest for something more than a dollar. That may become a problem, but without it, I wouldn't be doing it at all.

If its not something more than a pay day then why do it! We get 1 shot at life and most just watch it go right by them. Success is how you measure it. I want mine in Ounces thank you very much

 

[Jonsered]

Well, it's been over three years since the project started, so I thought I'd check in. On the bright side, I'm still mining, still smiling, I've dropped 30 pounds and I think I could bench press a pickup. On the down side, I was just flat wrong about some of my assumptions starting up, and I paid for it until I swallowed my pride and made changes. I've substantially scaled back the setup, gone to 100% electrical power for all systems (except the propane Bobcat), supplied by solar and wind. 300 days of sun a years saves a lot of diesel. I also had to get serious about recovering all saleable materials. Magnetite, garnets, even lead bullets and brass casings add up after enough yards. Final outside source black sand processing has really been a life saver, and I encourage even small scale miners to maximize your profit. You paid to dig it up, get paid for it.

Lessons Learned: 1) Running costs will be double what you were estimating. 2) Equipment reliability will be roughly half of what you were estimating. 3) Never, ever turn your back on running water, because it is destructive stuff (hard lesson for a desert guy). 4) This ain't TV. Mining is hard damn work, and 20 years of prospecting won't prepare you for it..

All in all, I'm glad I made the jump. Counting garnets etc, I'm running right at $12.75/Yard, with lower running costs than any comparable setup I can find. I see elk and turkeys everyday, I eat lunch outside, I'm healthy and pretty damn happy. Making enough money that I could actually live on it if I needed to. Weather shuts me down enough in the dead of Winter or Summer that I still get vacation time. Goody Guy, I'm not using the black sand company you suggested, but Make A Wish still gets 10% of my black sand recovery, just because I appreciate the advice when I first started. I've been off two weeks nursing broken fingers on the left hand (I'm looking at you here wind charger), but I'm head back up after the first of the month, and I'll get some pics of the rig. It's been worth it, and after I survived the first 30 days, I've never regretted a moment.

 

[Keeneongold]

New guy here wishing you the best.
Inspiring. Thank you brother.

 

[63bkpkr]

Good Morning Jonsered and thank you for the update! Sounds like you've performed quite well including gaining a sizeable amount of earned wisdom from all your efforts.

So I was in Texas and that position did not work out. Then I went to work in San Diego (when I'm not in the hills I do Medical Device Extrusions & Extrusion consulting) where I helped to start a company. After 1.8 years of really hard work (mental & physical) I realized the job was killing me so I quit. This year I made it out into the hills, the first time in 3.5 years. My timing of being in the hills was off, I knew that going into it, as late September to late October in the Sierras is not a comfortable time of year in there but I needed the mental and physical challenge so I went and I'm glad I did.

After three weeks of trail creating I was driven out by forest fire smoke that came in from fires outside of this area. A few days later it rained (& snowed) where I had been so I went back in. The second trip was brief as the weather was colder and then physically I did not feel comfortable, shoulder and knee were complaining. So I headed back to town where I was able to help a friend with a significant amount of home handyman work. I'm now back in San Diego at the home of friends. Now I'm working on scheduling surgery for my left shoulder. Once I recover from the shoulder surgery I will either find a job hopefully in Northern California or else I will have the knee replacement surgery and then find a job. See where my comments were coming from about taking physical care of yourself!

I have friends who live in Cloudcroft NM at 7500' elevation, they are wintering there for the first time this year. Nice location, I spent two weeks with them in early August of 2017. Fed the wild turkeys in the morning, the Elk would come in near 8 PM most nights to munch on their large lawn and rest for awhile and the raccoons well they are raccoons. Where abouts are you in NM?

Home in New Mexico, front yard's

In the woods above the home

Feeding the Turkeys early one morning

Elk one evening, total of four this night

Again, thank you for the update and please keep us posted every now and then!...................63bkpkr

Where I was playing this Sept/October:

Yes I went down there!

Just me out in the woods playing.