How rich is rich?

[Jeff95531]

It's raining and I'm daydreaming about the gold. I did some searches on this but didn't find what I wanted so tried to do it myself.

Lets say you get consistently 0.2 grams of gold out of a 5 gl bucket.

0.2 x five-5gl=1.0 gram

155-5gl buckets should produce a troy ounce of 31.10

41-5gl buckets =1 cubic yard
so approx 4 cubic yards of dirt will be processed. Divide by 4 =$300 per square yard (based on current spot of $1200)

Seems awfully rich. Did I mess up anywhere?

 

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[Aufisher]

Rich to me is making $5 an hour playing in the creek lol. BTW we get about a gram per 10-15 buckets.

 

[fowledup]

No disrespect intended but your only have way through with the equation, the other half is- What is your per hour wage? Is it profitable and how long will it be sustainable? Can you make a living off it? Thats more important because what you can survive on and call rich another would go bankrupt on. No definitive answer. Some big outfit could be profitable with cents to the ton, where as you would need dollars to make expenses.

 

[Goldwasher]

.2 per bucket consistently would be great. I get that only when my bucket is full of cherry picked sniped cracks. In an area that gets about the amount aufisher mentioned. That's why we try to run as much of the best dirt we can when sluicing. It helps when you start to get those .1 clinkers in the pan. That's when you have pennyweight days.

 

[Jeff95531]

No disrespect intended but your only have way through with the equation, the other half is- What is your per hour wage? Is it profitable and how long will it be sustainable? Can you make a living off it? Thats more important because what you can survive on and call rich another would go bankrupt on. No definitive answer. Some big outfit could be profitable with cents to the ton, where as you would need dollars to make expenses.

Well I'm retired and not out to make a living at it. My operation is definitely small scale and one employee. Probably 2.5 gallons per hour is dug/classified. Even if you could use a shovel, it really is too large. Getting and processing one 5 gallon bucket of the material I'm talking about is labor intensive...but no matter...I'll keep digging

 

[delnorter]

Jeff, Mike here, your neighbor in Fort Dick. Why don't next time you hit the creek come and borrow my Bazooka prospector and try it out. I think it will up your production appreciably. Just give me a holler.

Mike

 

[Aufisher]

Amplify your power with Bazooka!

 

[goldenmojo]

Mike that's a generous offer. You are to be commended Sir.

 

[Jeff95531]

Very kind of you Mike. I been meaning to pm you. I'll get one out soon. Thanks!

 

[goldenIrishman]

2.5 gallons dug and classified in an hour Jeff? Man..... I can see that I'll have to be crackin that whip over your head when you come on down to work with me!!!!! Using the "Super classifier" that Chris came up with we can classify 2 buckets down to 1/4" in about 5 minutes of bustin butt. Remember.... more dirt moved means more gold in the pan my friend. Now... If we could run the dirt through the sluice as fast as we can classify it with that classifier we'd really be in business!!!!!

Text me later and we'll talk

 

[Jeff95531]

2.5 gallons dug and classified in an hour Jeff? Man..... I can see that I'll have to be crackin that whip over your head when you come on down to work with me!!!!! Using the "Super classifier" that Chris came up with we can classify 2 buckets down to 1/4" in about 5 minutes of bustin butt. Remember.... more dirt moved means more gold in the pan my friend. Now... If we could run the dirt through the sluice as fast as we can classify it with that classifier we'd really be in business!!!!!

Text me later and we'll talk

Ahh, if it were only so easy as digging up a gravel bar, wash or a bank. Lanny & Herb taught me some stuff that really improved my game. It's a lot of work tho...

Find spot...move boulder(s)...move large rocks...move small rocks...get on knees...begin digging...move more rock...begin classifying material thru 1/2"...hit bedrock...thoroughly empty hole...1 gallon found.... backfill...repeat.

Short of dynamite, I don't think it can be done faster but I'm always up to learn something new. I'll text ya this pm.

 

[63bkpkr]

Yes Jeff and that is why it is not a hobby! And Howdy!!

Another item is to stay in shape as all that "hard work" could be hard on ones body. Use the longest lever bar possible for the situation as those situations will stress the body and one could easily overload it. I suspect that was the start of my shoulder problem. Saw a new doc yesterday and he feels I need another surgery so I am trying to get that setup.

2019 is coming and I Will Be In Shape for it!!

Have fun....................63bkpkr
I sure do miss this place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jeff95531]

Hey Herb,
Thanks for checking in. Hope this helps get you back where you belong.

 

[gollum]

Like Chris Rock says: Just remember; there's rich and there's wealthy.

Shaquille ONeal is rich.

The man that signs his paychecks is wealthy!

Mike

 

[63bkpkr]

Ahh Shucks Jeff, those are Purty! Makes me long for the forested mountains, clear clean water streams, rainbow trout and bears!!..................63bkpkr

 

[Jeff95531]

Ahh, if it were only so easy as digging up a gravel bar, wash or a bank. Lanny & Herb taught me some stuff that really improved my game. It's a lot of work tho...

Find spot...move boulder(s)...move large rocks...move small rocks...get on knees...begin digging...move more rock...begin classifying material thru 1/2"...hit bedrock...thoroughly empty hole...1 gallon found.... backfill...repeat.

Short of dynamite, I don't think it can be done faster but I'm always up to learn something new. I'll text ya this pm.

The above is a classic example of the mind set I get sometimes. I was talking to GoldenIrishman on the phone last week and he came up a very good way to speed things up on my site. A Crack Vac like AzViper's. Once the big stuff is out of the way, grab a full size pick and go to town. Hide the pick (CA rule, not mine) then put some 1/2 hardware cloth on the suction end of the vac and start cleaning.

De-rock, bust up, fire up vac, suck up paydirt and stash vac.

Just another great idea that needed to be shared. Course I don't have a vac yet, but at least now I know I need one...helps to prioritize.

 

[Thurman]

Great thread. Goldenirishman, could you give more information on the classification system designed by "Chris" that you mentioned in your post?

 

[Bonaro]

I did not test your math but it looked like you were talking .25 oz per yard. If I could park my dredge on that I would be a happy camper. Digging and classifying by hand is another story, lots of work. You stated 2.5 gallons per hour. Assuming a 8 hour day that works out to about $30 a day in gold, that is not rich.

Even though you have decent ground to play in, you need to increase production to make it viable. I have no idea what your site looks like. Does it have good access? Does it have water? Maybe a small trommel to automate the classification and small winch to roll out boulders and such?
Instead of pot-holes and back fills, can you dig in to bedrock and then move forward and backfill behind you?

 

[Jeff95531]

It's a learn as I go process Bonaro. I'm retired and I've had my fill of 8 to 11 hour days. The vac would help but everything is illegal cept for small hand tools right now, so no sluice or trommel. Still, the more I learn the more gold I find and I just might get "lucky".

 

[delnorter]

I also have a gas pack vac you can borrow if you want to make a stealth run Jeff. Get an area ready and it's pretty fast.

Mike