Will Your Gold Prospecting Equipment Ever Pay For Itself?

[Terry Soloman]

Back in the 1970s, 80s, and even into the 1990s, I would have answered this question with a very positive yes. Unfortunately for the average recreational gold prospector/miner, today I would say no. In fact, I would say the only people making money on recreational gold prospecting/mining, are the equipment manufacturers, claim sellers, and research software/book sellers.

Tell me why I'm misguided.

 

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[pczim]

Without a doubt!

 

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[Lanny in AB]

It depends not only on location but on the knowledge of how to find and recover, Yes my equipment paid for itself but my knowledge of the land paid for the rest. I really don't know how many times over it has been that my equipment paid for itself. The gold that I've found with my 6" homebuilt dredge alone would pay for 30 more just like it. And this is normal here in California or it was until the dredge ban. So does that count for the rest of my equipment? My 4" Proline paid for itself in 2 trips and that was in 2004. Everything since then has been pure profit. In 2009 I found the 1800's hydraulic sluice box that had been buried under 40 feet of tailings after the flood that destroyed so many hydraulic miners last year. The riffles were still in place and we recovered a lot of gold that summer, as usual. Then the dredge ban went into effect and I switched over to using a trommel, it paid for itself in a day... Today, I'm 56, been retired since 2011, not drawing any retirement yet because I can't get 100% until I'm 59.5. I'm 100% retired on funds from my past mining adventures and this includes houses, cars, food, everything. Location was a major factor in putting my family where it is today, but my knowledge and determination to win or succeed is what made everything work. Was it luck? No, it was perseverance. My Great grandfather's mining paid for his life and combined with my grandfather, they paid for much of my father life and my beginnings. My dad hated mining because he grew up working hard in the family mines when he wasn't running the old Hardware Store and he always said no to me when I wanted to open up different family patented mines. He said that he would never do that me, and that's how much he hated mining. But I had the family gift and I watched him sell both of our patented family mines while I begged him not too. So I went over his head and talked to his best friend, who made him listen. In the end because of our friend talking to him, my dad listened to his mining plan, (or my mining plan actually, though he didn't know at first that it was from me), and he ended up being able to retire at 65 with having no retirement from any job he had ever worked. So mining has made our lives enjoyable even though for many years, times were hard. You're guaranteed broken fingers, bleeding blisters, and tired old bones, and plenty of hard times, but money can still be made from gold mining even here in California. The places that I mined the most are the same places that my Great Grand fathers both mined and made good livings for their families. If you haven't checked out the albums on my profile page, there's a lot of mining history in the different photo albums that I have on our great site here

Thanks for the tips on your albums Reed. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures and the history that you've recorded as well.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Terry,

I've paid for some of my equipment with the gold I've found, and I've traded gold to get other equipment, so I guess I've got myself in a loop!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[seclymer]

Hey I am very new to this forum site. I am a senior in high school working on an engineering project. I want to create a lightweight and portable gold wash plant that can fit in a 32 liter backpack. Is this something that you would be interested in? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[fishnfacts]

My answer is I hope not. Wanting to become a small scale miner I want to finance the largest plant in Alaska and strike it rich but die before I pay back the bank. LOL
Seriously, for what I have planned I will not be in any high dollar adventures.

 

[OwenT]

Hey I am very new to this forum site. I am a senior in high school working on an engineering project. I want to create a lightweight and portable gold wash plant that can fit in a 32 liter backpack. Is this something that you would be interested in? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks.

Hey seclymer, the best thing for you to do would be to start your own thread for your question back either in the general gold prospecting section or maybe the dredging & highbanking section of the main forum.

 

[PurpleGold]

Nope and I honestly don't care. If I tried to make money on my hobbies and recreational activities then they would become a job. I've had gold fever since my grandma bought my cousin and I a gold panning session at Knotts Berry Farm when I was about 8. I had my first keene when I was thirteen. The thrill of pulling out the smallest spec of gold even after an entire day of work is completely worth it to me. That small spec of gold is being seen by human eyes for the first time. It is billions of years old and was made by a supernova, flew through space and now I'm finding it while playing in the dirt. There is so much science and marvel in all of it that I love every second.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hey I am very new to this forum site. I am a senior in high school working on an engineering project. I want to create a lightweight and portable gold wash plant that can fit in a 32 liter backpack. Is this something that you would be interested in? Any feedback would be very helpful. Thanks.

It's been done. You take that Gold panning kit and Chris Ralph's book, and shove it in that backpack with a folding sluice and shovel - Done!

 

[Tonto]

I haven't paid for my gear yet, but I'm still learning, too. I have all the equipment I need now, and when my wife retires this fall we'll be full time miners. I have no doubt that by the end of 2017, we'll have turned a profit. That said, treasure is the experience, people, adventures, places you wouldn't see otherwise, education in the form of geology, hydrology, law, et al. There's no way to put a price tag on such things. We are very excited about hitting the desert in the winter, and the Rockies of Idaho and Montana in the summer. If we don't find a single speck, it's ok....

 

[Capt Nemo]

Tonto,

I've found a speck of gold everywhere I've prospected in Wisconsin. Out there, you should do GREAT!!!!

 

[russau]

My trips / equipment / experience that ive acquired over the years has been PRICELESS to me and probly will continue to be as I get older and more beat up! and the friends ive meet along the way couldn't be beat! Thankyou for the memories!

 

[Bronze]

The amount I have spent on mining gear FAAAAAAR exceeds what I have brought in and I am out every single week. My total take is probably around 6 grams. I need at least 2 oz. to cover what I have into it.

I have no delusions that I am going to find a monster nugget or anything close to that. The gold I get looks like backing flour for the most part and I am only using a shovel and buckets to move material. My states regs makes it real hard to move a ton of material in a day outside of dredging season. And even inside of dredging season, the water levels are so low you cant get to where the gold is (high water line).

Maybe one day I'll get something that makes it all break even.

 

[et1955]

In the beginning you are a prospector, once you have acquired the experience and knowledge you become a miner, it takes time. The experiences you go threw make you richer than any gold you get. Have I found enough gold to pay for my equipment, many times over plus I was able to fulfill a dream of mine and that was to get my own claims, 3 in Northern California, All from gold that I found. I spent many years looking for gold and found nothing but on a fateful day " July 4th 1991 " my friend dragged me up to Olney creek,Wa. We mined in the rain and at the end of the day I took my concentrate's home, after so many failures I did not want to pan it out but I did, I finally found my first piece of gold, that was pivotal in my life. Spent the next year on Olney creek, by the end of the year I had found enough gold to cover the bottom of a one ounce bottle, not much gold but what I learned was more valuable. How valuable, well here in western Washington there is one river that is richer than any other river this side of the Cascades, The Sultan River, my first day on the Sultan I pulled out 1/3 of an ounce, a year well spent on Olney creek learning. So my message to you guys that don't have much gold in your area, master finding it so one day when you get to a richer area you will succeed.