Thinking of prospecting for gold full-time, need serious advice

[firebird]

I've gotten so obsessed with gold now that I'm literally having dreams about it almost every night. Can't believe I lived all this years here in California not realizing there was gold only an hour away in the Sierra Nevadas. Almost every single free day I'm not working I spend going out just shoveling gravel and taking it back home but even with all the hard work the best I've gotten is just around 0.5 grams a day so it's not exactly profitable. But still, I love it so much, never felt this alive in years just being out there with myself(and the pooping bears). Even with all the backbreaking labor and dangers I feel so happy that I now seriously think I could do this for the rest of my life and never have to wageslave for someone else ever again. Plus I have enough money saved up now that I can survive for several years and not have a job.

Realistically though, can I actually find enough gold to do this full time? If I start buying claims that would be richer than public areas, how much could I really pull out of the ground working without any machinery and just shoveling gravel manually? I'm only 34 right now too so I'm still young enough to rough it out there and work the entire day. Should I also have to worry about the law if I buy a claim and do this full time, just living on it with a van? At the bare minimum I would be just fine with getting $500 a month worth of gold. Serious advice would be welcome, thank you.

 

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[OreCart]

How many millions of dollars of equipment do you think are running around on that operation?

Not saying none of its real. But the gold they were pouring on the scale at the Oregon mine was not found in that ground. I know that much for sure.

The guys on pawn stars are also all millionaires.

Inherited a turn key gold mine including equipment and made $4 mil letting someone film him work and attempt to act.

It is almost impossible to make any money moving earth, just because it takes so much equipment. I mean in the gravel business, at a minimum to get a simple job done, it takes a bucket loader in the pit, a crusher, screen, then a dump truck to haul the gravel, and a bulldozer to place it. Inevitably an excavator, and most likely a grader…just to move gravel at $12 a cubic yard. That can add up to $24,000 a day, but it is seasonal work, requires a lot of maintenance and repairs, and burns a lot of fuel.

In contrast, to log, all a person needs is a chainsaw, cable skidder and truck, to make $120 a cord. With that, working alone, I can produce $1200 a day, but all year long, and with a lot less repairs, and very little fuel.

In talking to the guys that run all mechanical operations: feller-bunchers, grapple skidders, delimbers, etc…I actually make more take home money then they do. I cut less wood, but it costs me less to do it. In fact, the most money I make per cord, is using my Kubota Tractor since it only burns 5 gallons per day of fuel. However, it is limited where it can work, where as the skidder can go anywhere, but burns 40 gallons per day.

One of the reasons I am gravitating towards land clearing is because I just need an excavator and a bulldozer. My competitor charges over $3000 and an acre to clear land, where as I can do it for $1000, but he has a lot more equipment, employees, overhead, etc. There are some jobs I cannot do because there is no ravine to dump the stumps, or the landowner does not want to burn them, etc, where as my competitor can grind them up.

 

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[OreCart]

Mining is a tough gig because of cash flow too. In some respects it is like sheep farming in that I have to work hard all year for a single payout when the lamb crop matures and goes to market. With mining, the more often a person takes the time to leave the mine and cash in their gold, is time spent away from mining. That means there would be a lot of costs up front, and as we all know, what kills businesses is cash flow; not having the money they need to pay bills rather than not having enough assets. There is a huge different between immediate assets (cash), intermediate assets (livestock or equipment that can be sold off) and long term assets (land).

The key would be managing those assets well so that a person could mine full-time, when the pan was rather light, the season was shut down, illness, etc.

 

[OreCart]

One way I manage that is by having (3) means of income.

Earthwork
Sheep Farming
Logging

By having three different methods of obtaining income, if one goes down, like the housing collapse of 2008, I could shift my focus to farming and logging, because those industries do well in poor economic times; we all need to eat and have toilet paper on hand after all.

Equally, earth work pays well, but is seasonal, so logging fills in the gap when the ground is froze. Farming...that is a lot of work during lambing season, but allows for an influx of money in September, and has a lot of tax benefits.

Mining full-time would be difficult, but perhaps if there was a place to placer mine in the summer months, and a place to lode mine in the winter, the seasonable aspect of it could be mitigated? Working on a friends farm in the off-season would also work, but I think I would try to think of three ways to make money so that my income was not based on a single commodity. More than one miner I am sure, has based their income on $1400 an ounce gold and soon starved.

 

[Goldwasher]

One way I manage that is by having (3) means of income.

Earthwork
Sheep Farming
Logging



By having three different methods of obtaining income, if one goes down, like the housing collapse of 2008, I could shift my focus to farming and logging, because those industries do well in poor economic times; we all need to eat and have toilet paper on hand after all.

Equally, earth work pays well, but is seasonal, so logging fills in the gap when the ground is froze. Farming...that is a lot of work during lambing season, but allows for an influx of money in September, and has a lot of tax benefits.

Mining full-time would be difficult, but perhaps if there was a place to placer mine in the summer months, and a place to lode mine in the winter, the seasonable aspect of it could be mitigated? Working on a friends farm in the off-season would also work, but I think I would try to think of three ways to make money so that my income was not based on a single commodity. More than one miner I am sure, has based their income on $1400 an ounce gold and soon starved.

pretty smart.

I learned a long time ago. That having different skills could earn you money consistantly.

Makes it easier to deal with seasonal issues. Changing markets. Overal financial downturn.

Same goes for getting stuck in one career even.

I've known too many people that gave their whole live to one company only to get screwed by the same comaany. Twenty five to thirty years in.

You might as well try to earn your keep doing something you enjoy.

 

[sjfuller1963]

The answer is in your mapping, just like prospecting. Your only as good as your research! I’m a truck driver, but like you, I have a goal to quit and gold prospect full time. In order to do so, I need to build capacity. I need great dirt, process a lot of it. So I need the land and the equipment to do so. Where I live, Alabama, we have fine gold, but we have a good supply of it running thru to Georgia. The math for me is simple; I can get 1 gram of fine gold per yard of good dirt. 1 yard of dirt is (50) 5 gallon buckets. There is 31 grams in an ounce times 50 buckets = 1550 buckets per ounce. I need 1 ounce of gold per week to replace my weekly income. So I need to build my capacity to be able to do 1550 buckets per week!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

The answer is in your mapping, just like prospecting. Your only as good as your research! I’m a truck driver, but like you, I have a goal to quit and gold prospect full time. In order to do so, I need to build capacity. I need great dirt, process a lot of it. So I need the land and the equipment to do so. Where I live, Alabama, we have fine gold, but we have a good supply of it running thru to Georgia. The math for me is simple; I can get 1 gram of fine gold per yard of good dirt. 1 yard of dirt is (50) 5 gallon buckets. There is 31 grams in an ounce times 50 buckets = 1550 buckets per ounce. I need 1 ounce of gold per week to replace my weekly income. So I need to build my capacity to be able to do 1550 buckets per week!

...And find a lifetime supply of $26/yard gravel.

 

[et1955]

The answer is in your mapping, just like prospecting. Your only as good as your research! I’m a truck driver, but like you, I have a goal to quit and gold prospect full time. In order to do so, I need to build capacity. I need great dirt, process a lot of it. So I need the land and the equipment to do so. Where I live, Alabama, we have fine gold, but we have a good supply of it running thru to Georgia. The math for me is simple; I can get 1 gram of fine gold per yard of good dirt. 1 yard of dirt is (50) 5 gallon buckets. There is 31 grams in an ounce times 50 buckets = 1550 buckets per ounce. I need 1 ounce of gold per week to replace my weekly income. So I need to build my capacity to be able to do 1550 buckets per week!

You have the math right but how many troy ounces have you found, dreams are great but the reality of mining involves so many variables.

 

[Nitric]

It is almost impossible to make any money moving earth, just because it takes so much equipment. I mean in the gravel business, at a minimum to get a simple job done, it takes a bucket loader in the pit, a crusher, screen, then a dump truck to haul the gravel, and a bulldozer to place it. Inevitably an excavator, and most likely a grader…just to move gravel at $12 a cubic yard. That can add up to $24,000 a day, but it is seasonal work, requires a lot of maintenance and repairs, and burns a lot of fuel.

In contrast, to log, all a person needs is a chainsaw, cable skidder and truck, to make $120 a cord. With that, working alone, I can produce $1200 a day, but all year long, and with a lot less repairs, and very little fuel.

In talking to the guys that run all mechanical operations: feller-bunchers, grapple skidders, delimbers, etc…I actually make more take home money then they do. I cut less wood, but it costs me less to do it. In fact, the most money I make per cord, is using my Kubota Tractor since it only burns 5 gallons per day of fuel. However, it is limited where it can work, where as the skidder can go anywhere, but burns 40 gallons per day.

One of the reasons I am gravitating towards land clearing is because I just need an excavator and a bulldozer. My competitor charges over $3000 and an acre to clear land, where as I can do it for $1000, but he has a lot more equipment, employees, overhead, etc. There are some jobs I cannot do because there is no ravine to dump the stumps, or the landowner does not want to burn them, etc, where as my competitor can grind them up.

I have a friend that owns a concrete company...Same thing. At one point he had about 30 guys working for him, equipment for each crew etc.... He now has 5 to 7 good guys guys including himself. 1 mini, 2 bobcats,2 small dumps. He claims that he makes more with his crew now in the end than he did with 30 guys and everything going on. I guess there is a point where you start losing money even if the work is there, because as the owner you can only be so many places at one time to run things and the equipment costs and upkeep.

 

[OreCart]

I have a friend that owns a concrete company...Same thing. At one point he had about 30 guys working for him, equipment for each crew etc.... He now has 5 to 7 good guys guys including himself. 1 mini, 2 bobcats,2 small dumps. He claims that he makes more with his crew now in the end than he did with 30 guys and everything going on. I guess there is a point where you start losing money even if the work is there, because as the owner you can only be so many places at one time to run things and the equipment costs and upkeep.

With logging, the real issue is fuel. When you have a feller-buncher, two skidders, a delimber, and a log loader burning 70 gallons of fuel per day, that is $1000 a day in just fuel. Yet they are only pulling out (3) loads of wood. Yeah that might be $4800 a day in wood sales, but then the truck driver must be paid, and the landowner, so the poor guy MIGHT be making $600 a day.

Me and my little junk 1979 Clark Cable skidder pulls out a third of that, but I only have $120 in fuel costs, and no employees or machinery payments to make.

Farming, Logging, Minning...it does not matter; it is not how much money you GROSS, but how much money you have after paying all your costs...even hidden ones. The way I make money with sheep farming is to fabricate my own farming equipment. IF I get into gold mining, I would do the same thing.

SJFuller1963 is absolutely right on his/her math; but if a person can reduce their pay requirements, they will not have to process as much ore. That can further be reduced if a person can reduce the cost of operating and buying their equipment. In the business world it is called Lean...

Lean Farming
Lean Shipbuilding (my old career)
Lean Mining

It takes being creative, and using skills (fabrication for instance) instead of paying for those skills. Thankfully today we have YouTube and anything that is made, has been home-made. And if people lack the skills (such as welding), adult education courses and the like, can make up for the shortfall. A $200 adult education welding course could save a miner $500 the first year alone.

 

[OreCart]

If it sounds like I have all the answers, I assure you I do NOT!

My first company; a logging company failed. I relied on another person for my equipment and realized partnerships NEVER work. At some point someone will get disgruntled.

After that I worked as a welder in the construction-railroad-maritime-shipbuilding industries. I did well, but when I retired 2 years ago at age 42, I failed to proper plan for my property taxes doubling, and my health failing (cancer). My wife has since had to go back to work which I feel horrible about, but she does love her job as a banker. It is what it is.

So I have a lot of real world experience to draw from; good and bad.

 

[Mitch Dickson]

When you can consistantly make $1000 in a 5 day work week, you can prospect full time as long as your muscles hold out Don't confuse gold fever with gold mining

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

When you can consistantly make $1000 in a 5 day work week, you can prospect full time as long as your muscles hold out Don't confuse gold fever with gold mining

The price of gold has a lot to do with that $1000/day.
When gold was $1700/oz it made a big difference regarding was was worth mining and what
wasn’t.

 

[Hard Prospector]

I know of a guy that was looking for a change and went to work at a platinum (placer) mine in Alaska. He was a graphics designer in LA with no mining experience. Took up a paid journey man apprenticeship at the mine. The pay is VERY GOOD but HARD WORK......usually 12 hours a day, 6 days a week June thru September. Has to be flown into the bush. Room and board provided, comfortable & food is quite good.

He only works that 4 months during the Summer, takes the rest of the year off and lives quite well in Arizona. Just another consideration.

 

[sherm]

I've gotten so obsessed with gold now that I'm literally having dreams about it almost every night. Can't believe I lived all this years here in California not realizing there was gold only an hour away in the Sierra Nevadas. Almost every single free day I'm not working I spend going out just shoveling gravel and taking it back home but even with all the hard work the best I've gotten is just around 0.5 grams a day so it's not exactly profitable. But still, I love it so much, never felt this alive in years just being out there with myself(and the pooping bears). Even with all the backbreaking labor and dangers I feel so happy that I now seriously think I could do this for the rest of my life and never have to wageslave for someone else ever again. Plus I have enough money saved up now that I can survive for several years and not have a job.

Realistically though, can I actually find enough gold to do this full time? If I start buying claims that would be richer than public areas, how much could I really pull out of the ground working without any machinery and just shoveling gravel manually? I'm only 34 right now too so I'm still young enough to rough it out there and work the entire day. Should I also have to worry about the law if I buy a claim and do this full time, just living on it with a van? At the bare minimum I would be just fine with getting $500 a month worth of gold. Serious advice would be welcome, thank you.

Say Butch here from Pa. You guys out in California drive over gold as you go to your places to prospect. Under your highways are corrugated drain pipe 4' to whatever, these are y.our sluice boxes. If you can fit, get a scoop and bucket or whatever it takes to suck up your material. Try downtown LA. Happy prospecting.

 

[Goldwasher]

Say Butch here from Pa. You guys out in California drive over gold as you go to your places to prospect. Under your highways are corrugated drain pipe 4' to whatever, these are y.our sluice boxes. If you can fit, get a scoop and bucket or whatever it takes to suck up your material. Try downtown LA. Happy prospecting.

If only the culverts here weren't designed to spit out ALL the material that passes through them.

It's whats in front of and just out of the culvert that can be really good.

The random ones that are full of material can have gold. But because its in the bed load . Not because of the culvert.

 

[Hamfist]

Say Butch here from Pa. You guys out in California drive over gold as you go to your places to prospect. Under your highways are corrugated drain pipe 4' to whatever, these are y.our sluice boxes. If you can fit, get a scoop and bucket or whatever it takes to suck up your material. Try downtown LA. Happy prospecting.

I dug a bunch of dirt out of one in East Fork San Gabriel a few years back. Not one speck. Same story with some land I own just outside of Randsburg. Not worth the effort.

 

[goldenmojo]

I have found color and lead in small catch basins at the head of a culvert pipe but never in one.

 

[OreCart]

I have found color and lead in small catch basins at the head of a culvert pipe but never in one.

Are you guys talking culvert bottoms, or open-bottom culverts (natural bottoms)?

Here, if the culvert has any size to it, they have to have a gravel bottom for Atlantic Salmon Passage.

 

[goldenmojo]

I am talking about metal pipe culverts which vary in size 16”-6’ diameter. I have found nothing in them only upstream of them and then only if there was some form of catch there. I agree with hamfist, not worth the effort.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I am talking about metal pipe culverts which vary in size 16”-6’ diameter. I have found nothing in them only upstream of them and then only if there was some form of catch there. I agree with hamfist, not worth the effort.

In the civil engineering world they are called “self cleaning culvert”...gee I wonder why they named ‘em that way?