PROSPECTOR NEEDED TO IDENTIFY & VALIDATE POTENTIAL GOLD VALUES

Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
372
210
Where The Four Winds Blow
Primary Interest:
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I need a good prospector that can evaluate potential claims I may buy or partner on. You need to be able to show a claim has potential before I bring in heavy equipment for testing. I will pay $1000 per week plus all expenses including transportation, camping gear, & food. You bring your expertise. A good attitude & ability to work hard & play hard are a must. This could very well lead to a permanent position. Let's talk.
 

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DizzyDigger

Gold Member
Dec 9, 2012
5,821
11,544
Concrete, WA
Detector(s) used
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Are these placer or lode claims? What states?

Primarily searching for gold?

And no, I'm not qualified, but these are relevant questions any
potential person might ask.
 

Goodyguy

Gold Member
Mar 10, 2007
6,489
6,895
Arizona
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Whites TM 808, Whites GMT, Tesoro Lobo Super Traq, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Suction Dredges, Trommels, Gold Vacs, High Bankers, Fluid bed Gold Traps, Rock Crushers, Sluices, Dry Washers, Miller Tables, Rp4
Primary Interest:
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What's the catch?

You may want to check his previous posts for more info..............
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/search.php?searchid=25547691

Could be a fun and rewarding adventure for the right person.

Too bad the OP doesn't have the experience/ability to evaluate potential assets for himself.
They sound like good people that have a case of the fever. :icon_thumright:

Gold Fever
by GoodyGuy~

I've a sickness that can't be cured
And a fever that can't be broken

I must find gold or as feared
I'll burst and I'm not joke'n

The only thing that'll fulfill my dream
and keep me from gettin' old

Is bein' out there on any ol' stream
and pannin' for yellow Gold

I'll hunt and pan and sluice all year
and when the truth be told

The only cure that I'll hold dear,
is when I hit that motherlode!


GG~
 

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A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
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Ann Arbor
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You may want to check his previous posts for more info..............
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/search.php?searchid=25547691

Could be a fun and rewarding adventure for the right person.

Too bad the OP doesn't have the experience/ability to evaluate potential assets for himself.
They sound like good people that have a case of the fever. :icon_thumright:

Gold Fever
by GoodyGuy~

I've a sickness that can't be cured
And a fever that can't be broken

I must find gold or as feared
I'll burst and I'm not joke'n

The only thing that'll fulfill my dream
and keep me from gettin' old

Is bein' out there on any ol' stream
and pannin' for yellow Gold

I'll hunt and pan and sluice all year
and when the truth be told

The only cure that I'll hold dear,
is when I hit that motherlode!


GG~
Thats a great poem love it
 

OP
OP
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Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
372
210
Where The Four Winds Blow
Primary Interest:
Other
We will be looking at claims in several states - haven't made decisions on all of them yet but right now it looks like Montana, Nevada, & California. You will need to be free to travel. The job will last for 6 - 8 wks but might lead to full time position depending on what happens. I will provide everything including a truck for the prospector or he can use his own if he chooses. I have an F-250 & also a nice older Nissan 4X4 if needed. I will pay for travel expense, gas, food, camping, etc. The prospector will provide more knowledge than I possess. We will work hard but at the end of the day we like to have fun. Bring your guns, we love to shoot. If you like good whiskey we will have it but not until the workday is done & the shooting is done also.
One mine i'm really interested in is in Montana. There is an old boy up there that is running gravels out of an old tailings dump from the 1800's. He's getting pretty good results too. The old timers seem to have missed most of the finer stuff. He's got an approved plan of operations to run them which could last a few yrs but need to get approved for the high grade virgin ground. His has some equipment on sight but he's getting too old to work it alone & is looking for capital & a partner to get a bigger trommel to run more gravels per hour. As of now I have several more sight in Nevada & California I will also look at.
 

Adventure_Time

Jr. Member
May 31, 2015
89
92
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Are you reliant on the success of the claim to operate or is this a "for fun and profit" situation?

Can you repair equipment?

Are you prepared to follow the rules?

There's tons of extremely knowledgeable folks here that can walk you through how to evaluate potential values on a claim. It just requires boots on the ground and some basic math. If the issue is locating a viable claim, that's a different story altogether. That said Nevada or Montana will give you less headaches with regards to litigation. You might consider working both states if it's a retirement situation, head south when it gets cold, otherwise nevada is going to have more available working timeframe. However... gold is where you find it, if it works it works.
 

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Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
372
210
Where The Four Winds Blow
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I am going to evaluate a number of claims. A good prospector can do initial testing before I bring in equipment to run a 500 - 1000 cubic yard test. I have talked with a number of operators who do this for a living & am aware of the possible pitfalls. My wife & I can run any type equipment and aren't afraid to take risks. We are both leaving good jobs to take our shot at mining & are pretty well capitalized for a small to mid sized operation of 100 - 400 cubic yards per day. I have a good opportunity to take over a mine up in Montana that is already up & running. The gentleman that owns it is getting too old to do the work & has some equipment on site which we we want to scale up a bit with a bigger trommel. He's running a 20 yard/hr trommel that is smaller than we want. He has a valid Plan of Operations running a huge tailings dump dating back to the 1800's & is getting good gold out of it so far. It's enough to make decent money because the old timers missed all the fine gold. He needs to permit to run the virgin high grade while we run tailings for a year or two. That high grade needs to be prospected. We also have several other sites to prospect before we pull the trigger. We are not retired, just changing careers.
 

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
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Seems the risk is mostly to be taken by the claim owner.

I have to admit - I am curious as to what experience you have mining...operating/servicing/repairing heavy equipment. So far you have offered that you watch tv shows, shoot guns, drink whiskey, and are not afraid to work.

Granted it is not my place to question someone’s experience. Is it too forward of me to ask?
 

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Silveraith

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LOL. What's better than shooting guns & drinking good whiskey. My wife is a heavy equipment trainer. I am a gas well tender & run heavy equipment on the side. We have salted away a pretty large nest egg & have made up our minds to be miners. I can fix things also. As far as experience in running a mine - none.
 

Wiggler

Jr. Member
May 9, 2019
54
137
The Real Northern Calif.
Primary Interest:
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:happy1: I like this thread . …. and I really like popcorn. I honestly hope that you get wealthy . People do ! I do like parmesan on my pop-corn.... its perty good.
 

Adventure_Time

Jr. Member
May 31, 2015
89
92
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So you take over the tailings mine, is that enough to recoup your costs or is it just for the experience / equipment / right-of-way? I assume you want access to the virgin high grade ground, why didn't the gentleman go after it? Either you'll make plenty just running tailings or he couldn't get the paperwork and you probably won't either.

If you've already got some properties in mind, how do you know there's gold there worth paying someone 1k a week to map it out for you? The only way I know to do this short of boots on the ground is digging through old USGS reports that identify what formation the gold is hosted in and then referring to maps and check that against word of mouth / previous operations in the area.

Is there infrastructure giving you access to get equipment in there?

For a two person operation I'm guessing you'll be using an excavator + FE loader and trommel? What will you use the clear the land if it's not already clear?

If better values are identified and validated, will you be packing up shop and moving from your tailings mine or outsource the labor?

Where will you sell the gold and how you will transport it there? Will you refine on-site or ship raw?

I feel like these are essential questions to ask yourself if you have no prior mining experience and want to succeed. Hell I'd do it, but I'd require a contract with a severance clause. % up front and remainder upon term completion and if you decided to terminate early for whatever reason there'd need to be a severance package.
 

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Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
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(1) Those are all good questions. Let's go through them one at a time. The tailings are pretty easy to run & are paying around $7 per yard. The mine owner is too old to work them much due to health issues, etc. He ran them himself for years but didn't worry too much about making lots of money because he could only run limited yardage working alone. Where I come in is with the capital to bring in a larger washplant & a small loader. He already has a nice mid size excavator & skid steer which he was using instead of a loader. He has a 100 ft drop on the tailings side of the trommel so it's set up so the course & fine sluice tailings drop off the bluff. He is pumping directly out of a good creek & doesn't have to recirculate water. I really love the set up as it saves us needing a tailings person. I think with the right washplant we can realistically run 200 yards per day or about $1400 per day gross. My wife will dig & haul pay with the excavator & rock truck (or maybe a dump truck) & I will feed the trommel with the skid steer which has a 3/4 yard bucket. He has just started working on paperwork for the high grade which he has tested & tells me it's quite rich. The draw back to the deal is the short season at his mine which is up in the mountains. About 4 - 5 months a year. That's why I haven't signed a contract yet, I want to evaluate other properties.

(2) We are only interested in properties that were previously mined by the old timers & can determine there are still virgin gravels left to mine. If they are owned by someone wanting to mine them we would bring in a prospector for first analysis & if promising bring in an excavator for a bigger test.

(3) Yes, there is infrastructure in place including an old cabin & good access when weather is good. He has a large diesel generator also.

(4) His land has pretty much been cleared as far as the high grade. The road needs to be improved but it's no big deal to do. Right up our alley. We may need to clear out a few trees with a chains saw & excavator also. Yes, we will use an excavator, loader, & trommel. I may buy an old dump truck also. I'm looking at buying two trommels from Gold Claimer Brand. The Pioneer 15 for testing & easy portability & the large Pioneer 50 for production. That one will run 25 - 50 yards per hour. The smaller one about 10 - 15.

(5) As far as better values & moving, once set up on the Montana mine I would be committed to staying for a few & most likely run high grade gravels after a year or two if things go as planned. Once i'm in i'm in for awhile.

(6) We have buyers already lined up. We will ship raw but at some point I may take a shot at doing my own smelting.

(7) I have a buddy that mines small scale. He is helping me through some of this & would be on site with us for the first couple of weeks.

Thanks for asking those good questions. It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. You may think of something I haven't thought about. The prospecting job is just a short time position but I may hire that person to help with production if he (or she) works out. We can teach almost anyone how to run equipment. What i'd like to hire once we are up & running is a good mechanic/operator so when something breaks I can keep doing other mine related tasks.
 

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Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
372
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Where The Four Winds Blow
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One other thing is my decision to start mining : my wife & I think gold prices will continue to rise. I follow some pretty smart people that tell me commodity prices are in the first stage a big run & that includes precious metals. The only one they don't think will see much traction is oil because of over production. I see gold breaking $2000 within 12 - 18 months. If we are right those production numbers just get better & better. We bought stock in 3 mining companies last spring & have tripled our money.
 

Adventure_Time

Jr. Member
May 31, 2015
89
92
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If it were me I'd get Montana up and running and then find ground in Nevada to keep cash coming in all year. Eventually set your sight on Alaska when you want a high risk high reward operation. A good mechanic is definitely a must, things will break down.

Last time gold bubbled it hit $1700-1800. The previous trends dictate the next bubble will be higher especially when you account for inflation in the last decade. It will equalize back down again but with renewables you can run a more efficient operation so even during the dip you can turn a profit.

Though its difficult to predict what's going to happen with oil over the next several years.
 

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Silveraith

Banned
Dec 10, 2019
372
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Where The Four Winds Blow
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I agree with your thoughts. I think the Montana deal is a great place to get started & there will be a learning curve on my part so something proven & ready to go is a huge plus. I just wish the season up there wasn't so short. Slow & steady to start makes good sense to me. We invested & saved money for 15 yrs. We have a good bankroll. Not a million but close. We got heavily invested in stocks in June of 2009 when everything was low. It was a gamble at the time but we turned $50,000 into $600,000. On top of that we still have about $200,000 in mining stocks that I really don't want to sell now because I know they are going higher. We also have savings. I am aware that money can go away fast in mining so we are trying to be careful & get a good contract.
 

Adventure_Time

Jr. Member
May 31, 2015
89
92
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Any opinions or ideas on these two trommels I am considering. The Pioneer 50 will take a bit of time so I will need to order it in next couple months.


Pioneer 15





Pioneer 50 w/External Hopper & Conveyor

I think it boils down to what you want to accomplish with them? The smaller trommel would be good for difficult / steep / narrow terrain where you wont be rolling in fullsized equipment. How many yards per hour are you wanting / need to run VS what each is capable of and what the two of you will be able to realistically feed them. It'd be tragic to have too much gold and not enough trommel to get through it at the rate you need, if you are scaling up in the future the larger trommel is future proofed.
 

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