tayopa : the mexican version of the story

[Oroblanco]

Ditto to the words of our amigo Lastleg, please do continue Don Jose'!

<extra cup for you amigo!>
Oroblanco

 

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[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HIO, k, but better yet, come on down ORO. Write your own version of the recovery of one of the main deposits..

K gentlemen where shall we begin ?

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Oroblanco]

HOLA amigos,

Don Jose wrote

K gentlemen where shall we begin ?

Well they say it is always best to begin at the beginning, but I will be happy with any point you choose to start from.
Oroblanco

 

[lastleg]

Like this Don Jose':

In the beginning as the ways of men strayed from . . . . .

I began an expedition into the interior . . . .

Like that . . .

lastleg

 

[arkhunter]

sounds good to me

 

[rmptr]

How to re-begin the tale ?

I would guess Don Jose could better tell his side of the story ... from the beginning...

....
When I was much younger and high spirited, the Federales had lost interest in pursuing me,
to ask questions, yet the novio of the woman I had met in the cantina was relentless,
leading me to go even further into the harsh mountains to avoid the inevitable encounter.

It was a chilled sunrise when I noted indications of past mining activity where I had camped.
.....

 

[lastleg]

rmptr:

Now that's what I call a Jim Dandy start. Yet somehow the inference to age
might prove troublesome. I like to think of Don Jose' as ageless, virile, and
courageous to a fault. Not that there is anything demeaning about being
'long in the tooth' as in my own case but to constantly point this out to the
'great unwashed' is unneccesary IMHO.

lastleg

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

hi simple,

I heard of it,

I looked for it,

I found it,

Now what do I do with it?


snicker

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[arkhunter]

proceed carefully

 

[rmptr]

LL, I suppose you're right...

I didn't think I was a constant...

So, I suppose the key to even the last sentence was that I didn't think.

Probably best I leave it at that...

Best
rmptr


.

 

[lastleg]

rmptr:

Didn't mean to suggest a literal rejoinder mate. Only funning.

 

[Oroblanco]

Re: tayopa : <VERY long reply, extra hot cocoa alert>

Don Jose de la Mancha wrote

hi simple,

I heard of it,

I looked for it,

I found it,

Now what do I do with it?

First I wish to address the whole issue of AGE. I frequently forget that Don Jose is my senior, as I feel quite old most of the time! It is readily apparent that he is absolutely young in mind, though well seasoned with the hard-earned wisdom of years.

I see no insult in someone having successfully reached a venerable age - after all it is honestly achieved and especially remarkable when a treasure hunter manages it, considering the numerous hardships and life-endangering risks entailed in the profession. In fact it is highly respectable in my opinion.

Now as to that most puzzling question posed by the extremely successful treasure hunter we all know and love (namely Don Jose, Dueno de Real y Minas de Tayopa, aka Tropical Tramp, aka Man of La Mancha, and several other aliases) WHAT DO I DO WITH TAYOPA, now that I have found it and have legal ownership?

There are numerous options, the most obvious answer relates to extracting that wealth so as to benefit yourself and your family, and in general the people of the area paying particular attention to those whom have assisted. The first option would be to "option" the mines to a large mining corporation, though this entails the risk that they will drag their feet, in hopes of 'outliving' the discoverer and being thus enabled to later grab the property by paying the taxes on it, or by offering the heirs of the discoverer a tiny fraction of what it is worth - making the argument that it is better than nothing.

One could sell it outright to a large mining company, with an addendum specifying the payment of royalties on the output of minerals (not limited to metals only - watch out for that amigos, for it is not uncommon for some types of GEMS to occur in metals mines; turquoise in copper mines, amethyst in silver mines, for examples) and this would be my own first choice, though the most difficult to negotiate. Many mining companies are long on ambitions, short on cash for purchasing mineral properties, and again most (if not ALL) demand (or strongly desire) to see a complete mineral assessment of the property in question, namely a full drilling program with cores logged and assayed individually, blocking out ore bodies and the values therein; for placer properties a somewhat similar plan though with panned samples from a systematical sampling plan done on the whole property, thus again delineating the values in minerals and defining what areas contain the values and what does NOT. In some cases, as I have found in practice, a mining company will "settle" for your OWN logs of your own panning tests, IF it is done "scientifically" without any exaggerations or omissions. There is no benefit in lying about what your pans tested amigos - for they WILL want to go and take their own samples from the very same places you did, so they must be marked on the ground.

Another option would be to start mining it yourself; the capital outlay can be tremendous if one is trying to mine it in a large scale (with correspondingly large returns $$$$) and few of us could plunk down the kind of money required; a large ball mill alone for instance could cost several tens of thousands of dollars, and this without even addressing the costs for any bonds required by the govt for the permits to operate. One way to get round the massive capital requirements would be to "incorporate" and sell shares, thus forming your "own" mining corporation, and I have no idea what the laws are in Mexico for incorporating and being able to legally sell stocks. Personally I would not attempt this route without consulting with a good corporate lawyer as a first step.

One might try mining it small scale; I do not know what labor costs are in that region or if you could even find anyone willing to work in such a place, but the costs for equipment needed for a small operation are fairly reasonable. For example, a small jaw-crusher, of the type sold for "test batches" is several thousand dollars <new> one would need a generator, an air or gasoline drill, something for blasting (not sure dynamite can be had, but other options are available) perhaps even a good metal detector for "sniping" in the old workings so as to be able to only work on rich "spots" in the ore which were missed by the original miners. The ore need not be refined, one could simply concentrate it and sell the concentrates; this would tend to reduce any losses due to theft by the folks working for you. This option would only work if the ore remaining is rich enough that small amounts of it will pay.

Another option would be to LEASE it, and here you have two options - either lease it to a large mining company (with a requirement for payment of royalties on the product) or lease it to "mom and pop" miners for cash monthly "rent" payments, and considering that Tayopa covers are fairly large area, one could rent out small parts of the whole to individuals, for cash and a royalty combined. This puts the problems of capital for equipment, bonds etc up to the lessees, and ensures an income from the property whether the lessees make a profit or not. This may seem rather cold-blooded, but if the lessees are too lazy to do any mining then it is their own fault.

Whether one chose to follow any or all of these options, one could make a small business out of taking people up to see the famous and ancient mines and ruins. This would entail hiring of one or two local people to serve as "guides" for the visitors, and you could even charge a small fee and allow your visitors to do a little panning or prospecting during their visit.

I would hope that at a minimum, our discoverer would write up a history of his adventures, telling how and when he found that most famous of all Mexican lost mines, Tayopa. The publishing rights to this story alone may well be worth millions of dollars, and movie rights are also valuable though I have no idea what is commonly paid for screen rights.

My apologies for the extremely LONG post, I hope I have not bored anyone to death and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
Oroblanco

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

OK ORO, You are going to have your work cut out for you when you finally come down. Get your pencils sharpened, but we will probably NOT work Tayopa, but will work on the two main deposits to start with.

Incidentally, I am only middle aged for my expected active life span, unless either Beth or my Tiger decide otherwise.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Oroblanco]

Ed - Good luck and good hunting amigo, I hope you find the treasures that you seek – and I for one will be jealous!

Don Jose, tesoro buscadero extraordinaire wrote

Get your pencils sharpened, but we will probably NOT work Tayopa, but will work on the two main deposits to start with.

Pencils – hmm now you have me curious! Do you think those deposits are un-opened, that is to say the original fellows who filled them never returned? No signs of anyone having already dug? I wonder what is IN them! Don Jose I do have to ask you a question – what will you say, if it turns out to be nothing but large stacks and more stacks of gold and silver bars? We already have it in writing that our Jesuits never, ever had any kinds of treasures or mines, so they have no legal claim on anything that turns up. I would love to see your face light up on seeing that trove brought out.

Well I must 'hit the hay', another busy day in the winter wonderland tomorrow – wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[Springfield]

Re: tayopa :

.... WHAT DO I DO WITH TAYOPA, now that I have found it and have legal ownership?....

You're in a very tough situation, DJ. You can probably forget about this property becoming an operating mine by an established mining company. Those players are only interested in large, accessible properties that have nearby infrastructure, low projected mining costs and legally proven mineral reserves and resources totalling millions of equivalent gold ounces. These legal reserves are established through very expensive drilling programs carried out for years by discovery companies before the real miners get interested. In Chihuahua and Sonora alone, there are hundreds of properties currently being explored/proven by dozens of exploration 'juniors', mostly out of Canada. Tens of millions ounces of gold and hundreds of millions ounces of silver have already been proven and are awaiting their turn to be mined. You won't live long enough to see your property go through this gauntlet. Besides, you'll be bought off early for peanuts before the real work is done.

If your property is rich enough and you want to see it mined during your lifetime, you will probably have to deal with some sort of smaller 'wildcat' company to extend and exploit the existing underground workings. This could possibly be efficient and lucrative, but it could also easily be an expensive and risky nightmare for the miner. Your cut won't be nearly as much as you'd like because you're not paying the costs or taking the risks, which seem wildly unpredictable given the age of the workings and the difficult terrain and lack of infrastructure that you've described earlier. If you go this route, get the best bulldog mining lawyer you can find because you're going to need one. Try to get as much up front as possible with a short-term enforcable agreement.

You could try to work the property yourself, but I would not recommend it. If you do, go for near-surface high grade ore, if there is enough to make your efforts worthwhile. You'll need some expertise, some people who know what they're doing, some equipment, and lots of money.

Your best bet might be to try to exploit the historical value of the property.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Springfield I haven't the slightest intention of working it. I am after the already mined materiel.There are two large deposits on Tayopa, and various others that were put in the underground chambers of the various small missions on the road to the shipping area, and are still there.

Tayopa itself will be left sleeping, but it is incredibly rich. How else to explain 610 mule loads of Au and 1200 Ag bars of Dore for starters.

If I want to mine, I have three top properties. One that is near a large city, 50 miles, work force, 35 miles to a RR shipping center/siding, on an all weather, paved, state maintained road and 4-500 meters from a hi power line. See attachment for assay data.

I will develop the Tayopa 'zone' however.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[arkhunter]

keep up the good work.....while not working.......well.....something like that

 

[rmptr]

.
Springfield,
I can see that you are experienced with the mining biz.
.


.

 

[Peerless67]

RDT, why not get some cheap local labour in and get that gold out ? you could then afford to get me that grape peeler you promised me

 

[arkhunter]

will work for old lumber