The history of Tayopa

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

good morning springfield: you posted -->Congratulations for the 350k deal. I hope you
sold those Noront shares because as you know, the once-$7 shares are currently trading at about $1.
**************
The deal was never terminated, due to some hanky panky by the Mexican sub, the shares were
never presented until '3 years later' at the low price you mentioned, not at the agreed sale price.
Naturally I flatly refused them. Did sell many option shares at those prices

They did carry the Escondida / Magia properties 'illegally' on their books for three years as
100% owned assets ?? Hmmmmm

Noront had their shareholders fight and Richard was relieved of the CEO position. They installed
their own men and Noront has gone steadily downhill since. They have dropped any mining outside
of the ROF in NE Canada.

The properties are free and clear of any liens, claims, or otherwise, and remain 100%
in our name. All duties are paid up. Just rechecked last week.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

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[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

good afternoon springfield: you posted -->If so, you'll need to start over raising interest in them -
a tough nut to crack with all the ongoing action in Mexico these days.
************
Not a great problem, so far we are in a neutral zone, both at the Escondida and up at Tayopa.
The path to supply the druggies in the US flows around us.


Oro, haven't you heard of tweezers? Yank em one at a time snicker

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Oroblanco]

Don Jose wrote

Oro, haven't you heard of tweezers?

Tweezers are for plucking up small nuggets of gold, not for inflicting pain!

I had hoped that your plan would not be to sink a shaft, it scares the bejeezus out of me to go down (and up) such places but one must do what the job calls for.
Oroblanco

 

[Springfield]

good afternoon springfield: you posted -->If so, you'll need to start over raising interest in them -
a tough nut to crack with all the ongoing action in Mexico these days.
************
Not a great problem, so far we are in a neutral zone, both at the Escondida and up at Tayopa.
The path to supply the druggies in the US flows around us......

Actually, the drug cartels are a non-issue. I was referring to all the mining action. The Canadians primarily (dozens of corporations), and a few Yankees too, are exploring, drilling and mining hundreds of sites all over Mexico. Mucho silver and mucho gold in those hills.

Most gold projects nowadays are low grade (1 gram/ton), high volume heap leach mines. Once the mineralized ground is located and controlled (may take years), and drilled (several more years to block out the ore body), the company needs to prove it's economic feasibility (yep, years), then sell it to a bigger fish or finance, build and operate the mine themselves. Unless the Escondida is in the midst of a multi-hectare concession, or closebye to other working mines, your best bet to exploit it will probably be to find a wildcatter to mine the vein for a share of the returns. Between the equipment, mining, transport and concentration costs, recovery percentage and the miner's cut, you'll eat up a good chunk of money to chase those $1000/ton values. Good luck and be careful.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Hi springfield, what about the 300,000 cu meters of tailing's 2 / 9 grams. heheheh A nice cheap, simple, operation with electricity on the spot. My old Perkins AA is still there.

As for the Escondida, it is rated as one of the finest mines in Sonora by their mining dept, who knows.

Yes, I ran the mill and recovery systems, plus cyanide leaching for a few mines, and organized the assay labs for them, including teaching the local assayers. so I do have an idea as to what you are saying.

Sometimes it pays to be a tropical tramp, diversified living, and sometimes actual fun..

If Noront was interested, there are others.

Incidentally a small crew can put 40 tons daily on the pile for concentrating.

I also own a nice little claim next to the actual center of operations of the Piedras Verdes Cu property in Sonora.

One must pay off, no?

Jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

ORO, the shaft already exists, besides shovels cost money. Did you actually think that I would trust you with one?

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Oroblanco]

ORO, the shaft already exists, besides shovels cost money. Did you actually think that I would trust you with one?

Don Jose de La Mancha

YIKES! Are you saying, mucking out must be done 'el mano' (by hand) sans any sort of manual backhoe or over-sized spoon? Surely you must realize, you CAN trust me with old number 2 (a fitting handle if ever there was one) so long as you don't go turning your back on me? <Kidding of course> You are going to make sure that I WILL get a blister, aren't you?

Besides, trying to knock someone out by whacking with a shovel is never a sure-fire method; there is a good chance that the 'victim' may well survive or worse dodge such a blow, and then it will be a matter of trying to out-run or dodge hot lead .303 caliber pointed 150 grain pellets flying at me at perhaps 2400 fps. I am not sure that would work out too well, plus it would be eliminating the only person alive who knows the exact sites and history of Tayopa. Rather a lose-lose sort of gambit from my view. Have I talked you into trusting me with the 'tool of the trade' yet?

**Side grumble thingie, you do know that Beth sends me down old mineshafts on occasion, I had hoped that you would not encourage her in this habit! To be honest, she takes that risk herself too, so my only option in order to look "macho" is to insist that I go first. Couldn't we just say, "ladies first"? <heh heh>

Without getting too specific about this, the ore buyers you have in mind - do you know if they have a minimum load amount, how they will pay (net smelter returns or simple price-per-ton on average assay, etc) and would it be a good idea to have a dump truck or trailer for hauling ore? What sort of equipment will you need? <Beth said to tell you, "Have backhoe, will travel" and to ask if there is room near base camp for a tent? From the look of the photos you have posted previously, looked like finding a spot to pitch a tent will be a problem.>
Oroblanco

 

[Springfield]

Hi springfield, what about the 300,000 cu meters of tailing's 2 / 9 grams. heheheh A nice cheap, simple, operation with electricity on the spot. My old Perkins AA is still there.

As for the Escondida, it is rated as one of the finest mines in Sonora by their mining dept, who knows.

Yes, I ran the mill and recovery systems, plus cyanide leaching for a few mines, and organized the assay labs for them, including teaching the local assayers. so I do have an idea as to what you are saying.

Sometimes it pays to be a tropical tramp, diversified living, and sometimes actual fun..

If Noront was interested, there are others.

Incidentally a small crew can put 40 tons daily on the pile for concentrating.

I also own a nice little claim next to the actual center of operations of the Piedras Verdes Cu property in Sonora.

One must pay off, no?

Jose de La Mancha

If all you have to do is load the dump material into trucks and drive it to the mill for $$, then why are we wasting time talking? With all due respect, IMHO, trying to mine that deep flooded sulfide vein yourself on a shoestring budget would only make sense to me if the values were much, much higher in an oxide deposit trending horizontally. I'm not trying to argue with you, just calling things as I see them from afar. Of course, I could be wrong.

As far as Noront is concerned, their record with precious metals exploration speaks for itself. Maybe you can arouse interest in another explorer, but you need to be aware of what they're looking for. We used to hold quite a few 'valuable' lode claims here in NM back in the day, but the only claimholders who made any $$ on good claims then were those whose claims were near/within bigger projects that the pros were looking at. If it were me who owned the Escondida, I'd sell the dump and use the $$ to prove your bonanza site. A bird in the hand ...

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HIO Springfield, no problem, actually we have no reason to be discussing Cyanide leaching processes or sulphide mining here in the Tayopa forum unless some of the readers wish to listen to it.

The Tayopa ores are very deep seated / originated ones, so obviously the Jesuits had mastered the extraction problem. A variation of the Patio process ??

As for placers, I have several, two are fantastic, but, that is another story.

Incidentally Penoles is drilling and exploring on the same type of deposits just 5 - 10 miles to the west in the Baroyeca zone, mostly Ag.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

good morning my friends: On the campaign to find Tayopa, for some reason I seemed
to have no doubt that It was mine from the start ? At each point, when I could go no
further, because of financing or data, it suddenly would appear, but, just what was needed
for that period in the campaign, there never was a surplus nor information for the future.
I always had the strange feeling that I was simply a tool

As I look back to the actual standing on the site, it was a sort of anticlimax. My next
thought was "what is the next project", rather than $$ or anything else. You have to be
a T hunter at heart or a tropical tramp to understand what I mean.

The goal had been achieved, even though to this date, while I know where it's hidden
entrance is, the mine has not been opened up. I can only rationalize that this is partially
due to the lack of permits and to the post challenge. However, I fully realize that it cannot
be put too far into the future since I am no longer a kiddie, and because of the operations
for the cancers, I am not as agile as I was. I do not have full function of my right shoulder
nor my left leg. I will leave the final opening to my associates.

While I may not have acquired riches or fame in the campaign, I 'have' accumulated wonderful
memories and experiences which can never be be reexperienced or bought. Memories of traveling
by myself / mule, in what was basically unexplored territory in those days. Of being on top
of lonely pine covered mesas by a small campfire listening to coyotes tell of dinners and love
found or lost, Listening to the gentle sigh of the deliciously scented clean air, which hinted of
frost by morning. Or of being deep in tropical canyons exploring ruins that probably had not
seen another human since the last survivors left centuries ago. I was able to sense a feeling of
complete freedom, a feeling which very few humans today are privileged to experience. It is
difficult to put into words.

I had the unique opportunity to find just how much I could rely upon myself, and not others.
this was experienced in traveling in uncharted country, twice experiencing bandits, lack of food,
heat and cold, sometimes continuing to exist simply by willing my body to place one foot ahead,
then the other until I managed to reach safety, or my camp. It was a growing up period, which
while rough, I would never change.

I will attempt to cover some of these things in this forum as time goes by, but please don't put
me on a tight schedule, I am a product of tempering by the Manana land. I may occasionally post
pictures that I have posted before, please excuse me for that.

Don Jose de La Mancha.

 

[Unicorn]

RDT....That is a most heartfelt post my friend. It has been described beautifully. I can imagine the hardships that you have been through, but also feel the beauty that surrounded you on your adventures. Your book is in your words, and you really have to finish it so that we can all enjoy your TH adventures.
Thank you, and please write more.



.U.

 

[weekender]

Don Jose,
Please continue to take us on the journey at your own pace, I can read your words, close my eyes
and almost see the things you describe. I, like many others, know sometimes there is treasure in
the journey, not always at the destination.

-Weekender

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

I thank you my friends, I will continue to do so, but be forewarned, I will not show where "X"is he he, well not precisely anyway.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI my friends: Not all of treasure hunting is work, in fact one of my most wonderful experiences was just prior to starting my old fashioned full formal courtship for my Tiger. As is chronic for treasure hunters I needed capital to support my potentially new wife, her father wasn't very impressed with me as son in law materiel.

So I signed on for the spruce budworm spray project in Canada with Marsh Aviation in Phoenix. They gave me a new metalized Stearman with a 450 hp engine, a real dream ship to fly and play with.

I left Phoenix for the port of entry for Canada at Fredricton. Being in an Ag aircraft, bi-wings and open cockpit, altitude limits didn't apply to me in general, so I was able to fly at about 100 -200 ft clear across the United States at about 90 miles per hour. Talk about a fun experience, this is the way to appreciate just how big and diversified the US and Canado are. It took three plus days and I loved every minute of it.

Several times I flew through the edge of a Cumulo Nimbus, summer thunder storms. Being in an open cockpit aircraft I could even smell the rain and the growing crops as I flew along just above the power lines. The kiddies and doggies would run a bit , waving at me and shouting, of course I couldn't hear them except in my imagination, but I waved back to them.. It didn't take much imagination to imagine that I had been transported to the 1930 barn storming days.

At the completion of the spray contract I managed to total my nice new aircraft on a side road just beyond Fredericton and received a few days of free room and board at their hospital with three broken ribs and two neck vert. I then was asked to pick up another aircraft that had gone down in Mississippi which I did.

Now these ag aircraft planes did not have electrical starting systems for starting the engine, nor a battery for that matter, this is to eliminate a possible fire in case of an accident in ag work.. To start the engine one has to pull that long prop through by hand and hope that when it starts, it doesn't develop into a meat chopper.

You set up the cockpit controls for starting at a low rpm, then hope the hand brake holds, .get next to the prop, then pull it through. When it starts the prop path is perhaps 5 - 10 inches from your body, sheesh a bit disconcerting. Now if you couple this with a set of broken ribs and neck vert, you can understand that it wasn't quite the same fun on the return trip to Phoenix, infact, it was definitely painful pulling that prop at times.

About the time that I reached the Az border i was feeling much better and decided to fly down the .Roosevelt / Apache lake system. I had no sooner entered Apache lake when a desert Thunderstorm developed and the mt peaks were covered with black clouds which kept dropping down to perhaps 100 ft.. Since the aircraft had no working navigation instruments, I was limited to line of sight.and the way back was blocked so I could only go on trying to find my way out of the SW end.

I tried to follow the highway down to the southern end but even that soon disappeared, so I was flying mostly
by sight. Once I actually had to lift the aircraft to get by a truck on the dim road below me. I finally broke out into clear, sunny weather, but had 10 " of water sloshing around in the cockpit. It was still there when I finally landed at Phoenix sky Harbor.

I had broken several critical rules to get into that mess, a habit that followed me in the search for Tayopa, one of which led into a shoot out with a small band of bandits.on the upper Yaqui barrancas, but that is for another day..

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Unicorn]

I really enjoyed reading another one of your adventure stories luv.. ...while I was reading I thought...wonder how many lives you have lived.....more than nine I would think....

 

[Oroblanco]

EXCELLENT amigo! Keep 'em coming! (At your own convenience, of course)

 

[EE THr]

RDT---

So how come you crashed the plane?

What exactly lead up to that?

 

[coazon de oro]

Hola San Jose Trampa Tropical,

Just letting you know we are enjoying every bit of your story. I for one do believe you have found it, and do hope you get to have the pleasure of seeing it uncovered.

I see that your halo also got some damage in that plane wreck. I couldn't believe it, but they say pictures don't lie.

Homar P. Olivarez

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

EE, We had finished spraying and were returning to Fredricton from Bathurst for clearance to return to the US. For some reason never explained, they refused to fill our reserve tanks and we had to fly almost to an empty tank to reach Fredricton. On the way a friend of mine ran dry and started gliding down for a forced landing.

Since his wing man was a bit err, inefficient, I broke and followed them down. We were over rolling farmland, but it had apparently just rained since when he attempted to land, he threw mud and went sideways, ending up on the aircraft's back. I flew to within a few ft of him for several passes to see if he needed help, nothing. So I made a new approach, throttled down and was just about ready to touchdown, when he crawled out of his aircraft and waved at me.

I promptly poured on the power, gained a bit of altitude and headed for a 2 story farmhouse about 3 kilometers away. I circled it a few times with no activity showing, so I then flew extremely close, hit the throttle and changed my prop pitch a few times. this must have lifted the beds a few ft into the air . Almost immediately the farmer stuck his head out of the window - nope , no shotgun, I then wriggled my wings a few times then still wriggling them headed to where my friend was, circled him twice then headed back to my farmer. He waved and gave me the OK sign so I collared his wingman and continued on to Fredrickton..

Unfortunately Fredericton and the st Johns river was blanketed with a thick fog, the airport was unusable and there were no alternates within my remaining flying time. Since I didn't have enough gasoline to return to Bathurst I decided on an emergency landing on one of the lesser traveled side roads.

I made two slow approaches checking for cables etc, . then lined up and came in on my final approach. To line up with the roads I had to put my left wingtip to within 6 inches of a telephone pole. Naturally I was watching the tel pole carefully when it suddenly exploaded ?? The aircraft naturally slowed down , stalled , pivoted on it's wings and went straight down.. I hit the asphalt at about 50 + mph..leaving an imprint in the surface of about 2 ft deep. it then flipped forward also at about 50 mph and ended up on it's back as in the picture.

Both legs were completely numb and unusable due to hitting the instrument panel, so I just opened the seat belt and dropped to the ground in case there was a fire.. I managed to pull myself to the road where, after a few minutes, I could stand again. I waved his wing man off and he successfully landed in a near by field.
.
Later examination found that I had missed a cross road cable and had hit it squarely on my nose spinner. pulling the cable out of the tel pole. The loose end had whipped just over my head scratching the top of my helmet, and cut through the cabane struts then sawed back out of the aircraft, again hitting the top of my helmet. It was estimated that a few inches lower and it would have cut my head off.

So there I was, heroically, naturally, withstanding the horrible pain - which honestly I never felt at all due to a previous self hyp suggestion.. However an hour or so later I began to feel very tired and the broken bones were beginning to complain as the auto hyp suggestion started to wear off., so they took me to the hospital where they had a RCAF medical doctor that specialized in aircraft wrecks waiting for me.

He put me to sleep, and when I woke up a pretty nurse was trying to get a date from me, honest, hehehe. He confirmed the broken neck and ribs, so I asked him "will I have to wear a neck brace for very long"? "Nope" he replied," I don't believe in them, I believe in giving the neck full mobility so that it heals normally, otherwise many problems develop later.'. the rest of this story continues in the last post in flying back to Phoenix.

However, in line with Tayopa, my neck hadn't fully healed when I started on the Tayopa hunt. At times on the trail, when I looked to the left it would lock up on me for a day or so and HURT. However the worst hurt came later.when at times I couldn't move from the pain at night. Mi tiger soon learned to put hot water in a mason jar, cover it with a towel, then let me lie on my right side with it under my neck. Once she forgot to screw the lid on tightly and the boiling water saturated the towel, however since I didn't know it was escaping, to me the heat felt wonderful, later we found that I had a blister the size of my palm on my neck, yet that had felt wonderful compared to the basic neck pain. It has been years since it has given me any pain, although it still cracks loudly once in a while.

Don Jose d e La Mancha

 

[EE THr]

RDT---

Wow. Thanks for typing all the details. What an experience! I hope it's fine now.

Enjoy,
Don