Thanks for the comments and interest. Iwill add a little more to the history, I hope I dont overstep my boundries./////Years ago i was in the US Army stationed in the Republic of Panama. Although we received hazardous duty pay for missions to El Salvador and Honduras, Panama was easy time and the living was good and life was relatively easy. It was essentially two weeks up north and two weeks back at base, for three years. In my aviation battalion was a guy of Cuban decent from Miami. I recognized him but barely knew him. One day he came up to me in the cafeteria and asked what my room number was and if he could come up to see me afterwards, that he had something to show me. I said ok. Thirty minutes later he was at my door. In his hand was a single rock. He asked me if I could identify it. Truthfully ,I had no idea. In our small battalion I was known as the bright kid, I guess. I said to give me the rock and I would find out. That Saturday I went to downtown Panama city, and walked around until I found a sign, COMPRO ORO, meaning we buy gold. There was a few pieces of yellow metallic looking stuff the size of a pencil eraser sticking out and through the otherwise ugly almost crumbly stone. The guy looked at the stone and smiled . he pulled out a ceramic plate at scratched it and then poured what I learned soon afterto be acid. Then he said that’s gold son ,where did you get it? I told him and he said go found out exactly where it came from and you’ll be a rich man. So I returned to Ft Kobbe and looked for Carlos . I found his room in the barracks next to mine ,went upstairs and knocked on the door. Once inside I told him what happened,and that we needed to know where the stone came from. He paused for a second ,and lightly called out a name. There was some rumbling and then the closet door came open. Out came a young indian girl, probably no more than 20 years old ,and no more than about 4 feet 8 inches tall. Carlos introduced her as his fiancée. She was an exotic dancer in a club who had come into the city of Panama from the Darien province. As I learned she was a Choco indian. She befriended Carlos and was living (hiding) in the barracks. Well ,my Spanish was not too good at the time ,but she commented that the gold came from an outcrop of rock that jutted out of the riverbank where her village was. She also said that there were several wooded bowls of the same type of rock that her brothers had already extracted. So right then and there we planned a trip. We went down to the docks in the city and tried to find out how to get to her village. There were old wooden supply boats that would take us out into the pacific and up the Yavisa river to the village of Yavisa from there it was on foot for about 6 hours to her village. We asked for a three day pass and planned to meet and leave the next free Saturday. When I got to the docks ,I did not see Carlos or his girlfriend. Nor did I see the boat captain with whom we made arrangements. Although I was on time ,early actually ,I found out that the boat left out some two hours early, as they had a full load. It was just as well, as Carlos did not return. He was missing for weeks. As Panama borders on the Colombian border and the village was almost in Colombia ,Carlos was arrested and detained assuming that he was an illegal trying to pass into Panama(he looked more Colombian than Panamian). Most people don’t know that Panama was part of Colombia until an American financed coup took place so the Americans could continue the canal project that the French started and abandoned. ///// Well about six weeks later Carols showed back up at my door. A little worse for wear and in deep trouble with uncle sam, but still enthusiastic about the gold. We took a taxi to a shanty town on the edge of Panama City, it was called El Aguila, the taxi driver was so afraid of the area he would not even enter, Carlos and his girlfriend took me to a wooden shack where there were about six people inside. These were his girlfriend’s brothers and sisters. Soon after Carlos got orders to some other part of the world but I continued with these indian friends. I would walk the streets of Panama and the police would stop and ask me if I was ok. The Choco people can look very intimidating. Of course I was fine and having the time of my life.I bought a dugout canoe and ran the nearby rivers accessed by the canal with one of my best choco friends and I fianced the others to make forays into the Darien to buy gold. We could buy gold and make a 50% net profit. I bought outboard motors for everyone paid for medical attention and purchased basics necessities for their families still living in the bush. Most soldiers on their time off play cards ,get drunk and go to clubs , I was spending every weekend with the tribe at their first camp on the San Juan river. Panama used the US dollar as currency and there were many gold buyers in town that paid on the spot. In most rivers where we were at one can pan 3 grams per day, every day ,no screening, just a shovel and a wooden bowl. In some of the rivers there was a white ,heavy gold. As all of this was new to me( and somewhat crazy as I look back on it) I was told it was platinum. I wasn’t even sure that I had ever heard the name mentioned. I went to the library on base and looked it up . I saw that it was a catalyst and was being used in convertors on automobiles to reduce emissions. I continued with my gold buying until it was time to leave Panama. Regardless of the opinion of those who may object to some of my actions I know I did more good than harm. Those people I left behind cried when I left and I left everything setup for them to continue and prosper. I truly hope they did as not to be economically forced into the humiliating jobs offered in the city . Iwas sent to Ft Hood ,Tx to finish out my military contract. I brought with me a nice bundle of money and a strong desire to pursue the world of mining and metallurgy.I knew exactly what I was going to do when I got out. In Killeen Texas ,the opportunity to prospect is nil. So I began to study platinum I went to junk yards and everyone was giving away the platinum convertors .I started with a couple hundred and rented a storage locker to put them. At that time the word was that they had no value and the platinum could not be economically extracted. I finally met with a man ,C W Ammen,author of several books on metallurgy, up in Colorado ,now deceased. He was kind enough to work with me and walk me through a process that allowed me to successfully extract a platinum salt from the convertors . I began with a microwave ,a blender and a chisel. Little by little I accumulated several thousand convertors and a larger storage locker. I found a lab in Miami Fl.,of all places, where they gladly received my product.Some people told me that I was the very first person to recycle the convertors, Idont know but it was several years later that I heard of anyone else doing it. Soon after the junk yards stopped giving away the convertors. But I knew already what I was going to do. I had visited Colombia while in Panama and was taken in by its lifestyle and natural beauty. I also now knew that some of the rivers in the Choco department of Colombia carried platinum. I called US customs and asked what I needed to transport cash money. Life was so much easier back then .I obtained the proper forms ,put the money in my cowboy boots and in the back and sides of my leather jacket, went to the airport ,presented my paperwork to the proper authorities and flew to Bogota ,where I bought a house ,paid cash for it ,built a dredge and dredged for gold and platinum and eventually became involved with emeralds. As I dredged only six months every year ,I was free to explore other possibilities. This is how I got started in the world of treasures and mining and minerals. This activity took up the first twenty years or so until I began to do consulting for others which eventually brought me to Mexico.
