Central_Valley_Prospector
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Is it possible to make a living off gold mining?
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Living with Gold
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NuggetN8
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Depends on the circumstance. If you mean large scale mining than yes definitely can make a good living. Small scale doing it on your own type of mining for a living can be rough from what I hear. Depending on what state you try it in things are a bit different since it's illegal to dredge in Cali now.. It's definitely possible either way. I'm sure you'll get some good responses on here from people who either do it for a living or have tried. I remember seeing a similar post a while back. I personally use prospecting as a source of income while I try to start my career but no plans on doing it forever as a main income. I'm still young and don't have bills to pay so nothing to lose here.
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Hoser John
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Depends on state,how many $$$ hundreds a 1,000s ya got to back ya,age, physical condition, present equipment and with all the regs,rules and bs now maybe 1 in a million on the positive side. Just LEARN and have as much fun as possible with a nice local yokel club weekend warrior style as the learning curve--and new restrictions-never end-John
gold tramp
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At least the beatin you get from the local gold dealer for your hard earned poke is much easier to take these days, back when gold was in the $200 zone, walkin out that gold shop door always pained me more than my hands after the months worth of digging just trying to get my poke filled!
GT.......
GT.......
goldenIrishman
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As stated before, it's going to depend on a lot of factors as to if it is profitable or not. Before you consider giving up your day job to go chase gold you really REALLY need to sit down and think this over. Be honest with yourself (bragging and B.S.ing allowed here but not with yourself) and try to answer these questions.
1. Do you have the knowledge required to do something like this and not starve in the process? By knowledge I mean the following....
1-A. Understanding of geology that's required to know how and where gold forms?
1-B. Understanding of how gold moves from it's point of formation?
1-C. Understanding of mining law so you can protect your investment? This includes filing a claim, getting any permits required etc.
1-D. Understanding how to "look back in time" so you can see how rivers and streams have moved over the ages. Those old streams could hold more gold than the newer ones.
2. Do you have enough money (at least 3X what you think it's going to take) to hold you through while you develop a claim into a paying operation and can you afford to loose said money if things go bust?
3. Do you already have a ton of equipment? If so is it actually going to be what is needed to work your claim? The equipment should fit the conditions, not the other way around.
4. Are you willing to spend long hours busting your hump with no promise of a paycheck at the end of the week?
5. Are you willing to work all week and then spend even more hours researching new claims/areas at night so you can have a couple more places to dig ready to go when your current claim plays out?
6. Is your wife or girlfriend willing to do without you for long periods of time while you're out chasing gold? (Or you can get one like I've got that helps out at the claim every chance she gets, but those are rare indeed!)
This list could go on and on here but I think you should get my point by now. There is a chance that you could make a living from mining, but until you have sat down and answered at least these basic questions I wouldn't even think about quitting your current job. Starting up a mining operation is NOT a cheap thing to try to do and many people that try fail because of lack of following what I call The 7 "P's".
Proper
Prior
Planing
Prevents
Pi$$
Poor
Performance
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to study mining case law and decisions. It's not the most entertaining of reading most of the time, but knowing what the courts have decided on some cases could save your investment down the road. Many agencies make policies that will effect you when they actually have no right to do so. Little things like road closures or making an area off limits can really ruin all of your best laid plans. You will need to know how to fight for your rights just as much as you need to know how to get the gold out of the ground.
1. Do you have the knowledge required to do something like this and not starve in the process? By knowledge I mean the following....
1-A. Understanding of geology that's required to know how and where gold forms?
1-B. Understanding of how gold moves from it's point of formation?
1-C. Understanding of mining law so you can protect your investment? This includes filing a claim, getting any permits required etc.
1-D. Understanding how to "look back in time" so you can see how rivers and streams have moved over the ages. Those old streams could hold more gold than the newer ones.
2. Do you have enough money (at least 3X what you think it's going to take) to hold you through while you develop a claim into a paying operation and can you afford to loose said money if things go bust?
3. Do you already have a ton of equipment? If so is it actually going to be what is needed to work your claim? The equipment should fit the conditions, not the other way around.
4. Are you willing to spend long hours busting your hump with no promise of a paycheck at the end of the week?
5. Are you willing to work all week and then spend even more hours researching new claims/areas at night so you can have a couple more places to dig ready to go when your current claim plays out?
6. Is your wife or girlfriend willing to do without you for long periods of time while you're out chasing gold? (Or you can get one like I've got that helps out at the claim every chance she gets, but those are rare indeed!)
This list could go on and on here but I think you should get my point by now. There is a chance that you could make a living from mining, but until you have sat down and answered at least these basic questions I wouldn't even think about quitting your current job. Starting up a mining operation is NOT a cheap thing to try to do and many people that try fail because of lack of following what I call The 7 "P's".
Proper
Prior
Planing
Prevents
Pi$$
Poor
Performance
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to study mining case law and decisions. It's not the most entertaining of reading most of the time, but knowing what the courts have decided on some cases could save your investment down the road. Many agencies make policies that will effect you when they actually have no right to do so. Little things like road closures or making an area off limits can really ruin all of your best laid plans. You will need to know how to fight for your rights just as much as you need to know how to get the gold out of the ground.
