STARTING A SMALL SCALE PLACER GOLD MINING OPERATION

[GhostMiner]

  Starting A Small Scale Gold Mining Operation

 

   This report covers the process of getting a small scale gold mine operation up and running. I am writing it for the people like me who have a dream of starting a gold mining venture but are unsure where to start. It does not cover finding a claim or staking and filing a claim as there is plenty of information out there on mining claims. The only thing I could say on that subject is make sure you do your research and testing first. Try to get as much history on the area as it relates to mining as well as doing plenty of sampling to determine if it will support your operation. 

   The information and ideas you will read are based on not only my own experiences but also the help and knowledge of others I have had the pleasure to work with and teach me. It is certainly not the be all end all place to go on this subject but perhaps a place to get information to take action on. Every time I get around mining people I learn something new. I listen and ask questions. I research. I learn from my mistakes.

   I will lay out an outline here for the process I would use or have used in part or entirety depending on the project. My company does research, claim testing, mine set up, and leasing. We try to take as much guesswork out of the equation as is possible. However, be advised, mining can be a high risk, high cost, high overhead venture. I am of the belief that staying small with very low expenses is a good way to go. Then you can step up the project as you prove your ground and build your confidence. Some may want to go big or go home. That is risky. I have seen people lose a lot of money with that kind of thinking but to each his own. I choose the conservative approach. I will go into detail on each of the following steps.

 

   Step 1 : Test Your Claim By Hand & Do Research

 

   Step 2 : Look for any Fatal Flaws

 

   Step 3 : Make A Mining Plan & Funding The Project

 

   Step 4 : Start Your Paperwork

 

   Step 5 : Bonding The Project

 

   Step 6 : Bring In Your Equipment

 

   Step 7 : Setting Up The Operation

 

   Step 8 : Running The Operation

 

   Step 9 : Gold Cleanups

 

   Step 10 : Reclamation

 

   This is the basic outline. Perhaps there are some things others would include but I think this is enough to get most small scale projects up and running. Now I will get into the details starting with Step 1. 

 

 

[GhostMiner]

  Step 1 : Test Your Claim By Hand And Do Research

 

   This first step is self explanatory. You will want to get as much information on the history of your claim and the general area as you can. Has there been any previous mining done? If so, who were the operators? What did they do? What did they find? Were they successful or not? I think you get the idea. There are places to go for this information. Most of it can be done on the internet. I really enjoy this part of the process. It’s like playing detective and when you find something it can be very exciting. I’ve spent many hours on rainy or snowy days doing research. Google your heart out and when you think you’ve found it all do some more. That’s how I found a government report that was nearly 300 pages long with information including old maps on part of the claims my company holds. It was from the U.S. The Department of Interior and boy was I excited. I emailed our VP immediately and we spent the next five days going over the wealth of information it contained. Museums are also good to check as well as public records offices like county filing histories.

   Prospect the claim. Get boots on the ground and get dirty. Dig holes and take samples. I like to have values in dollars per yard. The more samples the better. If you can afford it, get a geologist on your claim for a day or two. They are not cheap. If not, get someone who is really good at prospecting if you are not. I was lucky and found one of the best prospectors around. We ended up making him one of our partners. Try to determine where the pay streaks might lie as well as the depth of deposits and thickness of the deposit. Our claims have some steaks that are 50 feet thick but very weak at the higher areas above bedrock.

   Look for any exposed bedrock and try to figure out how deep the bedrock is in areas you are interested in. You will need certain values depending on the project. A hand digging, hand feeding operation may require better values than a project where you are washing 40 yards of gravel an hour. I’ll get into the cost factors and profits per yard a bit further down the road. For now, you are looking for promising signs of gold. Is it fine, coarse, round, flat, etc? Sometimes there may be other minerals or gemstones in the gravels along with the gold. Don’t hurry this part of the operation. We did several years of bucket sample testing through a little 12 V highbanker on one of our claims before we decided to apply for a permit and cut in a road. It was all done with pick and shovel and hand carrying buckets of gravel for hundreds and in some cases thousands of feet to get them washed and the gold values determined. I love this part of the process. There is nothing more encouraging than finding gold in a remote area. At some point you will make the determination of whether to go forward with your plan or not. Don’t force it if you don’t have the confidence in the ground. A dream won’t make gold suddenly appear if it’s not there. 

 

[Au Seeker]

GhostMiner,

This is the exact same topic you started yesterday in the "Prospectors Lounge", would you rather keep this one in this forum section or the other one from yesterday in the Prospectors Lounge?

This forum section is the most appropriate section for such a topic

[GhostMiner]

10 minutes ago, Au Seeker said:

GhostMiner,

This is the exact same topic you started yesterday in the "Prospectors Lounge", would you rather keep this one in this forum section or the other one from yesterday in the Prospectors Lounge?

This forum section is the most appropriate section for such a topic

This one.

[GhostMiner]

   Step 2  :  Fatal Flaws

 

   This would be something you'd want to do before going any further in the process. Assuming you have identified good paying ground that you have confidence in you will want to make sure there is nothing that will stand in your way and prevent you from getting a plan approved to mine the claim. Has there been a plan to mine previously approved in your area or district? If so, how long ago was it. Better yet, is there a current plan in operation in the area. That would show promise for your venture. If you hire someone to start working on a Plan of Operation, fatal flaws are the first things they will look for. I’ll get into that later.

   What about any environmental issues such as plant life or wildlife? Is there anything protected? If so, you’ll need to find out if that would keep you from mining or if those issues can be worked around by protecting the endangered species.

   Is there enough available water to run a wash plant and can you use it? You’ll probably need a water license from the local water board. Talk with them. Our mines are in California and we have not had any issues getting a water license for every permit with the exception of one. That was within 300 feet of a creek and they wouldn’t allow any discharge within that area. To get it approved it meant hauling pay to a plant set up more than 300 feet from the waterway. 

   Are there any hazardous or toxic wastes or chemicals you may disturb when mining? Do you have enough area to build a water recycling tailings and fresh water pond? We had one operation so far from our two creeks and using a pond up there the state did not even care if we had a settling pond. However, we used one anyway to recycle and conserve our water. Just think about what you want to do and try to address anything that could be a potential issue. Then check into it. Once you clear this hurdle you are ready for the next step - Making A Mining Plan & Funding The Project.