OPENING A FREE MINE SITE FOR PUBLIC USE

[GhostMiner]

   My wife and I as well as one of my partners were having a discussion last night about some of our claims. Most of them are leased out but we have a few good areas that we kept for our companies use. We have decided to set up a mine site for prospectors who would like to get their feet wet in gold mining. It would give interested people a chance to mine for gold without any expense. It was initially my wife's idea and I gave it some thought and like it. We wpuld like to give back to others so they might have some fun as well as learn some skills. My one active partner is skilled at running heavy equipment. My son is a professional welder. I can run equipment but my main job is in the paperwork department and mine setup end of things. I also deal with all the business details and investments for our company.

   We are going to put in a fresh Plan of Operation (POO) and post the bond under our company name. We will set up the minesite complete as a turnkey operation. We will place the water pumps and run all the water line. On site will be a Gold Claimer Pioneer 30 trommel, skid steer, small rock truck, pickup truck, and mid size excavator. There will also be a gold recovery room set up. Once our plan is approved and the bond is in place we will be open to the public on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday. All anyone needs to do is contact us a week in advance to secure a position on the mine for that weekend. We will have to set a limit on how many people can be on the site at once and I don't have a number on that yet but probably somewhere between 10 - 15 people at one time. As far as children I am leaning towards 12 yrs old & up. This is absolutely free and you can keep any gold you find. You will be able to learn how to run equipment as well as see a mine actually producing gold first hand. The ground I am setting up for this has been tested and seems to want to average about a gram per yard. The trommel is rated at 30 yards per hour but I have found most trommels including this one are good for about half of the rating so 15 yards per hour is realistic. The people working will have to decide how to divide their gold and cleanups will be done each night. I will keep everyone here up to speed on the progress of the permitting but I think we may be able to get it done by late Summer as we've had previous plans approved here in the past and are 800 ft from the nearest creek. Cheere, GM.  

[NvAuMiner]

First off Mr. GM, Wife and Partner,  Thank You for wanting to "Give Back" after being successful in your life's. The gesture in-itself is applaudable and I could only hope that it becomes as infectious as the first round of the virus. . . . I'm not sure how you would swing it without MSHA certifications, Training, SOP's and everyone with proper PPE.  No matter how small a mine operation is, there is risk of injury.  The equipment you mentioned on using is large enough to take a life if everyone is not on the same page.  There are no 'Do Overs" when working in, on or around heavy equipment. As a career hard rock/open pit miner... it almost sounds like a MSHA field day.  IMHO 

 However, your Plan of Operation should cover all that is necessary and required to keep the inexperienced who want the experience and a chance to find some gold -safe- in a small scale mining operation.  

Best of luck. . . Safety First!! 

 

[GhostMiner]

3 hours ago, NvAuMiner said:

First off Mr. GM, Wife and Partner,  Thank You for wanting to "Give Back" after being successful in your life's. The gesture in-itself is applaudable and I could only hope that it becomes as infectious as the first round of the virus. . . . I'm not sure how you would swing it without MSHA certifications, Training, SOP's and everyone with proper PPE.  No matter how small a mine operation is, there is risk of injury.  The equipment you mentioned on using is large enough to take a life if everyone is not on the same page.  There are no 'Do Overs" when working in, on or around heavy equipment. As a career hard rock/open pit miner... it almost sounds like a MSHA field day.  IMHO 

 However, your Plan of Operation should cover all that is necessary and required to keep the inexperienced who want the experience and a chance to find some gold -safe- in a small scale mining operation.  

Best of luck. . . Safety First!! 

 

   Thank you NvAuMiner. We will not need to get into all of the MSHA certs for this plan. What we will do is limit surface disturbance to 1000 yds. That keeps us under the threshold of SMARA. I will put in 3 POO's. As one is completed & reclamed the bond is moved to the next plan and so forth. I have done this in the past and it keeps things fairly simple. This will be a fun set up for small scale mining and learning but not a big production mining operation. The idea would be for people who have never done anything like this to come out for a weekend and have fun mining. Safety is always the first concern and there will be two operators in the plan and always on site watching and teaching. As this is a learning experience I don't expect to be running more than 20 or 30 yards per day through the trommel and the operation will be limited to weekends. 

[GhostMiner]

   I am also going to have several campers set up on site for people to use. There will also be a few spots for anyone who has there own camper. The site I am permitting is along the southern faultline. I call it the Gold Vault because you just never know what you are going to pull out of there. That area is about 60 ft high and on an angle. I'm going to get a dozer out there to push material down to the bottom in a few areas. The miners that come out will be able to either dig along the bottom of the hill or load gravel pushed down by the dozer. We'll have the trommel set up down at the bottom in a good location. I have to cut a road in there from a county road that divides our property. We'll run water line from a creek 800 ft away and set up a recirculating pond divided by a dam.

[nugget108]

5 hours ago, NvAuMiner said:

First off Mr. GM, Wife and Partner,  Thank You for wanting to "Give Back" after being successful in your life's. The gesture in-itself is applaudable and I could only hope that it becomes as infectious as the first round of the virus. . . . I'm not sure how you would swing it without MSHA certifications, Training, SOP's and everyone with proper PPE.  No matter how small a mine operation is, there is risk of injury.  The equipment you mentioned on using is large enough to take a life if everyone is not on the same page.  There are no 'Do Overs" when working in, on or around heavy equipment. As a career hard rock/open pit miner... it almost sounds like a MSHA field day.  IMHO 

 However, your Plan of Operation should cover all that is necessary and required to keep the inexperienced who want the experience and a chance to find some gold -safe- in a small scale mining operation.  

Best of luck. . . Safety First!! 

 

Good thinking on the safety stuff and MSHA! In this case MSHA will not be involved because its like a "Pay to Dig" site, or a bunch of friends just going in on a mine together and splitting what they find. Its when you start having Employees on The Books at a mine is when MSHA is involved. You would obviously want everyone wearing the hardhats, vests and probably boots when walking around the active equipment. Definitely need a safety plan for sure!

[NvAuMiner]

2 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

We will not need to get into all of the MSHA certs for this plan. What we will do is limit surface disturbance to 1000 yds. That keeps us under the threshold of SMARA.

Smart !!  The risk will still be there.  So... keep-em-safe-Bud.  This should be an awesome experience for the weekend prospectors and miners.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, nugget108 said:

Good thinking on the safety stuff and MSHA! In this case MSHA will not be involved because its like a "Pay to Dig" site, or a bunch of friends just going in on a mine together and splitting what they find. Its when you start having Employees on The Books at a mine is when MSHA is involved. You would obviously want everyone wearing the hardhats, vests and probably boots when walking around the active equipment. Definitely need a safety plan for sure!

   Absolutely.  When you are running operations under a POO and the scale is below SMARA levels it is quite easy to get plans approved. The only safety regulations they make you follow are fire control. Each machine and pump must have a fire extinguisher. Small fuel containers must sit on a spill pad. There are no large fuel cells to be on the ground unless approved by Cal Fire. We use 55 gal drums with hand crank pumps sitting on the bed of a truck. Any heavy equipment must meet California emission standards as well. We rent new equipment. This gives trouble free operation and great fuel economy as well as quiet running. The plans don't require hard hats or vests but we will certainly use them. Our company has a good reputation in the county and we were told our reclamations are the best they've seen.  

[xracer550]

Where about is you claim site ?

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, xracer550 said:

Where about is you claim site ?

Northern Cal.

[GhostMiner]

   I am happy to say that there have been many interested prospectors ready to come out to the mine when it's ready for use. I am shooting for an opening sometime in August as plans get approved, bond is in place, & equipment is set up. I have several people in the mining industry that will also be on hand to act as instructors as well as safety monitors. I was able to purchase three really nice campers at a pretty good discount for use by the miners. I will also be pulling in my Forest River 5th wheel. We also have a professional metal detector person coming in for a few weekends. This is all pretty exciting stuff for me and goes to show that nothing is beyond reach when you set your mind to it.

   Here is a list of the equipment that will be on the mine for use :

Gold Claimer Pioneer 30 Trommel

Gold Claimer Reverse Helix Trommel

Gold Hog Super Hog Highbanker

Feed Conveyors 12 Ft (2) 

 Ford F250Pickup Trucks (2)

Terex TR45 Rock Truck

Komatsu SK 140 33,000 lb Excavator

Komatsu PC 290 Excavator

Keene 190 Dry Washer

Coleman Outfitter 400 UTV Outfitter Side By Side (2)

BMS Motorsports 4 Person Side By Side

Kabota SLV75 Skid Steers (2)

4 Inch, 3 inch, & 2 inch Water Pumps & Water Line 

30 Ft Storage Container

Gold Cleanup Room 20 ft X 16 ft Fully Equipped 

Generators (Harbor Freight Predator 9000) (2)

Generators (Harbor Freight Predator 4375) (2)

Forest River 30 Ft Campers (3)

Forest River 36 Ft 5th Wheel

Other Misc Items

[GhostMiner]

51 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   I am happy to say that there have been many interested prospectors ready to come out to the mine when it's ready for use. I am shooting for an opening sometime in August as plans get approved, bond is in place, & equipment is set up. I have several people in the mining industry that will also be on hand to act as instructors as well as safety monitors. I was able to purchase three really nice campers at a pretty good discount for use by the miners. I will also be pulling in my Forest River 5th wheel. We also have a professional metal detector person coming in for a few weekends. This is all pretty exciting stuff for me and goes to show that nothing is beyond reach when you set your mind to it.

   Here is a list of the equipment that will be on the mine for use :

Gold Claimer Pioneer 30 Trommel

Gold Claimer Reverse Helix Trommel

Gold Hog Super Hog Highbanker

Feed Conveyors 12 Ft (2) 

 Ford F250Pickup Trucks (2)

Terex TR45 Rock Truck

Komatsu SK 140 33,000 lb Excavator

Komatsu PC 290 Excavator

Keene 190 Dry Washer

Coleman Outfitter 400 UTV Outfitter Side By Side (2)

BMS Motorsports 4 Person Side By Side

Kabota SLV75 Skid Steers (2)

4 Inch, 3 inch, & 2 inch Water Pumps & Water Line 

30 Ft Storage Container

Gold Cleanup Room 20 ft X 16 ft Fully Equipped 

Generators (Harbor Freight Predator 9000) (2)

Generators (Harbor Freight Predator 4375) (2)

Forest River 30 Ft Campers (3)

Forest River 36 Ft 5th Wheel

Other Misc Items

   The small reverse helix trommel will be set in the south kettle pit on the southern end of the faultline. This is the site from the 1936 journal and is a real mining pit. Because it is remote, the smaller trommel will be used and it uses way less water than the bigger Pioneer 30. The smaller excavator will be used up there as well. This site is at the top of the faultline and is about a quarter acre in size and maybe 30 - 40 ft in depth. 

   The bigger trommel will be set up down at the base of the southern faultline which will include a length of about 600 ft. This area is sloped all the way to the top and has some real hot spots. It's a treasure hunt which I named THE TREASURE VAULT. There are areas where you can get close to $1000/yd & other areas that produce nothing. Hand digging random surface samples produced an average of $60/yd. Bedrock is broken and scattered all over the place from the upheavals of the past. I consider this place one of the most exciting areas on the old claims. 

[Mike Furness]

If I still lived in AZ I would probably make the trip. But living in NH now I think it isn't in the cards at least for now. Great idea and lots of really good equipment. I wish you only the best in your operation. I hope you will post some of the highlights from the summer operations.

[GhostMiner]

   Here are some pictures of the area to be worked.

[GhostMiner]

6 minutes ago, Mike Furness said:

If I still lived in AZ I would probably make the trip. But living in NH now I think it isn't in the cards at least for now. Great idea and lots of really good equipment. I wish you only the best in your operation. I hope you will post some of the highlights from the summer operations.

   The bond on this is going to be a whopper. Hopefully the Forest Service won't drag their feet on the permits. We have one active one in place on an adjoining claim so it should go through ok. 

[GhostMiner]

   This is the South Kettle that was mentioned in the 1936 journal which as stated is quite real. It is very remote & hard to get to. That's why we're only taking the small trommel up there with the small excavator to dig and feed. Getting it water line and trommel up there is going to be a big project.

https://www.goldclaimerbrand.com/ReverseHelixGoldClaimer.html

[GhostMiner]

   There will be 3 Plans of Operation in place when we open. SITE #1 is the South Kettle at the top south/western area of the faultline. Sites #2 & #3 will be at the base of the faultline and spaced about 100 yds from each other. I will bond Site's #1 & #2 simaltaneously. The smaller opeartion at the top will have a crew each weekend as will the lower operation. Each site will have a mine boss as well as supervisor plus a 4 man mine crew. Eventually, one of the operations will be moved to Site #3. Each site will be contained to 1000 cubic yards of disturbance. I have an approved area to cut in a road to the base of the faultline. This road will be about 350 ft in length. Water will be pumped from an approved site 800 ft from the base of the faultline. One of the 4 inch pumps will be used for this with 4 inch layflat dropped to 3 inch layflat for pressure. A holding pond will be dug at the base of the faultline in an existing gully where a dam will be placed to settle fine tailings water which will pass through a dam spillway into the fresh water side. This water will be recirculated & fresh creek water pumped into the pond as needed. The upper elevation operation will be furnished with water from the lower holding pond via a second 4 inch pump where it will be recirculated the same way but at a smaller scale.

   We are also opening what I will now name Site #4 at the old dig site where the big strike came in 1936. This will begin as a hand work only operation with water supplied by an existing pond 300 ft to the north. This water will be recirculated and refreshed with pond water as needed. A Gold Hog highbanker will be used with a 4 man crew plus a mine boss. This is at present a hike in only site and somewhat remote from the other operations. This site was the beginning site of the 1936 crew and what the journal was initially based on. Now a crew will have a chance to work this ground once again.

   Once up and running, the total mining crew on all 3 operating sites will add up to 12 people plus the supervisors & mine bosses. The camp will be set up like a small village and there will be good comradery each night. The Forest Service has given me positive vibes on the project so perhaps we can get things rolling even before August. I have a  commitment to a show up in Washington state (will be streamed in Jan 2024) during June so it would be nice to jump right into this project as the first one is finished. There will also be a few surprises as far as people who will come to the dig sites on occasion. One is a metal detecting person and the others are involved in mining and mine set up. I am over the top excited about this project. 

[GhostMiner]

   The last piece of equipment is the Keene 190 drywasher. This is a motorized, low dust enclosed unit. What I am planning is perhaps putting a crew on this unit to take it into areas of the claims where we don't have water. It would be a hand working operation not requiring permitting.

[Au Seeker]

Ghost Miner this sounds like an awesome project, I will look forward to seeing it come to fruition, I'm to old to come out and see it first hand and participate but I will be there in spirit!

You seemed to have forgotten a couple of pieces of equipment........................a Thompson and the BAR to control the Riffraff , if these are added I will make a point to come out at least for a short time and operate either and I will bring my own .45!!  

[GhostMiner]

13 hours ago, Au Seeker said:

Ghost Miner this sounds like an awesome project, I will look forward to seeing it come to fruition, I'm to old to come out and see it first hand and participate but I will be there in spirit!

You seemed to have forgotten a couple of pieces of equipment........................a Thompson and the BAR to control the Riffraff , if these are added I will make a point to come out at least for a short time and operate either and I will bring my own .45!!  

Age is just a number. I still do everything I did when I was younger but just at a slower pace.

[GhostMiner]

59 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

Age is just a number. I still do everything I did when I was younger but just at a slower pace.

   On the journal - I think I gave some info way back on what it was based on. There was an actual crew out there in 1936. His real name was Stevenson, not Stevens. He hit an area of raised bedrock about 20 ft X 30 ft and it was glory holed. The crew removed over 1000 ounces of gold from that spot. They were working under the direction of California state geologist Charles Haley. The Dept of Interior report goes on to say that while showing his gold in poor company Stevenson was murdered. There was also a gun battle between one of the miners and a town doctor. It seems the miner was having an affair with the doctor's wife and they shot it out one night. The miner was killed. There were also numerous gun battles there between ranchers and the miners as well as thieves roaming the area with bad intentions. This was all the info I needed to start the journal and I let my imagination run wild. It turned into a great story and has led me to opportunities I never expected. It was only intended to be something fun to read and it was a lot of fun to write. Each day i sat down to write a new entry with no plan or idea of what I would write. That kept it fresh for me as I could never have sat down to write a long story like this having no writing experience. Taking things day to day worked quite well. Just wanted to set the record straight. Thanks to all who read it.

[Mike Furness]

GM ... I would love to bring my metal detector to any of those sites. Maybe in 2024 if you are still in operation ... meaning that you haven't taken ALL the gold out of the area ... I can twist my arm to get out there. Long haul from NH ... Maybe team up with Skip (Au Seeker), maybe convince Steve Wandt to come out too, and I will bring my trusty Sig 226 with the metal detector! LOL! Then the three of us, old men that we are, can show the youngens how it is done.

[GhostMiner]

18 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   On the journal - I think I gave some info way back on what it was based on. There was an actual crew out there in 1936. His real name was Stevenson, not Stevens. He hit an area of raised bedrock about 20 ft X 30 ft and it was glory holed. The crew removed over 1000 ounces of gold from that spot. They were working under the direction of California state geologist Charles Haley. The Dept of Interior report goes on to say that while showing his gold in poor company Stevenson was murdered. There was also a gun battle between one of the miners and a town doctor. It seems the miner was having an affair with the doctor's wife and they shot it out one night. The miner was killed. There were also numerous gun battles there between ranchers and the miners as well as thieves roaming the area with bad intentions. This was all the info I needed to start the journal and I let my imagination run wild. It turned into a great story and has led me to opportunities I never expected. It was only intended to be something fun to read and it was a lot of fun to write. Each day i sat down to write a new entry with no plan or idea of what I would write. That kept it fresh for me as I could never have sat down to write a long story like this having no writing experience. Taking things day to day worked quite well. Just wanted to set the record straight. Thanks to all who read it.

   BTW, my wife recently read the 1936 journal out of the book. She got quite a kick out of it but said the ending was very sad. She was amazed I had written all of this. She knew I was writing it but never read any of it until now. She hasn't read any of the 1937 journal yet.

[GhostMiner]

23 minutes ago, Mike Furness said:

GM ... I would love to bring my metal detector to any of those sites. Maybe in 2024 if you are still in operation ... meaning that you haven't taken ALL the gold out of the area ... I can twist my arm to get out there. Long haul from NH ... Maybe team up with Skip (Au Seeker), maybe convince Steve Wandt to come out too, and I will bring my trusty Sig 226 with the metal detector! LOL! Then the three of us, old men that we are, can show the youngens how it is done.

   Mining is a lot of fun but it is not easy. It is hard work out in all kinds of weather and it's a dirty job. Hardly ever a day where something doesn't break or need work. I remember one day back in 2019 when we were testing an area on the Eastern Drift Mine from the journal. We were using a Heckler Fabrication trommel and loading with a skid steer. The digging chores were done with a mid size excavator. It was August & about 100 degrees and I headed up the mountain to shut down our 2 water pumps nearly half a mile away. Just laying that line and clearing a path for the layflat hose had been a monumental task. We had to put the pumps in series to get the water to the pond. Anyway, it was about 5:30 PM and we were shutting down for the day and dog tired. When I came back down the mountain  saw 2 of my partners up on the hopper of the trommel shaker that fed the barrel. They had rock bars and shovels. I knew this wasn't good. They had a massive jam up and we worked for nearly 2 hrs to free it up. This is the kind of thing that can happen. You always need someone who can weld and is a good mechanic. I've been soaking wet on the back of a feeder hopper with a rock bar keeping things from jamming up in 40 degree temps. It's no fun until you see the gold.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, Mike Furness said:

GM ... I would love to bring my metal detector to any of those sites. Maybe in 2024 if you are still in operation ... meaning that you haven't taken ALL the gold out of the area ... I can twist my arm to get out there. Long haul from NH ... Maybe team up with Skip (Au Seeker), maybe convince Steve Wandt to come out too, and I will bring my trusty Sig 226 with the metal detector! LOL! Then the three of us, old men that we are, can show the youngens how it is done.

   There is an old camp up there from back in the day. It is remote & I don't think anyone has ever done any detecting there but not sure. I didn't see any fresh signs of digging. 

[GhostMiner]

   Hello all. So all paperwork has now been submitted and the various agencies will be meeting with my representatives as time & weather allows. We are hopeful of an opening date of mid to late August but there is a possibility of late July or early August. With the price of gold being around $2000/ounce on paper now there are a lot of people looking to get projects started. The Forest Service has limited resources and we all wait on their schedules.

   On another note, my investment in I80 Gold Corp in Reno Nevada has been going really well. I have learned over many years of investing to average in over time. I have now built my position in ticker symbol (IAUX) to 100,000 shares with an average share price of $2.15. At the time of this post the stock is trading at $2.46 a share. If I were to sell today I would be able to take a profit of $31,000. I have no intention of selling any of my shares and believe this stock will likely double from here over the next 2 yrs. Cheers.