Remote Prospecting?
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- Jim_Alaska
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Anyone contemplating a mining or prospecting trip to Alaska would be well served to print out the information that Chuck is providing here. Having lived in Alaska for a good part of my life, I can attest to the wisdom and sage advice that he lays out.
One of the best pieces of advice he gives does not involve cost, it is entirely free; that advice is encapsulated in one word...THINK. Far too many men set themselves up for failure simply because they did not think their project through, but rather completely depended on their previous mining experiences in localities they were familiar with and their previous experiences. Keep this thought first and foremost in your mind at all times BEFORE you arrive unprepared in Alaska....Alaska is different.
I don't say this as simply a point of conversation or light advice. I have many people contact me about going to Alaska to mine. The one thing I try to drive home to them above all others is that there is no advice I can give them that will prepare them for what they will find once they get boots on the ground in Alaska. There is simply nothing that I, or anyone else can tell them that can prepare them for the reality of what Alaska is. There is nothing to compare to that anyone could use from their experience anywhere in the lower 48 states.
Unless someone thinks I may be too dramatic in my warnings I could relate my experience upon my arrival in Alaska many years ago. But that is a whole story in itself that I don't have time to write out. I thought I had prepared, I had all the "stuff" I would need, a whole truck and trailer full of "stuff". I had prepared well for everything I would need, with one exception....How to get all that "stuff" to where I was going deep in the Alaska bush. Since I don't want to write out the story I will suffice to say that all my planning, years worth of it, only set me up for failure. So now, here I was in Alaska with a wife and three dogs and all this "stuff", some of it quite large, like a cast iron wood cook stove. All my money spent just getting to Alaska only to find us set up in a campground with no way to get to where we could homestead.
I said this only to show that my warnings are based in personal experience, I have lived it and although I came through it, most are not as fortunate as I was. I ended up living there, while most others would have to tuck tail and go back home in utter failure.
One of the best pieces of advice he gives does not involve cost, it is entirely free; that advice is encapsulated in one word...THINK. Far too many men set themselves up for failure simply because they did not think their project through, but rather completely depended on their previous mining experiences in localities they were familiar with and their previous experiences. Keep this thought first and foremost in your mind at all times BEFORE you arrive unprepared in Alaska....Alaska is different.
I don't say this as simply a point of conversation or light advice. I have many people contact me about going to Alaska to mine. The one thing I try to drive home to them above all others is that there is no advice I can give them that will prepare them for what they will find once they get boots on the ground in Alaska. There is simply nothing that I, or anyone else can tell them that can prepare them for the reality of what Alaska is. There is nothing to compare to that anyone could use from their experience anywhere in the lower 48 states.
Unless someone thinks I may be too dramatic in my warnings I could relate my experience upon my arrival in Alaska many years ago. But that is a whole story in itself that I don't have time to write out. I thought I had prepared, I had all the "stuff" I would need, a whole truck and trailer full of "stuff". I had prepared well for everything I would need, with one exception....How to get all that "stuff" to where I was going deep in the Alaska bush. Since I don't want to write out the story I will suffice to say that all my planning, years worth of it, only set me up for failure. So now, here I was in Alaska with a wife and three dogs and all this "stuff", some of it quite large, like a cast iron wood cook stove. All my money spent just getting to Alaska only to find us set up in a campground with no way to get to where we could homestead.
I said this only to show that my warnings are based in personal experience, I have lived it and although I came through it, most are not as fortunate as I was. I ended up living there, while most others would have to tuck tail and go back home in utter failure.
Jim_Alaska
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Thermodynamics;
The law of "Entropy" says that all matter wants to slow down and freeze...
The only thing that keeps us from complying with entropy is heat energy - mostly from the Sun.
Nome, Alaska;
The average HIGH temperature during the warmest month, July is 58 degrees, Fahrenheit. The average HIGH is BELOW freezing seven months of the year.
The EXIT strategy;
I arrived in Nome early on Season 2 with my EXIT strategy...
In May, there were huge slabs of ICE piled on the beach. As the Bering Sea ice breaks up in spring, combined with frequent storms, broken sea ice piles onto the beach. Thanks to my friend, Peluk, my equipment had been safely stored for the winter. We got everything boxed up and crated for the flight back to Anchorage. I flew back to Anchorage and then to McGrath in the interior.
After spending thousands of $$$ on the EXIT strategy, I jumped back in for MORE...
It took three weeks to get my equipment flown in to McGrath. I waited at a cost of $100 per day... Finally, when everything arrived, the season was HALF over.
- Geowizard
The law of "Entropy" says that all matter wants to slow down and freeze...

The only thing that keeps us from complying with entropy is heat energy - mostly from the Sun.
Nome, Alaska;
The average HIGH temperature during the warmest month, July is 58 degrees, Fahrenheit. The average HIGH is BELOW freezing seven months of the year.
The EXIT strategy;
I arrived in Nome early on Season 2 with my EXIT strategy...
In May, there were huge slabs of ICE piled on the beach. As the Bering Sea ice breaks up in spring, combined with frequent storms, broken sea ice piles onto the beach. Thanks to my friend, Peluk, my equipment had been safely stored for the winter. We got everything boxed up and crated for the flight back to Anchorage. I flew back to Anchorage and then to McGrath in the interior.
After spending thousands of $$$ on the EXIT strategy, I jumped back in for MORE...

It took three weeks to get my equipment flown in to McGrath. I waited at a cost of $100 per day... Finally, when everything arrived, the season was HALF over.
- Geowizard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Prospectors need Food;
Prospectors maintain body temperature from a combination of metabolism of FOOD and increasing our INSULATION from surroundings that are COOLER than body temperature...
Remote prospecting is ONLY possible with food.
We spend 99 percent of our discussion on sluices, ribbed matting, panning, dredges, mining claims...
There are a few examples where intrepid adventurers went "Out Into the Wild" and returned in a body bag. I have listened to recent stories from pilots that flew guided Hunters out in Alaska. The hunters required emergency evacuation because they ran out of food.
Now, fast forward to a remote mining on the ICE - working your *** off, moving rocks scenario...
Let's set up a hypothetical Nome mining scenario;
We are hardy, independent prospectors and head up the road 85 miles (six hours on a 4-wheeler) to get cold and wet and tired. In December, particularly at winter solstice, the region north of the Arctic circle, experiences 24 hour darkness... Nome is slightly below the Arctic Circle and experiences 23 hours and 53 minutes of darkness. No sunshine.
At my remote mining operation, I have three jobs; mining, hauling fuel and hauling food.
- Geowizard
Prospectors maintain body temperature from a combination of metabolism of FOOD and increasing our INSULATION from surroundings that are COOLER than body temperature...
Remote prospecting is ONLY possible with food.

We spend 99 percent of our discussion on sluices, ribbed matting, panning, dredges, mining claims...
There are a few examples where intrepid adventurers went "Out Into the Wild" and returned in a body bag. I have listened to recent stories from pilots that flew guided Hunters out in Alaska. The hunters required emergency evacuation because they ran out of food.
Now, fast forward to a remote mining on the ICE - working your *** off, moving rocks scenario...
Let's set up a hypothetical Nome mining scenario;
We are hardy, independent prospectors and head up the road 85 miles (six hours on a 4-wheeler) to get cold and wet and tired. In December, particularly at winter solstice, the region north of the Arctic circle, experiences 24 hour darkness... Nome is slightly below the Arctic Circle and experiences 23 hours and 53 minutes of darkness. No sunshine.

At my remote mining operation, I have three jobs; mining, hauling fuel and hauling food.

- Geowizard
- Leonard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
"We are hardy, independent prospectors and head up the road 85 miles"
That's close close to the area we were supposed to be going on our ill fated trip 2008. I never did get the final destination as we were supposed to be picked up in Nome and driven up. We were lucky that I had picked a small tent up in Fairbanks because "I wanted to sleep one night on the golden beaches of Nome" It ended up with our host not being able to fly in due to problems out of his control and him having no way to contact us and us spending about 9 days in the small tent. It was a good thing my partner and I had spent a lot of time dredging and "were good buddies"
Leonard
That's close close to the area we were supposed to be going on our ill fated trip 2008. I never did get the final destination as we were supposed to be picked up in Nome and driven up. We were lucky that I had picked a small tent up in Fairbanks because "I wanted to sleep one night on the golden beaches of Nome" It ended up with our host not being able to fly in due to problems out of his control and him having no way to contact us and us spending about 9 days in the small tent. It was a good thing my partner and I had spent a lot of time dredging and "were good buddies"
Leonard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Relying on others;
Leonard, Thanks for sharing that!
Remote prospecting is subject to frailties, some of which are NO fault of our own...
Often we must rely on others to assist in certain parts of the journey.
Another good example: Alaska Airlines provides scheduled airline service to Nome. Airline regulations set certain limits on minimum cloud height and visibility for an airplane to LAND at Nome. Because the weather conditions at Nome are frequently cloudy, stormy or foggy, there is a good chance that a person cannot get in or out of Nome on any given scheduled flight. That happened once to me. The alternate airport was Kotzebue. The flight was unable to land at Nome and was diverted to Kotzebue. We waited on the plane for a couple hours after landing at Kotzebue and without improvement in weather conditions, the flight returned to Anchorage.
The fun begins;
Upon return to Anchorage, all seats were booked for the next WEEK.
I had to lay around Anchorage for a WEEK waiting for the next available seat to Nome.
- Geowizard
Leonard, Thanks for sharing that!
Remote prospecting is subject to frailties, some of which are NO fault of our own...
Often we must rely on others to assist in certain parts of the journey.
Another good example: Alaska Airlines provides scheduled airline service to Nome. Airline regulations set certain limits on minimum cloud height and visibility for an airplane to LAND at Nome. Because the weather conditions at Nome are frequently cloudy, stormy or foggy, there is a good chance that a person cannot get in or out of Nome on any given scheduled flight. That happened once to me. The alternate airport was Kotzebue. The flight was unable to land at Nome and was diverted to Kotzebue. We waited on the plane for a couple hours after landing at Kotzebue and without improvement in weather conditions, the flight returned to Anchorage.
The fun begins;
Upon return to Anchorage, all seats were booked for the next WEEK.

I had to lay around Anchorage for a WEEK waiting for the next available seat to Nome.
- Geowizard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Nome has been discovered;
NOTICE to all prospectors... Nome has already been discovered!
Yeppers, I checked it out...
Nome has a LONG history of prospectors, pistol toten Gun slingers, shootin's, claim jumpin'... thievin'...
No... Wait... there's some NEW mining claims way... out... there at the end of the road...
Sir...? Excuse me... That Gold strike happened more than a HUNDRED YEARS ago... prospectors discovered GOLD! They stayed... they panned out every flake of GOLD they could... until... there was NO GOLD.
Then, after everyone left... a group of NEW prospectors DISCOVERED a hole in the ground and filed claims! Those old fools must have left a FORTUNE in GOLD here...
Oh...? If they were SMART enough to find it, WHY would they be DUMB enough to leave any behind?
Yeppers... "THEY" produced thousands of ounces of GOLD. Grab a shovel... and start diggin' boys...
Truth: They mined it all out. All gone... no mas... nada...
Then more prospectors arrive and look! There's TWO holes!
Pretty soon, there's so much traffic, they widen the road...
LOOK! there's FIFTY holes! Grab a shovel boys!
- Geowizard
NOTICE to all prospectors... Nome has already been discovered!

Yeppers, I checked it out...
Nome has a LONG history of prospectors, pistol toten Gun slingers, shootin's, claim jumpin'... thievin'...
No... Wait... there's some NEW mining claims way... out... there at the end of the road...
Sir...? Excuse me... That Gold strike happened more than a HUNDRED YEARS ago... prospectors discovered GOLD! They stayed... they panned out every flake of GOLD they could... until... there was NO GOLD.
Then, after everyone left... a group of NEW prospectors DISCOVERED a hole in the ground and filed claims! Those old fools must have left a FORTUNE in GOLD here...
Oh...? If they were SMART enough to find it, WHY would they be DUMB enough to leave any behind?

Yeppers... "THEY" produced thousands of ounces of GOLD. Grab a shovel... and start diggin' boys...
Truth: They mined it all out. All gone... no mas... nada...
Then more prospectors arrive and look! There's TWO holes!
Pretty soon, there's so much traffic, they widen the road...
LOOK! there's FIFTY holes! Grab a shovel boys!

- Geowizard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Geo I thought it was going pretty well! What happened? Are you sure they got 100% of the GOLD?? Waiting eagerly for the next installment.
Easygoer
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Easy goer,
Thanks...
Nobody can really say for certain... We only know, No "rational prospector" will LEAVE GOLD behind.
However, there is a point where the "PAIN" is greater than the "GAIN". That's where a decision is made to let it go.
A NEW prospector may seize the opportunity and get very rich quick...
A SERIOUS prospector with a SERIOUS plan can do this! It is not for the faint of heart!
Right now, we can play with Monopoly money and look at the cost and performance of different strategies!
Is it just for FUN? If so, then it doesn't matter if there's any GOLD.
I think there's potential for DISCOVERY.
- Geowizard
Thanks...
Nobody can really say for certain... We only know, No "rational prospector" will LEAVE GOLD behind.
However, there is a point where the "PAIN" is greater than the "GAIN". That's where a decision is made to let it go.
A NEW prospector may seize the opportunity and get very rich quick...
A SERIOUS prospector with a SERIOUS plan can do this! It is not for the faint of heart!
Right now, we can play with Monopoly money and look at the cost and performance of different strategies!
Is it just for FUN? If so, then it doesn't matter if there's any GOLD.
I think there's potential for DISCOVERY.

- Geowizard
- Leonard
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Re: Remote Prospecting?
Is it all gone? I say no. Cripple Creek Colorado was about 5th in the world production in the 60's.. Gold mining in the district begun in the 1890s, mostly as underground operations, chasing high grade veins. Over 23 million ounces of gold have been recovered from the district since 1890 Then pretty much closed down for a while. Back in production. For a while they were reworking the old tailing piles
More recently they have put it back in open pit operation because "The old guys didn't get it all" They did get the easiest though.
2004 [15] 329,030 ounces 0.61 g/t US$220
2005 [15] 329,625 ounces 0.62 g/t US$230
2006 [16] 283,486 ounces 0.54 g/t US$248
2007 [17] 282,000 ounces 0.53 g/t US$269
2008 [17] 258,000 ounces 0.49 g/t US$309
2009 [17] 218,000 ounces 0.46 g/t US$376
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7338071 ... a=!3m1!1e3
I was surprised that the district was 5th in the world production. You mostly don't hear about it.
Leonard
More recently they have put it back in open pit operation because "The old guys didn't get it all" They did get the easiest though.
2004 [15] 329,030 ounces 0.61 g/t US$220
2005 [15] 329,625 ounces 0.62 g/t US$230
2006 [16] 283,486 ounces 0.54 g/t US$248
2007 [17] 282,000 ounces 0.53 g/t US$269
2008 [17] 258,000 ounces 0.49 g/t US$309
2009 [17] 218,000 ounces 0.46 g/t US$376
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7338071 ... a=!3m1!1e3
I was surprised that the district was 5th in the world production. You mostly don't hear about it.
Leonard