GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS - part 3

#33 - on the gold

                GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS – part 3

  part 1, part 2 

We worked behind a berm that kept the river water out. Temporarily. It leaked like a sieve. Ideally the leaking water from the berm kept up with the water vacuuming action of the dredge. 

One of us would work the hose while the other worked on the berm, patching it up or opening it up as needed. It was a balancing act. Enough water was needed in the hole to see the material on the bottom, and keep suction, while too much water would quickly fill the hole.

If we wanted to see how we were doing on getting gold, we’d go up to the sluice box. A typical box may be one foot wide by four feet long.  

The suction hose brought the rock, gravel, dirt, and hopefully gold up to the box. It deposited it on a receiving ramp in the box starting the washing and sifting process. The flow of water from the hose then pushes the material over ridges, or riffles, on the box bottom, to be further broken up, and moved to the tail of the box where it exited into a pile of tailings.  

At the head of the box, we could see what gold we had. The gold, being relatively heavier, or having more density, would drop quickly to the bottom. The bottom of the box, under the riffles, was lined with a felt cloth lining, or similar material, such as miner’s moss that would catch and trap the gold. Most gold is caught in the first few riffles. 

Black sand, an indicator of where gold might be found, was abundant at our claim. It too, is heavy and quick to drop to the bottom of the box. It often covered our gold so that we never really had a good idea of our gold yield, unless a sizable piece was evident, until the end of the day’s “clean-out”, or “reveal”. It was almost always a joyful occasion. 

At the time, gold was valued near $2000 an ounce. We were getting gold in grams as our usual take. We thought we were on our way to ounces at a time. 

There is a sub-culture network, so to speak, in the mining community. One didn’t have to go through “proper channels” to sell one’s gold, or to get most anything you wanted. Barter is big. Gold for merchandise or equipment is commonplace.  

Gold could be bought or sold at a better price than on the legit market, which is usually 80% of “spot price”, the current price of an ounce of gold. “Precious metals”, like gold uses the “troy ounce” measure of 31 grams to the ounce, not the standard 28 grams. 

Specimen gold always got a higher price. At a premium were sizable nuggets or gold of an unusual shape or design. Jewelers, along with making rings, earrings, and necklaces, could slice a good-sized nugget still in its native rock into thin slabs showcasing the gold design within.  

I had rings made for my wife, mother, and sister. And me. 

Though finding the gold was good, it was the search for it that was better. Prospectors and miners are a fine group of people.  

I have to say for the most part, because like elsewhere, there are the unscrupulous. It wasn’t uncommon to find someone working on your claim, ignoring the posted claim signs. You might see them, but most often you could tell by their digging around that they had been on your claim. Figuring out your work routine and slipping in after you are gone wasn’t that difficult. Catching someone on your claim and dealing with it was an exercise in diplomacy, as being out deep in the woods, firearms were most likely at hand. Afterall, bears, mountain lions, and rattlers were common. 

The more troubling situation was claim jumping. Anyone can file for the claim you have claimed. It is called “top-filing". Then, these top-filers sell the claim to an unsuspecting buyer and problems ensue. It is so easy to be caught doing this, yet it continues. There were a few people whose reputation was highly suspect.  

It is up to the claimants to work it out. He who has the best paperwork, usually the earliest recorded date and proper registration year to year, wins. Or go to court to resolve the issue.  

The problem lies with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in my opinion. They handle the fees and regulations for maintaining the claims. Though records are kept, and computerized, it is not their responsibility to check to see if there is already a claim on file for the land you are claiming. You must do your due diligence before purchasing a claim.  

In this digitalized world today, it is difficult to believe that an automatic cross-check system of tracking claim ownership, upon filing, is not done. It would seem easy for a programmer to set it up. One must remember that the BLM is a government organization. Their interest is in the money paid in fees for the claim. ‘Nough said. 

Claims today are gridded out in twenty-acre parcels. Any number of people can sign onto a claim. If your claim is a connected forty acres, you need at least two claimants, three for sixty, and so on. An individual can claim up to ten individual twenty-acre claims. They must be maintained, regulations met, yearly fees paid, and taxes paid to the county the claims are in.  

It can get costly quick. And it is hard putting in the amount of work necessary to satisfy all the regulations, and also prospect or mine your claims. 

As recently as 1994, you could claim the land as your own. These are patent claims. Many of those claims exist today, now valuable pieces of property that were filed on as gold claims. On these claims you own the land with all prevailing rights, and could build permanent structures, like a home. 

  End part 3

part 1, part 2 

Final part 4, next week

Please consider supporting my writing. Buy me a cup of coffee, or some of my music! :) 

Image by me.