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** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **


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   May 2   1936

   My good friend John arrived at the claims today. I brought him up to date on what has gone on. I will teach John the mining skills needed as he has never worked for gold prior to now. We have also decided to share security watch at the dig site. This will help put my mind at rest. We will also divide the gold equally and each of us will be responsible for the security of his gold. John brought with him his trusty Colt revolver as well as his old Henry. We are now well armed in case of trouble.

   John helped me finish washing up the gravels from yesterday. We are both wearing big grins tonight. This was the heaviest gold weigh I have ever done anywhere. Good coarse gold and many small pieces fortified the weight of the pan. Out of those 65 buckets we made nearly half an ounce. I can hardly wait to dig those gravels tomorrow. It seems to me we have struck an area of raised country rock that may hold something special. Tonight I will stand first watch at the site and John will take the  second. I am hoping we will not have any further troubles.

   TO BE CONTINUED .......................

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13 minutes ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Has anyone mined that area since Jed?

How many years does a claim last?

    There was a mining company north of that area back in 1965. They did some testing and there is a 282 page Dept of Interior report on the activities. That's is where I came across Jed's work. We have over 500 acres of claims in that area. We explore them and lease them out & sometimes do some mining as well. I had no idea about Jed until I read it. I went up the mountain using the old mapping and found his dig site. The road he made is nearly gone but we were able to get a skid steer on tracks up there. We had to knock down some small trees & brush along the way.

   I got ahold of a descendant of the mine president fro the 1960's. I was trying to find out more information. They are the ones who had the journal which I couldn't believe. It's actually in fairly good shape. They said they had no use for it so they gave it to me. Very nice people.

   As far as placer mining claims, you pay taxes on them & do the anual filings with the county they are in and the federal BLM agency. They are located on Forest Service land as most mining claims are. You own the mineral rights. If you want to use commercial equipment like excavators, dozers, trommels, etc you usually need to put in a Plan of Operation & post a reclamation bond. The claims are good until you sell them or abandon them. You just need to keep all paperwork current.

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1 minute ago, DOOGY-MD said:

What State is this old mine?

In the Sierra Nevada mts of northern California. 

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   Another note here : I found out that Jed was working this fault line under the direction and advice of a very prominent geologist. He may have been a silent partner but i'm not sure because Jed never mentioned him in his journal. It would help to explain his success although no geologist could guarantee what he ended up finding. The gold numbers were being reported periodicly to the geologist and ended up in the Dept of Interior report as well as a small part of Jed's story. The rest comes directly from Jed himself and i'm most fortunate to have it.

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Very interesting! thank you for sharing your knowledge of the claim process!

How many years have to pass to consider a mine abandoned and claim is forfeited?

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7 minutes ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Very interesting! thank you for sharing your knowledge of the claim process!

How many years have to pass to consider a mine abandoned and claim is forfeited?

You have to do anual filings by Sept each yr. If you don't you could lose it.

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  • The title was changed to ** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **

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