Old Miner Don

42 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

We all had a few more beers and hit the sack. I felt relieved and I am hoping this will be the end of any problems between the crew.

Just make sure that Bill doesn't let Conor get a look at that huge hunk of specimen with the 2" wide streak of gold in it..

OTH go ahead and show it to him and let's see his reaction lol.

1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

I was out here in the middle of nowhere with three people who had no names on my claims and maybe nothing to lose. What would happen to me if we found the big gold strike?

The tunnel that you guys were trying to uncover was on your claims? A mile and 1/4 away from where you were working? You had a lot of ground under claim.

That Conor dude would have p_ssed me off royal. Must have been very unsettling when you realized that you were the only person with a stake in the operation. I feel that!

2 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

I tried to warn him to slow his pace but it was no use. He had the worst case of gold fever I have ever witnessed.

Uh oh...

4 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   It also seems like one happy little mining crew has been formed now. Or has it? This infamous mining property is always full of surprises.

You can say that again!

So I guess it is now safe to say that after showing Conor around the mine, Bill knows who Jacob is? I had the impression up to now that Jacob and you weren't filling Bill in on all of those details from decades ago.

18 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

Time for a cup of Bushmills. See you all tomorrow.

You ever try some Pendleton?

Morning John! I just continue to be amazed at your gold recovery. You could probably make some extra money by bagging up some of the NSR gravel and selling it. Cheap of course lol.

Did you ever make a post about how you built the speed controller for the motor?

5 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

You see, it was me & this old man were like desperados waiting for a train lode of gold back then. THIS SONG SURE BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE. MY GOOD FRIEND JACOB. 

 

Aren't we all?

12 hours ago, John-Edmonton said:

Here's my annual gold coin I bought. Each year, using my metal detecting modern coin totals, I buy a gold coin. Been doing this for over 20 years. This year, I also bought a one ounce siver bullet replica. I figure that I must be close to $80.00 in coins found. Back to the bank security box. My kids get my gold coins when my days are done.

Mornin' John!

You mean to say $80 bucks bought that gold coin and the silver bullet? I want that deal also lol.

43 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

  July 27   2002   Part Three

 

   Jacob and I spent the evening discussing the unexpected developments on the lower mine. It seems there are many twists and turns on this property. Jacob liked the idea of taking a shot at hard rock mining. It would allow us to work longer into the Fall and perhaps Winter. We could work the tunnels in any weather and stock pile the ore for Spring processing. The old mine car and tracks could be restored and made usable again with a little work on our part. However, we would most likely need a crew to follow the quartz vein if we wanted to mine enough raw ore to make it a worthwhile venture. We have no hard rock mining experience and lack some of the needed equipment. We will need a stamping or crushing process and drilling equipment for starters. It concerns me to take on a crew of new people out here. I worry about potential problems. Many things could go wrong.

   It was well after midnight and we were at camp and still talking things over when we both heard a holler from inside the tunnel. It sounded like a distant voice way down the drift somewhere. We got up and walked over in the direction of the adit which was not too far from our camp near the creek. I walked into the opening just ahead of Jacob. I thought I saw the light from a lantern down near the area where the tunnels branched off. I shined my flashlight in that direction but saw nothing moving and the light had vanished.

   Jacob hadn’t seen it and when I told him about it he said it could be trespassers. We both stood very quietly and listened for a few minutes. Sure enough, there were two or three voices down there somewhere. They must have taken the right tunnel leading east and were out of our view. Jacob had the Thompson and I had my sidearm. We slowly advanced into the dark keeping our flashlights off.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

Gosh darn this mining story just keeps getting better lol !

18 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

You are also reminding me of how much I missed while being thousands of miles from home. I actually had a panic attack at 2:00 AM many yrs ago. I woke up alone in camp before the crew was there & was thinking of my wife & daughter at home and 2500 miles away. It hit me that if something happened & they really needed me quickly it would be impossible to get there. Add to that no cell service. Not something I like to think about now. Sure, I have regrets sometimes.

I for one would never beat someone up and want them to feel guilty for something that they did over 20 years ago.

Especially since that 'something' turned out very successful. You took a gamble and you won and there is no reason to play the "what if" game or look back and feel guilty for that.

On 9/18/2023 at 5:52 AM, John-Edmonton said:

Bugs are gone, cool weather and low water opens up more gold-rich gravel. I think I found another pay streak today, judging by the amount of gold showing in my hopper drop zone on the sluice. Ran out of time to clean it this evening. Will do a final clean up later on this week.

 

Good morning John!

Question for you. What do you use for a battery and did you make the PVC wash bars attached to the top of the highbanker? Is that the California made highbanker? I forgot the name of that company. Thank you John!

23 minutes ago, Steelheader said:

I went to a local park in Albany, OR last Sunday.  I wasn't having much luck, with mostly trash and a few clad coins.  I was digging a lot of the older square tabs which come in at around 75 on my Deus 2.  I got another signal with a 75 target ID, and I figured that it was another of the older square tabs.  I almost passed it up, but then I decided that I might as well dig it up.  Boy, was I ever surprised!  It was a 10K gold girls class ring from 1957.   It was about 6 inches deep.   It weighs 7.5 grams.  This is the third gold ring for me this year.  Every gold ring that I have found over the years I have been metal detecting, I was sure that they were going to be some kind of trash.  You have to dig a lot of trash to find the gold.

Wow that's a beauty!

37 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   So I finally am back on the website. For some reason starting yesterday I lost the site & got http error 500. I tried everything I knew to get back on with no luck. So just now I called my son in law & asked him to try pulling up the forum which he did right away. Then he sent me a link from his phone & it allowed me to get back on. I also googled a link from my computer & got back on which it wouldn't allow before. Wierd. It was like I was frozen out for some reason. More journal tomorrow. Cheers.

Same happened to me. Kept getting 505 error. Just now tried again.

52 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   July 6   2002     Part Five

 

   My mind was racing. Was I about to be the witness to murder? I believed Jacob’s mind was still stuck in the war out here that took place July 3 1937. For all I knew his mind was trapped there and perhaps he believed these guys were part of the gang that killed his crew back then. He was no longer rational. It seemed he had snapped and lost all sense of reality. I didn’t know what to do. I could see his face and it was like stone. If he had decided to kill these thieves there was little I could do to stop him.

   The three men kept digging slowly, all the while looking at each other and trying to figure a way out for themselves. Jacob still had the Thompson pointing directly at them as they worked. One flinch from his finger on that trigger would send a deadly burst of 45 caliber bullets raining down on them. 

   As the hole got to around five feet in depth Jacob told them to stop. One of the men started to climb out of the hole but he ordered him back in. Jacob coldly stated that he had enough of them and their threats as well as their sabotage. He said he was going to send them to Hell and let the Devil deal with them. Two of them began shaking and crying for mercy. The third man looked to be in shock. 

   Jacob looked crazed to me now. His eyes were wide and his face was a snarl. He said he was now their judge and jury. He told them he was an outlaw that had sent men to their graves in the past. Jacob told them he would not tolerate what they had been doing here. He told them he would give them a choice on how they wanted to die. They could be shot down where they stood or be hung and left for crow bait. It was their choice and they had three minutes to decide. With that he took a few steps back to let them talk amongst themselves. The night became stone quiet.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

You have to keep in mind that the real outlaws have brought this upon themselves. They want what you have and have been persistent in trying to steal it and have not been willing to take no for an answer.

They and they alone have put the Miner's in the uncomfortable position of having to stop them and put an end to it. You either let them have what is yours or you put a stop to it.

22 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   July 6   2002     Part Four

 

   The three goons slowly made their way to the bottom of the mountain where the trommel sat. Sure enough, after they thought the coast was clear, they made their way to the sluice with a few large buckets. They began trying to unfasten the mats. Obviously, they were going to put the mats in their buckets and haul them off. To Jacob’t credit, he had not fired a single shot. I knew it must be killing him not to open up on them.

   As they started to pull the first mat I charged in with my semi auto and hollered for them to freeze and not make any moves. Jacob stood up with the Thompson. I told them if they moved they would be cut to ribbons by his machine gun. Only one of them was armed with a pistol which he dropped. I ordered them to their knees. 

   Jacob came forward with his Thompson and held it on them. I demanded to know their names but they weren’t talking. I asked them several times to identify themselves but they refused. They had no wallets or I D on them. We had no idea who they were. Then Jacob spoke up. He said it really made no difference to him who these guys were and he would deal with them in his own way. I looked over at him and his face was like stone. 

   He went over to one side of the trommel where we kept some supplies and grabbed three shovels. He marched the thieves over to an area south of camp which was a deep pile of very old mine tailings from previous years of work here. He threw the shovels on the ground and told them to pick them up, which they reluctantly did. They had still not uttered a word but I could see them looking nervously at each other. Jacob told them to start digging a hole and if they stopped he would cut them down where they stood. I was horrified. He was forcing them to dig their own graves.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

Well good for Jacob. Just let him handle it since nobody else can. 🤣

Great looking finds! Is that a Peace dollar?

3 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

One thing that happened on the other mine in 2019 was a black bear attack. This happened before the crew was there. It was late May and I set up camp. It took 2 days. One night I had finished eating. I'd been having problems with bear up there. I had been warned about them by the mine owner. He said one night they got so bad that the crew slept in a metal storage container. For me, several would come into camp and circle it bawwing the entire time. I'd fire off a few rounds from my semi auto and they would leave. This particular night a big one came down the mountain. He had followed an old, abandoned mining road that ran for several miles. Camp was at the bottom of the road. I fired off some rounds but he refused to leave. I didn't have an airhorn which was something we also used to signal each other or scare critters with. But I always had bear spray on my bibbed coveralls. This bear was what I would call a rogue. He came straight in and towards my little table where food had been. I grabbed my bear spray as he took a swipe at me with his paw. I was moving backwards and tripped over a rock and landed on my back with the bear looking straight down at me and bellowing. He started to stomp up and down and he was almost on me. Somehow, I slipped the safety off the spray and let him have it. Square in the face. He let out a loud bellow and sauntered out of camp. It was nearly dark and I was lying there with the spray in my hand when I noticed my hand was shaking. I never saw that bear again. True story. 

Did the bears scare you more than the hooligans scared you?

19 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   At some point I will talk about some other mining seasons I kept a record of. One of the more interesting seasons besides the 2002 & 2003 seasons were the 2012, 2015, 2019. & 2020 seasons. The 2020 season was my last rodeo. For someone who knew nothing about mining when he was growing up I find it hard to fathom the expriences I have had while doing gold mining & exploration. Some of the people I have met in the gold mining business were some really crazy characters. It was all quite an experience for sure. One wild ride. Hopefully that helps to answer a previous question. Now I'll get back to season 2002 as there is still much to tell.

I just don't understand how you and Jacob could go back to mining without taking time to recruit extra help. You KNOW trouble is coming back and you guys aren't exactly invisible.

If it were up to me I couldn't let that go. If they kill you then... you lose.

Obviously you weren't killed but many others were and in 2002 you had no way to know what was going to happen.  I would have hired guys straight out of prison if I had to.

(lol probably where the hooligans were coming from)

12 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   July 3   2002     Part One

 

   When I got up early this morning I was shocked to find out Vern had left camp. Gone without a word. Right after that Jim came to me and told me he was leaving as well. He said it wouldn’t be safe with only three men at camp and he’d had enough. His wife wanted him home. He was taking his gold cut and would not be back. Vern had left with his gold as well.

   I asked Jim about the partnership between the four of us. He said it was over and wished us well. There wasn’t much I could say. Jacob was out of his camper and pretty much told Jim what he thought of him. He called him a low life quitter. Jim didn’t say a word and began packing his things. I was stunned and couldn’t believe what was happening to us. It seemed like sometime late last night Jim and Vern had conspired to quit the crew. The part that really bothered me the most was they gave me no warning. Jacob looked at me and simply said it was just me and him now and we didn’t need anyone on the mine without the sand to stick it out. How in the hell was I going to keep things running with no crew? And would it be safe?

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

Sarge would of had a field day with those two.

19 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   I'll never forget the day I met Jacob and we shook hands. He looked me straight in the face with his steely blue eyes and he had a vice grip for a hand. That's a fact.  

Too bad you don't have some video of Jacob and you guys on the claim. Or do you?

2 hours ago, Mike Furness said:

I wouldn't go so far as to say Vern was an idiot. His problem evidently is that he heard from some 'expert' saying that the sluice is always at 15%. What he didn't realize maybe because of his apparent youth and lack of experience compared to Jacob that life in any situation is dependent on the situation. Sometimes you feel like a nut other times you don't! Little play on a Hershey bar. Just reset the sluice and test the results. And be sure to run as much of the old tailings as possible back through the sluice ... even if you have to do it a shovel full at a time. Now get back to work you two and quit your bickering or I'll give you something to bicker about! (That's my father coming out in me! LOL)

Well I agree with you.

Whether or not Vern is a idiot depends on how willing he is to back off and stifle himself and try it Jacob's way. The lost gold in the two pans should have been enough to convince him.

God only knows how much gold Vern is responsible for losing out the end of the sluice.

Well maybe they re-ran the tailings and got it all back. We'll see!

58 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

 

Haha that's funny! 🤣🤣🤣

22 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

This is bringing back some bad memories of that night. 

Relax...crack open a beer 🍺

21 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   July 2   2002     Part Two

 

   I was shocked when I saw the amount of gold in the pans. They were loaded with fine gold. Jacob just shook his head and stated flatly that the sluice was set up wrong. He said we needed to have a meeting at supper. I agreed.

   We finally shut down just after 5:00 PM and pulled the mats. We had run 270 yards of pay gravel. Everyone got cleaned up for supper and we sat down to a good meal of hot dogs, baked beans, and some store bought corn bread which Jacob loved so much. We cracked open some beers and I reluctantly conveyed the problem with capturing fine gold. Everyone was upset. Jacob said we were probably losing over 60 - 70 % of our gold. When we had set up the sluice Vern was the guy who was in charge. He and Jacob had gotten into a bit of an argument over the angle of the run. Vern swore up and down that a sluice needed to be set at 15%. Jacob had disagreed. He said because of the amount of fine silt and very heavy black sand we were dealing with, the sluice should be somewhere between 6 to 8 %. Vern had scoffed at this and Jacob had got angry. Now we were about to start down the same path.

   Jacob got out his bottle and had a shot of whisky. Vern had himself a shot of whisky as well and the two of them began to butt heads. Vern was a young whipper snapper and figured he knew what was what about the sluice and trommel. Jacob once again stated his thoughts on the angle. He said Vern’s setup was costing us ⅔ of our day's work. Vern disagreed and said every miner knows you set a sluice at 15%. Now this was the wrong way to say it and Jacob became infuriated. For a minute I thought he was going to grab Vern by the throat and squeeze the life out of him. Jim and I looked at each other with horror. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

So...Vern was an idiot.