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

[Bedrocker]

48 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   June 6   2002

 

   The crew was up before dawn and we had coffee together. Everyone was in a hurry to fire up the trommel and see what kind of yardage the plant could handle. At sunrise the temperature was nearly 60 degrees and we expected a sweltering day. Jacob said this may be the beginning of the big heat he had talked about. He said it could last until well into September. I know one thing, I am happy to not be digging with a pick and shovel now. Those old crews must have been as tough as they come.

   We had all taken night watch shifts and everything was quiet. Vern fired up the big pump and the pristine morning air and silence was suddenly broken with the smell of diesel fuel and throbbing gas and diesel engines. 

   Jim ran the excavator while Jacob tended to the trommel and I got in the skid steer. Jim dug up piles of virgin gravel while I loaded the trommel with pay gravel from the bucket of the steer and pushed tailings. Within one hour we had processed roughly  20 cubic yards of gravel and we were hardly running the trommel at half speed. We had it up on a pad with a ramp for the steer to come up to its hopper and feed it. It was a beast. After a few minor adjustments to the water flow we cranked it up to about 80% and let it work. By 2:00 PM we had run 150 yards through it and shut it down. We wanted to see how the recovery was so we cleaned out the mats and all four of us participated in the cleanup. Jacob had the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen. In the holding pan there were 17 ounces of gold. We broke out the whisky and beer and had a toast to the old crew. If only they could have been here.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

That put a grin on my face too!

[blackjack]

1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

   June 6   2002

 

   The crew was up before dawn and we had coffee together. Everyone was in a hurry to fire up the trommel and see what kind of yardage the plant could handle. At sunrise the temperature was nearly 60 degrees and we expected a sweltering day. Jacob said this may be the beginning of the big heat he had talked about. He said it could last until well into September. I know one thing, I am happy to not be digging with a pick and shovel now. Those old crews must have been as tough as they come.

   We had all taken night watch shifts and everything was quiet. Vern fired up the big pump and the pristine morning air and silence was suddenly broken with the smell of diesel fuel and throbbing gas and diesel engines. 

   Jim ran the excavator while Jacob tended to the trommel and I got in the skid steer. Jim dug up piles of virgin gravel while I loaded the trommel with pay gravel from the bucket of the steer and pushed tailings. Within one hour we had processed roughly  20 cubic yards of gravel and we were hardly running the trommel at half speed. We had it up on a pad with a ramp for the steer to come up to its hopper and feed it. It was a beast. After a few minor adjustments to the water flow we cranked it up to about 80% and let it work. By 2:00 PM we had run 150 yards through it and shut it down. We wanted to see how the recovery was so we cleaned out the mats and all four of us participated in the cleanup. Jacob had the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen. In the holding pan there were 17 ounces of gold. We broke out the whisky and beer and had a toast to the old crew. If only they could have been here.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

If this question has been covered before, apologies, but I'm wondering were the water from the trommel goes. I presume it cant go back to the creek, do you have closed system from a dam and if so what rehabilitation work is required when you finish. Riparian zones are protected over here, unless you are RioTinto or BHP, then I think some concessions apply.

[Tahoegold]

1 hour ago, blackjack said:

If this question has been covered before, apologies, but I'm wondering were the water from the trommel goes. I presume it cant go back to the creek, do you have closed system from a dam and if so what rehabilitation work is required when you finish. Riparian zones are protected over here, unless you are RioTinto or BHP, then I think some concessions apply.

Hi Black jack,

   So, GM has had this operation permitted. This permitting process covers all aspects of a mining operation and expressly describes every aspect according to California and Federal Law. Each time a permit is applied for, government entities approve each action the mining operation will take. 

    The question you ask seems to allude to something nefarious occuring outside of the law. Think about that, here you have men trying to do the right thing by permitting this claim through government channels. It appears that these men have every intention of adhering to all applicable laws. They want to work their claim and live the American dream of hard work = rewards. 

   Are insinuating these hard working American Miners are breaking the law? Do you have actual knowledge or eye witness account of any statement you have made? 

   The kind of questions you asked seem pretty unfair given the facts of the operation. I'm not trying to be mean. If you didn't understand the process I hope now you can now see these are hard working law abiding Americans trying to make a business work and to provide for their families.

   

[GhostMiner]

2 hours ago, blackjack said:

If this question has been covered before, apologies, but I'm wondering were the water from the trommel goes. I presume it cant go back to the creek, do you have closed system from a dam and if so what rehabilitation work is required when you finish. Riparian zones are protected over here, unless you are RioTinto or BHP, then I think some concessions apply.

The permits are approved by Federal, State, & County agencies. All plant, wildlife, & water are considered in the plan.  The tailings water is contained in a settling pond. This operation is about 1/2 mile from any creek. The water is actually being taken from a flooded mine shaft which formed a pond 1700 ft or so to the NW on the mountain. The State of California granted the water license and the operation was monitored. All disturbance was put back under the plan and was covered by a bond to the Federal government. After two years it was hard to see that any mining activity had taken place. The Federal government holds the bond as security until all reclamation has passed muster. If you don't follow the plan you are pretty much finished as miners. Reputation means quite a bit. Ours is very good. That is why our permit applications continue to be approved.  

[blackjack]

44 minutes ago, Tahoegold said:

Hi Black jack,

   So, GM has had this operation permitted. This permitting process covers all aspects of a mining operation and expressly describes every aspect according to California and Federal Law. Each time a permit is applied for, government entities approve each action the mining operation will take. 

    The question you ask seems to allude to something nefarious occuring outside of the law. Think about that, here you have men trying to do the right thing by permitting this claim through government channels. It appears that these men have every intention of adhering to all applicable laws. They want to work their claim and live the American dream of hard work = rewards. 

   Are insinuating these hard working American Miners are breaking the law? Do you have actual knowledge or eye witness account of any statement you have made? 

   The kind of questions you asked seem pretty unfair given the facts of the operation. I'm not trying to be mean. If you didn't understand the process I hope now you can now see these are hard working law abiding Americans trying to make a business work and to provide for their families.

   

Hey Tahoegold, now that you point it out I can see that it would be easy to think that I was questioning the process. I can assure you and others that was not my intention, I understand that  Ghostminer is operating a legitimate business, further more I know how strict the rules would be in California, this was the basis of my question, I was curious as to what was required to operate legally. In asking the question I though I was giving Ghostminer the chance to share with others some of the details of his operation. For those who took it another way, that is understandable. I commend you for jumping to his defence.

[blackjack]

49 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

The permits are approved by Federal, State, & County agencies. All plant, wildlife, & water are considered in the plan.  The tailings water is contained in a settling pond. This operation is about 1/2 mile from any creek. The water is actually being taken from a flooded mine shaft which formed a pond 1700 ft or so to the NW on the mountain. The State of California granted the water license and the operation was monitored. All disturbance was put back under the plan and was covered by a bond to the Federal government. After two years it was hard to see that any mining activity had taken place. The Federal government holds the bond as security until all reclamation has passed muster. If you don't follow the plan you are pretty much finished as miners. Reputation means quite a bit. Ours is very good. That is why our permit applications continue to be approved.  

Thanks Ghostminer My question was based on curiosity not malice, please read my answer to Tahoegold. after reading all 194 pages from you I think I have gotten some insight into how you would operate.

[GhostMiner]

5 hours ago, blackjack said:

Thanks Ghostminer My question was based on curiosity not malice, please read my answer to Tahoegold. after reading all 194 pages from you I think I have gotten some insight into how you would operate.

   No worries blackjack. I didn't see any malice in the question either but sometimes words on the internet get mistaken as far as the meanings. Many thanks to you & Tahoe for your interest and for reading the journal.

[GhostMiner]

  June 7   2002

 

   When Vern fired up the pump this morning he had trouble with it holding prime and we ended up messing with it for about an hour. Not the best way to start the day. Jacob was giving us a good going over about getting the day started. He had little patience with equipment it seemed. When we finally got to digging the sun was up over the trees and the heat was coming on strong.

   We decided to run the trommel for a full day before we pulled the mats. Then Jacob would be doing full time gold cleanups the following day. We have him set up in a nice, shady location near camp for when he starts tomorrow. I will keep an eye on the trommel while I feed it with the steer and when Jim has enough pay dug with the excavator to last the day he will help me with tailings using the blade on the excavator. Vern will be up and down the mountain as pump tender and general mine hand as well as security.

   We shut down today at dusk after having only a few minor issues with the trommel. We got it overloaded on one occasion due to my overfeeding it. The beast as we call it processed 250 yards of pay gravel. I’ve got some tailings to deal with before we start mining tomorrow morning. I made the mistake of calling our operation work and was instantly corrected by Jacob. He said it’s not work, it’s mining. Point taken. The temperature hit 93 at the digsite. We are all on a learning curve out here and we are loving it. I may never go back to civilized society again.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

[Mike Furness]

On 5/13/2023 at 6:08 PM, GhostMiner said:

I may never go back to civilized society again.

GhostMiner I for one would not blame you in the least if that became reality. Not sure our 'civilized' society, at least in today's world, is worth much consideration.