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

[GhostMiner]

   September 5   2002     Part One     Uncle Sam Shuts Down The Dead Man’s Mine

 

   We were excited to get back to producing gold and testing out the new long tom this morning. Jacob and Big Clay were having their fourth cup of coffee and the sun was coming up over the trees. Conor and I were about to get the tom set up properly when a Forest Service agent came walking into camp. He had parked his truck just around the bend and out of sight on the haul road. The four of us walked over to see what he wanted.

   It seems he had decided to do a surprise mine inspection and had already been up on the upper workings. He didn’t have a problem with anything up there but wanted to inspect the areas of the diggings we had done along the base of the mountain about 150 to 200 feet from the creek. We walked along with him as he took his time making notes and taking pictures. At the same time he was shaking his head as if to indicate his displeasure.

   Finally, after about 45 minutes of this, he looked up from his clipboard and asked who was in charge of the operation. He had to have known this because he had our permit paperwork with him. I stepped forward and told him I was the main operator and everything including the bond was in my name. He nodded his head. He told me I was in violation of the disturbance limitations set forth in the permit plan. It seems we had opened up too much ground during our exploration without doing reclamation before we moved our dig sites. We had multiple open trenches that had not been filled and reclaimed. He said we either needed to apply for multiple bonds to cover each trench until we reclaimed the ground or do the reclamation now. Either way we were put on notice and handed a cease and desist of all further mining operations. I was stunned.

   I explained to the agent that I fully intended to do all the required reclamation before we left the mine site at the end of the season. I explained that I couldn’t afford or wait possibly a month for the multiple bonds to be put in place. It fell on deaf ears.

   The rest of the crew was listening to all this and I saw Jacob begin a slow boil. He got in the face of the agent. He called him a low life government law dog that couldn’t do a day's work if he had to. I stepped in quickly and asked Jacob to take the men back to camp. He didn’t want to but he did what I asked. After the crew left I continued talking with the agent.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

   

[GhostMiner]

   September 5   2002     Part Two

 

   I had a long talk with the Forest Service agent and headed back to camp to talk with the crew. Everyone was upset including new crew member Big Clay. He wanted to see gold. I was able to salvage part of our work operation. I explained that we would still be able to haul pay gravel. So Clay and Jacob can stay busy and Conor and I will use the skid steer to do the required reclamation. We should be able to get back to processing in a few days as long as the Forest Service signs off on our reclaimed ground. Then we will have to steer clear of those areas which will not be a problem. It’s a nuisance but we will just have to deal with it as fast as possible.

   We all got back to work and by sundown Conor and I had gotten a lot of the big trenches filled in. I am thinking maybe one more long day and we might be ready for an inspection. Jacob and Clay were working fools. I heard that old Mack rumbling down the haul road over and over. If those two stopped for lunch it must have been a quick one. We won’t let anything stop us. We sampled some of the pay gravel Clay has been sending and it has a lot of coarse gold in it. I think we have a good shot at ending the season on a high note.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

   September 6   2002

 

   We all spent another long day on the mine. Jacob and Clay once again did themselves proud and the Old Bulldog hauled 160 yards of rich pay gravel to our processing site. Conor and I finished the reclamation just as night rolled in. Tomorrow I am driving to the Forest Service station to let them know we are ready for an inspection. Hopefully they can come out quickly and we get back to mining. There have been a lot of unexpected twists and turns to this mining season. I have learned that the best laid plans sometimes aren’t worth the paper they are written on. Our crew is strong and getting stronger with each adversity we face. I think Clay is rock solid and can be depended on in any situation. Jacob is Jacob and Conor is doing his best to become a miner. He has come a long way in a short period of time.

   We all ate supper together and watched the stars pop out of the black night sky. I never tire of looking at them. Jacob had a surprise for us. He brought out a pan he had processed out of the pay we were stockpiling. It was full of coarse gold. He said he’d tested several samples and they were all looking good. That material up on the mountain is definitely the rich ground. When Clay saw the contents in the pan I saw his eyes glaze over. I knew immediately he had the fever just like the rest of us. The fever that will keep you fighting against all the bad things that can happen out here on this cursed mine. The fever that can even turn you into an old outlaw like Jacob.

   TO BE CONTINUED ............

 

[GhostMiner]

 

[GhostMiner]

   An answer or clarification to a question received  :  No, Big Clay in the 2002 journal is not Clay Diggins from this forum. I have not worked with him on our mine or anywhere else. Cheers.

[GhostMiner]

  September 7   2002     Part One     Uncle Sam Pays Another Visit 

 

   I was actually up an hour before sunrise and had breakfast and coffee ready for the crew when they rolled out of their sleeping bags. It was a cold but clear morning with temps around 40 degrees but we all knew that as soon as the sun rose they came up quickly. The high temperatures lately have been in the mid 70’s to maybe 80 degrees. Perfect for working and a much needed change from the Summer of brutal heat. 

   The crew got to work hauling pay gravel and I headed for the ranger station. I was at the door when they opened and actually caught our minerals agent before he headed to his office. He was quite surprised to learn that we had completed the reclamation process where required. With some kind words just short of begging I plead my case to him and asked if he could possibly head out to our mine for the inspection first thing before he got caught up in other paperwork. To my relief he agreed, saying that since we had an active permit and he was only tending to a few late applications that wouldn’t start operating until next season he could do it for us. I thanked him and told him I’d be waiting when he got to our property.

   I actually didn’t have to wait very long before he arrived. My crew were all up on the mountain working. The agent walked through the reclaimed sections taking some notes and also some pictures. He seemed quite pleased and told me he would take his report to the ranger for his signature. He told me to come back to the ranger station at 4:00 PM and our new permit should be approved. I shook hands with him and he drove away. 

   This was great news and I could hardly wait to tell the others so I jumped in my truck and drove up the mountain to the dig site. When the crew heard the news they were hooting and hollering like we just won first prize at the county fair. We were hopefully back on the road to mining gold once again.

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

 

[GhostMiner]

 September 7   2002     Part Two

 

   Just like the Forest Service agent said, when I got to the ranger station my paperwork was approved and waiting for me. I asked if I needed to talk with anyone and the lady in the front office told me I was good to go. When I got back to the mine I drove up to where the crew was working and showed them our approved permit. As long as we didn’t go near those reclaimed areas we were good to mine.

   Clay hauled gravel until dark and the crew got together for supper, just like a family would. We were all anxious to put the new tom to work in the morning. We had a huge mound of pay gravel to start working on until we got the trommel back. I fried up hash and cooked up some hot dogs to go with it. We all had a couple of shots of whisky to celebrate. Clay was going on and on about how anxious he was to see that gold come out of the mountain. I told him we were digging on rich pay ground up there and we should have gold soon. We all turned in except for Clay who once again sat up drinking beer. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[Joe L]

Whiskey and beer, ahh to be a miner….oh yes, that gold stuff too.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, Joe L said:

Whiskey and beer, ahh to be a miner….oh yes, that gold stuff too.

LOL. But only after working hours. Never on the mine site.

[GhostMiner]

  September 8   2002

 

   Well the day finally came and we were mining as the sun came up. It was perfect weather as well. I told Conor to go ahead and feed the new tom with the skid steer. I wanted him to get his confidence back. He was being extra careful but after an hour I could see his confidence return and he was operating the machine like a pro. Jacob was up on the mountain digging pay gravel and Big Clay was hauling. Jacob loves to run that excavator and he knows how to stay on the pay gravel.

   At noon I jumped in my truck and took some sandwiches up to Jacob and Clay. Jacob climbed down off the machine and walked me into a fresh cut in the mountain. He scooped out a pan of gravel and panned it out for me to see. There were seven pickers and a lode of coarse gold. Jacob gave me a wink and told me he was onto something special in this location. I asked Clay to come have a look as well. He blinked twice to make sure  he was really seeing the pans’ contents for real. I told him he was hauling some very rich material. Then I headed back down to tell Conor.

   The plan was to process carefully and not overload the tom. That way we could get a good read on the values we were mining. The toms’ sweet spot seemed to be around ten yards an hour so that’s how we fed it all day. We shut down at sundown having washed 100 yards. Then Conor and I pulled the mats. The concentrates were heavy and we could see abundant gold in them. Tomorrow morning we’ll do a cleanup and get back to work after lunch. I am hopeful that this gold weigh is going to be a whopper.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............