There are a number of past-producing mines in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada abandoned by the old timers due to low gold grades, or veins being small and discontinuous.
A number of these operations had multiple shareholders, large bills for fuel and workers, and other expenses, and the financial losses were too great to continue. That doesn't mean they didn't get any gold.
With a modern understanding of geology as well as geophysics, geochemistry and other exploration methods plus modern technologies (e.g. drones, XRF, even computer vision and machine learning, AI, etc), could any / some of these small past producers become profitable for a solo operator running a portable crushing and sluicing circuit? If one can't afford a shaker table, The PopAndSon sluice (1/2" and 3/16" expanded over miner's moss, slow, even flow, moderate feed) reportedly captures 85% down to 300 mesh, (or Gold Cube etc) so major sluice losses from stamp mills (e.g. only capturing 40-60% of hard rock gold) are a thing of the past.
One hard rock example of a past producer in the Okanagan I can think of ran 11 grams per ton Au on the plates. At today's spot prices under the fictitious scenario of selling gold at today's spot price (approx $150 CAD/gram), that would be $1,650 per ton. Even at spot -20% that would be $1,320 CAD per ton.
If a solo operator could do 0.5 tons per day that is a decent little side hustle.
In your opinion, which modern methods, technologies and levels of understanding with geology, geophysics and geochemistry could turn some of these small past producers into a profitable and fun venture for a solo operator?
Note: I am not talking about the standard hard rock exploration model of a prospector optioning a property to a junior for diamond drilling to pump up a stock price to create equity. Instead, I'm interested in whether modern knowledge, methods and technologies can enable a solo miner to better understand a deposit, such that a profitable mining plan and cost structure can be developed.
ryanac liked this thread
I do think it is more profitable for people to go after the gold that miners in the past discarded because they either couldnt effeicently capture it or felt it was not worth it to work it but with gold prices theses days going through the roof can make it more feasible. it does make me want to try playing with hard rock but so far i am just here with hand tools .. and would want to test the heavies with smelting to see what else is extracted beyond visable gold.
pickaxe liked this reply
RyanAC - lots to learn with hard rock, and knowing it could help make you a better placer prospector. I recommend checking out the Geophysics > Aero Magnetics layers in Map Place 2 if you want to start learning about structure.
Faults, shear zones, alteration halos, bedrock contacts and other structural elements are major controls on hydrothermal fluid transport, which is ingredient #1 in gold making. If you combine structural controls with lithological controls (aka the right reactive host rock types) plus a significant vein or shear zone that are intersected by other veins that are perpendicular, a sudden pressure drop can occur which may cause gold to precipitate. Look for hard rock gold at these vein intersections or distortions where the veins look 'fucked up' - rusted, bent, contorted, etc.
The main thing is---get out there with your rock hammer and 10X loupe, hammer some rocks open, have a look. Crush, sieve and pan anything you think looks promising. There will be lots of duds, but eventually you'll find your first piece of hard rock gold, and for me it was as sweet, or sweeter, than finding my first piece of placer gold.
Have fun!
sebo liked this reply
Oh I know and there is lots of hard rock history in the valley, even a small portal i can see near my office.. just gotta go check it out.. and get a rock hammer lol.. and lots of resources here
sebo liked this reply
The cost of mining and processing 1/2 a ton of material per day is beyond the reach of most people.
pickaxe liked this reply
while true .. even if you start small and ideally are finding gold of some kind.. slowly build up .. from basic as basic gear as possible even if 1/2ton takes days or weeks and still have other source of income.. even if initial processing is just capturing the free milled and collecting all your heavies to sort out later.
pickaxe liked this reply
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