This Is The Stuff Of Dreams, Romance, And Murder
16-to-1 Mine sample
The 16-to-1 mine was discovered in 1896, now on the south side of Alleghany, California (Nevada County – about 30 miles NE of Nevada City). If it weren’t California, I’d be living up in those hills.
A hard rock mine, the 16-to-1 has produced over 1 million oz of high grade gold ore. Much of the ore is worth more as specimens than as gold. It is still in production but on a minor scale, producing specimens rather than bullion. One of its most productive days occurred in 1993 when 2600 oz were removed from a single pocket. The average density exceeds 1oz/ton.
When I was in that business, I had a chance to work in this mine. The quartz veins were shot with gold; I’ve never before or since seen such rich ore, including a stint with Newmont Gold; including museum samples. I was once privileged enough to be invited into the vault …
The average density at 16-to-1 is 1oz/ton; the good rock may be 10oz/pound. Newmont – at the time I was there – considered 0.1oz/ton to be a very rich property.
I don’t have the gold bug … but sometimes I come close to the edge.
Many years ago–seems like another life time–spent time panning and sluicing in the VA. and parts of the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers. Have the greatest memories but cannot forget the problem with cotton mouths. Great uncle–George Washington Carmack started the Yukon gold rush. Buried out in Seattle.
1 oz of gold from 1 ton of ore doesn’t seem like a good ratio to me.
You’re thinking small scale mining. 1 ton of ore is about the size of a refrigerator. A 10yo F250 has a minimum payload of 2800 lbs (some configurations up to 2 tons) – so 1 ton of ore dirt is less than a ¾ ton pickup load. For large scale mining, that’s good ore.
The process of “mining” is mostly moving and sifting large quantities of rock. The biggest single expense is diesel. I’m sure the figures have changed since I was privy to the data, but the average cost to mine was about $1100/oz – about ½ that in fuel. Some mines are richer, some less so.