First of all, you have to have a gold mine somewhere. This is a photo of the Prosperity Mining Claim in Nevada County, California. Note that it’s a nondescript general photo of the small stream on the property. There are no identifiable reference points in the photo — that’s because I don’t intend to give away the location of the mine, because I don’t want swarms of city folks blasting away at the bedrock out of sheer greed.

If you’re taking minerals out, notably gold, lead, silver and iron pyrites, along with several of the heavier gemstones such as garnet, which is used to make carborundum polishing compounds, you have two basic choices, once you’ve located an outcropping or gold ledge — go with heavy equipment and blasting powder, or take a little at a time.

Here’s the thing — gold mining by itself never pays more than survival and a tiny bit extra for sex, booze and camp supplies.

Oh, yes, when you mine full-time, you live there, either in a tent or an expensive home built right on the claim site. Of course, if you give up the claim, you lose the house, unless the claim is patented, and that’s a whole ball of wax right there. I’ll explain: Continue reading →