Gold Rush - Alaska - The Motherload

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I was trying to edit the post and messed it all up.

My original post was that I see that someone hits the motherload. I am saying I hope it is Parker or the Hoffmans and not Dakota Fred.

The show based on the how they edit it has Dakota Fred rubbing me the wrong way. Fred told the producer that the show makes him look like someone who is only out for himself but he is really a nice guy. My idea of a nice guy would have lent parker the electrical panel. However he did claim it was his "partner" who wanted $10k for the panel (or was it Fred?)

The Hoffmans seem to make all kinds of mistakes and bad decisions, and Parker is impulsive, but he is only 17!

Still I hope it is either of them, but at the same time if it is Fred, well good for him, I wish it where me! Maybe the next time on the river I will hit a pocket for a hundred ounces!

 

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[jcazgoldchaser]

I think the motherload is those trailers the guys are living in.

 

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[jeff of pa]

Looks like Fred may be the one to hit the motherlode...

Well apparently Todd's crew found at least Close to 100 OZ.'s

I'm sure they wouldn't have added the Drama & threat from the so-called investor to pull out if they didn't already know
the show must go on.
so my guess the trommel is going to make a difference. but they won't let on till last minute to try & cause suspense

I'm still rooting for Fred's Crew to string him up.

 

[diggummup]

I kind of agree with Casca, when the hell are they gonna start running some dirt? It's getting ridiculous.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Kuger
I agree, whether it is editing or what, I don't like Fred. I am hoping it is Parker who hits it, but the gold they got in the top soil may be an indication.
But did I miss something, like the gold in their collector? With Todd's crew they always show the gold up close. Did I miss them showing Fred's gold up close or did they just point at the black sand and say there is gold there? I may have missed it.

can the Hoffman's be any more bumbling? Maybe they do get shut down and that is why the season ends in 3 shows, not enough footage and the last 2 shows will show just Parker and Fred and one of them ( Fred ) hitting the motherlode.

 

[jeff of pa]

although the investor may have misspoke or I heard it wrong 3 times

I could have sworn he said they have 3 weeks to find 100 OZ's "then" we have to pull the plug

not "or" we have to pull the plug

was that hint ? it's already been decided ?

 

[AzViper]

The Gold Rush last night opens with 2.5 minutes of Sneak Peek. Why do we need Sneak Peek when we are about to watch the entire episode? I suppose the producer felt compiled we needed to get lured into the show.

Next we get 3.5 minutes of drama at Indian River with a hydraulic issue, followed by 2.75 minutes of recap of Todd looking in on his new Trommel of which we saw in last week’s episode. Then we get to watch more recap of Dakota Fred and some drama of his equipment throwing a track.

4.25 minutes of commercials including a 30 second slot of ads for Gold Rush.

Now the producer felt compiled to waste 4.25 minutes on Dakota Fred building a new roller block assembly. That is if he really built it. Damn those 3” holes for the axle look round using a cutting torch, not to mention he cut through about 1.5” of steel.

Then were back to Indian River to make repair to the cooling motor and eat up 2 minutes.

We get 3.75 minutes of Parker and his crew at Big Nugget repairing the bridge.

Another 4 minutes of commercials and again another plug for Gold Rush, followed by 3 more minutes of some old guy not wanting to work with the crew at Big Nugget.

1.45 minutes of hero Dakota Fred at Porcupine Creek in getting the track on the excavator.

2.45 minutes of Todd and his crew building a side channel from the river to the holding pond at Quartz Creek.

5.25 minutes of commercials and another Gold Rush plug.

3.45 minutes of Todd telling everyone the channel that the old man cut was not going to work.

2.45 minutes of Dakota Fred and crew running paydirt at Porcupine.

3.25 minutes of commercials.

1.0 minutes at Quartz Creek of BS.

2.0 minutes of more commercials.

1.30 minutes of Dakota Fred again.

Then we end the show with 3.30 minutes at Indian River when the paydirt does not yield much at all.

BOTTOM LINE:
20 minutes of commercials, a few minutes of paydirt being run through the wash plant, 6 minutes of total recap of crap we have seen in the last few episodes, 10 minutes of Dakota Fred, 7 minutes of Todd, 7 minutes on rebuilding a bridge, and 10 minutes of filler at the three areas of where everyone is trying to run a mining operation.

I wasted 15 minutes putting this BS together.

 

[kuger]

Nice young Black Bear in the picture........

 

[Gork]

Nice young Black Bear in the picture........

It is about a three year old black bear. A young bear would be about 1 1/2 to 2 years old. It is difficult to tell the age of bears up there by judging them from our experiences elsewhere. In the Klondike bears are very small compared to bears in other geographic areas. They have a very short feeding cycle, with scarce food before they hibernate. A really large black bear is only about 250 pounds. A large grizzly bear is about 400 pounds. They get much larger along the coast. The world's record bear comes from North Carolina (last I heard, there may be a larger one by now) and was about 800 pounds.
Even when the black bears break away from their mother, at 1 1/2 to 2 years old, they can be devastating in a bad situation. Their strength is tremendous even at a very young age. In 34 years in the Klondike I have had to kill two bears.
Size means little when they are charging at you only a few feet away.

 

[leenie]

hi Gork did you mine this year? i have seen some of your previous posts and found them more interesting than the whole gold rush show. Canada and alaska are the only thing going for these shows. you haveing been there and done that i was wondering what you think? thanks dave

 

[Gork]

hi Gork did you mine this year? i have seen some of your previous posts and found them more interesting than the whole gold rush show. Canada and alaska are the only thing going for these shows. you haveing been there and done that i was wondering what you think? thanks dave

It is a little bit tough. The longtime miners in the Klondike know what is going on. I am a little hesitant what I mention about the show as they have very expensive lawyers. I have met much of the people behind the show, such as their film crew and producers. They sometimes come in the local bar in Dawson City called "The Snake Pit" by the locals. I am about five miles from their operations. I can say this, many of the miners are a little angry of their presentation of what placer mining is like there. It is our opinion that it gives us a bad reputation. After all, we are the ones many tourists talk to in Dawson City. In my opinion (notice how careful I am how I word things), and other long time miners, they do not show the basics of what we have to go through. The mining regulations are tough. A miner can't begin until he has a water use-land use license in place. It is about eighty pages long and takes about six months to obtain. It is highly technical, so much so that many miners have to hire experts to make it out for them. In almost all cases, the creek can only be diverted temporarily (with permissions stated on the license) and the water quality must almost be drinkable in the creek. We have inspectors that come around and there are even instruments set up on the creeks to monitor the effluent (water quality) to make sure we meet the requirements of our licenses.
The key word here is "prospecting." The basis for placer mining is what prospecting tells us. When I got there in the late 1970s, the old-timers would often sit in the bars discussing the "art of prospecting." Anyone can be a prospector, but not are all successful prospectors. This is where respect from miner-to-miner comes from. If anyone is looking for "respect" in the Klondike, this is where it comes from.
A suggestion; listen to what Henry the driller that they hire says. He is an old friend that I have known for over thirty years. He is a highly respected driller in the Klondike. He doesn't say much on camera, but listen carefully to what he says. If you remember that when one of the Gold Rush boys said something to the effect that the Indian River ground Henry was about to drill was "rich ground," Henry said that if it was rich ground it would have already been mined. This statement speaks volumes. He had good reason to say that. It is more than I can explain here. His statements on camera are important. It is important to note that ground doesn't have to be rich to still make a fortune. There is "thin" ground, meaning low gold concentration, that if millions of cubic yards are mined, a fortune can be made. About twenty years ago, Henry made a hit placer mining that would make us all look like amateurs. The show has one heck of story right there in front of them with Henry.
Another suggestion: As you know there is no such thing in "Mother Nature" as natural pure gold. It sometimes come close in gold fields such as in Australia, but Klondike gold is rather low grade. It is expressed in "finess." The Yukon Territory Government website can give much information about this. Every section of every creek in the Klondike is listed with its finess. The worst is on Eldorado Creek. On some sections there it is as low as 560, meaning the placer gold in its natural state is only 56% gold and alloyed with other minerals. So what you weigh from your clean-up hs to be cut by 44%. Quartz Creek's placer gold finess varies but is generally low grade being and average 700 fine or 70%. This means that any value based on the weight of the placer gold in a clean-up has to be reduced by 30% (on the average). Indian River is a little better. When we do a clean-up, this factor has to be figured into the value of the clean-up. All of this info is on the government site, including the mining history of all these areas mentioned in the Klondike.
There are many other factors that the many long time Klondike miners I know have to take into consideration. I leave it up to you to observe the correctness of how they figure this stuff out on the show.
As to my mining this year. Although I maintain my rights to #24 Pup, Right Fork, Hunker Creek, I have been involved the last five years with a mother lode that I found about one mile from my valley. I was developing it by hand to find out how it assayed. I recently sold it to a mining company. During that time I have been involved with some hand mining and shafting in my valley also. Up to five years ago I was using industrial equipment for mining in my valley. I may again go "big" again if things work out in the near future.
I don't know if you get the International California Mining Journal, but one of my articles about a rather spectacular hit in the Klondike was published in January's issue. I will probably have a few more coming up in the next few months. One is "Another Klondike Summer." and the other is "Prospecting and Gold Mining in the Klondike." I am working on another about the mother lode I found titled "Anatomy of a Mother Lode."
I did manage to come back with some nice gold. I even had to pay taxes last year.
If you have specific questions, please ask. I will try and tell a little more of what is "really" going on up there a little later.

 

[Goodyguy]

Episode 5 "The Ultimatum"

 

[clovis97]

Gork,Thank you so much for sharing.I'm not a gold miner, and have no plans to ever do so, but I am FASCINATED with what you've shared about mining. I've enjoyed your posts more than I will ever enjoy the show. Can you talk a little more about the high costs of the area? Is diesel $8 a gallon? Milk? A candy bar?I see all the heavy equipment. Are there parts houses nearby for repair parts? Do those operating a placer mine have to reclaim the land when they are done? Or can you just push all the dirt into a pile and leave after the gold has been extracted?And not being personal, but where does everyone sell their gold? I'd guess there are gold buyers in the area...but do they give a good price for it?Thank you for sharing!!!! Your posts are tremendously educational, and a joy to read.

 

[leenie]

Gork thanks for the info. thats more then we get in an hour of gold rush.love to hear more. thanks dave

 

[EvoQ]

I'm with the other 2 posters in wanting to express our Thanks to you Gork for your Insightful information. I think we all knew and now know for sure that this "Gold Rush Alaska" TV Show is all show and drama but not much Gold if any at all. It doesn't take a heavy equipment expert to know that long line of brand new Volvo Equipment had to be Donated by Volvo the Sponsors of this TV Show. No way an Investor can put up $100,00 and see it last more than 1 day with the way Todd & company spend or should I say waste money. Honestly that "Other" recent TV show "Bering Sea Gold" seems more Real Like than this Placier Mining TV show. Also when I saw this last Episode about digging the trench for water for their Holding pond I knew there was a whole lot more involved than just deciding on the spur of the moment to dig a trench to get more water. The Enviromentalist have seen to that. On a side note and I hope you see my post, can you give us some information about the Pebble Creek Pit Mine that is being talked about up in Alaska that empties into Bristol Bay. I read the news down here in the Lower 49 and often wonder if I am getting the REAL Story about this mining operation.
Thanks again Gork..maybe one day I'll head up that way as I have plans one day to visit or semi retire seasonally of course in that area of yours.....just something about testing ones own ability to live off the land, so to speak and dig some shiny gold out to pay for the gas up that way. I also want to put my 30+ years of Welding and Fabricating experience to use...for what I am seeing is that some of the mining equipment can be designed much better than what I am seeing. I am sure some first hand experience would go a long way. I can tell that the people that actually build these reclaiming machines don't talk much with people that know better.

 

[russau]

yep! the truth is always a eye opener! thankyou!

 

[kuger]

It is about a three year old black bear. A young bear would be about 1 1/2 to 2 years old. It is difficult to tell the age of bears up there by judging them from our experiences elsewhere. In the Klondike bears are very small compared to bears in other geographic areas. They have a very short feeding cycle, with scarce food before they hibernate. A really large black bear is only about 250 pounds. A large grizzly bear is about 400 pounds. They get much larger along the coast. The world's record bear comes from North Carolina (last I heard, there may be a larger one by now) and was about 800 pounds.
Even when the black bears break away from their mother, at 1 1/2 to 2 years old, they can be devastating in a bad situation. Their strength is tremendous even at a very young age. In 34 years in the Klondike I have had to kill two bears.
Size means little when they are charging at you only a few feet away.

Your doin good if you can tell any bears age within half a year any where!I have worked with and around bears over 30 years myself,in Canada,Montana,Idaho,Nevada,and California.The world record body weight is 811 lbs and actually came fro Pensylvania.We kill bears over 500 lbs quite often in Calif,as they dont have the hibernation cycle Northern bears do.A big Northern Blackbear(lower 48)would be more around 350.As you stated,the Rocky Mountain Grizz is not as big as most would lke to think,but who cares!10 or 600,any bear is a threat to be reckoned with,and I would rather have a Grzz attack than a Blackie anyday....Grizz is likely to false charge and give into playing dead....Black bear wont.Also nothing worse than having a acclimated bear to camp,once they associate camps with food,they have to be killed.....I have had em cost me many a $$ and sleepless night!!

 

[diggummup]

"Bering Sea Gold" seems more Real Like than this Placier Mining TV show.

Yeah, at least they did a clean out each episode.

 

[leenie]

hi gork i subscribed to the icmj. got an online and magizine so i can give the book to my son. he has the fever.alot of very interesting storys.thank you for the tip. thanks dave

 

[Goodyguy]

hi gork i subscribed to the icmj. got an online and magizine so i can give the book to my son. he has the fever.alot of very interesting storys.thank you for the tip. thanks dave

Leenie,

One great thing about the online subscription is that you have access to the back issue archive.
Many years of back issues (with Photos) at your fingertips!

GG~

 

[leenie]

hi GG icdmj is great gold storys and information. my son likes to dredge. he goes to attica and has some luck. i like mding but older places. i like tn for the diffrent storys and people. great to live in such a diverse country. thanks all dave