Thinking of prospecting for gold full-time, need serious advice

[firebird]

I've gotten so obsessed with gold now that I'm literally having dreams about it almost every night. Can't believe I lived all this years here in California not realizing there was gold only an hour away in the Sierra Nevadas. Almost every single free day I'm not working I spend going out just shoveling gravel and taking it back home but even with all the hard work the best I've gotten is just around 0.5 grams a day so it's not exactly profitable. But still, I love it so much, never felt this alive in years just being out there with myself(and the pooping bears). Even with all the backbreaking labor and dangers I feel so happy that I now seriously think I could do this for the rest of my life and never have to wageslave for someone else ever again. Plus I have enough money saved up now that I can survive for several years and not have a job.

Realistically though, can I actually find enough gold to do this full time? If I start buying claims that would be richer than public areas, how much could I really pull out of the ground working without any machinery and just shoveling gravel manually? I'm only 34 right now too so I'm still young enough to rough it out there and work the entire day. Should I also have to worry about the law if I buy a claim and do this full time, just living on it with a van? At the bare minimum I would be just fine with getting $500 a month worth of gold. Serious advice would be welcome, thank you.

 

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[63bkpkr]

Realistically, there are no answers to your questions. Hunting for gold has way better odds than the lottery but just like you've found, just because you are in the Sierras there are times when you find zero gold and then not much.

There is a great deal of learning to do before one starts finding even a dribble more gold. Being in the right place increases one's odd's of finding gold but not the chances of finding a lot of gold.

IMHO,....................63bkpkr

 

[johnedoe]

Best advice........ Don't quit your day job................

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Well if you can find .5 gram every day 7 days a week.
Here's the math .5 gram is about $20.00 a day at spot price.
$20.00 x 30 days = $600.00 at spot price
Minus lets say 20% of spot = $480

I try to set a gram a day goal -- It has happened but but not very often.
I usually wear out first -- I think I could make more money looking for aluminium cans but I just don't get excited when I find one.
For me It's about the GOLD not the money.
Cheers Mike

 

[CA Gold Hunter]

I know someone that makes a living doing it, only uses metal detectors and has permission on great ground. Unless you find great ground I wouldnt quit working.

 

[Bejay]

I have been doing it for 40 years in the Western US. I have numerous claims. No way could I have quit my day job. But I was a prospector hoping to hit it big. But I do know someone who did and they have done more than well. 1st they are Canadian and sold their business and had enough money to acquire some big equipment and acquire a Canadian claim. They lived and worked their claim...and they are hard workers....husband and wife. They extracted a lot of gold....just like Parker and Beets...but they kept it simple and did it all themselves. They were younger back then. They also went to winter in Az each year and ended up hooking up with a guy who had good Rich Hill Az Patented Placer....and he wanted it workded...so they did that in the winters and worked their Canadian claim in the summer. They did it full time and did not mess around with the prospecting...they instantly became miners. He often told me I should head to Canada....cause that is where you can mine without a lot of Gov interference...just abide by the rules and you can get er done. He is a big equipment handyman and can fix any big equip himself. Plus I think he is part Scotish….he finds great deals on equipment. He always did a trommel operation. Unless you were to acquire great ground in the US you better not go er full time. The fever has been had by many a guy and it is a tough line of work for a little pay.





Bejay.

 

[ratled]

Based on your OP I would say you are not ready to go. You aren't asking the pro question but the basics. If you don't know the basics yet learn them and then come back to the idea

 

[bug]

The guys I know that do it full time been doing it for years. Sniping in wetsuits moving yardage of overburden in cold water, also detecting with high end minelabs gets it done. best bet is have a side business to keep the gold business funded. Gold streaks are up and down and no guarantees ever. Sometimes you're on it, sometimes your off it and cant force it out of the ground for nothing. It ill play with your emotions hard when you are on a dry streak.

 

[mendoAu]

Step one (kinda...HA!) is to find out or make a plan so you can remain on your claim more than 14 to 30 days without moving. I'm not sure if you want to move onto your claim year around. It's got it's good points and my life is low key, low budget, few neighbors and really can be a reality. But I say that from a two person retired low income budget. We go to town twice a month and spend just under 200 dollars a trip for fuel. (off the grid with a generator and propane heat). "RENT" is dirt cheap but you have to appease BLM. Sure would be nice to say go for it but without a washplant or a big boy dredge your chances are diminished. And we all know what the States have done. On a weather standpoint those spring and summer months are a piece of cake.....but winters (snow or not) takes it's toll. Anything that can break will break and parts are ten days in shipping....etc. I set a "rust" budget for PCBlaster yearly cause of that dang Oregon damp thing in the winter. Even in a shed/tent. You only live once and towards the greyer days in life I can say I've done alot....some good, some,eh, "different" than the normal. I wish I had more get-up-and-go but dang, at 35 years old I did.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

How to become a millionaire.....start with ten million dollars, and take up gold prospecting.
Jim

 

[et1955]

Best way to make a living threw goldmining, sell mining equipment or invent something that all miners need yet really doesn't work.

 

[OreCart]

I cannot give you an answer either.

I had a chance to get out of working at age 42 and so I retired being a welder at a shipyard. I cannot say I regret it; it has really been nice to be with my wife and four daughters at ages 5, 12,13,14. But it has not been easy.

For me, I did not work a claim at prospecting, but worked my farm doing gravel/logging/farming. The two things I did not expect was property taxes to double, and my health to go. For two years now I have battled cancer and still have a LONG ways to go.

What does that mean? I have no idea. I want to call myself an idiot for not fully planning, but who can predict the future, and rest assured if I die tomorrow, the time spent with my wife and kids will have been well worth it. And as tough as it has been, we are making it. They say people who have cancer basically take a year off their life due to health, hospital visits, and finances. I have been getting by for two years, so how bad is it?

I have found no matter what it is someone wants to do, 20 people will say it can never be done. Myself, I encourage people to look at things from a different point of view. Since I would never want to see someone lose everything and end up divorced and homeless, really the question is; what is the worst that can happen? For me, it is returning to a job (shutter). It is scary, especially prospecting, but is it any different than farming? We all might eat, but the statistics are not great for beginning farmers.

The greater the risk, the greater the potential reward, but only you can decide if you want to pull the trigger on that.

 

[gold tramp]

3 ounce hardrock, 4 grms placer, a years worth of work, shovel, pick, lots of diggin, hiking, toten much heavy rock, the only free gold was 4gr placer, still had to walk a mile n Digg n wash much rock n dirt to get that.

My hard rock had to be found , chisel n sledge to get at it, can't forget shovel work and hauling bags of ore to my truck most of the time it's much uphill walkin, then its gotta be brought to the mill crushed, ground, washed across the shaker table(concentrated) smelted, then I gotta find a buyer or sell to the refiner.

Got no trophies to show had to sell all my gold as I was doing it for a livin,
And the wife didn't think she should pay my way, as she says after all your a gold miner,
Her hand out for the yellow.

Explain that when its empty bottle days.

Anyways all this was done eating n livin in the bush on the skinny, dealing with much heat n killer bees, rattle snakes, and trying not to crack my skull or break a leg falling down the mnt.

I was a gold miner.
Gt.......

 

[dave wiseman]

....And every rock one breaks by day,becomes one's heart by night...ftom the ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Even back in the California Gold Rush of 1849, most miners did not necessary mine full time.
They moved around a lot and didn’t stay in one place very long. They trapped, cut wood, sawed lumber, packed goods, ran micro businesses, raised animals, grew vegetables, ect. all to supplement the money they did make mining.

Mining was usually seasonal - either the rivers were high, ground was frozen, covered in snow, or it was hot and dry and there was no water.

Point being, even when there was lots of virgin ground, it was a tough go.
Forest Rangers drive the roads daily and have a pretty good idea who is doing what.
Expect trouble if you plan on living in a van on public land. You too would have to move around a lot.

You have money saved up and you love the mountains. My suggestion is to move. Take that money and put it down on a piece of property that has gold on it. Work a full time job and mine every weekend.

I used to mine on my lunch break. Had a sweet spot going so I would come back to work with nuggets most days.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I really don’t think this sounds like a well thought out plan. It will be different when your stomach has been growling for days and your broke down van is out of gas, so you can’t get to town to sell your gold.
Why ruin something you enjoy doing?
It’s kind of like saying I really like to F. I think I’m going to get married and do it full time.

 

[Goldwasher]

You have to live on or close to your digs..and have access to good ground...plus years of experience.

And you better know other ways to earn some money. for the dry spells and weather delays.

Move the same dirt two or three times. Convince yourself not all gravel is worth running.

You better be ready to dig in the rain..walk a lot every day..Eat relativley warm soup.. fix things that break..not go crazy.

Learn to find or build cheap equipment that works . So, you can have money for the expensive stuff like a mine lab.. or anything motorized.

I promise none of those are found at the bottom of a couple buckets.

 

[gold tramp]

Maybe get some others to share the take for the year give an idea how well folks are doin at this mining game.
Gt....

 

[Hard Prospector]

Maybe get some others to share the take for the year give an idea how well folks are doin at this mining game.
Gt....

Are you still mining full time Herb?

 

[Strebs]

I dredged in SW Colorado for 2 years. Basically same plan as you, little experience and a lot of drive to be out in the mountains. Biggest concerns I think you will run into, living on your claim. I had to get a plan of operations to live on mine saying I need to stay on location to keep my gear safe. Second, having a partner to make a go with you. A lot can go wrong out there ive been pinned under water without my partner i wouldn't be here typing this. As far as expenditures my monthly was around 800-900 a month for fuel, food, gear. Dont buy any equipment just go out and prospect an area for a month or so... then you will figure out what you really need 2 bring. Did i make millions, no. But i did live ok and living out there was one of the best times of my life.