Gold Placer Mine Complete Turnkey Operation Goldfield Trommel Excavator Alaska Dozer Placer Mine Start Price USD 1,960,000.00 Current Price USD 1,960,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 5,000,000.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, July 07, 2008 End Time Thursday, July 17, 2008 Location Eagle AK See more about 'Gold Placer Mine Complete Turnkey Operation' Description REVISED   This Auction is for a turnkey mining operation. It is fully permitted through 2011 and can be easily transferred to a new owner or owners.  It entails about 6600 acres and is priced to sell.   Please note, this is a rather long description but it only covers the basic operation and does not go into detail about my personal reasons for selling. I am happy to disclose this information to people who I consider serious potential buyers.   Also some folks seem to think that I am in some serious financial bind to be considering selling out. Let me assure you this is not the case. Please don’t call me asking me to take some small amount of money for this property; it’s not going to happen. I would suggest that if you want the property you bid on it.     Also I did not hire any firm to provide any certified testing as this would have been a waste of my time and money. I planned to start up the drilling operation after the initial mining operation I already knew there was enough accessible ground that is rich enough to bring in some really good income without hiring some firm to tell me this. I had no inclination to set this property up for a sale; I have never been one to spend money for no good reason. I planned to do most of the drill testing myself during the second year of production and the drill rig is included as part of the sale. I had accidentally omitted it from the equipment list but it has now been added. Sorry!     Thanks for all of the interest thus far. We have a crew on site at this time and their exploration efforts will help insure a good return for 2009.       Will it be you that profits from all the hard work and planning that has already been accomplished?   Mining claims are real property which can be bought, sold, transferred willed and inherited, etc. The mining claims offered in this auction /sale are claims which have just recently conveyed to the state of Alaska. (non patented)    The conveyance in which these claims are located is approximately 30 square miles in size. These drainages are loaded with placer gold and are for the most part untouched.  There are 165 40 acre claims offered here. They are all freshly marked on aliquot corners and a GPS unit and program detailing the location of each marker will be included as part of the sale.    This area is known for its rich gold deposits. For example, included in this sale is the legendary Crooked Creek Gold Mine which was worked from the turn of the century until around1940 when all gold mining activates were stopped by the federal government due to the war. Other mines included are Lucky Gulch and Curtis Bar as well as several no name creeks and an excellent section of the Seventy Mile River which has not been worked. There are huge benches present and lots of exposed bedrock throughout.   And since the land was controlled by the federal government until the recent conveyance the deposits are still for the most part as they were when mining ceased in the 1940’s. Located in the Alaskan gold belt, this is truly some of the very best gold bearing placer ground that is open to be worked anywhere. It would be hard to describe with words the scale and potential of the property. Some of the deposits are so rich with heavies that you can see orange colored rust seeping from them even from the air! There are untold billions of dollars of gold waiting to be extracted from this ground. Anyone who has tried to find ground in Alaska that you can actually work with heavy equipment knows how hard it is to get your hands on these state claims.   A book has just been released that chronicles the life of one of the miners who along with others operated the largest hydraulic operation in the entire seventy mile area which was located at Crooked Creek... The book is titled Ein Lebin im Gould Ruske  ( A life in the Gold Rush ) By Ute Grote . It is written in both English and Germen and can be ordered from Amazon Germany. It contains a good deal of information as well as pictures of the Crooked Creek Gold Mine. The pay streak in crooked creek was reported to be 270 feet wide. This mine helped establish the town of Eagle.  The center of the first mile or so of crooked creek has been worked but the benches along the sides of the creek are still intact. This is the area where we have concentrated most of our testing as it is near our camp and airstrip and was an easy place to set the plant up. We were not surprised to find enough untouched bench in this one tiny area to support our new Goldfield’s 50 yard per hour trommel for many years.   Whoever owns this property will be years ahead of the game due to the aggressive approach we took getting it started.  The risk, as well as the hardest part of the work has already been undertaken. We did some testing last summer, the results of which warranted the implementation of a bulk sampling operation. We moved a new goldfield’s 50 yard per hour diesel electric trommel plant, all associated support equipment, a loader-backhoe and crawler tractor into position during the winter. Every single piece of equipment on site is new, from the plant right down to the camp equipment; everything is brand new with less than one season’s use. There is also an airstrip on site. Our objective for the 2008 mining season was to bulk sample to determine if the ground was good enough to justify a full scale operation and hopefully put some money in our pockets at the same time... The ground was better than we expected. The only thing that may be required to make this a very profitable operation would be an excavator and possibly a larger dozer. The formation that contains the gold deposit has about 2-6 feet of overburden which is frozen on top of it. We were able to go into the gravel formation from the side and work for about nine days until the frozen overburden stopped our progress. We recovered excess of 50 ounces of fine gold during this short period of time. This was a 4 man operation which consumed about 80 gallons of fuel per day (8hrs run time). Much of our time was spent tuning the plant. Also one must consider that a large percentage of the material that we were running during this time was just top dirt that contained little or no gold. We were just getting the cut opened up good and the plant adjusted correctly when the frozen overburden stopped us.  The bench that we set up on is huge, just this one location will support the existing set-up for several years and net its owner millions as it is over a mile long and several hundred feet in width in places. The gravel formation is at least 15’ deep where we started.  About half of the gold we recovered by volume is fine jewelry quality gold having a really great crinkled effect to it. By the way, this gold is 97% to 98% pure making it the highest in the entire seventy mile area. Also the gold is found throughout the entire gravel formation rather than concentrated near bedrock as is common in most areas. We only scratched at the bench, but the gold was getting larger and more concentrated the more we dug into it. We simply could not dig the frozen overburden (2’-4’) off of the formation without an excavator. This was a mistake on my part; if this one detail had not been overlooked this property most likely would not have been placed on the market, at least not in my lifetime. (However after we shut the plant down, an exploration effort continued. It now appears we have found a new location to set up on next year that does NOT have any of the frozen overburden that stopped us this year.) Many of these claims have been held for decades each owner hoping that they would someday convey…   There are solid quartz boulders nearly the size of a 55 gallon drum present in places and shiest boulders with quartz veins throughout three times that size...  We set our plant just below the junction of Crooked and Eldorado Creeks. Eldorado Creek has three forks and miles of good ground that has never been touched. You see once you get above a certain elevation the old-timers could not hydraulic, thus the vast amount of gold bearing gravel is still intact.  This is some very impressive placer ground... All the work that has been done and the knowledge we gained testing has this operation poised for a very profitable 2009 mining season.    We also did some small testing with the goldfield prospector and backhoe. We found gold pretty much everywhere we looked. The results ranged from .3-.9 grams per yard in old tailings to about 4 grams per yard in the benches that we checked. One isolated test yielded 1.5 grams in 1 small backhoe dipper, it was a lousy looking sample taken right off the top that we almost threw away. . We dug about 40 1 yard test holes which produced about 1.7 to 4 grams per yard in benches. If you do the math the potential is easy to see. None of these tests were near the bottom of the formation where the concentrations are highest.  But when we ran the same ground through the trommel plant we recovered more gold than the small tests indicated, presumably due to the fact that the pay streaks meander through the formation randomly. .There is a layer of clay present at the bottom of the formation that is so rich that sometimes you can break a piece open and actually see the gold in it. Also we dug into the side of a hill and hit an off white kind of rotten rock which crumbles into a material that resembles road base or something of that nature when you dig it. There was no water handy to run the sample through the prospector so I panned a handful of the stuff not expecting to find anything and was very surprised to have over 20 small colors just from a good sized handful of material. I don’t know what to make of it but there is an entire mountain of that stuff whatever it is. It should also be pointed out that for the most part we only tested in locations where we could set the plant up easily. There are hot spots that contain higher concentrations of gold than mentioned above but for one reason or another they would not have been a very good place to set up. For example there is an old tailing pile where you can shovel into the prospector and get about an ounce in a day!  I could go on and on here but I think you get the picture. We never hit bedrock anywhere in the middle of crooked creek rather than bedrock there is a layer of blackish clay like material. We dug down several feet in this and never got through it. I would not be surprised to find another layer of the gold bearing gravel under this when it is drilled.   The plan for next year if I wind up keeping it would be to implement the excavator and larger crawler tractor and go into production with the existing plant. Eventually put the auger rig to work grid testing the most promising areas nearest the active site. The objective being to determine the locations of the richest areas as well as their extent so that a larger centrally located plant could be brought in as early as 2010 or 2011, the pay dirt would be hauled to the large plant from multiple locations. There is no telling how much the existing plant will bring in by itself with the addition of an excavator and possibly a larger tractor. There are local working management type people available for hire. who have worked on the project with me from its inception. They are familiar with every aspect of its operation. These guys are highly motivated, experienced, and have an extremely broad range of knowledge and skills.  Keep in mind you can work 24 hrs per day during the summer here.   Someone is going to be very happy that they acquired this operation. I have found through many years of experience that timing is one of the most important things in business. Well the timing is right here.   Also you know the old real estate saying about location; well it would be hard to find a better location for placer mining than this. Some lucky person could easily make some really good money here and have the experience of a lifetime in the process.  Please note that you might need to add an excavator to the existing compliment of equipment for 2009. One of the best things about this location is the fact that it will be very profitable to work without having huge equipment and overhead. There are also hard rock and open pit possibilities in the area that could be explored...     If you are serious about this property and have the resources to make it work please feel free to call and I will answer your questions and furnish the other pertinent information you require. I can hook you up with the right people to give you a fly over and a visit to the site if you would like. One of our key people will be on site through the rest of the season supervising the testing and he will be happy to show you everything.      This ground is exceptionally rich here and there is a bunch of it. As far as the expected project life, there is enough ground for several operations for lots of years. It would depend on your resources, objectives, and approach. The old timers made it here with no mechanized equipment whatsoever. They were very limited in where they could work. With today’s modern equipment and methods the possibilities are endless.       Access for the heavy equipment is by winter trail (about 20 miles). Summer access is by ATV, jet boat, airboat, hovercraft or aircraft. The existing runway is about 800’ and could be extended if so desired.  We have been using tents with wood stoves for our quarters. There is a cook shack with plywood walls and tarp roof complete with a hot shower area and woodstove. There is a freezer, a small fridge, gas stove, microwaves, toaster oven cook stoves, crock pot, toaster, blenders, meat grinder and any other kitchen appliance you can think of on site.   We brought out new mattresses and built wood bed frames for them so everybody is comfortable.  We are permitted for cabins and plan to haul the materials out to the site by winter trail. Lumber is really cheap in Fairbanks and plywood cabins with metal roofs would be the most feasible.  The winter freighting activity starts the week after Christmas and conditions for travel are good for 60 – 80 days easily. The road into Eagle closes around the 15th of Oct. so anything you want on site for the next mining season with the exception of fuel must be in Eagle by that time. Fuel is available in Eagle. A staging area can be provided by one of the workers for a very small fee. Any freighting activity can be easily accomplished by the local hands mentioned above with no outside assistance other than a few phone calls.       It might be interesting to note that gold can be found in this area from the “grass roots up.” There are water worn boulders of many types found all the way up to the tops of the mountains surrounding these drainages. The rocks on top of the mountains match the ones in the rich gold bearing gravel formations below. This suggests that the area is part of an ancient river bed.     The following is a quote from The Ancient River of Gold by Raymond J. Wallace. “To continue with the main channel of the Mammoth it flowed to the West along the drainage of the Klondike, passing to the North of Dawson and crossing into Alaska just above Chicken, the main channel turned toward the North following the ridge between Charley River and The Seventy Mile River”.GOLD_AncientRiverZ2.pdf     The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Mining Department has been great to work with and is a really great asset.   The Alaska Resource Data File would be a good source for info on the property and surrounding area.       This property is being offered for sale in other places and I reserve the right to end the auction early.   Please feel free to call anytime and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.       Please don’t call asking me to split the thing up or out of curiosity or any other reason other than genuine interest in acquiring the property. I will sell it in one piece or keep it.    Thanks,   Don   325-529-4661                Mining equipment on site   Goldfields Diesel Electric Alaskan 50 trommel with sluice recovery, stacker, prospector, goldtron, and 30 hp. Berkley Pump.   Duetz 100 kw diesel generator with Stamford Generator skid mounted with 125gal tank     Remote application kit (includes a spare for about anything that could break on the plant and equipment)   2007 John Deere 650JLT crawler tractor with winch and cold weather extras 1100 hrs 2007 John Deere 410 G Extenda-Hoe 4wd Loader 700 hrs 60” clean out bucket for backhoe 1 330 Texoma Truck Mounted Pressure Digger 16’ depth FOB Texas. 2 2006 Polaris 6wd ATV’s with tracks about 200miles on each 1 Can-Dig Towable Backhoe (like new with extra cylinder) 1 2006 Skandic Snow Machine (1300 miles) 2  4 man hovercraft 1 operational with cab and heater, 1 open cockpit needs a little work. 1 Keene 6” mini Dredge ( 2 years old used very little) 1 Keene backpack Dredge. 2 Harvey’s Dry suits complete with extra everything, 1 fits 6’ 185 lb  1 fits 6’3 200 lb 1 Honda 3” 9hp Dredge Pump     Skid and tanks custom built by Greer Tank in Fairbanks 30’ custom transport skid 3000 gal double wall fuel storage tank 1000 gal double wall fuel transport tank on skid (with Honda WX 10 Fuel transfer Pump) 500 gal single wall fuel tank 300 gallons of Gasoline 3000 gallons of #1 diesel 55 gal hyd fluid 40 gal 15/40 motor oil 9 clean 55gal drums Electric fuel transfer pump with blue cold weather hose, solar panel and battery 8 military cache barrels 30’ steel conex storage container           TOOLS   1 ½” drive socket set Large Combination wrenches 4 Grease Guns 1 Chop Saw 1 Bucket of bolts nuts etc. 2 caulk guns 2 24” pipe wrenches alum. Tire hammer and bars Shovels, Rakes, rock bars, grubbing hoe, sharp shooter, rock bar, eye hoe, etc. 2 sets Allen wrenches 2 18” Crescent wrenches 1 24” Crescent wrench 1 ¾ drive Milwaukee impact wrench 1 set ¾ drive impact sockets 1 spud wrench (Crescent) 1 Lincoln Welder gas powered 250 amp. 2 new automatic welding hoods 1 welding rod tube 1 box 6011 rods 1 box 7018 rods grinder and extra discs 3pair vise grips 1 pair Klein side cutter pliers 2 pair 480 channel locks 4 pair 440 channel locks 1 oxygen accet. Torch set with 1 accet bottle 3 oxygen bottles 1 ¾ socket set. 2 tap & die sets 1 all in 1 crescent tool set 2 hyd bottle jacks     2 Clean-up ½ barrels (for carpet clean-up) 10 plastic totes 4 6gal gas jugs 10 extension cords 25’-100’ 1 case big foot underwater extreme grease 3 cases all purpose grease 6 tubes 80/90 gear oil 3 tubes silicone sealer extra filters for equipment 1 umbrella WD 40 2 100’ water hose Tire patch kit (heavy) misc cots and sleeping bags Chest waders 2 metal detectors ($2500.00) Bag of bug netting 6 quarts castrol 10/30 snow machine oil 1 Coleman rubber raft (new in box) 6 chop saw blades 5 gal r&o hyd oil 2 chainsaw mills (new) saw chain and such (new) 9 quarts oil for Polaris 6x’s screw driver set cordless spotlight misc batteries AAA-D cell hacksaw blades zip ties pad locks 25 bottles bug dope Weber bar-be-Q pit 5 gold pans, classifiers snifter bottles, etc.etc…. 5 drinking water jugs 1 Brinkman propane oven camo net funnels 3 first aid kits fire extinguishers 4       ½ “ boomers 4 ½” screw binders 4 3/8 boomers 4 3/8” screw binders several ½” and 3/8” 20’ chains with hooks. 2 3/8 x 10’ chains 2  40,000#  nylon slings 20’ 1 200’ tape 1 600’ reel 7/16 Dyneema rope 4  12’x112' Tents with wood stoves  (2 Cabellas  2 Coleman) #12 romex  2 rolls hard hats safety glasses deck screws 10 gal 80/90 gear oil 4” male camlock fittings       6cans orange spray paint HP cz 250 printer (new with 2 blocks of paper and extra ink) 1 case 10/30 Mobile 1 oil 40’ 4” pressure hose 30’ 3” pressure hose 1 roll 12/2 romex ¾” fuel hose (1 10’ and 1 6’) 50’ flat hose 3” 1 bag small engine tubing 1 box of spare spark plugs( for every gas engine on site) Box of assorted grease zerts 1 new 24”x48” storm window 1 100 amp 6 place outdoor breaker box with breakers 1 dry type step down transformer 3 phase 440 to single phase new unused 1000’ #2 triplex 1 ¾ 1 ½  coffin type roller chain hoist 2 sets drill bits ( 1 wood 1 metal) 15 crosby clamps 4 100k shackles 300’ flat hose 200’ extra winch cable for dozer with new buds 1 blackmax air compressor 4 ammo boxes 5 rolls hardwire screen ¼”x 50’ 1 spare 6.5 hp Honda engine (for Keene Dredge Pumps) 3 100’ x 2” flat hoses 1 roll extra carpet 1 David white transit with tripod (good used condition) 36”x 6” suction screen 1 32”x72”x  36” suction screen extra spray nozzles 4 50’ nylon ratchet straps 1 12 volt goldwheel 4 5gal gas jugs 25’ extra drive chain(520) for polaris 6 wheelers Large wood stove in mess tent 1 large chest type deep freezer 2 honda EU 2000 generators 2 tent showers 1 zodi camp shower 2 sub pump 1.5 outlets 300’ garden hose 2 multi fuel heaters 1 echo chainsaw 2 frame type backpacks 1 satelite phone with 200 minutes 2 200# propane tanks 1 battery charger 2 coleman cook stoves 1 SS sink with fixtures 1 battery back-up for computer / modem.  Many other items that are not listed.                                           Place a Bid!