Dead Man's Claims For Sale

[steve herschbach]

Well, I almost bought a few more claims. These ones have history galore and I have set foot on them.

Back in the last gold rush in the 1970s the Fortymile country was a hotbed of dredging activity. A very rich strike was made on the South Fork of the 40 Mile River at the mouth of Napoleon Creek. Hundreds of ounces of nugget gold were recovered that no doubt sourced out of Napoleon, known for it's large gold.

Later, two groups of miners attempted to mine gold through the ice on the river on the same ground. They fought constantly, and finally one of the only genuine miner shot the other miner murders actually happened. Two young prospectors bushwhacked and killed the other two miners back in 1977 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19780628&id=yJJNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yvoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2508,8260156

The ground was hit hard by 8" and larger dredges and pretty much mined out. The ground went idle and changed hands over the years. Finally it was staked again in 2009 by a non-miner smart enough to go out and find what open ground he could. More power to him. Now three of his claims are up for sale - the infamous claims at the mouth of Napoleon Creek.

And I almost bought them. I see the ads posted at Mining Claims For Sale in Alaska first and yes I do look at them hard! These were so cheap I had to really think it over and so called the owner and held them off the market a few days.

They are state river bottom claims in the middle of BLM administered Wild & Scenic land. This means you need an APMA from the state to dredge and permits from BLM to camp onshore. No big deal and the gov people are fine to work with but it is a pile of paper. Access is from the bridge a few miles upstream by jet boat or overland by a couple ATV trails.

My interest was decent access and a bunch of river ground. No doubt all the good stuff is gone but there are probably places that got missed. The main thing is the 8" dredges of the day put most of the small gold back in the river. A good fine gold recovery system should eke out wages. This would not be get rich ground. This would be getting leftovers ground. Like maybe a gram or two an hour on -20 mesh with an 8" dredge - but do not hold me to that.

Still, I thought, love the area, and for $6000 a claim I figured I could get my money back easy enough. Then my fantasies subsided and I realized I have enough ground to keep me busy for years already. Even then I was tempted to buy them as an investment. Be a good place to lease to wannabe miners looking more for the experience than a ton of gold. There is a least a chance of making a buck or two, not because the ground is hot, but because the price of gold is what it is.

Anyway, this sounds like a sales pitch but I have no vested interest in the ground. It just really is an interesting spot and I wanted to tell the story behind it. If you have your head screwed on straight it could be a good spot for somebody and affordable enough. Probably could debate that $6000 is too much for a worked out claim but I have a $6000 metal detector so it does not seem like much to me. If somebody buys it (I am sure someone will) I would like to keep up with what happens as I am just over the hill. Be fun to have somebody get it and do real well so I can kick myself in the butt later!

Steve Herschbach

 

[mudpuppy]

Very tempting...as an aside, a friend of mine just bought a fishing lodge on the Naknek river in King Salmon...do you have any idea of the typical gold size or operations over that way? I may get to go up there in help him get it ready for the season this spring, and I'm pretty sure once there, I wont be coming out!
Any advice or contacts that you know of this region would be of great interest to me.
Mud

 

[au79]

Steve - You forgot to mention the added cost for getting an outfit together for such a venture. I feel, a six inch dredge, at least, a grubstake for gas and supplies, The "get you there and back money" (especially if your from the lower 4, and then there's always added cost that pop up. I think I would want to do a couple test holes before taking that on. However, it would be the adventure of a lifetime! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the fees, the inherent suffering, bugs, frigid water, hard labor and the limited amount of time between spring thaw and winter. But still, the adventure of a lifetime.

 

[steve herschbach]

No did not forget that at all. I think that it is obvious enough you need to get there and have equipment. I would recommend an 8" dredge myself. And do not forget jet boat or ATVS for access. Takes money to make money mining.

Steve Herschbach

 

[au79]

Steve - What size are the claims? Do they take in just the stream bed (high water mark to high water mark and then run along the stream bed) or are they staked according to the twenty acre rules of range, township, section?

 

[steve herschbach]

Weird Alaska only deal. High water to high water is state jurisdiction and BLM outside of that. So claims follow the river and mining would be river and bars only. I think the actual acres mineable per claim is 9-17 acres. Here is picture of the river at this point.

[attachment 257071 image.jpg]

 

[au79]

Thanks Steve - That gives a man a better chance at success with more river to prospect. I like the looks of the inside corner in the photo. If I were younger I would certainly take a closer look at this deal. I would guess that there is still a couple pay streaks that could be found there. Like an old timer ounce told me, "it's not the size of the dredge that counts, it's where you put it that matters". I've been on the nozzle of an 8 inch for a summer when I was younger and that experience convinced me a 6 inch is a dream to work with. I always used a 4 inch to do testing with. How far do you think it is to bedrock on that claim?

 

[steve herschbach]

Not as deep as you might think, only a few feet in. A lot of places but deeper in some. I already have been told of a small pay streak still existing on the claims by another miner.

Steve Herschbach