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The high Sierra is rocken’ and rolling tonight! Winds began this morning, continuing through the day and right now, the windows are rattling. No one in Alleghany is complaining. Last year at this time it was all about snow, cold and few were ready for the early winter in the fall.
Yeah, my Reno relatives live in
the s/w area of Reno. Their Home
is ok but the daughters home that
is further south and west was in
danger. The family told me there was some snowfall which helped out.Ray was out of town when the speeding wind driven fire raced down the canyon behind his house. A massive battle stopped the fire; however it jumped the southern ridge and continued towards Reno. Ray’s wife called him in a near panic. He directed her to load the car with some precious items, point it out of the garage towards the street in preparation to flee. Before evacuation was ordered hundreds of fire fighters stopped the fiery path towards his house. A fire loss has monetary consequences but priceless and irreplaceable items tears the heart into pieces of despair. Most of Reno dodged that bullet last week, including the Wittkopps.
Ray’s home is in the north-east general area of the fire area s/w of Reno and he most likely has been evacuated with his wife and dog. Embers were flying around earlier in the area from the main fire. The wind has now died down with slight snow falling for the past two hours.
Just heard about the fire in Reno. Does Ray still have his house? Our thoughts are with you.
Company retained a buy-back with the new owner. He is a long time shareholder and friend of Mike’s. They agreed to this to eliminate any allegation of Mike giving him a sweet deal. Brown Bear is in the best group of gold mines in California for risk/reward and exploration. You like gold? You want to get into the market? Title is clean; sale has no over riding royalties and price is $5 million cashiers check.
I thought that the Brown Bear was
sold. Is there a buyback option
running? I so an exercise should
be strongly considered.Yeah, there is a chinese joss
house not too far away from there
in Weaverville maybe we should
go up there and offer prayer for
both the Sixteen and the Brown
Bear’s wellbeing. The oriental
gods might look favorably on the
two mines.Alleghany weather report: great. Cool nights and warm sunny days are reasons for living in this quaint Californian community. Also the abundant fruit tress, ripe with their bounty and free for the picking adds to the natural environment. The environment, you say is great? How could it be when gold mining has been the major activity for over 150 years? According to a cadre of self-entitled “progressive advocates” a place like Alleghany must be a toxic wasteland of the poor unfortunate souls forced to live in the awful mining legacy. What garbage they claim as history! Enough.
Mine geologist, Ray Wittkopp, and Mike have been active lately with interest by outsiders looking for a gold situation. Rumor is the Brown Bear gold mine in Trinity County is being offered to those interested in getting into a producing gold operation with their money and full ownership. The Brown Bear is a 500,000 ounce past producer. Gold estimates by the most experienced independent geologists cautiously state that 1,750,000 tons of ore remains with an average grade of .5 ounces per ton. Let’s see, that would be 875,000 ounces. At spot this translates to $9 billion dollars. Interested parties should call the company. Mike and Ray are benefiting from the renovation of maps and reports by archivist Rose Cain, who took over the organization of data last year. This information is available to all qualified people interested in acquiring the Brown Bear or perhaps investing in other targets owned by Original Sixteen to One Mine.
The idea of a school is very good, and probably would get funding from a university with a Curriculum of mine engineering, and Geology.
Those fellows who were in that
Alaska trip were “placer” mining
They really didn’t know what they
were doing so it appeared like a
comedy of errors. Mike should
start up a mining school to teach
some of these guys the right way
to do things. “The Origsix Mine
Schol”.The first snowfall hit Alleghany last night and continues right now. Wake up, everybody; winter will most likely come again. The only problem the mine experiences with winter is driving in and out to the portal. The mine is a warm 50 degrees.
A hotshot television producer of reality shows approached Mike about a year ago. If you saw that unreal show about some strange men who went to Alaska to find gold and get rich (they actually called themselves “miners”), it triggered an idea from some Los Angeles documentary and film makers. Mike said no way would he be part of a show that portrayed our miners as ignoramuses, trashed mining and sent the wrong image of mining just for laughs or ratings.
Glen, over time, conveniences Mike to make a short presentation in order to find financial backing. His appeal was more than just gold mining. Glen saw a reality in what someone must go through and endure to carry on the tradition of gold mining in California. (Mike retained the right to approve the final cut.) So that’s the background.
A crew arrived two days before the court date on September 23. They filmed underground, did interviews in Alleghany. Glen asked and received permission to film the summary motion hearing, did interviews afterwards, packed up and headed south with hours of footage. Not only will there be an audio of the hearing, there is visual. This could help strengthen the national rebellion against faulty implementation of regulations by mysterious governmental career people with the responsibility and authority to carry forth legislation. Laws are written for the benefit of the public and its best interest. Ha ha. Where and when did our system fail its primary duty?
Don Russell sat in the audience. He later wrote a piece for his Mountain Messenger newspaper. Feedback has been plentiful: great article, this is outrageous, I had no idea you were getting this treatment, what can I do to help, what bull slop. Scoop or someone will get it copied on the website asap
Nothing like a little free pub-
licity. Maybe the “doldrums”
are going away and the Mine’s
luck has turned to Good!!.
Congratulations!!!I believe the mine has enough data
in it own archives to satisfy the
staff of Dan Logue. You may want
to bring the “california’s gold”
producer, Huell Houser back to do
a sequel to his prev.presentation.
Most people don’t know it’s there
and still open, more or less.The
theme of this effort should be
that it is and still wants to be
a “working mine” rather than just a “relic” and sightseeing
object for looky-lous. If our
mine could get started up $1800
per oz troy should be the impetus.Assemblyman, Dan Logue’s office confirmed that he would sponsor a resolution that recognizes the 100-year anniversary of Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. The cost will be absorbed in his budget, which is appreciated. He will see if the Senate wants to join in recognizing this rare event in the corporate world of America.
Staff wants a 4 to 5 page historical presentation. Your perspective on the task at hand is requested. Post it here so all can read it or send it to mmiller@origsix.com . Pages are fine but not necessary. Even a couple of paragraphs will help get a well-rounded resolution.
This outrageous price for one measly ounce of gold has brought interest to the Sixteen to One. Maybe the right guy or guys will appear to cash out of dollars and cash in to gold.
Hello world, and Assemblyman Logue…welcome to the realization of the vast wealth underneath the greatest smallest town in California.
Interesting that gold-price has finally awoken the sleepers.
When a ‘measly ounce of gold’ is at hand and carrying the current price, rest assured that this grand mine, the Original Sixteen to One Mine, has within it’s belly far more than that.
1.I believe I previously told about
the time years ago when my wife’s
great grandfather, Jules Auradou
while exploring Kanaka Creek (He
termed it Bar) after overturning
some overburden or a large boulder
found a 20oz nugget and exclaimed
BIGRE!! in French. So to all you
just “got to have hope” By the way the greatgrand father’s last
name, Auradou means in english:
“God’s Gold”Rose in the Sixteen’s map room organized the maps last year and is working on files left in the former mine site office. She showed Scoop a file from the 1960’s covering OME contracts with the mine. OME stands for Office of Mineral Exploration, a federal program encouraging gold mining in the USA. How come the feds were supportive of mining 45 years ago and unsupportive today? Scoop promises to get that file and follow up with some historical perspectives for you.
Not much happening with ideas and plans for the 100-year celebration. Mike blocked out October 6 to the 15th as days for different celebrations. His zealous devotions to the Sixteen to One, its history and its unknown future are showing. Maybe a couple of days honoring its century of existence may be okay. Isn’t one day enough? So far talks include: turkey shoots, drilling contests, metal detection opportunities underground, pasties cook-off, tours showing the different phases of mining, gold pours, lots of musical festivities, chain saw carving event, on-site painting events for all ages, gold panning, geology based tours, live theater (the hanging of Juanita, gold fever, the biggest gold heist, the camaraderie of underground miners are some scripts), mining folklore like the cowboys have, mucking contests for different ages and gender, and……
The Annual Shareholder Meeting and Gold Exhibit at the Underground Gold Miners Museum were great successes as determined by: everyone commented about their great day and experiences, no one hurt, yummy food, informative discussions. Alleghany was hopping.
Enthusiasm for the 100-year celebration was rampant! Ideas began to float around. Mike told Scoop this morning that it will be a ten-day celebration beginning October 6, 2011 and ending Saturday October 15th. Shareholders or not your help in making it a success is needed.
Congrats. from all of us for the
Origsix 100th anniversary. Maybe
your luck will now turn positive.Tomorrow ends another era for this gold mining company. It will be the 99th annual shareholder meeting. In October this year Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc turns one hundred years old. Let’s celebrate!
Of more than 5000 U.S. publicly traded companies 486 are 100 years or older IBM joined this elite group on June 15, 2011. What are these companies’ secrets for lasting that long?
The “Sixteen’s” entrance to the club of U.S. companies to see their 100th birthdays is recognized as a milestone in business history. “It’s the predominant pattern that companies eventually self-destruct,” says management expert Jim Collins, author of books such as Built to Last, who studies corporate longevity. Companies that survive 100 years or longer are “a special and rarified group.”
Many of the best known that have lived for 100 years or longer include the stalwarts of American business ( ExxonMobile, General Electric and Chevron). Others are not household names, such as Praxir, McKesson, but have served their industries’ niches for more than ten decades. IBM says, “We have learned, from our history, to roll with changes in the world, like economic downturns and wars,”
A short list of secrets to join the 100- year club:
•Ability to move into new businesses without abandoning core tenets.
•A strong sense of purpose.
•Careful innovation.
•Financially conservative.The weather in Alleghany looks great for tomorrow. The tents are up and over 100 people are expected. Let’s celebrate.
I wonder how heavily they lean on
all the mines in Nevada? What about the Idaho Maryland in Grass
Valley?Do they inspect it heavily?The government car rolled into Alleghany last Tuesday and headed right to the mine portal. MSHA is the federal agency responsible for enforcement of safety regulations under Public Law 91-164, also called “AN ACT”. According to the inspector there is only one operation in the Sierra Nevada Gold Belt besides the Sixteen to One to inspect. It is a father/son part time operation. How sad this is for California. With gold around $1500 an ounce one would expect money pouring into this proven gold deposit.
The inspector wrote five or six citations: one for a paper misfiling, one for an outdated fire extinguisher, one for too many bold-nuts and screws on the floor of a seldom used store room, two for improper storage of used oil and one for lumber stored within 100 feet of the portal. The last one seemed unnecessary according to Mike. His reason fell on unconvinced ears. Snow was still on the ground (it snowe3d the Monday before the inspection) and the timber was still wet from the heavy weather of winter. The miners said you couldn’t light the lumber with a blowtorch without spending a lot of time.
Even though some disagreements arose, the hostility of MSHA towards this small and safe mine seemed minor. Scoop knows because he saw everyone talking, sometimes smiling and generally in good spirits. Fortunately, AN ACT allows for an operator to challenge citations and have a hearing. Unfortunately the supposed impartial administration hearing officer usually goes with the employer, the Secretary of Labor.
In years gone by the inspectors were received by the mines as another set of eyes. A suggestion was made to fix or improve some situation, was done before the inspector left the mine and no paper work materialized. Paperwork can be a good thing but citing a broken handle of a shovel when three new shovels are close at hand tests MSHA’s intent. Hey, isn’t it all about money? Citations create fines (money).
A little bit of white stuff on the ground this morning but not much. It rained last night and a dusting of snow fell sometime in the early a.m. Blue skies and a warmer week ahead of us.
The fruit trees are in full bloom. Hoping we don’t get a late frost. (The light frost this morning shouldn’t hurt them.)
The 2010 annual report is being formatted by Edda for the annual mail-out to shareholders. The 2010 10-K was filed timely with the SEC in April.
Underground Gold Miners Museum had its annual membership meeting on Saturday at the museum in Alleghany.
PG & E is scheduled to shut off the power in Alleghany to do some repairs from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm today. The last time they had it planned in April it was canceled due to snow.
PG&E has a scheduled a power outage for Alleghany starting 19 minutes from now. It lasts til 3:30pm. Don’t know the problem but many throughout the region (Sierra, Yuba and Nevada Counties) are upset about the frequent and long outages this winter. Yes, the storms were heavier than recent years but not as harsh as winters 25 to 35 years ago. People are looking for an explanation other than the weather!
Snow is falling right now. The critters are also out today in greater number than we’ve seen this year. Squirrels are tip-toeing on top of snow banks, robins, blue jays and flickers are everywhere looking for something to eat. Yawn, sure would like to see and hear more action: roto tillers breaking ground for gardens, miners driving to and from the golden mines of Alleghany, chain saws brushing the fallen trees, children on roller skates or bicycles or the bouncing of a basketball. One of the greatest negative impacts of depressed rural communities like Alleghany is the loss of community. City folks may be unaware of the decline and decay of our rural lands. The gold in Alleghany is the life-blood for Phoenix. Four minutes til no power.
A ringed tail cat must have crawled into the high voltage electric panels when the power was out. We like those ring tailed but there is one less in Alleghany. Also the power to the air compressor is off due to its unfortunate choice of shelter. Ring tailed cats are rarely seen and the old time miners considered it good luck when around.
Well good luck is in Alleghany today because this is the first solid day of sunshine in weeks.
PGE CEO’s must think that the recent imposition of “Smart Meters” is the panecia (cureall)
for all company ills including
power outages. The CEO’s need to
come out and take care of things
the “old fashioned” way. It certainly is not the outfit it
used to be since emerging from
their bankruptcy.Electric power to Alleghany quit on March 24 just before noon. With no power, office work stops. Power back on late last night.
Snow accumulation caused the collapse of roof overhangs and one porch of office building. Snow still a problem with added weight of rain. Sun shining for first time in weeks but temperature still cold. Overall attitudes of towns’ folks is somewhat depressed.
Power still out down the road at Pike (about 10 miles west and 1300 feet lower elevation). People have no heat, no water due to their well pumps. Attitude of Pike folks is way depressed.
Someone must ask the electric supplier (PG&E) why our rural areas are having so many black outs? What has changed? How can service in winter improve? Someone must tell the corporate bosses that the trees must be trimmed. It will save money and possibly lives. The mine suffers without power. People suffer as well.
My mother said the town knew that
spring had arrived when the snow
would thaw and one heard the harness bells of the freight teams coming up the canyon from way down, bring in the first,and much needed supplies of foodstuffs and other orders/needs for the town.
My grandfather Armstrong’s family in Honcut, Butte Co. had
a horse-drawn freight service
there and possibily did much of
the required hauling. Not sure
which road they used.40 inches of snow measured in the Sixteen to One Parking lot at 8 am this morning. Still snowing heavily…the forecast is predicting snow through Sunday. See new photo on home page.
The word in Alleghany is snow and more snow. It did rain for approximately one week, week before last. On Saint Patrick’s Day, Rae planted three bare-root fruit trees and four blueberry bushes in her yard. There was more dirt than snow showing at that point in time…then Friday the 18th the town woke up to falling snow. Later in the day it snowed all the way down to 2,000 feet wreaking havoc on traffic in Grass Valley and Nevada City. By Saturday morning there was two feet of fresh powder on the ground in Alleghany. The snow lightened up, but continued non-stop through the weekend and yesterday. There is supposed to be a break today (which hasn’t happened as of this writing), then more on the way Wednesday and Thursday. There’s about three feet on the ground now (it settles down the deeper it gets) which compared to the days of Martin’s mother is nothing….even compared to 20 and 30 years ago, it is a lot less than what we used to get. Hope this isn’t the year we remember what it used to be like.
I’m sure glad to see that
Rae, the “mother general”
of the town enjoys shoveling
snow. In my family Armstrong’s
tenure there, the whole town
would be “snowed in” for the
winter. No snow removal except
by shovel and “armstrong” ha,haWhere to begin, oh where to begin from Scoops last report.
The weather is always safe. The California storm smacked the Sierra Nevada, centering on Nevada and Sierra Counties. About 20,000 lost power and PG&E says some won’t have electricity for three more days. It is cold. Alleghany weather watchers report 11 degrees last night. Lots of snow, some of the biggest storms in years.
Mike felt some stomach pain early Wednesday morning. It got progressively worse and he showed some good sense by driving down the hill to Yuba Docs for an exam around 3pm. That doctor thought appendicitis and order him to the hospital ER. He was admitted at 6pm, had more tests and nasty appendices was confirmed. About midnight he went under the knife for an appendectomy. What causes the appendices to infect and blow up? Operation seemed good so he checked out of the hospital about 2pm, drove his truck to get 100 gallons of diesel and returned to the mine around noon on Thursday so the loaders could keep up with the roads.
Youths are snow boarding in Alleghany, kind of tough because there are no lifts to get them back up the hill. In the 1940’s the miners rigged a slusher so the folks could actually have a ski run. Alleghany is a special place. Long live gold mining and gold miners and gold owners. America, wish them luck. They need it and so do you.
I just shoveled off the museum van (aka F.A.R.T.) and we have 27 inches of snow. Funny how when it comes to snow 27 inches seems like three feet and three feet seems like four feet….
Scoop mentioned a recent baby
birth. Congrats to the family.
My own mother, Dorothy Armstrong
was born in Alleghany in January,
1906. To James L. Ida Louise
Armstrong. James and his brother,
John operated the general store
in town for approx. 15-16 years.
They also operated the Eldorado
for a short while.Hello winter!
The Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills are white again. The majestic pine and fir trees are coated with snow. Their limbs bend gracefully under the weight of the third day of a storm. Yesterday was a battle to open the road to the mine and today it is a choir of upkeep. Nevertheless, the crew is AWOL. Sierra County road crew had a tough time yesterday morning. Snowplows were seen off the road in several spots. The “old-timers” spirits are shouting, “This ain’t nothing. Nineteen feet brought this community to a stand still for a brief spell. Even the county seat, Downieville had four feet on the ground during our winters. Now a couple of inches is all they get over there.” Don’t ya just love those old-timers. No cell phones, few 4 x 4’s, numerous power outs and it took overnight to get to a place where we can go in an hour.For those of you who don’t look at the homepage, a new photo has been posted.
Clear weather continues in Alleghany, but it’s cooled off a bit. Word is we might get some precipitation this weekend.
The newest resident of Alleghany: Rose Lillian Gray was born on January 28th.
Spring-like weather is great for humans and other mammals this time of year, but not so great on the plant community. A plum tree was spotted in Rae’s yard yesterday that is pushing out buds.
Greg Marks the field representative for Assemblyman Dan Logue visited the mine site and reviewed the information about the lawsuit. The water coming out of the old twenty-one tunnel looked good, the creek looked good and he just stood there and scratched his head in wonderment, thinking “what’s the problem here.”
Just a few miners at the mine, plugging along.
Another “old-timer” has moved on with the passing of Monroe Baldrige. We will miss seeing him on his modified lawn mower heading to Casey’s Place for a drink. His laughter will be remembered.
The longest Scoop silence has come to an end. December was ugly in the mountains. It was cold, wet and foggy or cloudy. The early winter climate change began in October and seemed to alter people’s mood, Scoop’s as well. What changed today? It must be the weather. Don’t know if the Sacramento valley remains under a cloud of fog but us mountain folks are feeling the warmth of one of California’s greatest assets…the sun. It must be over 60 degrees outside right now.
Social critic and defender of naturalism (born in 1819), John Ruskin wrote, “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” A long forgotten Englishman (born in 1608) wrote, “Change of weather is the discourse of fools.” Both observations have merit so Alleghany, the mine and many living in northern California’s gold country experienced an unusual fall/winter and are fools. What about those gold miners?
No whoops of joy, wild celebrations or new trucks occurred since November 27, but sometimes no news of despair were heard either. Whatever small underground work going on has continued uninterrupted only slightly by heavy snow, rain or other natural forces. What is unnatural seems to be the continuing oppression by just two California agencies based in Sacramento: central water and former mines and geology now called conservation. City folks need to visit the backcountry more often and observe the actual conditions and people living there. Sitting in a forced air heated room all day must dull a person’s cognition. Perhaps that is why some desk jockeys ride to the backcountry for replenishing their spirits. They are missing their duty, obligation or responsibility in the ongoing treatment of the Sixteen to One mine. Scoop is cautiously optimistic (hopeful is more honest) the fresh approach under the direction of Governor Brown reaches all of his executive departments. He is responsible for their conduct!
So how does Scoop see the attitude in Alleghany? The 2011 year will be a turn around and one to remember for great things.
Here’s the scoop from Alleghany:
Electric power gone last Saturday and returns Thanksgiving. That is long enough to cause some problems for all residents.
Snow last weekend turns to ice block. Fresh snow on going but the under layer of ice causes problems for snow removal on roads.
Only work last week at the mine was for snow removal on the roads. No one went underground. Some phone lines down.
Over 1,000 unopened e-mails on corporation address. Over 130 on Mike’s. If you wrote either, sorry for the delay in answering.
Other than that, life in Alleghany is grand.
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