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- in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6336
Newmont Mining will take over Goldcorp in a deal worth US$10 billion, creating the world’s leading gold company.
Under a definitive agreement revealed on today (January 14), Newmont will acquire all shares of Goldcorp for 0.328 of a Newmont share each. That represents a 17-percent premium based on the companies’ 20-day volume-weighted average share prices.
“This combination will create the world’s leading gold business with the best assets, people, prospects and value-creation opportunities,” said Gary Goldberg, CEO of Newmont.
The newly merged company will be one of the largest gold producers in North America, and according to David Garofalo, president and CEO of Goldcorp, the merged miner will oversee more than 3 million ounces of the combined company’s total annual gold production.
Draw your own conclusions about the move to mega –ness, mighty giants or monster monoplies!The deal comes after last year’s US$18.3-billion Barrick Gold) and Randgold Resources , which many market watchers considered a bullish event for gold.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #6335Numerous gold reports are coming my way for year 2019. One common remark is: market risk and economic growth to drive gold in 2019. Gold demand will benefit from the interplay of market risk and economic growth. Financial market instability, monetary policy with the US dollar and structural economic reforms are cited as a backdrop: “gold will become even more relevant due to its proven track record for delivering returns.” Perceptions about gold are always included in futuristic expectations.
“Gold will be supported by the development of the middle class in emerging markets for its role as an asset of last resort.” The ever-expanding use of gold in technological applications is also a point of interest. Central bank demand for gold in 2018 was the highest since 2015, as a wider set of countries added gold to their foreign reserves for diversification and safety (fiat currency risk). China and India remain pro gold.
Gold speculative positioning in future markets remains low by historical standards, hitting record lows in the closing months of 2018. What about those shorts? United States investment and non-investment men and women generally avoid gold. Yes avoid gold until the media and money talkers rant on about its importance (which it is); however the public moves into gold right at or very near the top. How sad and predictable! My industry, those of us that actually mine the stuff, are actually in small numbers compared to the gurus: more details upcoming. It’s good to be back on the FORUM.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6333Your comments are 100% accurate, Karld. (See entry on 12/05/18 below). I’ll add a couple more. Additional comments always interesting and welcomed.
Read their financial statements and check required government filings for accuracy. For Original Sixteen to One Mine, ours are available on the federal Securities Exchange Commission for decades and recently on the website. Only one of the five companies mentioned below have actual gold production. I doubt that 20% of the listed junior companies ever mine gold. Their golden wish is for a major company to take them over. It happens but percentage wise, a rare event.
Another 100% characteristic of exploration companies is their attraction from gold gurus and analysts. Many writers/journalists will make the statement that they hold no shares of the company under review; true, but Aunt Margaret or Uncle Gus do. I actually read drilling results sometimes. Rarely do they tell me valuable information useful for evaluating the possibilities of successfully mining gold. Never do these sharks detail actual costs or time expended before production. There is one exception that I discovered. I actually bought into this Company.
It’s all still good. Many benefits arise from junior gold operations. You know what? With a little tweaking of specifics, these same comments can be said in many other industries; my ongoing motto: Truths like Gold lie at the Bottom.
in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6334Thanks to all of you who read or write in the FORUM. It is about mining. We drift onto related sub topics but the FORUM is an historical chronology of gold mining. I’ve learned that many of our California hard rock experiences are shared by our soft rock miners in the eastern coal mines. Our chronology also reaches Europe, Australia, Canada and even Africa. Something , let’s call it an holiday gift, I wish to give all of you.
The topic “Ideal Time for Facts” caught my eye. Rick started it September 2005, so I went back to check out its beginning (page 11). John Yuma wrote a piece in November that included “beaconsfieldgold.com.au”. I wanted to see how beaconsfieldgold was doing and discovered a story. If you have a moment, click on Wikipedia: google beaconsfieldgold. Read the story. Happy holidays to all of you and all the miners and their financial backers throughout the world. Without you civilization would crumble.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6332The theme of those companies below, and most canadian-listed explorers, is (1) Political risk, (2) longshots, and (3) diluting the shares while the Corporate Officers drill on moose pasture and hope to get lucky. (Meanwhile, they get really good at mining the pockets of investors with salaries, travel expenses and sweetheart share grants and Private Placements. (How is that for a summary of Canadian Exploration stocks?)
in reply to: L.A. Times Article #6330“Physicists Take Close Look at Gold’s Atomic Value
LA Times 7/20/95 Page B-2All that glitters may not be gold, but gold is the most “noble” of all metals. It refuses to react with gases and liquids, which is one reason it can hang around for thousands of years in musty tombs and still shine brightly for those anthropologists (or Pirates) lucky enough to stumble upon it. But exactly what makes gold so standoffish (and hence valuable) has been something of a scientific mystery.
In the current issue of the journal Nature, two physicists from Denmark and Japan suggest that the electrons buzzing around the gold atom’s periphery overlap each other in ways that keep other atoms at a distance.
This same orbital dance allows gold atoms to hold onto each other with a grip sufficient to keep other atoms from breaking them apart.”
Never know what one finds in twenty three year old files. In 1995, this was LA Times news.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6329I’m working on a future project for a project. I’m finding what I want and in the process reading old writings. You may enjoy some I read but not on the subject of my project. The following was written July 31, 2009 by Scoop. China was not getting much recognition for its economic shift to gold, the yuan and the declining influences of the all mighty US dollar. Today China is getting a lot of press. Are you seeing it in your publications?
“Slow morning in Alleghany but the following seems worth repeating.
China has gone crazy for gold.
In April the government’s Foreign-Exchange Agency announced the purchase of an additional 16 MILLION ounces for state coffers.
A few months earlier, National Geographic Magazine reported that for the first time China had surpassed the U.S. as a buyer of gold jewelry.But here’s the amazing thing few investors realize…
What the Chinese government did for oil over the past decade… they are today doing for gold. This is a huge development. China is also one of the few countries in the world where known gold reserves are increasing… not shrinking.
In short, the Chinese government wants more gold. It realizes gold is one of the only buy-and-hold investments in the world right now. The Chinese have a lot of money to spend… nearly $2 Trillion according to a recent report in The New York Times.The Ministry of Land and Resources has completely rewritten the country’s mining laws (known as the Minerals and Resources Law) to encourage local and foreign companies to explore for and produce more gold. The government has also recently created the Shanghai Gold Exchange, to allow anyone to trade gold, on the open market, without government interference.
Twenty years ago, China produced an inconsequential amount of gold. Today, China is the #1 gold-producing nation in the world (a fact Scoop lacks multiple sources to support).
When it comes to gold mining in China, it’s a whole different world than what is found in America or Canada. There’s no such thing as a NI43-101 disclosure form for mining companies. Instead of a handful of giant companies running the industry (how global gold mining has evolved, especially in the US), it’s basically thousands of small operations scattered across the country.
In short, it’s like the American Wild West. Ah, the American wild west; frontier freedom and frontier justice; pioneering spirit as defined by the California gold rush and the population and development of the west; exploiting the natural resources for the benefit of society; producing new wealth. Go, China, go!
As Mike has offered “The California gold belt is the most proven deposit with the fewest miners working it on earth.”
Scoop asks, “Why is the American investor asleep and ignoring gold and developing the gold assets of its oldest gold mining company?”
in reply to: Risk Management Strategies #6328“I currently find snippets in articles about investments that bring back memories of the fourth global American gold rush and the only one during my lifetime. The first great gold rush (1849) to the newly discovered California wilderness united our vast continent under one rule, language and currency. Historians claim it was the largest human non-warring migration (figures as high as 200,000).
Alaska was the site of America’s second major gold rush (1986-1899). What a struggle it must have been.
President FDR drove the politically initiated third American gold rush (1934). Writers always report that was when the fixed price of gold rose from $20.67 to $34.00 per ounce. Output production records rather than a mass movement to “discover” fresh gold deposits for exploitation best defines the rush. WWII killed the gold mining industry and post war inflation smothered its return to pre war conditions. What no one remembers and what I never learned in school also happened with the 1934 legislation. Americans were prohibited to own gold other than gold in coinages. Even as an Economics major at UCSB, that tasty item of western free market capitalism was ignored.
The fourth American gold rush was based on the politically driven decisions of 1934. President Nixon did not arbitrarily increase the “value” of an ounce of gold; the government cut the shackles of restrictive ownership by our citizens. In other words gold was set free to reach an exchange value with dollars and it quickly surged to new heights.
Bingo! Our local papers, the Downieville Mountain Messenger and the Grass Valley Union featured the spot price of gold on its front pages…with every edition. It was big news because this is gold country. Grass Valley is the location of California’s largest gold producer, the Empire Mine. Sierra County is the home of the Alleghany Mining District with the oldest gold Company and longest producing mines. Everywhere people gathered the biggest topic of conversation was gold. The year was 1975 and the rush lasted through the early 1980’s. Manic investors, miners and con men tromped north and south along the 200 mile California gold belt in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. It was exciting.
One of my favorite recollections that depicts a prevailing attitude during America’s awakening to the value of gold happened in Alleghany. The Sixteen to One was looking for working capital. A Sacramento bank president drove up to see the mine. During our conversation the price of gold came up. He wanted to know my opinion. Will it go up or down? I don’t know the answer to that question. He said something about the all time high in 1980. “Those in gold production thought it was an anomaly, an over zealous feeding frenzy”, was my reply. I vocally wondered who were the buyers during the January spike. Well, he told me that he was one and bought gold at its high. He waited for months, hearing about gold, watching it steadily increase in price and jumped in at the top. Was he an anomaly or does he represent the bankers and other cautious investors?
The stage is set for another rush. Think about it. What will it take for serious people to test their mettle with gold? Maybe it is mining the stuff or speculating on its present/future price. Maybe it will be viewed as a safe haven for previously acquired wealth. Some will just gamble, an act that neither others nor I who deal in gold production practice. Risk takers and gamblers are different.
The latest reason an investment guru says for putting ten to twelve percent of your investment into gold was this. Gold does not return interest. Banks and government investments now earn low interest. Jean-Marie Eveillard told Bloomberg news today why his fund is about 10% invested in gold and gold mining securities. “It’s insurance to protect against the fact that current policies by American government and the FED are potentially wildly inflationary.” (Nothing new and exciting here.) His novel idea is gold pays no interest and banks pay nearly no interest. You can print money but you cannot print gold. So, you don’t lose because of gold’s non-interest bearing condition. I’m not saying this will launch gold into a buying frenzy but somewhere the president of some bank is watching gold, waiting on the sideline before he jumps in…at the top.”
GOLD RUSH FILE: written June 9, 2009. How does this read, nine and one half years later?
in reply to: How to Approach Thin Veins & Cost #6327“Twenty four years ago a dormant wad of gold signaled the beginning of fresh technological power into the Sixteen to One mine. It was a simple metal detector. For decades a 22 ounce sponge of gold lay on the floor of the main drain tunnel. It is memorialized in a poster called, “Gold the International Language”. For gold seekers this innovation sparked an international rush to buy off-the-shelf, hand held metal detectors, the ones seen on many California beaches.
It led to the production of thousands of ounces of gold from the historic California gold belt.
Physics and electronics had added to the centuries of experience and knowledge about mining for gold.The most logical place was the Northern California gold belt, a 200 mile deposit under the Sierra Nevada Mountain. The most accessible site was the Sixteen to One mine in the Alleghany Mining District.
The major tool for hard rock underground gold mining will always be geology. Nothing will ever replace prospecting, exploration, development and production as nature’s intuitive geological formations, nothing; however the concept of detection is here to stay.
Forty four years ago chemistry resurfaced as a guide for miners to the hidden high-grade gold in the Alleghany Mining District. Fluid inclusions, ion calculations and all mining leaning chemists could imagine were explored, theorized and tested. Did it give the miners a new twentieth tool? Not yet but those differing ions in quartz may someday.
The twenty first century exploded the technological market with something called a “smart phone”. I don’t have one and don’t even know how the land line phone is capable of performing its magic; however others do. Let’s marry the smart phone technology with the current science of gold detecting. The result will make history. The union will give birth to a smaller and lighter tool with added discrimination features and depth, speed and reliability. All the necessary components likely exist in today’s market. The beta site for perfecting the smart detector can only be the Sixteen to One mine, a proven deposit for producing gold over 164 years. The time is now. The place is here.”
These were my thought two years ago. The smart phone evolved. Now Mars is accessible for photography, science continues with unimagined results, but no one has figured out how to identify gold (one of earth’s densest elements on earths) in a quartz vein. The Sixteen to One host to gold is Quartz, a trigonal mineral (SiO2), transparent and friendly to electronics.
Pass this along, please. WE have a sharing plan. I know someone is out there who could get really excited about locating 10 to 20,000 ounce pockets of gold.There is no better way to acquire gold than to mine it and share in the bounty. We have a plan.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6331Been bugging Mike for some mining news. He said here, a recent update written to our geologist.
Hi Mark,
Just because we haven’t talked for a while means we have not been busy (you, me and the mine). Two Fridays ago I witnessed the end of a week unlike any I’ve seen in forty years. I was at the mine when the crew was closing the portal. Never have I seen a more work fatigued crew of miners. From their hard hats to their muck boots hard, wet and griminess reeked from their entire bodies. The 1700 rehab is a bitch! The crew is working the same plan when you were underground last. Clearing the 1700 foot level from 49 winze to Tightner Shaft is close to completion. It hasn’t been an easy trip!One major pile of muck remains, about the same size as the last one. The last one took sixty cars to load, tram and dump down an abandoned raise from the 1900 foot level. That equals 120,000 pounds of shot quartz and vein material or almost half a million Quarter Pounders. Much was hand shoveling.
Due to the higher elevation of the 49 winze, the train had to pull the load up-grade. The dump pocket is South of the winze. The current pile has a dump pocket less than 100 feet away, which is a relief to the men. The utilities are in: compressed air, water, electricity and phone.
I remember well the 1700 level before we stopped pumping in 2005). It is solid rock, very nice for travel. When under water, muck from above stored in the old raises and stopes washed onto the level. The plan is going well but taking longer due to unknowns the crew discovered.
With the pain comes an interesting potential gain. The muck came from the 1500 level when we mined the million dollar day (2500 ounces with spot at $450 a troy ounce. The 1500 station didn’t have much of a dump pocket, so the miners used an existing raise from the 1700 level to move the material. The 1700 station has a great dump pocket, one of the best.
Gold was present while loading the cars; however time is critical so we didn’t spend much time with detectors. The Tightner 1700 station is our target for lowering the pump. You will have an efficient travel way to the 1500 North targets. You know our intentions.
A very competent all around mechanic is handling all the maintenance now. It makes a huge difference. Mining is heavy industry so everything will break or just quit running over time. Fortunately, Al, who you haven’t met yet, has solved and fixed every project, making the crew happy. Also it keeps them underground. We are still short handed. Plan on a visit in January. Reid has an interesting place he wants you to see.
Regards,
Mikein reply to: Miscellaneous #6326At least four timber harvest plans were completed on our properties in Alleghany, about every twenty years. The harvester marks the trees under direction of thinning for sustainable harvests. A plan is under construction for a harvest this spring (depending on weather and ground conditions).
Four years ago I sponsored an understory reduction effort in the community. It must happen again in 2019. The crippling forest fires are a result of forty five years of mismanagement by federal foresters. Sincere but wrongful pressures have been placed on the regulators, politicians and the logging industry.
Let’s have some forest improvement week ends next year in Alleghany. The help will really be appreciated since Alleghany is surrounded by national forest land. Clearing understory and cutting the low branches of the trees are labor intensive hand work but very satisfying. May 2019 will be the beginning. Everyone: mark your calendar and lend a hand. Alleghany, the last working gold mining camp in California is worth saving.
in reply to: Miscellaneous #6325Does the mine plan to harvest any timber next year? Did you log this year (or in the past)?
I certainly hope it does not happen, but if a fire came through…
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6324Fred, your interest and intuitions are appreciated. Here’s a short story.
Since 1974, when my attention was first aware of gold, a plethora of related articles surfaced. The early ones are fascinating with concern about America’s gold holdings at Fort Knox, wild expectations and speculations. A significant factor that no longer exists today was the human. Humans were called “gold-bugs” and the phrase “gold fever” was popular. Gold fever usually implied negativity, a condition, like the portrayal of the 49’ers panning for gold in California’s northern rivers, streams and creeks. Whoopee! Eureka! My thirst is satisfied. I found gold!
Gold ownership and pricing was a new financial reality, not possible for Americans until December 31, 1974. It was exciting. Only the “old-timers” understood this change that began in 1933, when federal legislation eliminated us to own gold. They knew gold held some very special values.
California was a hot-bed of mining talk. Most of us had zero experiences with gold but the possibilities for gold, well, were still alive. California has the Mother Lode, the Northern Mines also called the Father Lode and truly a golden history that some treasured or disdained.
Gold received a lot of publicity, appealing to pro and against advocates. Does Brea X ring a bell? The true miners for gold were less than the paper miners, a condition that will never fade. It has a history as it does in other financial pursuits.
I remain ex[posed to a variety of gold stuff. Following is a glimpse of investment analysis from an email only edited to eliminate the names of the “Best Junior Gold Stocks of 2018”. I’ll comment after you read about them and read your comments.“With the year nearly over and done, we rounded up the five best junior gold stocks on the TSXV by share price performance so far this year. All received high levels of investor interest in 2018, with the biggest gainer being up more than 700 percent year-to-date. Following is the selection.
ONE: gold exploration company with assets in the Central African Republic (CAR),
TWO: company that focuses on identifying, acquiring and advancing early stage projects with big potential.
THREE: exploration company with focus on advancing precious metals projects
FOUR: company that caught the eye of investors when it announced it would be completing $3 million private
FIVE: large land position in the mining region of Venezuela’s Bolivar state. “in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6323I would like to share from my own perspective here. Yahoo! has a somewhat user friendly finance page that has a field where you can plug in ANY trading symbol and get the most recent quote and/or history. Then it usually saves it so you can easily pull it up later.
Checking this morning, the last trade for OSTO was 10¢. That is actually a huge ten-fold increase over the penny trades that we had a few years ago. Although that might not be much of a consolation for long-term investors who might have bought OSTO years ago for several dollars a share.
But hope springs eternal. Gold is not doing so well right now and yet our shares are up in what is an otherwise down market. That is a good omen. Also, according to our last annual report, this mine is making substantial progress. I am glad I got involved in this.
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6322Dear “MTom”,
How in the WORLD did you manage to get that URL to “highlight” on this forum? I have never been able to do that!
Anybody have any ideas about this?
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6321FIRE, PARADISE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING
Group,
I would like to add to David I’s comments on Paradise. Yes, it is a terrible tragedy. What makes it especially tragic is that it was probably entirely avoidable and unnecessary. I like David’s idea with the sprinkler system.
Our wonderful news media along with most “liberal” politicians have been quick to point their fingers at climate change.
According to this scenario this is the future and we have already seen it now in Paradise. Fires will grow bigger and get much worse. But, if that’s the future, what about the past?
I would strongly recommend to everyone that they read the book STORM by George R. Stewart. It was written very nearly 80 years ago. At the end I couldn’t help but marvel at just how little California’s climate has changed in all those years. Yes, that’s right! Not how MUCH it’s changed but how LITTLE! These kinds of things, droughts and floods, have been happening in California for thousands of years and the cycle is just repeating itself once again.
And yet something must’ve changed to make this disaster so bad. Something, indeed, but what? I believe that what has changed is all that development in the woods. How much of Paradise as a community actually existed in 1980 never mind in the late 1930s when Stewart wrote STORM? I was there in the early ’80s and I remember it being very small. I don’t think they even had a traffic light yet but I can’t say that for sure.
So, if the decision is made to rebuild Paradise they will have to come up with a plan to ensure that this does not happen again. And here’s another VERY serious thought: I have wondered about all the development around Auburn, Colfax, Grass Valley and Nevada City. Could this be the next over-developed area to explode?
Developers and residents alike simply have to learn to live with fire and find a way to work around it. You simply cannot change California’s natural environment and pretend that it will never burn because it is going to. To try and blame it all on “global warming” really amounts to an attempt to shift the blame elsewhere.
As for now, rain has arrived and Grass Valley and Nevada City are safe – for another season. But people need to put their heads together and start building David I’s sprinkler system.
And Paradise? Just wait another couple of years and see what happens. The area will be covered by millions and millions of tiny conifer seedlings reaching for the sky as the fire cycle reaches its conclusion. The trees belong. The houses don’t. So, if we’re gonna have houses there then we need to start asking some very serious questions and come to some kind of resolution.
Fred M. Cain,
Topeka, INin reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6320The fire in Paradise is a real tragedy. This should be a wake up call for all small communities thru out the Sierras, about the possibility of that it could happen too their town. away to defend against this possibility is to cut a fire break around the whole town with a sprinkler system piped along the fire break. i think this is something that should be done in Allegheny California.
in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6319Classic examples of human behavior exist. They have existed for centuries; one of multiple reasons to develop an historical concept via reading is for their use, knowledge and enjoyment.
“The Four Phases of a Bull Market” has an historic past. Its time line varies, but its components are established: Stealth Phase, Awareness Phase, Mania Phase, Blow off Phase. Sub divisions of the time line are: Take Off, First Sell Off, Media Attention, Enthusiasm, Greed, Delusion, Top, Denial, Perception of Normal, Fear, Capitulation, Despair, Today – the Moment.
Where are the spot prices for silver and gold markets? Where are the markets of the silver, gold, copper and all metals? If you have theories, concepts, questions or any interest, I would enjoy hearing about them.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6318…and another block of 10K shares at $0.072. I wonder who/why?
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6317Michael, Yahoo is not a market maker. I was just indicating where I saw the Market Cap number. (FYI: I was the buyer, thru Schwab, and I have a sell order on some of them at $0.118)
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6316Thanks for this recent arms-length-trade on Yahoo. I didn’t know that Yahoo is a market maker. If the seller had checked with Schwab, he/she would doubled or triples the $$$$. Origisix has more value in its standing timber with a harvest plan for sustainable thinning than the Yahoo market cap. Sigh.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6315Market Cap is an even $1M right, on Yahoo, after 10K shares sold at 7 cents today.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #6313Argentina’s New Export Tax Could Hurt Yamana’s Cashflow
Less than two weeks ago, Argentina proposed a 12 percent tax on all exports out of the country as part of a plan to correct economic turmoil that has sent the peso to record lows. The tax will be capped at four peso for each US dollar of bullion and unrefined gold and at three peso for each dollar of unrefined metals.
“While the company’s favorable positioning relative to production and costs bodes well for the near and medium term, Argentina’s export tax has the potential to offset a portion of these benefits,” said Daniel Racine, president and CEO.
Racine notes that the company will work to seek a constructive resolution for both parties by determining if and how the tax will be applied. Unfortunately for Yamana, its share price was negatively affected by the September 3rd announcement and its stock lost approximately 17 percent of its value as result.in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6312Testing this new subscriber.
The miners are bringing up gold, a true rumor. People in California got no idea that California still has gold. Why don’t you get active with a PR campaign?
in reply to: Miscellaneous #6311This has nothing to do with the 16 to 1, but still very interesting.
I just read a great new book, called “The Bonanza King” by Gregory Crouch. It tells the story of John Mackay, and his silver mines in the Virginia City/Carson City areas, Nevada. The author goes into great detail describing the various silver mines there. The numbers were staggering, and it is truly amazing what they were able to do back then. (one mine used 52 cords of wood per MONTH, and 200,000 feet of timbers!!) Many mining techniques used to this day were invented in these Comstock Lode area mines.
I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in underground mining techniques and history.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6309WAY TO GO NEWMONT MINING
Newmont Mining has completed a US$69-million expansion at its Exodus operation, which has resulted in a 10-year extension to production and will lower all-in sustaining costs by about US$25 per ounce at its Carlin mine during its first five years of operation. The expansion, which was the company’s second in the last month, was completed both ahead of schedule and within budget and will add between 50,000 ounces a year and 75,000 ounces a year of gold production. The expansion will also lower Carlin’s all-in sustaining costs by about US$25 per ounce in its first five years of operation.
Thanks to John Livermore and friends; Nevada continues supporting America with new gold production.
Fred Searls Jr., one of initial Leaders of Newmont, began his lifetime interest with gold mining in California. His history with Sixteen to One mine differs from the inaccurate account In “Men and Mines of Newmont” by Robert H. Ramsey (page 71). No disrespect intended. Mining exudes folk-lore, myths, legends and downright fabrications. Fred cut his geological teeth going north in the 250 level beyond the Tightner Shaft. He rued his mistake in surveying the level which is clearly noticeable on old maps. He, General Lucius D. Clay and the famous stock guru and statesman, Bernard Baruch liked mining ventures.
Baruch Clay and Searls were buddies. Searls told them about his days as a geologist at the Sixteen to One. He told a friend of mine, Donald Dicky that it was the only mistake he ever made in mining. Don and I laughed because Don told me years earlier when I was down and pouting about a story of mining. We failed to find enough gold in the fall of 1991. I had to lay off the crew shortly before Christmas.
Don liked Fred and spoke of his large idiosyncrasies as well as his large ego. (He was also a colorful dresser.) “One mistake?” Don grunted. “Mistakes are many when it comes to mining. Don’t worry Mike, Let it go. It’s your comeback that counts.”
Fred and group put up some money in the early 1960’s to keep the Sixteen mining. Gold spot price, frozen in 1933, caused the other mines to close. What must have interested Fred was where he screwed up his survey was this new target: north on the 1500 level into the Red Star. The miners found speckled gold along the drift, but expenses caught up to the Sixteen and in December 1965, management laid off the miners; however management allowed those loyal men to continue mining, which they did for years. Fred never owned stock in our Company. He and his buddies loaned some cash for operating. They tore up the note. Maybe Fred cleared his conscious. One mistake? Baloney!
in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #6308Clarence Ellis, titled his regular column of Pay Dirt June 2002, issue “MSHA Doesn’t Understand that Coal, Metal Mines Different”. I am an historical mining junkie, so this sixteen year old article was easy to find today. May it interest you as well. If you haven’t read Respondent’s brief, filed July 12, go to NEWS on this website. Become aware of a sad reality: lawlessness on display by career public employees, especially lawyers. Convictions, fines, penalties, control and withholding exculpatory evidence (remember the CDAA) measured a pathway to higher positions; even for those I respect the most: judges.
The article begins, “What happened to yesterday’s MSHA? Is there anything left of the agency that was dedicated to the miner’s personal safety? When was the Mine Safety Act amended to create a force worthy of a police state? When safety enforcement is measured by its ability to raise dollars, its primary purpose has vanished. It does not appear that any of the higher-ranking Washington bureaucrats are even remotely connected to the field personnel. It also does not appear than any of the elected officials are aware of how their constituents are being treated or they would stop the daily abuse.”
Sounds familiar to today’s miners and operators! Ellis cites the mine act approved in 1969 and amended by Congress in 1977 and asks, “If the law hasn’t changed, what happened to the way enforcement has changed? What has happened to the friendly, helpful inspector who used to visit the mines?” Well, the early work force had mining backgrounds. Most retired or passed on and were replaced by those with a totally different agenda.
Today, my industry must deal with people with no mining background. It is a slippery slide towards the extinction of the small mine operator in America.
The cause pointed out in 2002, continues today. “The problem with the agency seems to start when its people begin ignoring the 1977 Act. Then they started interpreting the 30CFR regulations in highly creative ways.”
It is a lengthy article and worthwhile which is why I recalled it easily. You are directed to the FORUM Topic “YOU JUDGE***” ENTRY July 12, 2018, and NEWS same date for an important event now in progress.
Mr. Ellis closes his article: “When any inspector forgets—or ignores his trust in bringing the Mine Safety Act to the miner, he no longer is serving his purpose. Whether the inspector involved in the action just discussed acted out of ignorance or arrogance doesn’t matter. Neither is to be tolerated if the purpose of the Act is to be fulfilled.”
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE wrote:
“NATIONAL INJUSTICE IS THE SUREST ROAD TO NATIONAL DOWNFALL.”in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6307“SIXTEEN TO ONE DOES IT AGAIN” should be headlined across California and even USA. What did those miners do? Here’s just a glimpse. Click NEWS for exchange of emails between MM Miller and Brian Terhorst. Brian, long time FM radio DJ, interviewed MM live on KVMR 1995 at the Nevada County fair. Brian had difficulty walking. Both discussed how he could see the mine. Brian moved to DJ position in Chico, returning to Nevada City last year. Never made it underground.
Twenty three years later in May, Mike and Brian are sitting next to each other, live again on radio at KVMR, encouraging public support during pledge drive. Mike repeated last year’s offer for Sixteen to One mine tours as a gift. Donations to station were $120 for one and $180 for two.
Big change apparent. Now Brian is confined to electric wheel chair plus full time oxygen. Something happened in that room between them. The underground trip was raised. Commitments were made and a decision hit the listeners: Brian will go underground with the final KVMR tour July 7. Check the News topic. You will be touched as was Scoop.
in reply to: YOU JUDGE *** US COURT OF APPEALS #6306This topic is perfect for today’s entry. I read some of the early entries and, here we go again, but not so tragically. Check Rick’s entry on July 20, 2003, the beginning of this topic. Optimism for redirecting MSHA is my objective. Please read today’s entry posted under News. Sixteen to One is challenging the government to act legally. You are encouraged to spread this with others. It will help. I’m sending the following to others, including President Trump and Secretary R. Alexander Acosta.
Gentlemen:
For too many years the field grunts (I write grunts not that I believe they are grunts. I know from years of interactions with most of the good men and women working under leadership of the US Secretary of Labor in Washington DC their frustrations with upper management) encouraged me to keep challenging, complaining and outright fighting for the rights of miners and operators. All tell me that the BIG boys just figure that citations are a part of the business and pass it along. The upper top is President Trump and Secretary of Labor Acosta.
Your opportunity to redirect some misplaced enforcement in America’s mining industry is at hand. Abuses with Congressional legislation passed in 1977, have decimated small gold miners in California. On July 12, 2018, the oldest America gold mining Company filed a brief in an administration hearing with MSHA (Mine Safety Health Administration). You now control the outcome. The brief is publicly available at Origsix.com under news.
Very sincerely yours,
Michael Meister Miller
Presidentin reply to: INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SMALL MINES #6305Once again on behalf of the shareholders of America’s oldest gold mining Company, a heartfelt recognition goes to our forebears who dreamed of, wrote up and confirmed by the inevitable bloodshed and sacrifice of war the American Revolution.
The Revolution was grounded solidly on claims of rights denied…rights the colonists contended were due them through the usages and customs of English law. It was conceived and born with lawyers acting as midwives.A Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson, who did not like the practice of law, explained the Declaration of Independence adopted July 4th but 242 years ago to his fellow colonists. He spoke of a renunciation of political allegiance, specific grievances and the justification to be taken.
Lawyers remained a dominant force and formed the nucleus of the Constitutional Convention. Continuing to today lawyers have contributed their talents to the judicial branch of government and to aspects of government at all levels from President and Congress to mayor and city council.Alexis de Tocqueville many years ago observed: “There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.” Today I observe that there is hardly a judicial question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a political one.
My observations were captured six years ago October 24, 2012, with the first entry under Interstate Commerce and Small Mines in this FORUM. If you have time, scan from the beginning forward.Happy Birthday America, a land of vast natural resources and a history of people as diverse, robust and resolute. Our primary resource is the gold in California beneath the Sierra Nevada formed 125 million years ago. Our strength has universal flavors yet is mostly lost or shrouded in the mystics of political and judicial laws of economics.
On July 12th this year our Company enters another arena of judicial and political questions, not interstate commerce but those directly related to the declarations of independence and the machinations which followed from 1776 to 2018. I will let you know after this entry is filed with the appropriate federal Commission. It’s the law.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6304Problems continue with major gold producers in foreign countries.
As the tax dispute between Acacia (Barrick owns 63.9 percent of Acacia and the Tanzanian government continues, the company’s representative, Barrick Gold, has decided that it won’t provide a definite deadline to end the negotiations. The decision comes after Barrick, which is negotiating on behalf of Acacia, failed to meet a mid-year target to complete talks surrounding the ongoing tax issue.
Despite failing to meet the deadline, both Acacia and Barrick remain positive about the situation, noting that the discussions between Barrick and the government of Tanzania are constructive and that progress has been made towards creating a “definitive agreement,” which is necessary for the “implementation of the proposed framework.”
The tax dispute between the miner and the East African country transpired when Tanzania began making sweeping changes to its mining industry in order to reap more benefits from its minerals.
As part of these changes, the Tanzanian government slapped Acacia, its biggest gold miner, with a US$190 billion bill in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest in 2017. This is not the first time that the company has suffered as a result of the Tanzanian government making changes to policies and procedures within the mining sector. The miner has lost almost 80 percent of its value following a ban on unprocessed ore that was set into motion in March of last year.
According to the deal, Acacia would give the government a 16-percent stake in its mines, as well as a payment of US$300 million and equally split any “economic benefits” from operations.
California has mining problems but not ones like those outside USA.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6303The following headline caught my eye and stimulated the question, “why”:
Sumitomo Buys 5-percent Stake in Yanacocha Gold Mine for U$48 Million.The sub heading was, “in an effort to boost its metals assets, Japan’s Sumitomo has purchased a 5-percent stake in Peru’s Yanacocha gold mine for US$48 million. “ My curiosity is not that Sumitomo bought an interest in a big gold producer. No. it is, who is Sumitomo?
Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo, Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and Chief Executive Officer: Masayuki Hyodo), is pleased to announce that Sumitomo has reached an agreement with Newmont Mining Corporation (Newmont) and Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. (Buenaventura) to purchase certain ownership interest of Yanacocha Gold and Copper Mine in Peru (Yanacocha).
Newmont is the world’s largest gold producer. Sumitomo had a long and productive partnership with Newmont at Batu Hijau Copper-Gold Mine in Indonesia from 1996 to 2016.
Buenaventura is a leading precious metals producer in Peru. Sumitomo has partnered with Buenaventura at Freeport’s Cerro Verde Copper mine in southern Peru since 2003.Sumitomo’s investment comes as Japanese trading companies enjoyed their best profit in six years and are now searching for assets to add to their portfolios. Profits have been driven by higher prices for commodities such as coking coal and copper.
If this interest’s you read about Sumitomo and all the extensions of this Japanese corporation. It definitely crosses natural resources with varied financial business. What if banks and other dollar related institutions gobble gold producing companies?
By the way,today I turn 76 years from a birth in Sacramento. If you are a shareholder in Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. our company is older than Sumitomo, I congratulate you for becoming a part of another natural resource producer.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6302Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. Annual Shareholder Meeting
held in Alleghany, CA on June 16, 2018One hundred fifty three shareholders and guests registered to attend the one hundred seventh event. Michael M. Miller, president called order at 10am. Minutes of the June 17, 2017, meeting were read by J. Farrell. Those who had proxies were asked to submit them at this time. Special speakers for the day were: Mark Payne (company geologist), Steve Shappert (retired gold miner/hoist operator and guide at the 800 station), and David Conner (major jeweler and customer for quartz/gold gemstone).
Weather co-operated, making the meeting dust free. Temperature was about eighty degrees. Water, lemonade and tea was plentiful. The change of bring- your- own-lunch helped the flow for everyone. The underground and mine site were locked before 4pm. Gold sales stayed open until 5pm. Compliments were offered to the crew and helpers.
The day’s schedule and events were discussed: underground inspection of the Ballroom and Tightner Shaft; trail to Kanaka Creek (lunch site); geology, map viewing, additional details about the operation and question/answers by Payne and Miller in the map room; gold display at Company office is historic theater; special gold display at Underground Gold Miners Museum in Alleghany.
President Miller reviewed safety, hazards and noteworthy points for the underground which included: light depredation while underground and returning outside; reveal any health issues prior to sign- in at portal; take a sample but any rock with gold must be given to mine; don’t wander off the trails; day in life of the miner.
A van and bus are available both to the portal and back to the landing and town (neither broke down or ran out of gas). Mike encourages all to walk the mill trail (notice the high-grade mill). This year both winter and spring were friendly to the wild animals, trees and ground vegetation. Enjoy the day.
Mike opened a discussion on current status of State and Federal regulatory agencies. Both are moving in the right direction towards a more just and fair treatment than in the past. He told of his frustrations with these agencies when they are the ones violating the laws of the country. He gave examples. The guests and shareholders were free to choose their next movement.
Most people walked to the portal. Some took the bus or van. Others left to see the gold on display or for sale. Twenty or more went to the map room. After all statements, questions and disclosures, discussed in the open map room, were completed, Mike verified that proxies exceeded 7,169,428 shares, the amount required for a quorum. Olan Stortroen nominated Michael M. Miller, Hugh Daniel O’Neill III and Robert Besso for re-election. Betty Williams and Ryan Baum voiced a second. Proxies were cast to continue the current members of Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. governing Board. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15pm.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6301Vigorous weed whacking everywhere in Alleghany. Numerous and varied wild life sightings. Spring season almost over but what great weather it was in the Northern High Sierra. Pines, firs, cedars, oaks and madrones lush foliage. Open water ways running clear and clean (they always are except during heavy rain or snow melt). Father’s Day weekend must be near. Sixteen to One annual shareholder meeting June 16 . Underground Gold Miners Museum gold show coming to the camp.
Happy Happy Happy is the best way to describe all living things. Hooray for life!in reply to: How to Approach Thin Veins & Cost #6300MINES WITH TRACKS
Group,
I thought I post a new message under my sub-subject on this list of “Mines with tracks”. As many miners already know, most mines started to steer away from underground rail haulage about 30-40 years ago.
However the pendulum of getting away from rail and going to LHD trucks may be beginning to turn.
Here is an interesting article on rail haulage that I found:
URLs will not “highlight” on this forum so you will need to “copy and paste” to your browser.
I’d copy and paste the entire article but it’s too long. It makes for interesting reading, though. 🙂
Railroading in mining might just stage a comeback. Personally, I feel like our president was smart to keep his rail system in the 16 to 1 mine.
Regards,
Fred M. Cain,
Topeka, INin reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6299ARE US DOLLARS AND GOLD CLOSELY RELATED? Turkey is making a statement.
Turkish Gold Imports Triple As Central Bank Diversifies Out Of Dollars
Turkish gold imports surged due to a sharp increase in investment demand as well as renewed Central bank purchases. Turkey added 86 metric tons to its official holdings in the last seven months of 2017.According to the 2018 World Gold Survey, Turkish official gold holdings reached a new record high of 565 metric tons (mt) last year as the government decided to replace a significant amount of its Dollar reserves with gold.
Turkish gold imports more than tripled from 106 mt in 2016 to 361 mt in 2017. Again, the large increase in Turkish gold imports was due to a 60% increase in investment demand and the 86 mt purchase by the Central bank.
What is quite interesting about the increase in Turkish gold demand and imports is how it compares to the United States. In 2017, Turkey imported 361 mt of gold versus 255 mt for the United States. Thus, Turkey, whose population is one-quarter of the United States, imported 100+ mt more gold. Look at the major foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities, Turkey has been liquidating its Dollar holdings by $16 billion since its peak in October 2017.
Russia has also been liquidating U.S. Treasuries by approximately $11 billion since its peak in November 2017. However, Russia wasn’t selling U.S. treasuries to purchase gold; rather they were diversifying out of Dollars and into IMF Bonds.
While there are countless reasons why Russia is adding gold to its official holdings, the most important reason is quite simply, because IT CAN. The majority of countries is running massive trade and balance account deficits and cannot purchase gold. Russia is one of the few countries that export a great deal more oil than it uses domestically which is part of the reason it enjoyed a $115 billion trade surplus last year.
U.S. Government could print money to purchase gold. There are no western central banks buying gold. They just can’t. Most of the Central Bank sold into the market has come from the IMF and western central banks. Second, for a western central bank to start purchasing gold, it would be seen as a huge red flag to western fiat currencies.
Gold is a barometer for the U.S. Dollar. If the U.S. Government started printing money to buy gold, think about how that would not only impact the price but market sentiment. Western central banks will continue to liquidate gold until the financial markets and the fiat monetary system disintegrate. When more countries like Turkey add to their gold reserves, it’s a clear sign that all is not well in the global financial markets.
World Gold Council Edit.
May 14, 2018in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #6297Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento CA 95814May 8, 2009
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
Credibility is an issue, not yours but perhaps our gold mine. We get blamed for a lot of things that are not true. I am President of Original Sixteen to One Mine, located about two hours northeast from Sacramento in Sierra County. The Company is the oldest gold producer in the United States, incorporated in California in 1911. I’ve had the president’s job for twenty-six years. I am looking for your attention. As a personal reference, I offer Bruce McPherson in Santa Cruz. Bruce is a childhood, family friend. You picked a good man for Secretary of State when you chose Bruce. Give him a call. We regret his loss in the last election.
Solutions are my mantra (as it is for many pre-hippy Californians). Consider implementing the following slogan with your executive branch employees: SQUARE. I remind our hard rock underground gold miners to incorporate it into their work ethic. SQUARE. S is for safety; Q is for quality of work; U is for you; A is for “accountability; R is for responsibility; E is for efficiency. Put them all together and it creates or becomes a behavioristic model for success in any workplace.
You are desperately needed right now. I humbly seek some things from you to help the gold mine, the blue-collar workers directly, our depressed rural county and the social and physical fabric of all Californians. Become a statesman during the final years of your term and forget being a political chameleon. Smother the Sacramento “pot-house politicians” (check a large dictionary for the definition) and leave all those in the Senate and Assembly behind. Leave the Judicial Branch alone as well. Until the few scrupulous lawyers raise the bar to expected levels of integrity, honesty and lawfulness, the judicial branch will continue as America’s most despicable arena of outlaws. Tell all of them to, “Become the professionals that once walked the halls of justice. Become a statesmen, like me.” This can be your legacy to Californians, a return to the elected statesman.
The SQUARE in all three State and Federal branches is gone. If you can just fix the Executive Branch, it will set an example and get business humming in California. It will bring jobs to rural California.
Gold miners have encountered many examples of inappropriate behavior from people in the agencies you control. I wish to share with you or your appointee some experiences that others and I encounter in dealing with Sacramento. Let the other public officials make the laws and administer the justices. Your Executive Branch holds the catbird position. As Governor you hold the strongest weapon. As Dirty Harry would say, “Make my day!” Please reinvent the lost art of statesmanship. We need you in the trenches with us.
If you have never travel underground in the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountain range, consider accepting my offer to take you inside Mother Earth and see her as never before. See where plate tectonics smash together and bless our continent with one of the richest gold deposits in the world. You can bring your kids. They will love the adventure.
Sincerely yours,
Michael Meister Miller, Presidentin reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #6296Published 3rd May 2018 World Gold council
Gold demand of 973.5t was the lowest Q1 since 2008. The main cause was a fall in investment demand for gold bars and gold-backed ETFs, partly due to range-bound gold prices.
Jewelry demand was steady at 487.7t, as growth in China and the US compensated for weaker Indian demand. Technology demand extended its recent upward trend. The total supply of gold increased by 3% to 1,063.5t, primarily due to a modest increase in producer hedging. Mine production was fractionally higher at 770t.
China, Germany and the US drove weakness in bar and coin investment. Global demand fell 15% to 254.9t as range-bound gold prices undermined investor interest.
ETFs saw a fifth consecutive quarter of inflows. Holdings grew 32.4t, due to growth in US-listed funds. Q1 investment was mixed, with rising interest rates on the one hand and a sharp spike in stock market volatility on the other.
Global jewelry demand was roughly flat at 487.7t. China was buoyed by holiday spending and the supportive economic backdrop improved US demand. By contrast, Indian consumers were discouraged by rising local gold prices.
Central banks added 116.5t to global official reserves in Q1. This was the highest Q1 total for four years and in line with long-term average quarterly purchases of 114.9t since Q1 2010.
Demand for gold in the technology sector continued to improve. The wireless sector was a key area of growth as facial recognition is increasingly deployed in smartphones, gaming consoles and security systems.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6295Spring has arrived in Northern California.
Alleghany’s historic fruit trees have blooms that withstood the erratic weather changes from summer to winter the past four months. How exciting! The ants, yellow jackets and caterpillars are on the move. Natural water still creeps from the huge subterranean ponds. But the gold? What is going on now with the gold?
Pundits on the bullish side shout that it is being manipulated. Pundits on the bearish side rarely say anything. Neither are 100% correct. SCOOP claims a .9999 pure (like gold) opinion. SCOOP says, “It is controlled.”Most people, and specifically big investors, have little or none. Most gold mining corporations have none. SCOOP excludes the big boys, they have a lock on new supply…..control.
Who controls the gold that was mined in California between 1848 and 1914?
Who controls the gold that was mined in South Africa for decades?
Where is the gold that famously was stacked on shelves in Fort Knox?
Who has the fortitude, time and wisdom or intelligence to answer SCOOP’s questions?
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6294What really blows my mind is that the reference to OSTO on Yahoo!Finance is giving the company an amazing 5.26 P/E ratio. In most cases, a P/E ratio that low would send a strong “buy” signal.
Yahoo! is also giving the company a total market value of $1.434 million. Huh? The tools and equipment at the mine are probably worth twice that. What about the real estate? What about standing timber? Do we own that? If so, I figure the company, even if liquidated must be worth at $10-20 million and that’s a WILD guess.
Then there’s the fact that there is probably $50 BILLION of remaining gold reserves under that mountain.
What does all this mean? I think that at 10-12¢ a share, this security is a real steal. You might even call it a real gold mine. (Bad pun, I know).
Unfortunately, our stock is so thinly traded that it’s hard to buy shares in it and it seems to be becoming increasingly more difficult. I have had open orders in my Vangaurd IRA account for months but don’t seem to be picking anything up. One guy (who is also on this forum) told me in a private e-mail that brokers and finance houses no longer want to mess around with so-called “penny stocks” and the computers aren’t picking them up. To buy or sell someone has to actually call around the old-fashioned way and people just aren’t doing that anymore. Too bad. 🙁
Regards,
Fred M. Cain,
Shareholder from Indiana. - AuthorPosts
