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- in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6249
Thank you for responding. I also have a Schwab account with Sixteen to One shares but most of my shares are with certificates in my possession. How did you execute the order? I will buy the remaining 17,000 shares at six cents with a big smile on my face.
What was the commission?
I’ll place the order and also ask for a certificate. It really shouldn’t be very expensive, maybe $40.00. This is no joke. If you want to write me instead of using the FORUM, my email address is:mmeistermiller@gmail.com.
Please answer at your very earliest convenience. The $1,020 is hot to trot to the seller.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #624418,000 shares traded so far today at 6 cents. I bought some of them.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6247Congratulations on your purchase (see below). I’ll buy them from you for a 300 percent profit right now. Do you have a share certificate?
in reply to: Risk Management Strategies #6243New mining regulations in Tanzania have put gold companies under pressure and slowed investment in the country. This behavior is more than a trend. It is classic!
Tanzania’s reforms were introduced in July, and among other things, they allow the government to renegotiate or revoke existing mining and energy contracts. They also give the state the right to own at least a 16-percent interest in mining projects, and increase royalties from 4 to 6 percent.
“Minerals may not be mobile but the capital that funds the mines is,” said Ben Gargett, head of PwC’s Australia-Africa practice. “Investors are saying, ‘On our risk radar, Tanzania has just gone a lot further down on the list.’”
Why is this relevant to Sixteen to One? When gold resource capital be it investment, speculation or just a fun gamble looks for a safe harbor, Sixteen to One is the light house on solid rock.
in reply to: Stock exchange listing #6241Oh wow – that is not the record low, but is still pretty low. Today’s trade, someone picked up a fat 6000 shares for $6, or $0.001 per share.
Unbelievable…
in reply to: INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SMALL MINES #6240On May 30, 2017, Sixteen to One attorney contacted the government’s attorneys regarding our long time action for redress to adjust and balance a section of Congress’s law: which mine operations fall under the 1977 Mine Act. Congress place a size and economy qualifier to protect startups and small mines. Although our case is technically flawless and was accepted by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for review, he suggested 16/1 would consider a voluntary dismissal with each party to bear its own costs and fees. The attorneys for MSHA and the Secretary of Labor agreed and a stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal and granted by the Ninth Circuit on June 6, 2017. The illegality surrounding Section 4 of the Mine Act is an important subject for all miners. The Ninth Circuit is often characterized as an outlier court that is frequently reversed by the Supreme Court. Perhaps it would understand this issue and (as outlier) rule for 16/1; however a court review must wait for another time.
The Company has given careful consideration to this issue. The time arrived to move MSHA into accountability in the 21st century regarding the law. Plumbago presented overwhelming facts that the Plumbago did not meet the intent of Congress in passing An Act in 1977. It did not affect interstate commerce! A Court challenge, however, must wait due to the Utah prairie dog.
Yes, the Utah prairie dog heavily influenced our decision. The Tenth Circuit (Denver) on March 29, 2017 affirmed an Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) challenge that the intrastate Utah prairie dog required protection because “Interstate travelers stimulate interstate commerce through recreational observation and scientific study of endangered or threatened species. This decision added fuel to a burning California issue of the delta smelt, which the Ninth Circuit reasoned affected interstate commerce ((2014). The commerce law now protects a dog.
The Tenth Circuit expressly approved the Ninth Circuit’s reasoning in the delta smelt case, and similarly found the ESA had a substantial relation to interstate commerce even if the prairie dog itself did not. “[W] conclude that Congress had a rational basis to believe that providing for the regulation of take of purely intrastate species like the Utah prairie dog is essential to ESA’s comprehensive regulatory schemes.” The Tenth Circuit ultimately therefore found that federal regulation of the purely intrastate prairie dog was within the federal power under the Commerce Clause. Nonsense.
The prairie dog case is recent and may lead to a request for review with the Supreme Court by local property owners whose use of their private property was diminished. Seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court is always a time-consuming and expensive proposition, particularly since it requires 16/1 to go through the Ninth Circuit appellate process. The Company sees no chance of prevailing at the Ninth Circuit level of appeals due to judicial affirmation of travelers admiring the Utah prairie dog over property rights of Utah residents. Woof, woof or bow wow or whatever barks a prairie dog makes, you won. One justification in Court’s judgement was that travelers driving through Utah may be coming because they want to see the dog and if the dogs were not protected, there may be fewer travelers. Sigh.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6239ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTEREST
A public administration hearing takes place in Nevada City California on August 8 through 11 beginning at 9am at the Nevada City Council room on Broad Street. The topic regards around citations issued by Mine Health Safety Administration to Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. (Respondent). Sixteen to One is the oldest American gold mining company and the last traditional underground hard rock-high grade operation in California. It was incorporated in San Francisco in 1911. Home town is the small mining town, Alleghany, about an hour drive from Nevada City.
The hearing is under the management of Judge William Moran (ALJ), who calls Washington DC his workplace. The Secretary of Labor is responsible for both the ALJ and the prosecuting solicitor Laura Pearson, who works from Denver; however an ALJ must administer the hearing in a fair manner. All mining operations that affect interstate commerce are subjected to Congressional law passed in 1977, creating standards or regulations to improve the safety of miners. The hearing is open to the public.
Michael M Miller, director and president of Sixteen to One, represents the Respondent. His interest in California gold mining began in 1974. After a seven year proxy fight to replace an old, tired and ineffective board of directors, he took control of the company in 1983. The focus of this hearing has broad federal impact on mining throughout the United States. At issue is not over regulating as this topic does have merit but questions the background training and experience of enforcement, the inspector.
Nevada County and all the Sierra Nevada Mountain range is steeped I hard rock gold mining history. Miners developed a wide variety of skills and this holds true today, even more so. A lead mine know about carpentry, engineering, plumbing, electrical and diesel maintenance, structural geology, and above all the common and not so commonsense of working in an hostile environment. Miller will introduce evidence to show that an inspector without these behaviors may not be able to interpret an underground work environment. The lack of skilled underground mining inspectors is recognized by MSHA District Headquarters in Vacaville, CAlifornia. It will be up to the ALJ to evaluate the harsh reality that California gold miners have suffered and continue to suffer lost time and many times lost ability to mine due to this ongoing problem.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6237US President Donald Trump and staff were approach with a suggestion to nationalize the whole Mountain Pass enchilada to turn it into a national laboratory “dedicated to rebuilding America’s rare-earth mining industry, so the world knows it is safe to build high-tech manufacturing plants in the U.S.”
The Trump administration has not commented on the proposal that Mountain Pass be nationalized by eminent domain via the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Yikes!!
Shall I make a comment regarding my belief that the U.S. must retain a domestic mining industry? Yes.Whether it is gold in California or rare earth minerals in California, state and federal governments must take notice as to reasons our rare earth deposit fell into a mixture of foreign hands and the Sixteen to One mine is again the last commercial underground gold operation. BUT, nationalization?
No, our governments have projected a negative attitude to miners. We ask for a neutral behavior of regulating the industry or even a helping hand. Nationalization will bring more harm than benefits. Yet, to make America greater than it has been for a while, how about governmental bureaucracy easing the pain to our miners? Hey business leaders…find another way.
Here is a tiny story of what I currently face regarding California water regulations. The Sixteen to One mine is a mineralized area commonly called a deposit. Surface water trickles through the earth and discharges from an underground hole excavated in 1865. The water has done this over 150 years with no adverse effect to Kanaka Creek and its environment. When the federal and state bureaucrat launched its broad brush to save the environment, identifying mineral levels jumped from measurements in parts per million to parts per billion. The number becomes larger and frightening to the “soft knowing eyes.”
Here is the result: California water public servants decided that the water from the Sixteen to One mine must be treated to meet drinking water standards before it passes into mineral rich Kanaka Creek, previously recognized as highly mineralized. This is governmental insanity without doubt! Mine water is not a problem. Using precious funds to negate a non-problem without beneficial gain is money lost towards production. There is no economy here that provides benefit to the public.
in reply to: Miscellaneous #6235Irwin has a substantial mining history. Perhaps it started building equipment used in the California gold mines but today the size of the equipment I see on the website is larger than rail equipment typical in California high-grade operations operating or planned. A ten to thirty ton ore car could be efficient over long haulage underground but it will come at a very excessive and unwise cost: heavier rail, wider passageways and high energy locomotives.
Perhaps an engineer will suggest this equipment to a new project where no use of old workings is under consideration. The down time and expense of retro fitting old workings is not advisable.
The Sixteen uses one ton and two ton ore cars in different applications and the use is very practical. The locomotive pulling the two ton runs well on the 20 pound track and is much larger than the trammers in use now. I will keep an open eye for any Irwin equipment used in the past.
in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #6234In 2001, Mr. Gage McKinney released his book, “When Miners Sang” about the Grass Valley Carol Choir. The Forward written by Professor Philip Payton, Director, Institute of Cornish Studies at University of Exeter, Truro, Cornwall informs us of McKinney’s strengths as an historian, former president of the California Cornish Cousins and depth of his humanity, humility and great affection for this subject. Just reading the Forward took some air from my lungs in excitement. Here is the first paragraph of the book’s introduction.
“Christmas Eve in the early 1940’s. The Nazis were terrorizing Europe and the Luftwaffe pounding Britain night after night. In relative serenity a typical American family gathered quietly at home and within the sound of a radio. The set crackled and then came a voice, not from Washington or London or some falling outpost, but from a place far removed from the strife, from the depths of a gold mine in California, a stronghold of granite and dripping water. In words similar to these the announcer spoke:”
“To all America, from coast to coast, a merry Christmas from Grass Valley, California—where the Cornish Carol Choir is singing.” The singers raised their voices, beginning the carol “While Shepherds Watched
Their Flocks by Night” to the tune of an old hymn. It was a Christmas custom and tradition beginning 78 years ago by Cornish miners, who had come to golden California and gathered in Grass Valley.In 1993, I took a phone call from team members of Huell Howser’s California Gold about bringing the Cornish Choir into the Sixteen to One mine. I knew that current miners sing underground (I still do) because it sounds so good and over several calls worked out a plan for his TV show. One stope in the mine stands out from all others. We called it “The Ballroom”. This is where the crew worked on its own time to prepare for the Cornish Choir to perform.
The miner volunteers could invite a guest, but we had to be very quiet during the filming. After the choir the miner band set up their instruments and the first live music played in the mine. Listening to the Cornish Choir and their comments to Huell was a thrilling experience for all. Following is the author’s account on pages 258-59 of that time when a bunch of us recreated the historic radio program deep in an underground California gold mine.
“In the early 1990s the story of the choir was told with dramatic flair on California Gold (episode #413), a popular television series. The program, produced by Huell Howser, presented the choir in historical settings, in the Methodist sanctuary and on the street of Grass valley, and in a gold mine. Sixteen singers and their director took to four-wheel drive vehicles for a wintertime trek to the tiny community of Alleghany in Sierra County. There they climbed into the skips that carried them underground into the Sixteen-to-One mine, one of the last in production. In their parkas and hardhats, the singers descended an inclined shaft lined in white quartz, and the left the skips to file deeper into the mine, and to eventually reach a chamber like the one in which the carolers had sung in 1940.
Before their performance began, the carolers were treated to a pasty dinner. The meal prompted Mel Jones to remark that his father ate a pasty every day in the mine. For Jones in was the first time he had been underground since working his way through college more than fifty years before. For Brian Bennallack and Harold T. George it was their first trip underground since the national broadcasts. Having eaten and regained their wind, the carolers gathered to sing “Sound! Sound!”
As he recorded them, sound technician Eric Rice of KVMR Radio discovered something technicians probably noticed in 1940: the jagged walls of rock eliminated echoes and distortion. “The room is so lively,” Rice remarked. “It doesn’t matter where I set the microphone.”
The small group of voices sang several carols, closing, of course, with “Diadem”. With only sixteen voices they could not reproduce the big sound that a full chorus of workingmen had produced during the war, but they could show the tradition was still treasured. And because the program repeats every Christmas on Public Broadcasting System stations, the Carol Choir has reached its widest audience ever”.
in reply to: Miscellaneous #6233MINES WITH TRACKS
I was “Googling” for “underground mining cars” and stumbled across a website for the Irwin Car Company. Has anyone on our group heard of them?
I wonder who is buying this equipment and how many people are using it. I sent them an e-mail but have yet to get a response. I hate to take up too much of their time since I obviously won’t be buying any of it!
I was wondering, is this something that the Original 16 to 1 Mine could use? Looks expensive, though. 🙁
Copy and paste this URL to your browser for more information:
http://www.irwincar.com/irwin-rail-products.php
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: How to Approach Thin Veins & Cost #6232MOLLIE KATHLEEN MINE
Group,
Although I still haven’t quite made it to California, we were in Colorado last week for a tour of the Mollie Kathleen Mine. It was beyond awesome. I had my first “cage ride”. Over 1,000 feet down AND an underground train ride!
Our tour guide demonstrated a lot of mining techniques and how they work. In the beginning they mined with candles. Our guide turned out the lights and showed us how that worked. Pretty dim! It’s a wonder that not more people got hurt than did.
He also showed us how they set charges and removed the muck. It was hard for me to believe that they could actually get a mucker in the cage so I asked him if there wasn’t an adit portal somewhere. NOPE! Only one way outta there and everything we saw down there came down that way!
I saw a lot of abandoned rails lying in adjoining drifts. I wish I’d thought to ask if they might be for sale.
Another observation was that there was no water and no pumps even at that depth. Remember, the elevation here at the surface is nearly 9,000 feet. You have to watch not to move around too quickly at that altitude or you will get light-headed to say the least.
I recommend this tour. The Original 16 to One is still at the top of my list, though. Too bad it’s so far from Indiana! 🙁
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6229What a surprise!!!
A buyout group backed by a Chinese company has been declared the winner at a bankruptcy auction yesterday (June 14, 2017) for the Mountain Pass rare earths mine, the sole U.S. source of elements essential to electronic devices. Molycorp, the mine’s original owner, poured $1.5 billion into Mountain Pass in 2011, when rare earths prices were high. A drop in light and heavy rare earths prices forced the mine to close in mid-2015, and Molycorp went bankrupt. The US currently imports most of its rare earths from China. What contributed to the drop in price? China began dumping inventory into a market it controls.
An Australian led group of companies was designated as backup bidder. The group will be submitting an objection on or before June 19th to object to issues related to the auction process. Swiss bases mining investment fund, Pala, plays a role in the take-over as does ERP Group of Companies (private company). Russian-born billionaire Vladimir Iorich established Pala Investments in 2007.
The high bid was $20.5 million.
in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6228Supply/demand news on India’s gold market (GST).
The simplified taxation structure will make the gold supply chain more transparent and efficient. It should also boost India’s economy which in turn will support gold demand
Key points:
• At 3%, the GST rate announced on the 3rd June was lower than the industry had feared. Industry reaction has been positive.
• There are two important GST rates which will affect the gold industry: the 3% tax on gold products – which replaces the excise duty and VAT components, but sits on top of the import duty – and an 18% tax on services, which will affect small-scale artisans who design and manufacture jewelry for larger manufacturers.
• While the overall tax rate consumers face is likely to increase slightly, GST will bring benefits too. Firms will be able to offset the GST they pay against their revenues, and double taxation throughout the supply chain will be eliminated. Supply chains will become more efficient.in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6227Most miners in our area and Northern California only use Douglas Fir for ground support. A very colorful part of the Sixteen to One mine has 1800 or early 1900 peeled Doug Fir uncut (round like the way they grew) timber. Much of these ancient old growth trees are as sound today as they were when brought unde4rground.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6226What is used for the timbers? Pondorosa Pine?
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6225When there is no news from Alleghany, Scoop shan’t fake news. Seems the great California weather not gold mining is the news to write you this morning: wonderful late spring rain. For all outside California, our greenery is lush, vibrant, a joy to see and very healthy. Starve vegetation for years in a drought and when record setting rain and snow happens, the earth is like a sponge and the forest is responding with renewed life.
Yesterday some radio person asked listeners to support soap. My old ears took interest. Soap? What is he asking me to do about soap? It didn’t take long for SOAP means, “Save Our Ailing Planet”.
Scoop wants details, clarifications presented with current and historical facts. Scoop sends off a mental email to the radio guy: What?
If soap means Save Our Ailing Planer and the organization is asking for money and support, WHAT means:Where’s Health Ailing Today?
According to reports about the Sixteen to One and action around town, the miners are helping the lumber industry because truckloads of beautiful mine timbers keep coming. This winze project is a major improvement for the company.
in reply to: Two-headed Front #6224My phone rang this morning from a fellow I’ve had many Sixteen to One related conversations but never met. My annual message to shareholders triggered his call. Our lengthy talk pleased both of us. If you haven’t read the April 22, 2017 letter (mailed May 15th), you can find it On the FORUM Topic: Correspondence from the President of OAU. Mining life is good. It can and will get better and surpass great in the days ahead of us.
After this phone conversation as I was rethinking each other’s words, it seemed appropriate to critic the past. With a 164 year old past it could take hours even for me. How trying it could be for those without my background! I looked to the FORUM a place for real history and saw a very important topic without an entry in seven and a half years. I scrolled to the first entry by gfxgold in 2002, reading forward in time.The Two-headed Front again arises from the ash of nothingness, the Phoenix of California gold miners on 09/05/2009. For those who wrote under this topic, your thought and words are the clackers in the bells of liberty. “For the times they are a-changin’.” Happy birthday to Bob Dylan born today, May 24, 1941. If you are new to the FORUM or haven’t read this topic since 2009, and have a future interest in gold mining, go to the first entry and read forward in time.
“The Times They Are A-Changin'”
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.in reply to: How to Approach Thin Veins & Cost #6222Group,
I found an interesting article that fits in with my sub-subject on this thread “Mines With Tracks”. It’s a few years old now but worth reading. I have said it before and will say it again: I do NOT understand the supposed huge advantage of trackless mining.
Here it goes:
“Rail cars have long held a close association with mining. In fact, when looking back at movies or cartoons where mining is represented, there’s likely a bunch of open-top mine rail cars somewhere in the picture.
Rail-Make
With the development of trackless machinery, however, a decline in rail use for mining has created a small disconnect between the popular image of labyrinthine mines lined with rail cars and how mines are evolving in reality. Rail took a backseat as low, stubby, purpose-built mine utility vehicles became more commonplace.According to some experts, however, that trend might soon be reversed. Talking to Mining Weekly, Attie Claassen, contract manager for the South African railway and civil engineering contractor Loning Hill Properites, expressed this opinion:
Underground rail networks used to transport mined materials may be poised for future growth, owing to the high cost of trackless machinery and other alternative transport methods.
This shift in perspective comes as a result of a better understanding of the expenses associated with using trackless machinery. While many mines in South Africa attempted to make a push to establish trackless mining in the resource-rich country, the issue of cost quickly became too much to overlook. This has led some mines to consider reverting to the proven technology of rail haulage.According to Claassen, “a correctly installed rail system has been proven to far outweigh its initial capital investment, and is, therefore, ‘the way to go’”.
Added to the proven advantages of underground rail networks, advances to the design and manufacturing of different underground rail cars have made reverting back to rail even more desirable.
Despite a decline in popularity, manufacturers like Wabi Iron & Steel Corp. have kept up their rail haulage manufacturing and development processes. The improved rail car technology that has resulted competes favourably versus trackless machinery in terms of cost, reliability, productivity and durability.
As the advantages of rail haulage continue to make their way back into the spotlight, it’s likely that the prospect will keep looking golden for the tried and tested mine ore car.”
Here is the URL but you will probably have to copy and paste it into your browser:
http://www.wabicorp.com/prospect-looks-golden-mine-rail-cars-due-rail-advantages/
in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6221Gold mining in Mexico has a 500 years history of both commercial and artisan production. Today, gold and silver account for more than 50 percent of the country’s total metals output.
Over the last decade, gold production in Mexico stayed relatively stable; however, an uncertain gold price environment limited new mines openings in recent years. Most mining companies operating in Mexico focused on reducing costs and improving capital management. In 2016 gold output dropped from 135 MT to 125 MT. The decline, which was one of the country’s biggest, was partly due to harder and lower-grade ore types available.
One problem is that relatively little exploration is taking place. Last year, spending on exploration and development declined for the fourth year in a row to reach a 10-year low of $483 million. Mining in Mexico is a significant employment industry and valuable as an export producer of gold, silver and copper in that order. Expect it to continue.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #6220Global gold demand in Q1 2017 was 1,034.5t, 18% below the exceptional Q1 2016, which was the strongest ever first quarter. Solid inflows into ETFs were nevertheless a fraction of last year’s near-record inflows, and slower central bank demand also contributed to the year-on-year drop. Bar and coin investment, however, was healthy at 289.8t (+9% while demand firmed slightly in both the jewelry and technology sectors.
Not surprisingly, Germany and UK led EFT inflows. USA was a distant third. Much of the investment in gold bars growth came from China, where retail investment was up 30%, breaching 100t for only the fourth time on record.
Indian jewelry demand jumped 16% from last year’s exceptionally low level as market conditions improved after a very tough 2016. Pent-up demand from the closing weeks of 2016 was gradually released as liquidity improved
in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #6219TEN YEARS AGO I WAS INTERVIEWED BY A BUSINESS WRITER FOR A NATIONAL MAGAZINE. WE NEVER FINISHED THE INTERVIEW. WHILE SEARCHING FOR AN OLD REPORT ON THE RED STAR PROJECT, I DISCOVERED A TRANSCRIPT OF PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW. ENJOY. HISTORIES ARE WORTHWHILE.
Draft received from a recent interview of Michael Miller that may appear in a yet to be identified publication. January 22, 2007. Part One
Q: More stories about gold are appearing as gold increased in value last year. Are we in another new American gold rush?
A: I wouldn’t call it a new rush but there is definitely an upturn in interest. The mother of all historical gold rushes took place in California between 1848 and 1852. In modern times the current interest is a continuation of “the rush” unleashed on December 31, 1974, when gold was economically freed from government suppression. Today the general public has yet to participate even though we see more references to gold than a few years ago.
Q: How do you follow the gold markets?
A: I keep up with gold and other natural resources thanks to magazines, newsletters and newspapers, web sites or articles on the Internet, friends or acquaintances in the various industries and other sources. I enjoy reviewing company reports and SEC filings. My interest goes beyond what should be required of a president in the natural resource industry. I’m curious. My macro- economic belief is that our natural resources contribute to the liberties and freedoms the entire world cherishes. There are potential global impacts, significance for Americans and important local consequences that touch many people.
Q: While it seems simple, the realm of gold has a complex history. What single advice pops into your head to offer someone outside the gold market wanting to get in?
A: The rules are the same whether its gold or technology: go into gold with an open mind and teach yourself through study. I started that way thirty-two years ago. My family background, formal education and life-long experiences make me a risk taker but a careful one. Emotion gets in the way sometimes. The counterpoint to risk is reward. The ability to evaluate these two components is crucial with today’s gold investment options. Whether it is an investment in time, energy or money, a formula may be constructed to analyze various choices and opportunities. There are unfamiliar terms in gold mining with unclear definitions to deal with. You want a quick single concept to embrace: ponder the downside risk and upside potential.
Q: Why have you devoted thirty years to the mines in Alleghany?
The relevance of mining, natural resources and gold to our present and future well-being makes me a Sixteen to One bull. I recognized the potential quickly back in 1974. Our experiences continue to confirm my early impressions. I don’t want to go into a lot of history now; however what has taken place in Alleghany and the Sierra Nevada Mountain range is awesome. It sometimes takes my breath away just to have an interest in keeping this culture alive. While economic growth (stock appreciation) is an important goal, so is acquiring physical gold as a personal possession. This opportunity really puts Original Sixteen to One Mine in a very special and small category of gold stocks. The little guy, like me and others, has a chance to participate in something exciting.
Q: In reading your history you seem to always have plans that require money but you rarely actually go outside to get it. Why?
A: We prefer to finance our growth and development by mining gold. The Company’s fortunes turn in a single shift, so as long as we are breaking rock, fortune may tap us on the shoulders. Other reasons are more pragmatic. In order to declare a gold dividend the division of ownership must be manageable. It is. The more shares outstanding, the more difficult to divide excess gold into a meaningful amount. I monitor our gold inventory, cash flow and daily underground mining progress to quantify the risk/reward scenario. In conversations with Ian Haley, the mine manager, and the crew I gain a sense of production and what is ahead of us. My actions are to push it, in other words “risk evaluation” is a constant part of the job. It changes almost daily. Last week on the 1000 foot-level, we found a gold showing in the down-dip side of the vein. We slabbed the rock. It revealed a very nice display of gold, more than first look. Now we have the choice of proceeding with the level rehabilitation or interrupting that heading and sink on the gold. Each has a risk and each has a reward. No one knows but right below us less than a week away could be enough gold to finance our Red Star project from this production.
Q: You mentioned unfamiliar mining terms earlier. Give us some common ones and some that may be unfamiliar or poorly defined.
A: I used the term “down-dip” in describing where we found gold on the 1000-foot level. First, the dip is the angle that a bed, stratum or in this case a vein is inclined from the horizontal. Down-dip tells the direction of the incline. Its opposite would be up-dip, although this term may not be used throughout the mining industry. Mining districts develop their own terms over time, so there can be confusion of meanings even between experienced miners. For the non-miner who is trying to get a grip on evaluating gold companies, the first concept they must deal with is reserves. The Alleghany Mining District is very fortunate because the gold deposit cannot be qualified or quantified using a reserve projection. The investor today is barraged with reports about proven reserves, probable reserves, possible reserves, inferred reserves and a resource. Whew! Believe me, these terms are not interchangeable but many exploration companies as well as others lump them together. I think it is done to fuel great expectations for those seeking a play in the gold industry.
Q: Why should individuals or other entities be interested in the Sixteen to One operation and give some examples?
A: An important fact in evaluating the likelihood and meaning of meeting the two goals (stock appreciation and gold distribution) is the number of outstanding shares. This is a very important statistic for comparing all corporations. On December 31, 2003, there were 12,867,250 shares issued and outstanding. The number remained the same on December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2005. Dilution was nil. The upcoming December 31, 2006, number increased by 118,204 to 12,890,204 shares issued and outstanding. This small increase was due to a stock conversion for debt, money owed a shareholder who helped purchase the Gold Crown mine in 2005, directors’ fees and a long overdue account payable. For a company that has been financially handicapped, it avoided dilution just to keep the operation going. We are not fueling our operation by selling stock. We are one of very few small gold companies that actually mines gold for its cash flow.
Q: Is a gold dividend a fluff concept or for real?
A: It is for real. One of our past directors, Lee Erdahl, was a director of Ranchers Exploration and Development Corp and became its president after the untimely death of Maxie L. Anderson. Mr. Anderson paid a gold and silver dividend. It may be the first declared in kind dividend by a public corporation. I find it an inspiring accomplishment. As of today, a gold dividend of a quarter ounce per 1000 shares would require 3,250 ounces of disposable gold. This is a realistic number for the Company to meet.
Another requirement necessary to declare a dividend is the company must be debt free. Ours was debt free for half of the 1990’s. It was debt free by mining and selling gold, not by selling stock. It also paid a $0.05 per share dividend in 1995, the first dividend in thirty-five years. For most of its corporate life the owners were generously compensated with an annual dividend and the company was debt free and met its annual cash demands. Tax laws were different but with an “in kind- pro rata distribution”, the onus of double taxation will not be a factor in distributing profit. A goal of a gold dividend is for real.
Q: If you never had a public offering how were the 12,890,204 issued?
A: When I took over as president in 1983, there were 180,000 shares outstanding. Many were issued to former owners of mines the company acquired.
The company did a three for one stock split when the stock was very low priced. It had no dilution effect on the shareholders of record. Everyone’s percentage of ownership remained the same. It made no difference for the dividend goal. Dividends must come from profit not from selling shares. Selling shares is not revenue. This was brought to light when reading the 2006 annual report of Klondike Star Mineral Corporation. I like its idea to find the underground source of the placer gold found in the Yukon. I can relate to the excitement and perhaps monster gold pockets still remaining after eons of erosion and geological changes. We have the respected Blue Lead dead river below the Bald Mountain and Red Star claims. We know the veins exist from prior mining and drilling below its bedrock. We know that nuggets were found still encased with some quartz. We know much about the geology of this property. I like what Klondike is doing and wish them great success. Management has a different view of its corporate structure and its ownership. It appears as a one-dimensional plan for making money, stock appreciation. With xxxx shares outstanding and 5700 shareholders, a future gold dividend seems unlikely.
As I look at Klondike’s Balance Sheet and Statements of Operation a long standing and most popular pattern is evident: no revenue, ongoing dilution, high general and administration fees and high public relations expenses. With no revenue and expenses of $8,778,272 about 56% went to General and administrative (3,392,679) and Public Relations (1,538,207). Mineral exploration was $3,379,652. Shares outstanding increase annually as the company uses dilution to fund its program. This time period 3,423,000 shares were added. Nothing is wrong with this business plan. It is the one that most exploration and under financed companies follow; however there is more to the analysis of the impact of number of shares outstanding.
Few people know the number of shares outstanding in the companies they own or contemplate buying. Look at Newmont (I am a shareholder). It has 312,984,000 shares outstanding. That is a large figure. Another gold producer, Barrick, with 554,270,000 shares outstanding, tops it. This type of analysis is important to evaluate a gold company. Check its “market capitalization (market cap). Multiply the shares outstanding by the share price to determine a market cap. This is the total value the market places on the corporation. Sixteen to One is slightly under $13 million. Klondike is slightly under $40 million. Newmont is more than $12 billion. A gold dividend is not in the future for any of these companies except the Sixteen to One.
I understand why Klondike goes to financial markets to raise working capital. But why did Newmont announce a $600 million loan in November? Its stated reasons seem odd in light of its great stream of revenue. Klondike has no other choice but to continue borrowing or diluting existing shareholders in order to stay in business.
These companies and more of the Barrick types and many more of the Klondike types are competing for working capital at a time when the world awakens to the need and value of natural resources. These are the opportunities available to an eager market, a market that has only begun to be excited by the prospects of $800 or $1000 ounce gold. I am bullish for Original Sixteen to One Mine because of its different risk to reward relationship. I am sure that there is one just as favorable in other gold opportunities. I just don’t know of any to invest in. What is missing to the casual researcher of our company must be the reviewers’ reluctance to project what it will become when its two-step financial plan is successfully implemented. It is public information for the most part. Some items (all positive) are withheld for security reasons and because of their confidential nature.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6218Mike and “Scoop”,
There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever. The 16 to 1 has some very dedicated people at all levels. That’s one reason that I have faith in this enterprise.
One day, one fine day, you will all be “discovered” and rewarded as well for all your efforts.
Keep the faith !
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: Clips from Alleghany #6217Winter’s waning days plummeted Alleghany with water. Snow or rain makes little difference with temperatures being warmer than long historical averages. For most folks, wet land, high winds and tree covered properties brought hardships as roots of the towering pines and firs eroded. Coupled with the bark beetle infestation throughout the Sierra Nevada, our landscape is very different from a year ago. Trees are down everywhere.
But what about those underground miners? Did they have problems? If you’ve been underground in the Sixteen to One or similar gold mines, you know the temperature stays about the same (fifty degrees) winter or summer, day or might. This is a real plus on knowing how to dress. A miner needs a very simple or regular wardrobe. Our guys in Alleghany had a big time problem with the water this month. They needed rain coats.
The Sixteen is a combination of many mines. About thirty-five miles of tunnels extend under Alleghany. This creates a big collection box for surface water. This winter the creek (Kanaka Creek) that flows through the mine property was so high it backed up and flowed into the mine. Since adits are driven slightly uphill, water didn’t travel deep into the mine, but it sure was different.
So, the big collection box and surface water did impact the mine’s operation. Miners constructed as many channels above the discharge point (portal) into Kanak Creek to get water out of the underground without pumping. All other water underground must be raised by pumping. The crew told Scoop repeatedly that the underground tunnels, stopes and raises looked like rivers: water running where it was never seen before. Not all of it could be removed with gravity alone, putting more pressure on pumping.
If you are still following Scoop’s report, guess what came next. Pause while you figure it out.
The pump quit pumping is what happened next. Pumps are electric powered. This one is a high horse power, three phase, 480 volts and a long way from the portal and a longer way down to water level. If you’ve ever tried to fix something that quit, you know that most times you should change one potential source of the problem at a time, unless the problems are obvious. The problem was not obvious.
The disconnect problem could be within the two thousand feet of wire, the power supply. It could be in one of four necessary metal circuit/ starter/safety boxes. It could be the pump motor or even the multistage pump itself. One by one Reid and Danny worked through the system searching for the flaw. During this period the water continues to rise, of course. Before the problem the water level lapped a wooden deck just above the 1700 level: great progress over six months of pumping. The ultimate destination is the three thousand level. (No one alive has been on the three thousand level. No metal detector has sung on the three thousand level.) Mike and the miners want to change this.
Yesterday, you could see the water a couple of yards below the 1500 level, quite a loss of ground. Noon yesterday, after a pow wow of pump speculations, two choices remained as the most likely fix: the motor or the pump stages were compromised, thus binding the motor. (All pump systems have a safety reset button, like the one on your garbage disposal.) At last everything that could be wrong up to the pump itself was working… the reset button held open. At 2pm Reid and Danny headed into the mine and down to where the pump was tied out of the water. Not much space available to work on the pump, barely enough for the two of them. Reid told Scoop, “We have all the tools we need. A back up motor is already down there, so let’s change it and hope it works.”
Scoop is walking the dog about 8am this morning and the Sixteen to One mine truck stops with Reid and Danny inside. They seem out early driving here. They also seem whipped. Scoop thinks, the fix didn’t work so what’s next? No, changing motors did work. The pump is doing its thing again. The water level is receding, but where are they going at this hour? They stare at Scoop. “We’re going home. It took all night but we got it done.”
These boys, all this crew, will see that three thousand level some day. Scoop places his bet on it.in reply to: Miscellaneous #6216Please send an email to original1621@gmail.com to receive a formatted copy of the 10-K
in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #6214Thanks for sharing this information. I really like your blog post very much. You have really shared a informative and interesting blog post with people.
downloadingsupertorrentwebsite.ruin reply to: Technology #6213The Vancouver Sun reports in its Friday edition that programmable bacteria, a gold-sniffing camera and a virtual reality tool for taking investors underground were among the innovations on display at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto.
A Canadian Press dispatch to The Sun says that some mining veterans believe that such innovation is badly needed in an industry traditionally resistant to change. “There’s a lot of inertia in our business,” said George Salamis, chairman of Integra Gold. “There’s this mindset that, ‘We’ve been doing this for 100 years, why would we change?’
With new blood coming in, that is changing. But change is slow.” The mining industry has been on the mend as commodity prices recover from a protracted slump. The downturn made many executives more focused on pruning budgets than investing in technology that might increase efficiency. But even a small implementation of such products can have a huge effect on margins and operating costs. Think Sixteen to One mine and other mines in the forgotten California gold belt. Hello out there!
in reply to: Technology #6212My thoughts have been echoed in the past by the federal reserve as well as congress, when I was a strong supporter for TARP, as well as Q/E.
in reply to: Technology #6211Hi again Mike, I have already sent a letter to the White house about this thought. If they think it is a worthy thought then we will see some future action.
in reply to: Technology #6210David,
What caught my eye in your last entry was the Federal Reserve role as a lender of working capital for the gold mining industry, thereby producing more American gold. This is exciting. Our Company welcomes a new source for adding miners, buying more supplies and equipment to attack the many realistic gold targets we know exist. The existing sources (investors, speculators, gamblers and money houses) are some of the biggest manipulators in the world. Real gold miners get their thrills from mining gold not making money. The distinction is large! Who runs the Fed reserve, what policies govern its behaviors and what are its member’s main business philosophy and practices are unknown concerns I have. To support expanding the power of the Fed, I need answers to these concerns.Of all commodities that enjoy a public market (corn, lumber silver, etc.) gold is likely the most vulnerable to high flying manipulation. BUT, the players are few compared to the players in other commodities. Right now the March 2017 contract volume is 23; May volume is 158; April volume is 170,929 and climbing. Who is playing this money game and why?
The next concerns or reality regarding price are those mystical men who set the spot price for 400oz bars each morning for settlement in London. The market is truly global from the centuries of London based power (NY to a lesser degree). Futures exchanges, Over-the-Counter and bullion dealers add a factor of variables to the once stable gold market. Who will be influencing the Fed Reserve crowd?
I must mention one more group: the Pump & Dump crowd. They play mostly in the small cap stock market and will always be there looking for a quick buck. The concern with them and the Fed Reserve running its gold plan is: will the good intentions of capitalizing companies who actually will mine gold be recognized and separated from the companies that are mining bull shit!
Let’s examine what we want to accomplish and see if there are others ways as well. We want to strengthen our gold industry and our status with the dollar by producing more gold in the United States. I get it and am looking for a way to accomplish this with our small operation.
Our discussions are under the Technology heading, somewhat misplaced. Our industry awoke in the 1970’s with technological advancements still lasting today; however technological results for really high-grade gold mining have been stagnant. If we can take samples from the moon, if we can see photographs from distant galaxies, we can see gold in quartz beyond the current four feet distance. David and others, let’s keep this discussion alive and include technology as a component of fixing the gold mining issue, inflation and free market rules in pricing an ounce of gold.
in reply to: Technology #6209Hello Mike,
To add to my message below: there would not be any requirement to sell gold to the federal reserve, except only where financing was provided by federal reserve banks designated for that purpose, and only until the principle is paid off. The gold would be sold at market value with a dedicated buyer to buy the gold.
in reply to: Technology #6208Dear Mike, if I represented any thing that George Soros proclaimed, My message was not clear enough as to its intent. The book I was talking about was an advocate for returning to the gold standard, with the decline of the dollar as the victim and down turn in the economic welfare of our nation. So we need an activity such as mining in the United States to become an economic engine to help grow our nation. My plan I tried to bring to your attention was for The Federal reserve to create the federal reserve Gold Trust for the purpose to increase backing for the dollar held as part of a reserve in trust. This would also use this reserve to sell parts of reserves as a hedge against inflation, with out touching our gold at Fort Knox. The federal reserve would by gold with printed money, increasing the money supply, with asset gold held in trust. A certificate would be also awarded to the seller of gold with the price paid, noted on the certificate. The federal reserve would be ready made buyer for gold mined in America to stay in America. That when it comes time to sell gold for lowering inflation, the person holding these certificates would have first crack to buy the gold as long as they are US Citizens.
The reason the federal reserve would want ot buy gold is to create the inflation necessary for growth, Case in point was how our nation got out of the great depression, when the price of gold was increased from $20/ounce to $35/ ounce. Now the Federal reserve would purchase the gold by weight at the spot price on the London exchange on the sell and buy action of the purchase.
The federal reserve and our nation need to increase our gold reserve as that is what China and Russia are doing to become a threat to the dollar as the most secure currency in the world. So this would be an economic defense policy. Higher federal gold reserves would give competition for this continued duty of the dollar, as well as being a competing buyer for gold, driving the price up for both China and Russia. This would not restrict sellers of gold to sell to the federal reserve, except where the federal reserve backed loans to miners and mining companies to help with the mining industry to produce the gold, that a provision could be allowed that the mining companies could hold back a 10 or 20 percent of the gold mined, from required sales to the federal reserve until the principle of the loan is paid off. After the loan is paid off the the requirement to sell gold to the federal reserve would be eliminated. This would be a strong incentive to increase gold mining, with development of financing for the mining activity and creating new wealth for economy of our nation.in reply to: Technology #6207David:
Rethink this idea you considered in your entry below. It has an unpleasant history going back to the 1960’s through 1974, when gold (its ownership and production) were governmental/politically controlled. Gold ownership is a very personal free choice. It should be.
Last month I learned of a financial writer from a shareholder. I wrote her and we have exchanged emails. Following is may last one to her. You may ponder my message to her.
February 27, 2017
Dear Kimberly,It was a delight to open emails this afternoon and find a response from you. I wrote you on a whim and because of who you are or what you are doing with your life. I read the seven articles you sent and learned nothing new; however, I was disappointed that there was little to know how you think and write about gold mining. I am a proponent of gold mining, especially now and in the future.
Articles like the one quoting Mr. Soros, proclaim a falsehood. I’ve read this (not so correct statement) in numerous books and articles about gold. They write that gold has no intrinsic value in order to debase its value. If gold has no intrinsic value, why not write, “Gold’s value is only extrinsic, not essential”? The difference is subtle but, the why I am writing you now is not looking for subtleness.
None of the articles present the side of gold I want you to know about. I’m a gold producer. I can do nothing to influence the spot price of this commodity. I can increase its value with products and marketing but as far as promoting gold ownership or its avoidance is not a choice or possible. (Unlike most gold bugs or promoters I do want to return to the gold standard. Let the free market prevail.) I put no effort in speculating about gold’s spot prices.
Gold has intrinsic value. For some reason the opposite belief is a constant cry by anti-hard asset (money) value people. Why do you think this is so? Gold’s use in technologically driven products (electrical sensitive) is up. Jewelry (think India more that western cultures) is established and increasing as populations increase. But, again, this is not why I write you.
Speculations in investments or gambling can be made on any subjects. I have a well-known friend in Chicago who speculated on hurricanes years ago. I quit golf years ago but still go to his annual golfing, fishing and hiking get together in Idaho. I take my cameras. This group likes to bet on golf scores but one year I wagered a bet that one of the eight players would hit a house and got favorable odds. I won that bet. But, again, this is not why I write you.
Mining gold or producing any commodity has become most challenging. The trend is an actual numerical decline in ounces but more importantly in a larger percentage drop of the factors sensitive to a prospective mine operator (capital investment, speculation and safe or fair regulation enforcement). The uninformed have not grasped this economic phenomenon. Miners, the labor forces, are skilled workers and in California and the west declining in numbers. Mining, like logging, another fundamental industry under attack has a culture vital to the well-being of greater America. Why did Japan infiltrate China, the Philippines and attack the United States? The country is losing the mining culture, the infrastructure vital to be competitive in natural resources and the ability to fund our demands of manufacturing domestically.
Forty four years ago I was pondering where our social life was heading. I was a combined social science major, graduating from UCSB in 1965 with economics (major). I concluded that our leaders were smart to continue using up foreign natural resources because it protected ours for the future when other countries were depleted. It was about freedom and security. I no longer believe this is correct unless you advocate for large multinational conglomerates to grab these tools of freedom and security for themselves. This is why I write you.
I want you to become familiar with our industries in the BIG picture. I want you to see domestic natural resource production as an opportunity for others to aid America. Why? I believe that you write for the right reasons. America needs more miners working in America.
Sincerely,
Michaelin reply to: Technology #6206Hello Mike,I have been reading a book by James Rickards, “THE NEW CASE FOR GOLD”. I suspect that you may have seen it. It is about our need for inflation to raise the price of gold and combat our present recession.
I would like to present an idea about how to do this. I think the federal reserve needs to have a gold trust reserve where dollars are printed and traded for gold based on weight at the high daily rate of the purchase by the gold trust reserve, along with the dollars a certificate would be included with the purchase price for the gold. This would be away to increase the gold reserve. This gold reserve trust also would the capacity to loan to banks specifically for financing the mining of gold in the united states. With the requirement that all gold mined would be sold to the federal gold trust reserve until the principle of the financing was paid off.in reply to: Technology #6205MINERS ARE MEMBERS OF THE SKILLED LABOR FORCE.
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that people use to meet their needs.
Commodities are hard assets. Since there are so many, they are grouped in three major categories: agriculture, energy, and metals. Non-renewable resources are those that are used faster than Nature can create more.The United States was blessed with an unusual abundance of seven natural resources. First, it has a large land mass that early on became governed by one political system. Second, it was bordered by two large coastlines that provided food and later ports for commerce. Third, it had thousands of acres of fertile land. Fourth, it had abundant fresh water. Fifth, it was once under a great sea which created the oil and coal. Sixth the climate gives it grand forests. Seventh the formation of the earth gave it gold. The geography and geology of the United States provided a tremendous comparative advantage in building our economy.
America had a huge head start thanks to its abundance of natural resources. In addition, it’s governed by one political system, monetary system and language. America has two peaceful neighbors, Canada and Mexico. It doesn’t have to defend its borders.
Where is the flim-flam ABOUT GOLD propagated? Answer: exploitation of terms and time. Proven gold reserves are where analysis of geological and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty to be recoverable from known reservoirs. Only the gold that is commercially viable under current economic conditions is counted. Reasonable certainty means that either actual production or conclusive testing has occurred. Gold is not counted as proven if engineers are uncertain whether it can be recovered under current economic conditions or it’s in completely untested areas.
Exploration and development must take place before production. Exploration has most risk. Most companies never get beyond exploration. Some make it to development and few actually get into production. This time frame is important because supply changes more slowly than demand For example, demand can rise quickly, but companies can’t ramp up production as fast. When demand drops, it can take companies months to reduce supply. Unlike most industries, people outside the production side publish words. This has become the flim-flam of gold
.
A big difference occurs between supply in the short-run versus the long-run. Short-run supply depends on price. As demand rises, customers pay a higher price. Businesses will increase supply to gain the sales from higher prices until they reach their current capacity.In the long-run, if the price and demand remain high, companies can boost supply. They have the time to add the workers, machinery, and factories required. The following factors determine long-run supply: Labor, Capital Goods, Natural Resources, Entrepreneurship.
Financial capital such as money and credit is used to buy the factors of production. But the ease of obtaining financial capital, whether through stocks bonds, or loans, plays a critical role in supply. Warning: In the professed bull market for hard assets ahead, challenge the flim-flam man.
Here are some examples of how U.S. innovations in capital goods created economic advantages.
• In 1789, Samuel Slater improved textile manufacturing. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. These made the U.S. a leader in clothing manufacturing.
• The invention of the Morse code and the telegraph in 1849, and Graham Bell’s telephone in 1877, made communication faster.
• Thomas Edison invented a safe incandescent lamp in 1880. That allowed people to work longer and made urban living more attractive.
• Steamboats led to steam locomotives. They allowed private railroad networks to facilitate coast-to-coast commerce and development of the West.
• In 1902, air conditioning allowed migration to formerly hot areas and the ability to work effectively through the summer.
• In 1903, the Wright Brothers’ invented the airplane, leading to faster air travel.
• In 1908, Ford’s assembly line allowed mass production of affordable cars. That increased demand for expanded travel and led to the 1956 Interstate Highway Act. That improved shipping and a created a higher suburban standard of living.
• In 1926, Robert Goddard invented the liquid propulsion rocket. That gave the United States an advantage in defense.
• In 1992, metal detectors were tried and succeeded in finding gold in the Sixteen to One mine.
• When will the innovative capitalists/ entrepreneurs move the technology into the 21st Century?in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #6201TEN TOP GOLD PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Once again, China was the world’s top gold-producing country with output of 455 MT. The country has now held that position for 10 years in a row. (MT = metric tons)
Gold production in Australia took a bit of a tumble in 2016, dropping from 278 MT in 2015 to 270 MT.
US gold production dipped last year, dropping from 214 MT in 2015 to 209 MT in 2016. Most of the gold in the country was produced at more than 40 lode mines, several large placer mines in Alaska and a number of smaller placer mines in the western USA.
The USGS further notes that the 26 top operations in the country were responsible for 99 percent of its gold output.Gold production in Canada rose noticeably in 2016. Last year, the country reported output 170 MT of gold, compared to 153 MT in 2015.
Peru saw a slight increase in gold production last year, with output rising from 145 MT in 2015 to 150 MT in 2016.
South Africa’s gold production has steadily over the last several years. In 2016, production dropped to 140 MT from 145 MT in 2015.
Gold production Mexico has stayed relatively stable over the last several years, although it dropped last year to 125 MT from 135 MT in 2015.
Indonesia’s gold production increased from 97 MT in 2015 to 100 MT in 201.
Rounding out the list is Uzbekistan, which produced 100 MT of gold in 2016, down from 102 MT in 2015.
In 2015, global gold production increased by just under one percent in 2015. This is the seventh annual increase for gold production in a row, although that growth is slowing.
in reply to: How to Approach Thin Veins & Cost #6200MINES WITH TRACKS
Group,
I thought I’d do a post on the sub-heading of this thread on mines with tracks since it’s been a while since we talked about that. To be honest, I have been kinda M.I.A. for the last 20 months or so.
As many of you know, many if not most underground mines have abandoned the use of rail vehicles in underground mining in favor of underground, rubber-tired “trucks”.
I am still not sure I understand why. I understand that the rubber-tired vehicles are much more flexible. That makes sense to me. I also understand that the maintenance departments no longer have to be constantly ripping up and relaying track as veins and deposites change. Sure.
But the rubber-tired machines also demand much larger drifts and passageways. That would seem to me to largely overwhelm any cost savings from using them.
Could it be that trackless mining has simply become “the thing to do” causing companies to shy away from mining with rail? In spite of it all, there are still a few mines (like the 16-to-one) that continue to rely on rail.
I hope that continues.
-Fred M. Cain
in reply to: INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SMALL MINES #6199Mike,
Is there any hope that the new president might relax some of these laws and regulations? I know they have talked about doing that with coal but I don’t know about hard rock mining.
Regards,
Fred M. Cainin reply to: INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SMALL MINES #6198California has two Red Ledge mines. One is near the town called Washington east of Nevada City and the other is down Foots Crossing Road from Alleghany. Neither has operated for some time. I may have written this before but I’ll repeat. Just in the Alleghany Mining district, I know of five operations that could not start a mine operation due to MSHA. I have heard exact comments from others in western USA. This is why our elected and appointed representatives, be they in Congress or the Executive Branch, must enforce the 1977 law that gave birth to MSHA. In clear language it identifies those mines that affect interstate commerce will be subject to this law. For the lawyers and MSHA executives to continue advocating this falsehood is criminal. They should be disbarred or replaced and held financially accountable or arrested and tried in the courts.
America must have a strong natural resource industrial base. If anyone doubts this reality, go read why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Go read how Japan invaded China and the Philippines in the 1930’s. Go read about “petrodollars”. Go read about the British Empire’s relationship with India and Burma.
Let us spread the word: all regulations are not bad, some are just factually and legally wrongly applicable and enforced. “Truth like gold lies at the bottom.”
in reply to: INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND SMALL MINES #6197I was wondering if Mike knows who owns the Red Ledge Mine? I was also curious if they are still working the mine these days? I may be confused – but I thought that they were mining there maybe 10-12 years ago. Would be interesting to find out the info, as this mine is in the same general area as the 16 (Sierra County).
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