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- in reply to: Stock exchange listing #2850
For those of you who hold your
16 stock in “street” name I
have ordered my shares out from the broker into certif. form. All others who haven’t
done so should bear the expense
and do likewise as I have. No
fool’n.in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2847Gold $665.40
Silver $13.30
Gold/Silver Index 50.03Gold is the ultimate report card.
The price that gold reports in each country’s related currency is the type of job government officials are performing in their perspective financial responsibilities, both domestically and internationally.
When governments don’t like their grades they attack the gold market by forcing it lower with all their little schemes. It is as simple as that.
One of their schemes is practiced on the COMEX where these people sell contracts through their hired hands for future delivery that don’t require settlement in gold. They just roll them over to the next trading month cycle or settle the difference in cash for any amount due. In London where they don’t really operate, all consummated sell sides have to be settled with the delivery of physical gold.
Another scheme to depress interest in gold in this country is by giving the hedge funds a free hand at selling gold shares that they don’t own or that they can’t borrow. This scheme is meant to drive people crazy as their stocks don’t act well against a higher gold price. This kind of manipulation only works during the short term.
The Securities and Exchange Commission does not put pressure on the hedge funds to deliver physical shares like you and I would be required to do. They seem to have an understanding with them. Remember, the Securities & Exchange Commission is a member of the Exchange Stabilization Fund which was created in 1987.
These sold shares by the hedge funds circulate as “failure to deliver(FTD’s)” shares. Who knows, maybe you have bought some of these FTD’s and although your brokerage statement says that you have the stock in your account, they maybe only FTD’s. Who really knows, as they are not specified. FTD’s are basically betting vouchers, or so called promises to deliver and they are not physical stock.
These paper instruments, futures and FTD’s, are controlling the prices of real assets. Specifically gold, and to a lesser degree, silver.
These “paper tiger” schemes only display weakness and desperation on the part of the western central bankers who sense the emergence of gold as the supreme world currency. The days of seriously suppressing gold’s price by selling physical gold to a large degree ended with the demise of the London Gold Pool and later in 1971 when president Nixon closed the gold window.
Thanks to a new scheme when Barrick Gold was directly involved with these bankers they invented a new way to depress gold’s price in or about 1980. The bankers would lend gold to Barrick to sell in the open market. The bone given to Barrick was enough inside information concerning their ultimate goal that Peter Monk joined into selling with them in earnest.
In fact, Barrick sold in the process more gold for future delivery than they had gold reserves in the ground. Barrick was a commodities trading house then not really a miner. Prior to the creation of American Barrick, now Barrick Gold, Barrick’s Monk had no practical experience in the mining industry. Greedy over indulgence cost many in the gold industry along with their shareholders untold millions of dollars.
Many years ago when Monk was a college student during the Christmas season he reamed some Christmas shoppers as well. He specialized in arbitrage, hopping around like a human sized African jerboa with Christmas trees on his back buying from one mall lot and selling to another mall lot for a profit.
Barrick continues to be short gold from their earlier gold bashing days of the 80’s and 90’s.
Respect goes out to the corporate officers of Nova Gold for telling Barrick to stick it when they tried to take over the company.
Any weakness in gold’s price should continue to be viewed as a buying opportunity. The best is yet to come!
Miscreants, your days are coming too. What is your exit plan? Oh I forgot, you guys think you are in control. Your exit plan will be one of the fastest short covering rallies in history, both in the metal and in the gold shares.
The other side of gold is the U.S. Dollar Index. These miscreants are going to find it impossible to contain gold’s strength when the Dollar takes its expected swan dive.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2845If they would let us use DDT
again we could take care of the little SOB. (beetle)in reply to: Technology #2844Hey folks. I’m new to the forum but not Prospecting and Treasure Hunting. I had an interesting discussion with some fellow prospectors this evening that inspired me to check out the site tonight. I’m told that the 16 to 1 is now utilizing detectors and such to discover new deposits beyond what’s visible or speculated. I’ve had the thrill to find some beautiful specimens (both lode and placer gold) using this technique. Last year I invested a substancial sum of money in some technology that has been utilized by the government for several years and has been made available to us for the past ten. Problem is the cost of entry, but perhaps most difficult is the learning curve. My past experience with this device has proven that once I’ve scanned a “known” target then I can analyze the 3 dimensional image and sure enough learn how to identify other targets of the same. It has the capacity of imaging up to 60 feet in debth, depending on the type of target and other interferences. Now I’ve made several trips out using the device to locate lode gold and found that I also need sample scans of known targets. Once this is accomplished it will enable me to provide an invaluable service to myself and others. If anyone has any input as to how I can accomplish this objective and both parties find it mutually benificial, please let me know.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2843Snow yesterday. Snow today. Tomorrow supposed to be sun. No one had trouble getting to work but an unexpected and unwanted problem hit Alleghany: Bark Beetles.
At the intersection of Foote’s Crossing Road, Main Street and Miners Street the dreaded little bug found a home in the Ponderosa pines. This western beetle (Dendroctonus brevicomis) attacks the midtrunk, then spreads up and down; larvae feeds on inner bark and completes development in outer bark.. First sight is right at the top of a tree. The needles turn brown and very quickly the entire tree turns brown.. It happens fast.
Adults can emerge at any time of year, weather permitting, but emergence is most common in late spring and again in late summer to early fall. The nasty bug commonly attacks trees weakened or predisposed to infestation by drought, disease, injuries or other factors that may stress the tree. Management against the beetle is limited. Fifteen trees are goners and more may show infestation over the coming days. The unseasonable warm weather must have triggered the outbreak.
If left alone the whole forest could fall prey to the insect. Even though it rained and snowed yesterday, Mike, Ian, Chico and a town volunteer fell, limbed and decked ten trees. High winds stopped cutting the remaining five. If the Western pine beetle comes to your neighborhood, attack the infestation immediately.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2842The week ends on a high note. It’s not a gold high. It’s an “at last we know how much muck must be mucked to clear the 1000-foot level” high. Some may wonder why this relates to high feelings. As many of the crew told Scoop, “It’s the unknown we’ve been dealing with.. We live with it daily with the gold but it’s been hell not knowing how big the cave-in.”
Late yesterday, a hole or opening appeared at the top of the level where the muck, up until then, was a solid wall. It opened enough for one of the baby miners to crawl through and get on the level behind the cave in. Today the crew worked with renewed spirit and energy. Everyone had been a little edgy because the primary target was not to find gold. This crew’s job is to get that level accessible. Gold is in the future. A gold mining employer without gold becomes a company without employees. Maybe that’s why most of the small companies, unlike this one, get their operating capital from stockbrokers not gold miners mining gold.
There are two new faces at the mine. Mike seems to do some things opposite from other managers. As money is getting low, he adds miners instead of laying them off. Not always but his strategy is grounded in his own experiences. Scoop cornered him to explain. “When revenue or sales are down and orders are shrinking, it is wise to cut employees and other expenses. Our sales are up and orders are backlogged. Ian and I have a plan and it’s a good one. The guys need to get to where we are confident of good odds of finding gold before other expenses restrict our ability to get there. This mine is not a crapshoot, as some are led to believe. It is actually fairly predictable, enough to still be producing for 111 years.”
The level will still take sometime to clear so stay tuned.
In other news you probably know this already. The California Court of Appeals in Sacramento set a date for oral arguments on April 18, 2007 at 2pm. Let’s fill the spectator seats and support justice. Why the Attorney General decided to side with provable lawbreakers is a question that needs an answer. Do any of you have one? Do you think it may have been because the former head. Bill Lockyer is a fool or approves lawyers breaking the law? Does the new Attorney General, Jerry Brown share Lockyer’s sentiments about lawbreakers? Scoop works the rural environment, so maybe some of you can answer these questions. This appeal is even more bizarre because its legal foundation requires that Mike and the mine some how took away constitutional rights of crooked lawyers and private prosecutors. This story should be appearing in all California newspapers and some of the national big ones. As the NY Times said in its article about the CDAA private prosecution, “As California goes, so goes the nation.” Help, please.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2841Gold $656.20
Silver $13.13
Gold/Silver Index 49.98Bloomberg has presented a shocking 25 minute presentation entitled “Phamtom Shares” that everyone holding stocks needs to view.
The easiest way to access this YouTube video is to google search Bloomberg Phantom Shares.
Every December Wall Street firms brag about the bonuses that are handed out to their employees. Now we know where the money comes from: It comes from investor’s pockets.
The policeman on Wall Street is the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC). After viewing the video, the only conclusion that can be made is:
The SEC thinks greed and stealing is good which is amply demonstrated by their inaction to control and prosecute trading abuses conducted by Wall Street manipulators.
What ever happened to: For the people and by the people?
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2839Gold $659.00
Silver $13.28
Gold/Silver Index 49.62Why are the precious metal stocks underwater as gold continues higher in its well established bull market?
There have been many entries in this section concerning suspected manipulation of gold and the gold stocks. The finger has been regularly pointed at the bullion banks, the Exchange Stabilization Fund and the hedge fund boys.
Tonight on the jsmineset.com website there is a current video interview of Jim Cramer the host of CNBS’s “Mad Money” where he admits price manipulation by the hedge funds. This could be one source that has manipulated gold stocks lower way out of character compared to past trading norms against gold’s price.
The point is, sadly, that the whole stock market must be a rigged event. What chances do well meaning investors have using their life savings against a group that clearly has one greedy motive: big salaries and big bonuses at any cost?
Jim Cramer basically said that the SEC can’t figure out what the hedge funds are doing.
It clearly appears that the SEC is not doing their market surveillance job. Is the SEC just looking the other way for the benefit of the hedge funds as well meaning stockholders of precious metal shares get reamed by them?
It’s a cruel world when gold company shareholders get fried when their main reason for being in this group in the first place is to protect their family’s wealth against monetary inflation.
As a point of interest: The Federal Reserve has tripled our money supply since 1990 and is printing more money faster today as a result of the failing subprime loan market.
Check out the video tonight at jsmineset.com.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2838Gold $641.50
Silver $12.73
Gold/Silver Ratio 50.39The suppression of gold’s price continues as the miscreants run scared.
The FED is now obviously concerned with the possibility of a melt down in the OTC interest sensitive derivatives market.
As Jim Sinclair said this morning, “This situation is serious as the first flame of a financial melt down is getting closer to the fuse of the interest sensitive over the counter derivatives. A flop in those OTC derivatives would be devastating to the international financial community so it is reasonable to assume it will not occur, at least here and now. In order to prevent such a situation that would act as a vacuum on liquidity, the Federal Reserve must act to add liquidity to an already brimming over the top world liquidity situation.”
“Since this is super bearish for the U.S. dollar, it is super bullish for gold.”
Gold’s price manipulation starts with the bullion banks on orders and is continued by the hedge fund boys.
It’s not too difficult to see how the primary miscreants operate: Selling is usually exerted on gold near the close of the N.Y. COMEX trading session and into the N.Y. Access Market where trading is usually thin. Just before N.Y. trading begins, London’s gold market usually weakens. If gold strengthens following early morning weakness in N.Y. it is hit again.
These miscreants take gold down hard making price with no thoughts of getting a better price like you and I would. They just bang away at it to please their handlers.
The main group that operates in total secrecy is the Exchange Stabilization Fund which is accountable only to the president. Concerning gold, this clandestine group should be called the Exchange Destabilization Fund.
History has taught us that these shenanigans only work for a short period of time. Gold’s current weakness is just another buying opportunity in the march to much higher prices for the metal. Don’t be fooled by these tricksters.
A newsletter was mailed out to the museum membership yesterday. If you are not a member and would like to become one go to “museum” on left of screen and you will see a membership link on the museum page. There is a printable membership form there.
The week started out on a very good note for both the museum and the mine. A shareholder who is very supportive of the museum offered to donate $20,000 to the museum specifically for the museum to purchase specimen(s) from the Sixteen to One Mine. The idea is to get the rest of the shareholders (or public) to make donations to match or exceed the $20,000 already put up.
The benefits of this program are multiple. For the donor a tax write-off. The museum is a 501 (c) 3 educational non-profit organization. Donations are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. The benefit for the museum is an enhanced gold collection of specimens from Alleghany. For the mine it means specimen sales i.e. operating revenue! To make a donation for this project checks should be made out to UGMM and mailed to P.O. Box 907, Alleghany, CA 95910. Specify what it is for.
A big thanks to the “golden giver” for getting this rolling.in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2836Lots of wood and outdated rock bolts were being loaded on flat cars at the portal and heading underground. The outside miner said that the muck on the 1000-foot level continues to slop into the level. Muck slopping onto the level didn’t explain much so Scoop went to the books. The miners are spiling, which means to drive spiles. A spile
is a large timber driven into the ground to serve as a foundation. When you look in the historic mines in California, you will see old wood, old pipe and bent mine rail or track used for spiling. Miners would grab any material at hand to stop muck from seeping into the workings.The miners are clearing a pinch zone. It isn’t a dangerous situation but a nasty one because the up dip back continues to break loose and make its way to the area that was just cleared. There are times when a miner will muck in one place for days, unable to stop the flow, catch up with his support or secure the sliding of material. The worse and most frightening time is when the rock breaks loose from overhead. Have heard stories it got real hairy one time at the Red Star heading. Even the bravest miner felt he was tempting death by stepping into a spot where, without warning rock would fall from above. A decision was made to abandon this spot and drive a new tunnel around it.
Ian and Mike knew this spot on the 1000-foot level could be a problem and even discussed drilling and blasting around it. They decided to give it a try first. It looks like the miners are going to hold back the muck and continue forward.
Scoop asked, “Why is the muck flowing? Thought this is a hard rock mine.” The snarly reply wasn’t enough of an answer. So Scoop went to the books again.
According to maps, the crew is stuck in a “pinch zone”. It appears to run from above the 600 level to the 1500 level. Records show that in mid 1990’s the miners went through a similar situation on the 1500 level. Over 300 ounces of gold were found in the pinch. The still reliable United Stated Geological Service professional paper #172, Quartz Veins of the Alleghany Mining District emphasizes the importance of geologic structure in locating the gold. Gold deposition has a relationship to such occurrences as faulting, structure of the bedrock, size and structure of the veins, origin of the deposits, and mineralogy.
Scoop hears from time to time a negative perception about the wealth of the Sixteen because it seems to have an “unproven history”. Ha, ha, ha. In all the veins that have been productive there are certain structural features, which appear to be generally associated with the high-grade shoots, and within such favorable areas there are closer guides furnished by the mineralogy of the veins. Miners believe that the major control of the deposition of gold in the high-grade shoots lays in the presence in the vein of conditions which favored the local shattering of the quartz, hence a ready entrance of the solutions that deposited the gold. Other useful words are: shearing, stresses, irregularities, swellings and pinches.
Maybe the perception of current mining and its historical culture and benefits to society is so off base in America these days because its terminology has unique and sometimes colorful words and definitions. Here is how a dictionary of mining, mineral, and related terms defines spiling (spilling) and pinch. Spiling: Forepoling over timber and steel supports in weak, loose beds. Driving timbers ahead of an advancing tunnel through treacherous, loose, watery ground. Pinch: A marked thinning or squeezing of a rock layer. A thin place or a narrow part of an ore body; the mineral zone that almost disappears before it widens out in another place to form an extensive ore body. No doubt, mining and its economic and enviromental impacts are misunderstood.
Ian keeps saying, “just another piece of the puzzle, just another piece to study”. People have been working on this puzzle for three centuries. Each ounce of gold production is another piece, as is each foot of the ground the miners pass through on their journey. If geologists’ opinions count, we can expect more than another million of gold pieces to be found as the footage progresses.
If Kyle has an interest: Father Hubbard taught at Santa Clara. Documents should be there.
Here are web sites:
http://www.companysj.com/v183/glacier.htm
http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/ania/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740584,00.html?promoid=googlep
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2830Gold $640.60
Silver $12.73
Gold/Silver Ratio 50.32The ordered hit on gold Wednesday was a direct result of the stock market being off nearly 546 points at one time on Tuesday.
Sid Reynolds in an entry on FN Arena in August of 2006 said:
“The U.S. government’s motive for covert gold sales is firstly to keep interest rates low by deceiving bond markets about actual inflation levels. This sets in track the effect of lower gold price = lower inflation = lower bond price = higher stock market.”
That’s it in a nutshell.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2828Comment regarding: Bluejay entry below.
A few months before the Homestake shareholder meeting, when the shareholders voted to merge with Barrick, Jack Thompson, Homestake number one officer, and Walter, the president, came to Alleghany for a tour of the Sixteen to One. We had a good time and when we got underground at the Ballroom, we were safely alone and no one could have heard our conversations. I asked him some private questions. One was about the English dumping gold always at low prices (Bluejay’s entry is not the first time the Brits have unloaded at the bottom). Jack was on some international committee or board where he should have first hand information about the banking people. He said he did not see any conspiracies but just plain old stupidity. He could be right or he could be naive. My outside view of the international gold and anti gold folks is based on thirty plus years of reading history and living the consequences of their behaviors. My conclusion is: gold players do conspire; gold players are stupid; gold players are some of the most sophisticated businessmen and some are also very naive. Greed, fear and power rule the game as has done throughout history. Some are purely self-serving and some have higher goals but use fear and greed to gain or hold on to power. I hope Bluejay is right with his predictions of wide swings in the relationship of currencies and gold. Who continues to say that gold is a dinosaur and no longer a factor in international trade? Do you believe them?
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2827Gold $667.70
Silver $14.04
Gold/Silver IndexRiding the Bucking Bronco!
Yesterday gold hit a daily high of 686 only to be smacked to 659, then it rallied in the early morning hours to 677 and now it’s getting stomped on again at 667.70. Yahoo!
The killing zone of the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index(XAU) at the 150 area has lived up to reputation by influencing the XAU lower where it hit near 136 earlier. These shares are currently on the bargain table.
The not so good news for the faint of heart is that these price gyrations will only be expanding. Are you ready for moves up and down in the same day for gold of 100 to 200 points? Well, those days are coming, so fasten your seat belt!
All this price weakness is being brought to you by the miscreants of darkness with a smile on their face. These guys are the same group that got one of their buddies, the head of England’s central bank, the infamous metal’s price predictor Gordon Brown, to sell nearly 400 tons of England’s gold during the period from 1999 to 2002 at $275 an ounce. At the time, even the dense central bank for the Euro said, “gold was a bad investment.”
What did Gordon do with the receipts from his gold sales? He invested in three currencies: The Euro, the Dollar and the Yen. Not only did Gordon miss the move in gold for the English people but he had only a tiny gain in the Euro, a moderate loss in the Dollar and a much bigger loss in the Yen. Way to go Gordon! Another miscreant bites the dust. Yahoo!
These central bankers will be in the market buying gold along with the public in months ahead at 100’s of dollars higher. These central bankers are a pinheaded group investing in each others currencies while they all depreciate against gold.
in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2829The following story appeared on the front page of the Business/Weekend section of The Union (Saturday, August 25, 1990, above the fold). Below the article about the Sixteen to One mine is a profile of Dan Walters entitled “Columnist takes on State Legislature”. Today Mr. Walters is a senior editor for the Sacramento Bee. Other headlines inside are: “Saddam Hussein sending Dow sliding”, “U.S. Oil industry may benefit from standoff in Persian Gulf”, “Bundesbank Chief heading monetary unification”, “Are you willing to pay for Organic food?” An ad says, “Top CD Rates are 8.125% to 8.375%.”
I found the newspaper in a box, buried in a corner and read the story, wondering, “What the heck did I say sixteen years ago?” This was before the Company bought out the lease and before metal detectors. Many readers may not know that Shell Oil’s Billiton came very close to taking the lease from Royal Gold in 1990-91. The Company bought back the lease in June 1991. Metal detectors opened the floodgates of unmined gold in January 1992 . A dividend was issued in 1995 and the mine almost reached the goal of $3 million in 1996.
THE UNION, Grass Valley-Nevada City, Ca. – Saturday, August 25, 1990
Gold mining: One man sees a comeback
Alleghany miner plans the reopening of the 16 to 1 mine after equipment purchase
By CHARLES GALLARDO
The UnionALLEGHANY – California gold mining is considered by most to be a closed chapter in history, a bygone of great men and big money.
But not to Michael Meister Miller. Gold mining is as clear and present as the ledger sheet sitting on his crowded desk at the Original 16 to 1 Mine’s corporate offices here.
Miller, president and leading shareholder of the 16 to 1, is a man with big dreams for the future of hardrock mining and the guts and faith to pursue it.
Miller, a youthful and energetic 48-year-old with hair flowing to his shoulders, began reopening the mine when he became 16 to 1 president in 1983. By 1989, the 16 to 1 had been placed on the Pacific Stock Exchange and was ready to start mucking-out gold.
The 16 to 1 mine operated from 1911 to 1965 when it was closed because of the cost of extracting the gold outstripped the selling price. The old Nevada City Nugget once described the 16 to 1 as “the greatest highgrade producer in the world.”
“Our goal is to get the mine into production on a scale that will place the company in self-sufficiency,” Miller said.
The mine is not producing because $1 million to $2 million of work is needed on essential equipment.
“Once we are funded, we will be producing gold in four months. And that is a heavy thing for me to say,” Miller told The Union.
Miller is seeking investors but is in no hurry: Part of his corporate philosophy is to operate without obligation.
“We have no time pressured because we have no debt. We’re not spending more money than we are taking in,” Miller said.
However, even without producing gold, the 16 to 1 is still operating in the black. The company leases sections of the mine to the Kanaka Creek Joint Venture and, recently, to Billiton Mining Co., a subsidiary of Shell Oil.
The lease to Billiton, according to Miller, is a good omen for the 16 to 1. Shell is considering investing $6 million into exploration and development of the 16 to 1, Miller said.
Meanwhile, Miller is trying to locate, explore and produce gold from the infamous Red Star Mine, a section of the 16 to 1. This mine was surveyed incorrectly by Fred Searls, one-time president of Newmont Mining Co. and an all-time great mining engineer, in the 1960’s.
Another positive sign that only 20 percent of the mine’s vein system has been mined and production exceeds one million troy ounces of gold. Once the funding comes through and the mine is back in production, Miller’s goals are a $3 million annual cash flow by the end of 1994, and a daily output of 130 tons of gold ore per day and increase the number of shareholders on the Pacific Stock Exchange to 750.
A working mine operating in the black would obviously be good for the shareholders but additionally, according to Miller, would be a boon to the local area.
“Mining is really healthy for the community. We’re providing jobs and creating wealth.”
As for environmental concerns, Miller strongly states that underground mining is not damaging to the ecosystem. Looking out of his office window at the towering pine trees and clear blue sky, Miller said, “It’s because of our mines here that it is pretty. The miners want the surface for a buffer.”
“Nature is neutral to miners. Nature does not care who gets the gold.” The local opposition to mining – witnessed by the antimining initiative on Nevada County’s November ballot – stems from “the hardest emotions in people – greed, envy, jealousy and fear,” Miller said.
“I think mining is a pretty clean industry.” Cleaner he claims, than the fast-food restaurants in the Glenbrook Basin, spewing smoke into Nevada County’s mountain air.
“We, as a country, should be happy we became self-sufficient in gold,” Miller said. “I’ve become very bullish on producing natural resources within the state of California.”
He also is quick to point out that gold is used for more than just jewelry, wristwatches and coins. Today, its uses stretch from computer components to tooth fillings.
“There is a very real possibility to get the mine into certain level of production that will allow this company to pay dividends,” Miller said. That, he said, is “the ultimate goal.”
After two hours of talking about mining Miller has hardly paused for a breath. If the topic is about mining or anything having to do with mining, Miller has something to say. If the subject is the 16 to 1, he gets downright excited.
“You have to look at life with a cold, calculative eye,” he concluded. “but try to retain some optimism.”in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2826Down here in the valley I feel clogged up, with the too-huge number of people and the reigning PC mentality. When I read about Rae’s frog’s, Mike’s snow-shoes and Ian’s upbringing foresight I realize I’m living in the wrong place.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2825Two more things (for more see message below this one):
The 10-K was filed today. If you would like to recieve a copy e-mail Rae corp@origsix.com and she will e-mail it to you. The formatting for the SEC filing is difficult to read. The one available by e-mail is formatted better.
If you would like a map of the Sixteen to One Mine we have two options. For $25 postage paid you will be sent a black & white 2’x3′ map. For $75 postage paid we will send you a full color copy of a map of the mine that was colored in by Michael Miller. This map shows the location of gold pockets and has them marked by size. The map is 82″ long x 36″ tall.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2824Three feet of snow in Alleghany and it’s still coming down hard. It is supposed to continue through tomorrow.
The power flickered earlier today but so far is on. A couple phone lines are down across Main Street.
Mike Miller was seen on snowshoes walking down main street. Scoop hears that his truck is stuck and he was heading to the mine to get somebody to pull him out.
Ian’s truck has all four tires chained up. Considering no plowing was done on the mine road Scoop was surprised Ian made it in and out of the mine. Ian’s reply “I was raised up here!”
A flu epidemic struck Alleghany last week. Attendance has been down because of it. Hopefully we are “over the hump” and everybody will be feeling human this week.
Rae’s observation of the frogs in her pond. “With the warm weather the frogs were having a free-for-all and going like gang busters. As the storm rolled in and the mercury began to drop the number of croaks slowly diminished. However, there were a couple of die-hards out there who were still croaking when it was 34 degrees. Finally as the snow started falling they fell silent.”
There was a dog party scheduled at Casey’s Place last Sunday. Our traveling vet was going to be there as well as some animal rescue folks. The people who own the dog bakery in Grass VAlley were providing treats. Due to the bad weather the party has been cancelled to next Sunday.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2823Gold $685.30
Silver $14.61
Gold/Silver Ratio 46.91Prediction of probability:
The gold price is capable of hitting $880 in August of this year.
The prognosis is based upon subjective interpretation of gold’s weekly chart patterns for the last two years.
An important intermediate reversal in gold has taken place to the upside following a significant breakout above the $650 level.
Along the way expect some fast price reactions to the downside. This is to be expected as the anti-gold camp becomes nervous and desperate with the intermediate rally. For sure, they will be fighting gold’s strength tooth and nail with all their available resources.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2821Gold $682.90
Silver $14.49
Gold/Silver Ratio 47.13Attempting to reason out the relationship of gold stocks to the price of gold can be frustrating. The constant set of changing variables for each gold producing, development or exploration company can be a real challenge for investors.
What investors and prospective investors don’t need is the meddling in the share prices of these companies by the Dark Empire. The Dark Empire is a secret association of bullion banks acting in the interests of their handlers, the people who control your currency. You know who they are. The bullion banks are usually the Wall Street firms that get to sell all the new Treasury issues for the government. Get the picture, one hand washes the other.
It was mentioned on February 6, 2007 that there was short selling pressure being exerted on gold shares in the 139 to 142 area on the chart of the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index(XAU). It was suspected at the time it was the work of the anti-gold community, the Dark Empire.
Gold is higher today and the group is back at work selling the shares short again. It’s fairly easy to imagine the conversations coming from their clandestine control stations. Their ally in selling the shares is the formidable resistance on the Index in the vicinity of the 150 area which has choked off intermediate term advances for some time. This area has been the bear’s killing zone for the past 20 years.
Today, the high on the XAU was 148.11 with a low and last of 145.68. Unless the gold price starts to tank very soon, these unscrupulous operators are destined to have their worst nightmare come true, a violent short squeeze. This squeeze could easily take the Index 20% higher, above and beyond major resistance. This event will be monumental in presenting to gold share owners the best of all worlds for profits in the years ahead.
It would not be surprising for the timing of this foreseen event to take place without any help from gold.
It is important for investors to understand what makes markets tick. It is not always about what you think it is.
in reply to: Another U.S. precious metals miner goes foreign #2817Project Survey 2007 issued by the Raw Materials Group (RGM) reports more than 200 new mining projects with an estimated value of almost $38 billion were added to its database. Old projects (projects listed before 2006) were of the same order of magnitude as newly registered projects, around $33 billion. Capital is going towards higher equipment costs and the necessity to develop more difficult ore bodies that may involve deeper mines, lower grades and remote locations. The number of projects involving restart of inactive or abandoned mines increased.
RGM’s main database also includes more than 1500 projects for which no cost estimates have been announced. Most of these projects are at the conceptual phase. Total investment in the global mining industry’s pipeline at the end of 2006 was $208 billion. This figure represents a 50%-55% increase from 2005, and reflects the on going boom in global mining activity. Many, if not most, of the early stage projects included in the $208 billion figure will not or at least not in the near future pass from the conceptual study phase to the construction stage. The reasons for these failures can range from insufficient profitability and inadequate ore reserves to failure to secure financing, technological problems or excessive political risks.
Projects involving copper, gold, nickel and iron ore account for 83% of the total projects. Iron ore leads the metals in total amount of investments in new projects (30). Gold projects require the smallest price tag. The average gold project has reached $110 million but is still less expensive than the $280 million average cost for copper projects. This is due to the fact that it is still possible to find small high-grade gold deposits that can be mined profitably by junior or mid-sized companies, while most new copper projects are often huge, low-grade open-pit operations.
Ten countries account for 67% of total mining investment. Australia was first (15.4%). The United States was eighth (4.0%). Engineering and Mining Journal compiled a project survey for new gold locations and status (52 entries). The top ten dominate the invested dollars. None of this capital will create projects with near term gold production: four are prefeasibility, four are feasibility and two are restart plans. None are in the construction stage. Barrick controls three projects. NovaGold and Goldcorp control two projects. Latin America leads the location list with five projects. One is in Russia, USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa.
You can see that mining is undertaken by few companies and requires a large dollar commitment. Most projects never materialize. These are factors that, if widely known, would place Original Sixteen to One Mine in an attractive category for investment capital. There is no other gold mine more high-grade than those in Alleghany. Also, the total capital estimated to bring the project into production is small. Low risk and big rewards justify the further development of the vein.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2814The 1064 winze is at the far right side of the map (north along the strike of the vein). It connects the 1000-foot level to the 1500-foot level. So it is to the right of the Tightner shaft. There was good gold above the 1000-foot level. No mining has occurred below the 1500 level and very little between toe 1000-foot level and the 1500. There are two levels between the top and bottom of the winze called 1150 level and 1250 level. The known gold pay shoot that is identified above the 1000-foot level is one of the reasons the company chose to open the 1000 level.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2813Looking at the mine map, where
is the 1064 winze? Is it the
Tightner shaft or in that neighborhood?in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2816Thank you for the location of
the 1064. I get the feeling
that 16’s crew is goin’ to hit
a dandy one.in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2815Gold $670.80
Silver $13.98Gold appears to have established itself above resistance at the $650 area. This action indicates that gold’s resting period is over and we can look forward to intermediate strength.
Today I read a short article concerning GoldCorp selling off some of their smaller gold operations in Australia and in South America. It looks likes GoldCorp may be getting ready to do a deal soon for additional superior reserves.
In an article today by Grant Smith out of London for Bloomberg he states, “Gold producers are rushing to boost supply because mines are being depleted at a faster rate than discovery of reserves.”
I remember reading somewhere that in the past 10 years there have not been any new major deposits of gold discovered. I believe the category for a deposit to be classified as a major discovery that it has to be of at least three millions ounces.
According to Dr. Chaize from France there are only 77,000 tons of gold left to be mined in the world today. If it took 103 years from 1900 to 2003 to mine 121,546 tons of gold, how many more years of gold mining remain with only 77,000 tons left?
Another way to put it is to ask the question, what percentage of gold has been mined over earth’s history and what percentage remains? One certain statement can be made; the great majority of earth’s gold has already been removed from the ground. Do you have yours?
In the future a person’s wealth will be judged by the amount of ounces of gold that each owns. Our country has a lot of catching up to do with the general population of India where this is the case.
As China’s populace continues the trend of becoming richer, based on international standards, you can bet they’ll be buying their ounces too.
In the future, if you don’t have some of your wealth in gold coins or bullion or a gold company or two your goose will be cooked when the real truth about fiat currencies is understood by all.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2812Spirits seem high regarding the 1000-foot level rehabilitation heading. The machinery is holding together; two-inch pipe and fittings, one-inch rubber air hose, ¾ inch water hose and other supplies are at the portal; and there is plenty of ground support (rock bolts or wood).
Ian took the plunge yesterday. He walked the 600 -foot level north, climbed down to the 1000 -foot level and started walking south towards the cave-in. It has been years since anyone made the trip. Britt was his companion and each carried gold detectors. Why not? The cave-in blocked water from flowing down the level, building a dam and creating a lake. It reached their waists. If any of you go fishing in high mountain streams in water up to your waist, you can imagine the sensation, especially since these two wore regular cloths. Ian said it was worth the pain. Gotta love those miners! The ground is good for about two fifty feet from the 1064 winze to the point where the crew is mucking and the track is clear. They found a very good signal in the quartz, so everyone is relieved that this was their heading of choice several months ago.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2811Gold $668.40
Silver $13.92Rae
The first section is from Ferdinand Lips’s book, “Gold Wars.”
There can be no discussion of gold without also discussing some historic facts about silver, the first metallic monetary standard in ancient times.
While gold was also known, it was mostly concentrated in royal or religious temples and treasuries and rarely entered trade. The value attributed to silver in relation to gold was not measured according to a worldly but to a cosmetic yardstick. The ancients had an explanation for this.
As the moon travels 13.3 times faster through the zodiac than the sun, it was thought that gold was 13.3 times more precious than silver. Man was aware that in money there also ruled a divine order. The gold treasures of Egypt were known for their relationship with the sun. The silver amulets and temple pictures of Ephesus were thought to be related to certain influences of the moon.
Some men believed that gold and silver were ordained, not by elected governments, but by millennia of human experience under divine guidance, and that they are the true monetary metals that have been handed down to us from Biblical times.
In Egypt, the symbol for gold and silver were the same, and gold was considered to be the metal of the gods. In antiquity, gold and silver were stored in shrines and temples, but as they entered circulation, they facilitated trade forever, and the barter economy was a thing of the past.
The Gold/Silver Ratio
One of the most fascinating questions of monetary history, and also one of the most mysterious, is the economic interpretation of the gold/silver ratio and its changes. The ratio was as low as 10 in antiquity. By the beginning of the Modern Age, it crept up to 14. Governments tried to stabilize it at 15 in the eighteen century, but without success. In the nineteeth century the ratio was completely destabilized as it raced towards 60, only to come down to 16 by the end of World War I.
In the post-war years it rose again and hit 100 during the Great Depression in the early 1930’s, when silver was selling for 25 cents an ounce. From this all-time high, the ratio started its long descent “pari passu” with the deliberate debasement of world currencies to reach a low of 16 in 1980. From there it began climbing again. At the time of this writing(2001) the Au/Ag ratio is 61.
For thousands of years, the ratio fluctuated between 10 and 15. There was only one exception. During early Egyptian history the ratio was as low as 2.5, but there was a good reason for that: There was a shortage of silver, which came mainly from Greece.
During the following transition period from intrinsic value to non-intrinsic value coinage, the Treasury Department vowed to maintain the $1.29 ceiling on silver by continuing to supply the market from governemnt stocks. The Treasury boosted that it could hold the line on the price of silver until 1980 if necessary. But, speculators
and investors alike rushed to exchange their depreciating Federal Reserve notes for silver bullion in such quantities at the bargain price of $1.29 that direct Treasury sales had to be suspended by the summer of 1967. The price of silver immediately soared above $2 per ounce.The current Gold/Silver Ratio is 48.02 today according to kitco.com. As gold continues higher in the years ahead there will be more interest in silver and the ratio will reflect this by coming down.
When gold hits $1000 in U.S. dollars expect silver’s ratio to gold’s to be much lower.
A ratio of 40 would make silver worth $25.
A ratio of 35 would make silver worth $28.57.
An unchanged ratio would make silver worth $20.82.
The following was written by Dr. Thomas Chaize on October 17, 2004 and accessed from dani2989.com.
The Gold/Silver Ratio was constant at 15 for two hundred years, from 1680 to 1870. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the ratio was 10.
Current estimates from this source state that there are 77,000 ton of gold left to be mined and 420,000 tons of silver left.
The ratio of the available reserves is 5.45, this means that the gold still left in the ground is 5.45 times rarer than silver.
In 2002 the world production of silver was 20,000 tons compared to gold’s 2,550 tons.
The ratio of production in 2002 is 7.84, this means that the silver is produced 7.84 times more than gold.Production figures of gold and silver prior to 1900 are difficult to verify.
Silver production 1900-2003: 929,312 tons.
Gold production 1900-2003 121,546 tons.
The gold to silver ratio production from 1900-2003 is 7.64. This figure is very close to the 200 year production ratio.
In 2004 it was estimated that the (average)production costs for silver were $5 an ounce and gold’s were $300 an ounce.
The ratio between the production costs of silver and gold is 60.
In conclusion the report states that the price of silver is determined thus largely by its production cost and not by its rarity. The ratio of 60 between gold and silver will fall with the appearance of peak production. Following this event the silver ratio will go to 7.
It is difficult to know at which moment the Gold/Silver Ratio fall will take place, but it is easy to guess that it will pull a vague unprecedented bull on the silver sector, this wave, such as a Tsunami, will take silver to unthinkable heights.
Dr. Chaize’s article was translated by Paul Lilliott along with minor adjustments of my own.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2809A big thankyou to both Rae and
“Scoop” for the very informative discussions on how
things are done and considered.in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2810Gold $668.40
According to the Money and Markets’ publication the old high in gold of $875 in 1980 adjusted for inflation is now a high of $2,100.
If we continue to think of gold in constant dollars which we naturally do, then gold is off 23.6% from its old high.
Considering the impact of inflation, gold is really off 68.17% from its adjusted high of $2,100 an ounce.
Gold, aside from the other precious metals, is one of the best buys on the planet.
Bundled up my tax records today and that reminded me to make an appeal to 16:1 owners to consider a tax deductible donation to the Museum.
It’s really simple. Send a check.
UNDERGROUND GOLD MINERS OF CALIFORNIA MUSEUM
Po Box 907
Alleghany, CA 95910-0907It might be possible for the Museum to purchase gold specimens from the 16:1.
16:1 is living history and the golden beauty that comes out of the mine is as old as the earth.
If you have an interested in California history, its gold and mining, consider a tax deductible gift.
The Museum might even create an Honor Roll of the names of Golden Givers.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2807To answer Martin’s question: When gold is shipped to the refinery after it is refined it goes into our “pool” account in New York. When we are ready to sell it we call the refinery in New York and ask them to price it for us. They look up the current New York Market Price and give us that price for the gold. We receive a wire two days after pricing it.
Another option we have but do not exercise is “hedging”. This is pricing the gold in advance locking in a specific price for future sales. If we were to hedge our price choice would be either the a.m. or p.m. London Fix on the day of the hedging. Hedging causes ulcers so our policy is to price the gold at the time we sell it.
It takes the refinery a minimum of two weeks to refine our gold and the mail sometimes takes up to a week to get the gold to the refinery. The refinery does allow “advances”. Advances can only be done after the gold has been received at the refinery and the pre-melt and assay have been completed. The pre-melt and assay are usually done the day the gold is received. The assay is done by x-ray. The refinery charges a fee of 3% per annum for advances. They will advance up to 90% of the assay. Last Friday Rae advanced ounces into the pool account in order to cover payroll this week.
To answer the second part of Martin’s question: All gold sales are reflected in the Revenue portion of the Financial Statements. (10-Q’s and 10-K’s)
Speaking of 10-K’s that is what Rae has primarily been working on. It should be completed this week. While the fourth quarter was profitable thanks to some slab material recovered in October the Company shows a loss of $100,000 for the year. It is noteworthy that the actual gold content of the slab material found in October was only 178 ounces but because it was jewelry grade gemstone material (unfortunately it was fractured) the company turned a profit of $50,000 for the quarter. Also some of the slab from the October production is still being sold so the benefit will spill over into this year.
On another note: Much needed rain finally arrived in Alleghany last Wednesday. It rained on and off all week and is still cloudy. It is unseasonably warm. The frogs in Rae’s yard were having a party all weekend and her tulips are two inches tall!
A flock of geese flew over very low yesterday heading south. Another flock flew over this morning, also heading south. Does this mean late winter??
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2806Thanks for the interesting article Bluejay.
An integral part of the school tours conducted by the museum is a discussion of the 16 to 1 ratio and we always look at the current ratio for comparison.
The raw gold (dore) from the Sixteen to One Mine is 83.75% gold and 15% silver. The remainder is waste. It is interesting to note that all the mines in the Alleghany District run different purities. I believe the Oriental runs 81% with traces of copper but no silver. The placer nuggets found in the streams and rivers tend to be higher in gold content 90% and usually have a percentage of copper. The nuggets vary depending on where they originated.
When traveling in Mexico a couple years ago several public buildings had signs in the bathrooms stating that the water was purified using colloidal(?) silver.
in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2805Gold $664.90
To some it may come as a surprise but the Alleghany Mining District’s gold ore is not 24 karat which is pure gold. I stand to be corrected by David in gold sales but I believe about 17% of the extracted gold ore is made up of other metals with the majority being silver.
Silver seems to have gone off the radar screen with the public. I overheard a conversation between two cashiers in Rite Aid a few weeks back discussing one of them finding an all silver quarter in her change drawer. Actually, it was 90% silver and 10% copper.
The two employees said they check their change frequently and occasionally silver coins turn up. One lady said that she saves them for her son. I couldn’t help mentioning to her that that was an excellent idea and she should buy some more and add to his collection.
She said, how much would that cost? I said how much do you think silver sells for an ounce? Her reply shocked me. She said, 25 cents.
The silver quarter story reminded me of something I had learned many years ago. During the turn of the twentieth century a day’s labor was worth one silver quarter. The currency not backed by silver or gold has practically lost 100% of its purchasing power since 1900.
The silent and indirect taxation by currency debasement and monetary inflation to the consumer is what keeps the rich richer and the middle class and the less fortunate poorer.
In 1892 one of the finance platforms for the new Populist Party demanded the free and unlimited coinage of silver to gold at the then present legal ratio of 16 to 1. The Sixteen to One Mine took its name from that 1892 ratio.
It’s interesting how things change. At that ratio, if it were allowed to continue, would have made the price of silver today $41.55. Friday’s price on silver was $13.81 or by exchanging one ounce of gold worth $664.50 you would end up with 48 ounces of silver.
Today there are more uses for silver than ever before. Silver is even entering the medical field in a big way. Silver has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. American Biotech Labs sells a patented silver supplement that is recommended by doctors as a natural alternative for immune support. Hospitals are using more and more minor amounts of silver in cleaning agents and in their sheets and patient’s gowns. Cells phones, computers and many other electronic devices are just eating up the annual mine production of silver.
Some say that the price of silver has been manipulated to stay low while others argue against this point. There is more silver consumed every year than is mined. It has been this way for many years. Some say that this condition has existed since the early 1970’s.
When the silver to gold ratio is in the upper range gold is outperforming silver and when it is in the lower range silver is outperforming gold.
During the last 37 years an ounce of gold could have purchased as little as 22 ounces of silver in early 1980 when gold hit its high and all the way up to 98 ounces of silver for an ounce of gold in 1991.
Since 1982 silver has been forming a bottom on the chart at and around the $5 an ounce level. Last year silver completed its long term bottom by breaking through the psychological $10 an ounce barrier. Remember what happened to the Dow Jones Industrials when it cleared the 1000 level to the upside? Currently, the price of silver is firmly established above $10 at $13.81. The market has reversed to the upside and is now in a bull market.
This 25 year bottom will serve as an important energy source to take silver higher in the years ahead. Maybe, it might catch up to the 16 to 1 ratio or even go lower which means it is out performing gold and is advancing against it.
Some years ago when the Peso in Mexico collapsed the few people that were able to hold Mexican silver coins survived the near destruction of their country’s currency.
Today with the declining production of the PEMEX oil fields in Mexico the populace is demanding a return to silver coinage to protect themselves as government revenues from the oil fields decline faster than forecast. Declining government revenues means certain higher interest rates and increased inflation that Mexico’s populace knows all about.
The day may come when our neighbor to the south will be back on a silver standard. If that be the case, a much higher floor on silver will result than the $13.81 in today’s market as less silver will be exported by Mexico and available to the market.
For many reasons silver will continue higher and should break an important $15 an ounce barrier. The metal most certainly is entitled to flex its muscles with a bull charge following this event.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2804rae’s gold sale: do we have gold on deposit in New York?
will that sale be reflected
in the next 10Q? Interesting!!in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2803Rae sold gold from the Company’s account in New York. She got a good price…$662.40 an ounce. It hit $670 during midday trading so I guess the production from the Sixteen to One did not create a supply problem for traders.
in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2802Miners on the 1000-foot level use an EMICO 12-B mucking machine. There is one smaller size (11-B) and several larger sizes. At the Empire mine the crew used a 21-B mucking machine, which would not work on the smaller levels at the Sixteen to One. The width of the underground workings is one factor but the height of the rock or ground support above the rail is the absolute limiting factor. When a miner scoops up rock in the bucket he then pulls a lever that throws the bucket overhead so the rock will land in a waiting ore car. This has caused problems on the 1000-foot level, where the “backs” are low. Several choices are available to fix the problem. First the miner can load the bucket and drive the mucking machine backwards until he finds clearance. The other option is to shoot out the hanging wall to make more room. Miners hate doing this because, well, bad things can happen whenever you ignite explosives underground. So, now you know one reason the footage advancement has been slow this week: low backs at the working face.
There is another reason. The mucking machine comes apart. The top part sits on a turntable, which rotates on steel ball bearings. Not often but at times the balls stop rotating. Once in a long while, a ball will mysteriously fall from the circular trough that holds them in place. When this happens the miner mucker must stop and fix the problem. This happened on Monday. The Sixteen to One has six or more machines, but since it take a great effort to drag them out of the mine and into the repair shop, they repaired them where they break. The Sixteen also has a large inventory of parts, so the repair only cost one shift of production.
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