[Michael Miller]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2667

The following is actually from my historical archives, special books about the gold experience. It is a small part of a chapter written with first hand experiences during the early days of Sierra County : Hallowed Were the Gold Dust Trails. My editing is quite light. The Sixteen to One and my home are in this County. Sierra County is the second smallest county (by population) in California. Downieville is the county seat (about four hundred people). I first drove to Downieville in 1973 on a trip to find home. I returned a year later with my father, who owned a little stock in Original Sixteen to One Mine and moved to Alleghany in 1975. I hope you enjoy another glimpse of early California.

SIERRA COUNTY

From the dry and dusty slopes of Nevada, travelers cross the California border to the evergreen forests of the Yuba’s upper ridges and enter fascinating Sierra County; fascinating because of its pine-clad mountain heights, fascinating because of its historic creeks and rivers of gold, and more fascinating perhaps because of the strange race of pioneers who blazed the way into its almost impenetrable defiles.
Leading into the heart of Sierra County in the earliest days were two main trails, one starting from Marysville and winding up through Yuba County to Foster’s Bar; the other starting at Nevada City in Nevada County and meandering in and out of one gulch after another until it came to San Juan Ridge, which it crossed, finally leading into Camptonville, near the western border of Sierra County.
The history of placer mining in this region begins with the explorations along the North Fork of the Yuba River, the first prospecting having been made at Foster’s Bar, close to the eastern border line of Yuba County. From here prospectors entered Sierra County, where in a short while they found gold in abundance on almost all the creeks and tributaries flowing from the north and the east.
In the month of October a hard-headed Scotchman named Downie, who had run a steamboat on Lake Erie, prevailed upon an Irish adventurer named Michael Devaney to take a chance with him, and to start out into the alluring wilderness ahead. Securing the services of an Indian who was familiar with the section, and promising to share his supplies with any others who would join the expedition, Downie finally got a company together, made up of ten Negroes and a Kanaka named Jim Crow.
This intrepid company blazed a trail which was followed for many years afterwards by travelers into the mining camps as far east as Sierra City. Passing over the North Fork of the Yuba out of Foster’s Bar, they fought their way up Willow Creek just above the present town of Camptonville, then struck out over the ridge to the east till they came to an elevated area, where the town of Mountain House was afterwards established. Gazing down the canyon towards Goodyear’s Bar they declared that they were entranced with the gorgeous vision of mountains, forest and canyon scenery that appeared on either hand, and Downie himself admitted in after years that it was the most picturesque sight he had yet seen in all his travels. Coming down Woodruff Canyon from Mountain House they made for the banks of the North Fork of the Yuba River, and as they descended the trail they did some prospecting. Even when they reached the flats on the river, which afterwards became known as Goodyear’s Bar, they spent some time searching for “color,” but without any great success. Continuing on up stream for about four miles, prospecting all the way, they finally arrived at a quiet little recess in the forest glades about which the lofty forms of mountains had strung a great protecting barrier. Into this wild garden retreat three branches of the North Fork of the Yuba were gently flowing, making it a most practical spot in which to pitch their tents and settle down. Describing this scene afterwards, in the year 1858 to be exact, Major Downie wrote:
I shall never forget the fascination of that first picture of what we then called “The Forks.” Long willows waved on the banks, pine and spruce trees rose in stately groups where saloons now stand, the hillsides were covered with handsome oaks, their strong branches sheltering the Indian wigwams, and here and there a great monarch of the forest towering above everything.
Strangely enough the Forks proved to be as alluring in its deposits of gold as it was in its wealth of wild beauty. From the very first day that Downie and his men began panning the gravel beds, they were successful. Little by little they began to realize that the whole area where the three little streams came together was so rich in flakes and good-sized nuggets that they took up separate claims, each man staking out an attractive diggings for himself. The story goes that each man struck bonanza. In four days an average sum of $1,000 was panned by every miner, and by Christmas they were so wealthy that they grew impatient to celebrate.
Although the hills were covered with snow, they packed their gold dust safely in their pokes, all but Downie and Devaney, and set out on their return over the old trail, bound for the big cities and a roaring good time. In the meantime the Yuba River rose above its banks, and mining became impossible at the forks, so Downie and Devaney dug in for a season of hibernation. The members of the band, on their departure, had promised to return in the early Spring with stores of supplies for the camp, but the only one who kept his word was Jim Crow, who, in about three months’ time, showed up again, stocked with as much in the line of provisions as could be loaded on the backs of a couple of mules.
News about the discovery of rich diggings up at the forks on the North Yuba River spread rapidly to the rest of the mining country, and by April, 1850, it was estimated that there were about 5,000 miners at work in that region, and all of them doing well. Then began to be opened up such camps as Durgan’s Bar, Zumwaldt’s Bar and Tin Cup Bar, close in by “The Forks,” which by this time took on the name of Downieville.
Little by little more prospectors wandered into Sierra County, and soon new diggings were opened up in all that area both to the north as well as to the south of the North Fork of the Yuba. Two trails led up to the camps in the southern area, one from Camptonville, and another from North San Juan in Nevada County. Some Hawaiians taking the later trail in May, 1850, found gold in a ravine ever after known as Kanaka Creek, and here arose the mining camps of Minnesota, Chip’s Flat and Alleghany, where quartz mining began later on.
But it was in the wide area to the north of the North Fork of the Yuba that the greatest development took place. And the story of the discovery of those mines is redolent with some of the fascination of the fairy tale. Just about ten miles to the north of Sierra City, at the boundary line of Plumas County, there are scores of small clear crystal lakes, fed by snows which annually descend in that rugged wilderness. A prospector named Stoddard, coming down to Foster’s Bar, reported that he had, while hunting there, chanced upon on of those lakes, the shores of which were aglow with golden sands. Great excitement was stirred up, and in the Spring of 1850 hundreds of anxious gold seekers began to take to the trails that led out of Foster’s Bar towards the realm of fancied wealth. After the first band of miners reached the region indicated by Stoddard, they searched long and diligently, but the glittering sands of the “Lake of Gold” were never revealed. When they became satisfied that is was all a grand hoax, the disappointed adventurers tried their hand at prospecting in the surrounding gullies and ravines. Imagine their surprise when they found “color” almost at once. And it was not long until they discovered that every creek bed from Foster’s Bar to the mythical Gold Lake section was a depository of golden promise. And it was not long either until thousands of eager miners were scouring these creek beds in search of the yellow metal.
During the period between 1850 and 1853 all the diggings in Sierra County were in a flourishing condition, well supplied with gaming houses and saloons, which in turn were full of patrons, who in consequence were generally full of ardent spirits and good cheer. There were no courts of law, and records of robberies and murders and lynching, though matching those of other sections of the mining country, have been fortunately obliterated in the shadows of the advancing years. In those days, the refining influence of virtuous womanhood was for the most part absent.
In the meantime Downieville grew as if by magic. By Summer it was estimated that there were not less than 5,000 people there, constantly coming and going. Tent structures prevailed. In 1851 Downieville polled 1,132 votes. Pure gold was now being discovered in the bed of the river in large lumps or nuggets; and the story still persists that in the year 1851 a nugget was found on the banks of the Yuba just above Downieville weighing twenty-six and a half pounds, and worth eight thousand dollars. There was only one street in the town, three or four hundred feet in length, for the mountains, at whose base it lay, were so steep that there was no room for more than one passageway between it and the river. All the miners in camps within eight or ten miles of Downieville depending upon it for supplies, and it was consequently at all times a scene of bustling activity.
It is now the year 1856. Although it was but seven years since the first gold seekers has appeared in the canyons of the North Yuba, the whole area here had been ransacked; every flat and ravine had been prospected. Life was led so fast that already it could show ruins and deserted villages. Hydraulic mining was now the order of the day, and the section of Sierra County from Howland Flat in the north to Alleghany on the south was being worked by many companies in the process of wholesale sluicing. Great gangs of men could be seen operating giant monitors, cutting wide gashes in the hills and ridges. Thirteen miles below was Camptonville, the outskirts of which were flattened and thoroughly washed of thousands of dollars in loose gold; ten miles farther to the south, but over in Nevada County, was North San Juan, with a population of ten thousand, the central supply town for the rich hydraulic operations on the famous San Juan Ridge. Nowhere in California was hydraulic mining undertaken on such a gigantic scale as here. A great network of flumes and canals had been constructed to bring in water for these operations, said to have cost something like five million dollars. Prominent among these fields of gold-bearing gravel deposits were Cherokee, North Columbia, Lake City, and North Bloomfield, were the Malakoff Mine was situated, the most colossal hydraulic excavation in the Sierras. Most of these areas were being mined up to the month of January 1884, when a state law closed them down for good.
A correspondent of the Hutching’s Magazine of San Francisco went to these parts to report on the mining activities, but, instead of giving factual accounts of operations, no doubt bewitched by the superb beauty of his surroundings, he breaks forth into this very romantic effusion:
The sheet of vapor, which hangs in dreamy silence above the brow of the Sierras, descends and gathers its misty mantle about the frail flower which nods to the passing brook. As the morning sun melts the dewy tears, they fall into the stream, and are borne along the restless current. On and on it glides, now struggling over rocks and craggy steeps, now dancing in the sunlight, or kissing the weeping foliage which seeks to span the stream, and now exulting in its liberty – when lo! The bearded miner issues forth from his rude hut and, with implements in hand, forthwith proceeds to chain the trembling drops; and still it struggles, but too soon the fetters are secure, and though it shrinks, yet it is urged on to its debasing destiny. All day it labors, and again as night approaches; but as the tiny globulet surveys itself, how sadly changed! Its face discolored, the luster of its eye is vanished; in disgust it turns away to rest, not on the fair face of the pale flower which cast it on the pitiless world, but to lose its identity among swarthy companions in a neighboring pool.
Often on thinking of the men of the early mining days we visualize them as grizzly specimens of manhood, ranging in age from forty to sixty years, whereas most of them were under forty. In fact we might say that the Americans who precipitated themselves upon California in the pioneer days if not the flower of the United States citizenry, were beings of sterner mould; ambitious individuals in the prime of life, men of imagination, men of dreams, spirits imbued with the highest forms of romanticism and adventure, who came west not so much with the hope of gathering to themselves great heaps of golden treasure as with the desire of reveling in the excitement of discovery, of feeling that thrill we all love to experience, of suddenly coming upon buried treasure – the stuff of which tales like Robinson Crusoe and Ali Baba and Treasure Island are made.
Deep in the heart of the Sierra Hills the picturesque little village of Downieville still flourishes, restored again to the beauty which it possessed when it flashed on the bewildered vision of old Major Downie in the winter of 1849. A goodly number of its inhabitants today are descendants of the pioneers who first panned the flats on “The Forks” for hidden wealth. A traveler wrote in 1857:
Not long ago, in company with Father John McGarry and Father Patrick O’Reilly, the pastor of Grass Valley, two priests who had spent most of their lives in these historic precincts, I paid a visit to this delightful spot. To me it was an experience I shall not soon forget. And yet it was not the enchantment of the forest and river and mountain scenery which thrilled me, so much as the gladsome spirit manifested by these humble folk on meeting once more these kindly men of God, more dear to them than anything else in life. As one of the old-timers whispered to me, when we were leaving, “Like the faithful old Yuba they gave us of their bounty, for their hearts are hearts of gold.”

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2666

The pressure is on for getting slab to customers throughout the United States. That means: virgin gold from the heading is the goal. Yesterday’s round showed gold (tiny specks) in the right hand rib. Gold was showing in the left rib earlier. Knowing the pressure mounts each day to produce slab material the miners wanted to turn up dip on the gold. Ian knows the goal and chose to advance a couple of more rounds ahead. Go figure.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2665

Three young men have completed their forty-hour training required to begin an underground experience as a hard rock gold miner at the Sixteen to One. Over the years a large number of young men have begun their mining careers at the mine. If the work fits the personality, nothing inhibits a young man from ascending his role (and compensation) as a miner. Good luck fellows.

A little gold was brought to the office from yesterday’s round. The company has invested six weeks of tunneling under the gold that shows up dip. David and Mike want big pieces from the miners. The slab market is short supply. Maybe the crew will be all smiles in a week or so.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2664

MSHA stopped by this week for one of its unannounced quarterly inspections. Ian is pleased although he was issued five citations. None were serious or substantial. It has been a long going concern of the crew that minor oversights were cited as serious life threatening when just the opposite is true. Mike has taken issue with many of the citations because of this. One fire extinguisher was found to be outdated (there must be a hundred fire extinguishers at the mine). An electrical box in an out-of the-way place had no cover plate (this should not happen but it does.) The crew imagines a Cornish metal loving rat steals them but the inspector wasn’t buying it.

The crew is getting two rounds a shift in the headings. Spirits were down early this morning because the vein was pinching. Yesterday’s round in the wing raise (very flat) was mucked and the vein is widening. This wing raise runs under the known gold showings and is designed to open the area up for “raising” into the gold.

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2663

There were three reasons I bid the Empire Mine Adit Project. (1) The Sixteen to One was not producing gold and I wanted to keep the crew together in a paying job. At least the Sixteen to One would have miners to do maintenance and some gold detecting. (2) The project was a topic of interest to our mining men, who put effort over an eighteen-year time span to create the project. Local miners were the right ones to open the Empire Its benefit to the Sixteen to One is in its educational value to the public. Mining companies either spin the benefits of mining with a lot of BS, or they completely ignore the responsibility of getting public support for the miners’ work. The Sixteen has suffered immensely because of outside interference from people who do not understand mining. This perception must change if mining is to continue in America. The Sixteen has been proactive with public programs: supports a museum, donates gold specimens to non profits for raffles, teaches boy scouts about mining, talks to school classes, and maintains an informative web site designed for education not hype. (3) The last of the three reasons revolves around the hard work, dedication and skills of our crew. Miners should hold their heads high, whether it is coal, uranium or gold. In a society where the cowboy is an American hero, the miner has not only been lost but also vilified. The Empire Mine draws over 100,000 people annually. Park people hope the new adit will increase attendance. Scoop found a letter that honored the Sixteen to One miner. It is part of of a permanent history.

Interestingly, the Empire job began July 10, 2004, although the bidding occurred in January. In July only three miners (Joe, Reid and Ian ) held onto the belief in and dream of gold at the Sixteen. All the other quit. It was a dark time. I decided to pull the plug and shut it down August first. The men were exhausted and I was concerned for their safety. On July 14, they drilled into a million dollar pocket. The Sixteen to One dodged another setback.

The Empire Mine project has been a very difficult undertaking because of its unusual circumstances: the actions of well meaning Park employees, unfamiliar with the truths of mining and our unfamiliarity with the State of California bureaucracy governing contracts. Nevertheless, we worked through our problems.

If I had to, well let’s imagine some massive social catastrophe or natural disaster happened, if I had to organize and lead a team of people on a difficult mission of survival, miners would be my first choice of comrades. This message permeates many letters I have put in the public domain with State Parks: real miners solve problems as a habit. It is what they do on a daily basis underground in an old mine like the Sixteen or Empire. One last reason Scoop dug it from the archives was the interest we have heard from people about the Empire project. Its topic category on the Forum has been quite for reasons, which will no longer be important once the contract is final.

Thanks for asking.

[John Yuma]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2662

Mike:
What does this have to do with the 16:1 mine?

[SCOOP]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2661

Letter from Scoop offers up high-grade item from company. Rae is out of office for a week and offered me her computer for research. Well, Scoop found some archives and yes, passes it on to you.

Phil is \State Park Construction Manager.

Letter year not given but guessing 2005 in August.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2660

August

Dear Phil,

This letter augments my last response to Parks order to suspend operations. There are unforeseen and unknown conditions that must be evaluated and correct to insure absolute safety for the public. The issue of safety for the miners is no issue. My employees are working in safe and familiar conditions, something we all encounter from time to time while mining in the hard rock mines on the Northern Mines District of California. Therefore the issue must be narrowed to evaluate the circumstances for eventual public use.

I propose the following: MGGM will excavate the spot where old workings first appeared in the approximate center of the adit to eighteen (18) inches below the solid rock floor of the adit from the left rib to the right rib. This will expose the entire footprint of the hole in the adit floor. A removable cover will be installed so as to make the hole accessible for inspection. Work will be allowed to continue. In return the project will be modified to eliminate the outside rail twenty feet beyond the junction of the dual track (switch) planned approximately from the future visitor center. There will be no additional cost to Parks. Our structural engineer will propose a safe method of covering the old workings, working closely with Parks as to material etc. MGGM will install the approved plan on a time and material basis or a bid, once the plan is finalized.

As to the old workings discovered in the far end of the niche, they present no danger to the miners. The opening was quite small and the raise was also quite narrow and small. I believe that exposing the old workings in the adit may shed some light on the workings closer to the shaft. Also according to the miners, the floor rock (or top of the raise) appeared to be six to eight feet thick along the strike of the raise. We can do additional work to examine the old workings in the niche, but such work should be postponed.

What was also unforeseen was the existence of a vein and associated vein structure, which accounts for the old workings in this area of the adit. As Charlie has most likely written, the material is dirt-like (4 to 6 feet wide) with approximately twelve inches of quartz. It is mineralized, but we have not segregated it or gathered any for study or assay. We must install four or five steel sets as the adit passes through the vein. The material has broken to form an arch, which will be supported to the steel lagging. This vein mixes benefits to the Park with the downside of increasing costs; however working in this environment is second nature to all of us. We are experts in small vein mining and have years of experience on site to safely pass through this area in the adit.

Please work with us to continue progress. Regards, MMM

So, MMM, what is going on at the Empire Mine State Park In Grass Valley, California. Scoop is in your archives.

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2659

Gold is trading at 609.10 this morning and is off 11.60 on the day.

Barrick Gold, an admitted agent for central bankers, is offering to purchase the assets of NovaGold for U.S. $1.29 billion.

Will the western central bankers someday resupply their depleted vaults by swooping down and grapping Barrick? It certainly beats buying gold in the open market and forcing it higher when you are short.

Gold is going much higher and Barrick’s continued buying strategy supports the idea that the central bankers know this, too.

Don’t fall prey to manipulated fast selloffs in the gold market but instead use these events, like Barrick has, to accumulate more gold.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2657

Hot and humid in Alleghany but nothing like the valley.

As of Monday we have a crew underground! A small crew remains at the Empire Mine.

This morning a Mine Engineering Proffessor and two students from the University of Utah visited the minesite to do a safety survey. Tomorrow morning they will join the miners at our regular Safety Meeting and give a presentation of their findings. Sixteen to One volunteered to participate in the program which is funded by a grant from the Department of Labor(?).
Hope everybody is as cool as the underground.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2658

Time to reduce number of topics: bn 125 (no one could answer your questions. try internet search); mineralminer (try again); Rick (always an interesting view with your endangered species analogy). How to get to Red Star moved to From Sixteen to One Archives. Hi Mike moved to Ideal Time for Facts.

[Rick Montgomery]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2656

(Anyone familiar with my contributions, please read enough to see the relativity of this entry, and then dive in, as Mike Miller suggests in the immediate topic below.) Anyone tuning in for the first time, checking in on the subject title, will get an eye-full.

In a nut shell, the power in government lies in the heartstrings of the ill-informed. Case in point: the Endanged Species Act has been now more miss-used than ever to usurp private property rights across the nation, at the very expense of the endanged species themselves as well as all Americans while doing nothing to protect the alleged endangerment. Allow me to sum this up in one sentence, that all informed biologists will agree upon:

We teach evolution, but fail to let it happen, all on the basis of a false protectionist posture adopted by a majority of political factions who see a political objective.

Let me elaborate, (and relate to our current CDAA obstacle:)

I gaurantee that the mosquito in my yard, or the fly inside my house, or the rat in my grain barrel, or the sqirrel in my almonds, or the Federal rat in my pocket are all endangered. Should we protect them, based on the “PC” notion that something endangered is something worth protecting?

All of this biology talk flies directly in the face of Darwinian theory of evoliution. The model of evolution (taught publically, and erroneously, completely mischaracterized by definition,) is the emergence of a new species through the complete (COMPLETE, PLANET WIDE, NOT JUST IN SOME INCONVENIENT BACKYARD OR LEVEE OR PRETTY PLACE!!!) disappearance of that species. In other words, yes, the mosquito on my arm, and yes, the beetle in my elderberry tree may move next-door, are endangered in my yard, but certainly not worth making First Team in politics resulting in regional facism. We all know they exist just right over there.

How does this relate to the CDAA?

My first hand vision of why The Original Sixteen to One Mine, and Mike Miller and Jonathon ever became ensnared in the injustice and subsequent entrapment by the CDAA (and applauded pursuit of justice by the immediately above aforementioned)is an exact analogy: let a myth persist, and no-one challenges the premis. In this situation, the mask that the CDAA has worn, one that Gale Filter recently in the last few attempts to derail harmless freedom, one that has been one of environmental-protectionism evolved into worker- protectionism evolved into a criminal willy-nilly anti-Constitutional posture that no-one dares challenge, becomes an evidentual fraud until someone fights back.

Never discard the money angle, nor the politics and fuzzy payback zone in that bed. Never discard the politics. Never forget that when true evolution happens, despite some human attempts to take credit and manipulate it to death, it takes the unworthy down. Never forget the truth that after all, truth prevails.

Gale Filter, CDAA, and all of you who don’t think for yourselves and believe us out here to be stupid gremlin followers of PC crap, you’re all a blatant fraud mechanism that’s breaking down, and fortunately and finally, there are voices on the benches who won’t carry your water. Never mess with the backbone that built your bench.

As for the Endangered Species connection with this entry: allowing evolution to happen, watch Gale Filter’s association within the CDAA to become the reason, and by rightful dis-association, to become the reason this case gets settled in favor of the wronged.

Let’s watch…and if only they’d teach their true model of evolution, (not to exclude the alternative, but while it’s being done…) when the weak will finally be
replaced, will the sharks in politics go home?

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #2655

Please Access NEWS on this web site for another attorney’s view and position on CDAA and Gale Filter. While his client’s situation is different from ours, he raises some thought provoking issues. Many lawyers have lost faith in the integrity of their profession just as most Americans. One on one I am hearing more complaints by lawyers that fit the CDAA style of courtroom procedures. Next the person pauses and says, “It has been going on for a long time. How can it be stopped?” The option to clean up the courtroom is before all 200,000 members of the California State Bar Association with our lawsuit in Superior Court. Get involved. Spread the word about this Sierra County case. Where is the LA Times? Misleading a grand jury, misleading a judge, preempting the administrative process to prosecute Americans without evidential probable cause, private (non-government) lawyers wanting to be immune form illegal acts, lawyers infiltrating duly elected prosecutors as well as constitutional abuses (SLAPP), should be more interesting to LA Times readers than the deceiving front page article on the mine that was features a few years ago.

Please plough through the motion. Take some action. We need the public and the non-threatened lawyers to step up to the forefront of this battle.

[Barry David]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2654

Hello,
I would like to find out more about my CS Card Iron Works Mine Car. Does anyone know if this company still exists?
Thank you so much for the help.
Barry

[Barry David]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2653

I would like to find out more about my Denver Rock Drill. Does anyone know if this company still exists?
Thank you so much for the help.
Barry

[John Feagans]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2652

Family came to Alleghany in 1919. No water bleeding because the underground river hit an earthquake fault. The shafts are all vertical or incline to access the tunnel. My father had three mining claims in Wet Ravine. “Ajax”, “Pension”, and “Jackpot”. They were all quartz claims though two had access to the Blue lead. Ajax had an incline shaft 300′ to bedrock. It had an hour-glass passing track in the middle for two ore cars to pass. The pump was a Cornish pump wiht the boiler and steam engine about 10 feet above the creek in Wet Ravine. My father located the tunnel portal in 1938 with his invention a ground sonar which also got him a safe position when he was drafted into the Army Signal corps in 1941. The boat and oars had melted to almost unrecognizable in 1964 when I visited them. “Jackpot” had a vertical shaft to the underground river channel but was never accessible to me. “Pension” was worked in 1910 by two men who folllowed something 100 yards into the hillside as the tunnel was curving back and forth. My father built a cabin and lived a subsistence living mining gold in Wet Ravine until WWII.

[Rick Montgomery]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2651

I’ve been searching the want-ads for one good access portable portal for a good fifteen years now, and not one is to be found. I’d like to move it over to this good ground I’ve been looking at, certainly promising for exploration, but, alas, I haven’t found a good one, even on Craig’s List.

Anyone seen a good, portable portal for sale?

[SCOOP]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2650

Stories of a tunnel connecting Alleghany to Forest City raise the question, Where are the portals? One geologist studied a 1923 water map and concluded the Alleghany portal was on the bank behind the community park. Another geologist (both have large professional experiences working in the Alleghany Mining District) states there is no tunnel and there never has been. Scoop interviewed four long time Alleghany residents for an answer to, where is the portal? None knew but each remembered stories told by “old timer” of its existence.

Scoop asks you or anyone: Where are the portals? Who drove them and when? Why is no water bleeding from them today?

[John Feagans]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2649

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the answer. It’s hard to keep your eyes on the prize when gold is all over. You may have heard about the rowboat at the bottom of the shaft? It was used to go from Forest City to Alleghany. When the Mugwump was being re-developed, and the Oriental explored in the ’60’s the water actually got low enough again to see the remains. Legend has it three Chinese miners are entombed in the fallen gravel as well. I tried exploring with a metal dector that I built but only attracted mosquitos and not the gold.

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2648

Answer to the Shaft Question below…

A couple of the guys who broke into underground mining in Alleghany are now doing tunnel work from Atlanta Georgia to San Diego. Tunnels are a billion dollar business, actually billions of dollars each year. (Few mining operations are sinking shafts presently in the United States.) These friends have educated me about the benefits of a vertical shaft over a decline. I have evolved to believe that the costs of operating (hoisting) and maintenance will be less with a vertical shaft at Red Star than the shafts and winzes poked underground in Alleghany. Construction costs will likely be comparable (maybe even less if one of my construction ideas proves out).

With a vertical shaft we can plan exactly where we will end sinking. In the good old days of mining in Alleghany, most of the declines also followed the vein. Therefore the results form an undulating hole. Our vein system takes many twists and dips which ultimately affected the end point. The Red Star sits in the middle of our mining claims, about six miles along the strike of the vein. It will open a large section of new ground. An additional benefit will be the fact that the new Red Star shaft will cut through the Blue Lead. For those unfamiliar with the Blue Lead, it is one of the richest placer deposits ever mined. The placer gold came from the lode that we continue to mine today. This is a very exciting bonus and one that holds much interest. Many accounts have been written about the rich nuggets and quartz boulders laced with gold. It stirs the blood of a gold seeker.

So, what has held the Company back for 100 years from sinking into the Red Star? As the Sixteen to One organization grew, it added attractive targets with each purchase. I have done the same with the Brown Bear in Trinity County and the Plumbago. Before that it was the purchase of the Rainbow, Rainbow Extension and going way back the Tightner. What holds us back now is only the money to complete the shaft plans. Every bit of geology tells us that no greater target exists for the Company and perhaps no greater target exists in the United States.

[John Feagans]

in reply to: From the Sixteen to One Archives #2647

Hi Michael,

In the late 1930’s and 1940’s several attempts were made to reach the Red Star veins from Wet Ravine. The first was the 16toOne extension which sunk a vertical shaft and drifted several directions. The second was the Seven Aces which started an incline shaft to intercept where the vein was located. Unfortunately they sank the incline shaft interrupted by horizintal drifts rather than heading for the target. Why a proposed vertical shaft rather than one of these other methods?

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2646

Most of the crew took Monday off for a long fourth of July weekend. And most of the crew is still at the Empire Mine. Word is they will be back by the end of next weeek.
A small crew is at the Sixteen to One getting things ready to start mining again.

The mine phone line to the Corporate office broke over the winter. Kevin got it repaired yesterday and it is working again. This allows direct communication between the Corporate office and the underground. Mine phones are located at each active heading and at various underground stations as well as the outside shop.

An OSHA inspector was here yesterday. He gave a few suggestions but as far as we know no citations were issued.

A first aid class for the crew has been scheduled for August 2nd. Ian Haley’s hoistman physical is scheduled for July 11th. Fire extinguishers have been inspected as well as ground conditions, the second exit and the fan. This gives you an idea of some of the compliance issues that have to be taken care of on a regular basis.

The shareholder’s meeting went well. 181 shareholders and guests attended. It was the hottest day of the year. Luckily the weather has cooled a bit since then.

Two file boxes of archives on the Gold Crown Mine which was purchased by the Sixteen to One last year arrived via UPS yesterday. Thanks Tony!

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: CDAA Conduct #2645

Dear Friends
I have not opened this forum topic to update its order until now. “Nowhere to Start” was while ago but remains an ever moving thread. The following begins the process of finding criminal behavior.

My case and the Company case is a prosecution driven case whereby massive deception, purposely deceiving a Sierra County Grand Jury to indict. Those who created and drove this Grand Jury presentation are asked to explain. Start with paragraph 939.6 RECEPTION OF EVIDENCE, CA Penal Code. It says, “the grand jury shall not receive any evidence except that which would be admissible over objection at the trial of a criminal action, but the fact that evidence that would have been excluded at trial was received by the grand jury does not render the indictment void where sufficient competent evidence to support the indictment was received by the grand jury”.

All of the “evidence” presented by the five defendants was not even available as evidence. The “evidence” disappeared both federally and California: MSHA and CAL-OSHA citations were dismissed by the agency issuing the citation or the US Court of Appeals. No evidence was presented to the local citizen jurors. I feel refrained from returning to the thoughts three years ago that I had while mounting a case to defend and attack. It succeeded: let’s have a trial in a courtroom deserving respect to battle truth against opinion.

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: Ideal Time for Facts #2644

If you need a refresher on this topic or any other. I recommend you go back to the first entry and read from first to last in order. Better yet, new lawyer lovers and lawyer haters, read the whole factual and proceedural entries dealing with the CDAA affair.

1.

Scenario entitled “Enforcement of Criminal Law Based Upon the Crime of an Officer of the Court Misleading a Judge”. It is a crime in California. Its enforcement and prosecution approach nil. Why?

2.

Misleading a sitting judge (court in session) is something more than a breach in the Lawyer’s Code of Ethics. What and which code covers this crime? Do ethics have a place in law anymore?

3.

The bad guys lawyer, Tom Knox, wrote and signed an appeal to the third court of appeals in Sacramento that fails the smell test for legal credibility. The Company’s brief is due on July 11, 2006. It is difficult to read because of its nonsense.

I am not a lawyer and do not approve of a professional code that abuses Californians’ trust in the sanctity of lawyer’s behavior. They are State Officers of the Court. It is our third branch of gonvernment and just as important to our freedom as the Executive and Legislative branches. Lawyers who commit perjury before a magistrate, lawyers who knowingly mislead a judge and lawyers who do not approve of these behaviors should speak out. They need to know that the stage is set to continue the game of words. This was how George described it, “Remember, it is a game of words”. We are expanding. I remember.

[Rick Montgomery]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2643

Isn’t it odd, given both the pseudo-inflationary worries of the chest-puffed Fed and today’s robust reaction manifested in the Bull sector of a non-inflationary market, that gold vs. inflation isn’t antagonistic?

Or is it? Or not?

What I’ve been watching, with some very insightful analysis by this very forum, (thanks), is a disconnect from the tradition model.

Sparking some questions, I hope you chime in!

(Of course, finding gold on one’s own sets the tone for a secure position, given that other gremlins aren’t at play…)

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2642

Gold this morning is up $11.00 at 589.20. Last night in the Asian markets there was a little battle between the bulls and bears when gold went zigzagging between 579 and 582.

Seller’s failed to weaken gold coming into the N.Y. open and the the metal has unexpectedly moved higher ahead of the 2:15 PM Eastern announcement concerning an interest rate hike by the Fed.

It is a delight watching the shorts getting squeezed today. The action on gold so far bodes well for confirming that an important intermediate low has been established.

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2641

Gold’s last price is 579.70, down from the day’s high of 596.70.

A minor negative aura is seeping into gold and the gold stocks as a Fed decision on interest rates is approaching on Thursday.

Usually, when bully pulpit talk get released from the temple of the money changers gold and gold stocks get hammered.

Anticipating this event today the hedge funds saw an opportunity when gold approached the 600 level and sold into the group. Expect the intermediaries of the Fed to be called into action with their bearish market tactics Wednesday and Thursday.

The Fed’s efforts to push gold around only results in gold coming right back in their face. It’s like trying to sweep water into a corner. Sure, the Fed’s efforts to manipulate the gold price will work for a short period of time but the later reality will prove this only to be a futile exercise in wishful thinking when gold comes roaring back.

The current weakness should be seized as an opportunity to buy not sell as they expect you to do.

The 540 to 580 range on gold is a buyer’s area. Governments do a lot of foolish things, forcing gold lower is one of them.

[John Feagans]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2640

This was the best stockholders meeting I have ever attended. My grandfather came to Alleghany in 1919 and worked many mines in the area including the 16to1. My father went through 8th grade in Alleghany and graduated from Nevada City high school with Joe Sbaffi who ran the Alleghany Supply after purchasing it form the Alpha. Both passed away last year. I had the privilege of touring the 16to1 when I was ten years old in 1963. I did not think it would be possible to show my son the same thing in 2006! Thank you.

[SCOOP]

in reply to: Clips from Alleghany #2639

FROM WHAT scoop over heard throughout the day, the 95th shareholder meeting, 110 years from its beginning and fifteenth actually shareholder meeting held at the mine site, the meeting was replete with one and all. Much talking went on. Call to order was at 10:30am Business was conducted according to the votes of proxies, which reelected managements recommendations. Michael, at this point, detailed the recent Form 8 SEC filing. Others who spoke were Rae Bell Arbogast, Corporate Secretary, Scott Robertson, Director and Treasurer and Ian Haley, who is known for wearing many hats.

Scoop is pooped from a long June 24. Over two hundred shareholders (fifty or more first timers) withstood scorching heat to board the ride to the portal. The crew was introduced at 11am. And headed for their respective heading for the day. The site was noticeably improved from last year. Scoop listened to shareholder experiences at the mine. There is a following that returns every year. Scoop looked over Kyle’s shoulder one afternoon as she was tallying the proxies. She pulled all the ones with a note to Michael, as he requested. The writings were sincere and quite lovely and tugging. Positive thinking or optimism seem to be influenced from something at the mine, which seeps into shareholders.

Scott spoke with knowledge and respect for his unusual task of financially explaining this gold company. His explanations were clear, but he grabbed or pointed the finger at Mike to answer any points and nuances that concerned him. Scoop looked for Scott’s notes in the trash can near the podium, but bent his pick, finding nothing. Both these men seem to know each other and the business of running the company.

Ian was asked by Mike to tell his story of the gold heading. His talk left no listener in doubt about plans, motives and mining the current pocket. This may be the slowest mined pocket in history but was explained by both guys. Large chunks of quartz with gold add value.

Scoop successfully raided Michael’s trash and found his notes written last night. More another time.

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2638

The western central bankers are in for a big surprise.

When gold’s current price correction is over “the next major push on gold could be in the order of $1,542 or possibly even as high as $2,496.”

So says Alf Field in his editorial posted June 19th on kitco.com entitled Elliot Wave Gold Update VII.

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2637

Gold’s recent collapse was a rigged event.

Your recent paper losses in precious metal related stocks and precious metals was caused by western central bankers and their puppets hoping to scare you away from your holdings and to silence the positive headlines that gold was capturing with higher and higher prices.

If you want to read the real truth on how gold collapsed along with changing internal market dynamics there is available a superb editorial written by Mr. Dan Norcini on the http://www.jsmineset.com website entitled, “Remarkable Development In The Gold Market.”

The editorial was posted today, June 18th at 3:36 PM EST.

[William Leverett]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2636

I live in Colorado Springs and I like to go prospecting for gold. I know that there many people out there that like prospecting but I do not know anyone near me… so I figured that there might some on this forum that lives close to Colorado Springs and might be my prospecting partner. Anyone interested in being my prospecting partnercan email me telling me where they live, their name, email address and phone number. and maybe we can meet sometime. My name is William Leverett. My email is prospector26@gmail.com

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2635

It’s an ugly day for believers in gold. Gold’s last sale is 567 which is off nearly $40 on the day.

This down move all started when Exchange members in London were spreading the short term copper market against the long term copper market and ran into financial trouble meeting Exchange liquidity requirements. Copper has had a spectacular move this year trading over $4. Today, it’s $2.9350 on the bid side.

The Bank of England thought by hopefully depressing the gold price this would drive base metals lower and save the failing member trade positions. What the BOE did was to lend out their last remaining physical gold to intermediaries for immediate sale to into the market.

Soon after, the FED decided to acknowledge increased inflation and publicly made statements that they were going to contain it by raising rates further. Concomitantly, other countries began speaking of rate increases to ward off inflation thus effecting the enthusiasm to acquire gold and the gold stocks.

All during these statements from central bankers the Exchange Stabilization Fund and their intermediaries started shorting gold and the gold stocks increasing the visibility that the central bankers were back in control.

Not too far behind were many of the 15,000 hedge funds that did’t want to miss any profitable rides to the downside and began in earnest selling gold and the gold related stocks. Great pressure was even put on Canadian gold related stocks in Canada.

The end result has been a fast snowballing effect that has put gold on a slippery slide disturbing almost all positive daily and weekly aspects of the precious metal related stock charts.

This concerted effort to halt gold’s advance was instituted for the reason that the hedge funds had pushed gold too high and the central bakers with their fiat currencies felt threatened.

There may be $7 trillion invested with hedge funds today. The funds have more financial might now to effect prices than the central bankers. What the hedge funds don’t have is an understanding of the small gold market in comparison to other much larger markets. The end result is that they move around like hungry elephants in a china shop.

Somewhere along in time the central bankers will be pressed big time when the hedge funds return following gold’s strength and propel it much higher than might be reasonably expected, again.

Whose gold will be used next time to hold the advance in check? What central banks still have physical gold instead of IOU’s? Knowing the central banks hatred for gold they will probably figure out a way to lend out these IOU’s and have them sold too.

Aside from the fundamentals that support gold to move to higher levels in time, the time will approach when all of the ammunition from the central banks and the funds will have been spent and the bull will march forward again to new heights.

The entry of the $7 trillion buying power of the hedge funds has brought with it unpresentented volatility to gold and its stocks. It is greatly amplified in the gold market because of its size. This is the sad truth that investors and followers of this market will have to cope with in the future. Expect the unexpected in price movements with a strong bias of trending higher.

Somewhere down the line the central bankers will choose to inject liquidity into the system as opposed to their current theme of constricting liquidity with talk of rising interest rates. Even if interest rates continue to rise these guys will always find indirect ways to inject liquidity into the system. As Richard Russell has always said, “Inflate or Die.”

Gold is entering the famous $540-$580 range that Barrick Gold covered a significant portion of their gold hedge book into following their merger with Placer Dome earlier in the year. Barrick Gold is the eyes and ears of the people who would prefer gold to remain low and tame. If they covered a large portion of their gold short position then this area in all probability is the floor on gold market today.

The following are a few comments from the brilliant Monty Guild of Malibu, California:

“Only the few will have the nerve to buy the dips(gold)”

“These who buy the dips(gold) end up very rich”

To view the fundamentals on why gold has to go to at least $1,650 visit http://www.jsmineset.com for an education by the master himself, Mr. James Sinclair.

[Stephen Wilson]

in reply to: Gold Enters Major Bull Market #2634

Gold is currently trading in overseas markets tonight at 591.60. The media will be having a field day tomorrow reporting gold being under 600.

These low prices are being made available to you by the FED, the Exchange Stabilization Fund and the Bank of England.

Don’t miss this super sale!

[Michael Miller]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2633

Hi, and thanks for the recent input. Since this thread has drifted from the name of this topic, it is headed for the broad Miscellaneous topic. I’ll add a few remarks and encourage you to raise questions or offer comments before Kyle moves it along on Monday. (I read the Gold Enters Major Bull Market regularly and look forward to the writers’ comments, which is a reason to keep it pure.)

The underground workings are always in a state of decay or caving. Gravity works twenty-four hours a day. Timber rots the moment it is installed (which is the reason we have gone to steel in areas that we want open for a long time). It is hard to put a dollar amount on the caving. It is the result of a diminished maintenance program, which is a direct result of our inability to raise working capital. One can readily trace this back to the specious criminal charges filed by Gayle Filter and his band of private lawyers. Damages.

A popular action was put forth by several of my trusted consultants and shareholders to allow the water to rise to the 1500 level. It was discussed three years ago, as we grew shorter and shorter on money to work the lower levels. Yes, there is high-grade gold showing in six places on the 2200-foot level and the 2400-foot level. It will still be there when we decide to go after it. I was the reluctant one in turning the power off on the lower pump. In hindsight, it may have been a good move in 2003.

As our operation shrunk in manpower, we were forced to find gold targets in the upper levels of the mine. This we did, successfully mining a good pocket in July 2004. We have found another productive target not far below the 800-foot level. So, saving electricity and conserving manpower has paid off. I am not worried or concerned about the water level. The hardest part of dewatering old mine workings is doing it for the first time. Lowering the water again has never been as difficult as it was the first time for many reasons. When we pump again it will be with a system built for the specifics of the situation (properly sized pumps and discharge lines and support machinery). I remain hopeful that miners will develop the high-grade pocket north of the Tightner Shaft on the 2700-foot level, a target we failed to access in 2001-2002. If we go for it again, it will succeed because of the work we previously did and the knowledge we gained from our first attempt. There are numerous high-grade gold targets that are identified in the Sixteen to One. Each has a price tag and a potential. We have publicly named our next major target, sinking the Red Star Shaft. One study of the geology and the layout tells the why this was chosen. All evidence points to a gold bonanza greater than any yet mined. Do you know any gold seekers? If so, please have them call me.

[Mike Fulk]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2632

John, I couldn’t agree with you more. The situation is very frustrating. I guess if you look for silver linings the ridiculesly cheap share price is one. If you’re buying, that is. I believe in the 16-1 and Mike’s operational strategy. Sander’s excitment over new technology and our win in the 9th Circuit are positive signs and I believe the future is bright for ‘the greatest mine of it’s kind in the world’

[Mike Fulk]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2630

John~ At what level was the greatest single day production of 2500 oz, worth $1,000,000.

[Mike Fulk]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2629

Discovered August 1993, 18 lbs 141 oz gold, 2200′ level

[John Yuma]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2631

The bottom line is, the 16:1 is the greatest mine of its kind in the world. It is unfortunate that in a time of rising gold prices, there is not enough money to keep the pumps on and replace timbers and therefore loose the mine below 1300. The 1500 level has caved in north of the 49 winze. I was there.

[Gerard Forsman]

in reply to: Miscellaneous #2628

That’s an easy one. The answer can be found on this website. Lets see who can find it first.

[Author]

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