It has been a while since I have posted anything new on the blog mainly because I’ve been in some pain.

In November of 2007 my partner, Micro-Nugget, and I spent 5 days at our claim finishing up chasing the GOLD seam that we have been on. It finally gave out after 3 good years and we gave her a good burial. The biggest problem I faced from that trip was the fact that I didn’t recover from it. Now I knew that my lower back was getting worse and my partner was having to carry the brunt of the heavy work. I did the digging and the cooking (not to lift myself up much, but I’m one hellva of a good camp cook). During the on going months even detecting has become a chore as well as walking.

In January of this year I had 2 X-Rays and 2 MRI’s done on my lower back. The report from the doctor was not good, as a matter of fact it was down right scary. He told me that he could not figure out how I was even walking. He told me “NO MORE MINING” until he could get me into surgery. This last week I had my Pre-Op consult with the doctor and he informed me that the damage to my lower back was far more extensive than first thought. So on May 2nd of this year I will be going into surgery. I can exspect to be in surgery for 8-12 hours while they try to repair all the damage. The bottom line, I will be fused from L-1 to S-1, have repair work done to the spinal cord and can exspect to be out of any mining until at least October or longer.

I will be posting as much as possible a series of short stories of my life growing up in a mining town, learning the trade from many of the old-timers and sharing things that I have learned from friends.

Ted I want to thank you for making this blog area available to old farts like myself. My wish and hope is that the next generation of prospector’s will enjoy and learn from my thoughts.

Your prayers and thoughts will mean alot to my family as well as myself. The Old 29er is not down but just in a holding mode. Hell by the time I hit the field again Minelab 5000 and White’s TDI verison 3 could be out.

Blessing to all and may your poke be full of gold and good times.

The 29 Prospector

It’s been awhile since I’ve post any blogs and I figured it was time to bring everyone up to Dec. 2007. As you know from my other blogs, I’ve been chasing a seam of gold on bedrock now for 3 years. Over this period of time I’ve had to dig the hole out 6 times due to flash floods, repair the road 2 sometimes 3 times a year. In Jan. & Feb. of 2005 we got some hard rains that destroyed the road to the point of having to bring in a tractor to repair it.

2005 was a slow year and we didn’t get the road repaired til Jan.2006. During 2005 I spent time in an old spot my father and I worked back in the 1950’s. I recovered 7.2dwt in gold and almost all of it were pickers, I found very little fines or small stuff. In 2006, I was back at it in my old hole at the mine. I had the hole cleaned out, found my seam again and was back into the gold.

2006 also brought some new friends my way and I sure was glad to meet them. Mining was starting to get boring, what with talking to myself, and these colorful gentlemen show up (Joe, Mick, Denny, David, Ken, Mike, Paul and Martin). Many thanks to all of you, you kept me from totally losing it. Now if I can find what I did lose, oh well, maybe another day. My partner, Doc, started to loose interest in the mine and is now working on a project in Nevada. In the latter part of 2006 I met my new partner, Martin, and between the two of us we kicked butt and chased that seam til she gave up all she had. It was a good run but like all good runs she came to an end (the total take over a 3 year period was 682 grams), not bad for a hobby. In November of this year we finished cleaning up the hole and the last 40 buckets yielded very little gold. Here are 2 more pictures of the end of a good run.

God, you’ve got to love this hobby.

May this New Year bring Gold to your poke and good health to you all.

Well as the summer heat begins to go down and cooler weather starts to set in, the old 29 Prospector has formed a game plan. Jan. to May was slow for me simple because I was busy helping to form a new club and check out potential areas for claiming. So now it’s almost the end of September and I’ve managed to get out to the mine 4 times this month. The going has been slow since I haven’t loaded the generator and jack hammers yet. I wanted to get a good game plan going and I believe that I have with the help of a new partner by the name of Micro-Nugget. Between the two of use we have a 3-4 day camping trip planed and should be able to finish up our exploitory work on the big hole and determine how the gold is running. Meanwhile, we have another person running the 2 tons of material through a Keene 151 and back filling an area that has already been worked.

 In December of 2006 we lost an extended famly member in Iraq. To this day I still as why? Why are we there? Why are the politicians so worried about political correctness? Our men and women die and we are worried about those who want to kill us, why? There is no answer as to why. Below is a man my son’s age, who lost his nephew in December and I think he has summed it up for us. Thank you Eric.

I have never posted a bulletin before,,, never felt the need. I tend to be more private and reserved. However, lately I don’t really know why, but I have felt the need to overflow, and maybe this isnt the time or place to do it, but who really cares right? So much has happened, this past year, things that have left many people like an ant that spins in circles after you step on it with no purpose or apparent direction. Life altering, gut wrenching things. Everyday, I open my email and watch it load…knowing that once again, I will have to see the name, age, and hometown, of another one of my brothers who gave his life in the line of duty. Another mother, daughter, father, son, wife, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece or cousin is already 24 hours into the pain and torment that I have seen. With a clenched jaw, I highlight the message and save it to a folder that I have marked, “Casualties” There are several hundred messages in the folder, hundreds of names that I don’t know, but for some reason I have to save them, tuck them carefully away like a folded flag, while through clenched teeth I utter another “God Damn’t” Why?
Through so many cautions, “Don’t Hate” and so many explanations…There remains no answer to the question, “why?”
But to my soldiers, my brothers on the ground, I want to let you know, that I understand the , “Why?”. I know how your heart feels right now, the sense of duty, brotherhood and honor. Watching each others backs, the teamwork, the mission. There is nothing on this earth that will ever compare to where you are and what you are doing right now. Damn the politicians, damn the media, damn the critics. You are building a country, not Iraq, but the United States. You are bringing us together…..You are saving OUR COUNTRY! Because when you set the politics aside, you can’t find a soul who doesn’t, “Support Our Troops!” The rest will be left to history.
After all of the dust has settled, and after the politicians decide which option is best, YOU WILL STILL BE SOLDIERS!… Any lost honor will be borne on the backs of lawmakers, while you, will forever carry the honor and prestige of being a United States Soldier!
Hours before a 500 lb bomb exploded under the Humvee of my nephew Seth Stanton, I told him, “Drive on , duck and cover, stay safe, I Love You!” Words that never in a million years I thought would be my last to him. And now, after so much more loss, those words have continued to ring back in my ears as a reminder. My life will never be the same, and neither will yours if you take the time to truly understand the, “Why?”
I’m just a simple guy, with a very little part in this world. But I want to let every one that reads this message know that I will do everything within my power to help any United States Soldier, from this moment until I take my last breath… Whatever it is! And as of this date, I have listed, 71 myspace friends who I know will do the same.
“DRIVE ON, DUCK AND COVER, STAY SAFE, WE LOVE YOU, AND WE KNOW THE “WHY”