Gas Money
Ever consider gold prospecting for a living?With gold prices as high as they are, the lure of gold and gold prospecting can be a mighty pull for many. You’ve heard of gold fever. It can make you do some strange things. Most of it is based on your character rather than the gold having any particular power. Still, the thought of getting rich quick in the gold fields with a drywasher or even worse, a detector, can be a strong feeling and some feel, despite the evidence and advice to the contrary, that they can overcome the odds and strike it rich.Most of the guys that think this way frankly don’t have the experience to even have a remote chance of finding an area that will pay marginally. Those that do have the experience, know that even the best days don’t come very often and won’t pay for everything associated with prospecting. Think about it. If you could get rich metal detecting or working a gold claim, wouldn’t the major players be doing it? They aren’t. Even the placer mining corporations that are doing it are focused only on the richest areas that will pay the largest dividends. Gold mining is an expensive venture no matter what level of the game you wish to play it at.Let’s take the level most amateurs go at it and let’s go further and say that you’ve found open ground that seems good. You’ve got your equipment which is typically pretty expensive even if it’s purchased used. How about your truck. Most gold areas cannot be readily got to with a passenger car. The roads are rough and put a lot of wear and tear on the vehicle. Not to mention putting gas into a low mileage vehicle. Just in the past two weeks, I’ve put about 600 miles on the truck. The gas was a lot. Then, I noticed a problem and had to take it into the shop. $1000. Oh and just to be safe, two new front tires. $300. Those were cheap. Granted, not every single week will be this expensive but the little $20 nugget you see only paid for gas on the one trip out. Maybe it will lead to more, but I doubt it will cover the cost of fixing the truck. It’s possible to have a great day and do that, but realistically it just doesn’t happen that often.Take heed and be realistic, especially when starting out. You are not going to buy a detector and start making a living. You’ll not purchase a gold claim on Ebay and be able to retire by working it. As G.M. Butler put it in his preface to Arizona Gold Placers and Placering – “A person not in robust health or one who has not sufficient funds to finance his entire trip runs a splendid chance of starving to death if he tackles placer mining in Arizona.”
