Actual Gold/Silver Mining fund???

[cryptoanarchist]

I've been thinking of starting a fund for a small gold dredging operation and would like community feedback to gauge interest.

Without completely destroying my pseudo-anonymity, I can tell you I live in the San Juan mountain area that is VERY rich in precious metals. I've been doing my homework and asking around talking to former miners and feel there is a real opportunity here. The type of gold out here is not in nuggets but spread out in fine particles and requires smashing large amounts of rock into gravel and then chemically removing the gold. Most of the miners here today were part of large mining outfits that have since been shut down by environmentalists, and now, truth be told, most of them are alcoholics on social security. They lack initiative and would only work for a mining company, and are too lazy to work the streams on their own. So they've gone pretty much un-worked lately.

That's what I'm interested in - the streams. Obviously I don't have the resources to dig out the several tons of hard rock a day to justify purchase of a mill and all the other equipment I'd need for digging it out of the ground, but I can easily afford to start working the streams, and they definitely still have gold in them. Some people say that most of it has been taken already, but that is a cop out. There's still millions of ounces of gold in these mountains, and a lot of it gets washed out by the streams over time. Meaning that a lot of the gold that was panned 100 years ago has since been replaced. I know a couple people in town that are finding gold now just panning. What I intend to do is dredge the bottoms and use a GOLD HOG to separate the gold out.

Video of the GOLD HOG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdqUBOc-6zo

I would buy the equipment, but would request funds to help pay me for the 18 hours a week I would put into this as I would have to cut my hours on other projects. My goal would be to process at least 1 ton of material a day at first, more if I had help, and to do that in 1-2 hours a day. There is also drive time and setup time, which will vary.

Dividends would be paid based on a percentage of the gold retrieved, and after some time, shareholders could even opt for actual gold instead of BTC - I'd have to figure that part out though.

Thoughts? Questions?

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[Ben Walsh (beamer)]

This is just the sort of novel and quirky (at less from my perspective as an English city lad) opportunity I would consider investing in.
I love that BTC could facilitate a business relationship that would probably not be possible otherwise.

I have a bunch of initial questions - more sure to follow :O) ...

How much would your time be per hour ?

How long would you want to run this operation ?

Do you have someone you can pass/sell the equipment onto once you decide you want out so the operation could continue ?

How would the equipment be powered ?

How much would it cost per hour to power ?

How much would the chemicals cost per gram of obtained gold ?

How much of the year can be spent operating ? (suitable seasons ? suitable weather ? ...)

How much per hour would you have to pay to perform a run in the area(s) you are considering ?

What are your low, medium and high estimations of the amount of gold in grams you expect to obtain per hour of operation ?

What materials other than gold could be obtained in the proposed prospecting area(s) ?

You mentioned the possibility of processing more material each day if you had help ... what are local labour rates for such an activity ?

[silverfuture]

  I wouldn't mind investing in equipment or assets but would rather avoid investing in your labor.  Labor should be paid as a percentage of the profit or in shares.  If you believe in your idea you need to take the initial risk with your own labor until some profit is realized. If things don't go well the equipment can be liquidated but labor cannot. One potential problem with this idea is the difficulty a  shareholder has in making sure that all gold found is reported. We'd essentially have to just believe whatever you reported. I like the idea though and love how the bitcoin economy is encouraging such thinking..

[RandomQ]

I think you could video tape removing the fine particles from the dredge usually stuck in a carpet thing and then show you panning or what ever method you use for getting the fine gold from the fine grain particles stuck in your carpet. Can anyone tell I watch gold mining shows lol. Or you need to find another local member or 2 that is willing to watch you extract the fine gold during cleanup so you don't pocket it lol.

Are you planning on using an exchange for this (GLBSE)?

I think your going to have a hard time trying to get people to pay for 18 hrs a week of work, unless your hourly pay rate is 1 BTC or less.

Keep us updated I do like this idea

[mollison]

I think this is an extremely neat idea.

However, I'm not sure I understand your financial rationale for raising money.

For example, if you expect to immediately/consistently find enough gold to be profitable, you would not need to raise money to pay yourself for your labor - you could just immediately sell the gold and keep the proceeds.

On the other hand, if you think it could take a while (weeks to months) to find a profitable location to mine, and you need to maintain an income during that time and/or hedge your own risk that you'll never find anything, I could understand the rationale.

tl;dr More info needed.

Also, as has already been mentioned, the "trust issues" are likely insurmountable.

[Btc4Domains]

Interesting idea! I bought a 2.5" Lithium Polymer powered 12 Volt dredge with hookah 12 months ago for similar purpose - I'd second that you put the time in at your expense and factor in a percentage of what is recovered as your fee - or at the least budget for a minimum number of hours/days/weeks to give the plan a proper test. Likely wouldn't be so hard to put up a cam when you are dredging - no one could argue you didn't put in the effort that way if it didn't work out - similar to how outsourcing sites like odesk work. Investors could put up the cost of equipment, if after a period of time it's clear there is scope to expand - then look at hired labor or people that would work for a retainer and percentage or straight percentage ~ few trust issues involved.. If it doesn't work out the equipment is sold and proceeds returned to the investors.

Other questions:
Can you buy the equipment second hand?
What's the resale market like if the idea turns out to be not viable?

[vokain]

I used to invest in a silver mining corporation (EXK, about 4-5 years ago) and let me tell ya, it's a lot of risk, the money's already where the big money's at, and you need a lottttt of capital. Also, getting into the market of selling metals isn't exactly easy either.