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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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And so, rainy days, rainy days, watching my prospecting videos. Fast forwarding, really, YouTube isn't keeping up with my appetite, giving me the same videos again and again even after I've claimed to have watched them. Their AI isn't so good.
An American Prospector, claim to fame that he once extracted 6 lbs of gold from a crevice in a river. Offering an online course, lecture series, OK, he's had a few videos, mixed qualities, give him a chance. Maps, geology, minefile data, lots of gold left in the US....
...Which degenerates into a diatribe on the environmental lobbies, climate change, from someone who might know what he's talking about to just another nut-job, loon, wing-nut, he knows his subject, for sure, but can't keep to it, his politics and conspiracies intervene, and I FFWD through it and give up...there's nothing here, maybe next video...
Look for the Kootenay videos, there are a few, very few, none that inspire great confidence, If you've got a claim on Wild Horse Creek you're set, otherwise good luck...
US Videos, there's a few, US Miner down in Arizona seems to have some luck with his metal detector out in the desert, and has the presence of mind to mine and get value out of the other finds he makes - an exposure of black tourmaline. Good. And while not pitching his equipment he lets you know what he's using. Good.
And there's Mining America, who basically tours the US hitting a bunch of different Fee-Dig sites and extracting whatever's on offer. Topaz, Calcite Filled Clams, Opals and other gems. I don't know how he affords it, although he's taking subscribers, pitching products and recommendations as to which fee-dig sites are best, so, while the information and reviews are good he's not what I'd describe as a prospector - more a hobbyist who's trying to monetize his interest in rock-hounding.
The eastern states are better - forever they're hauling up emeralds and aquamarines and sapphires and giant crystals of quartz and tourmaline, good to watch, but too far to go, and there would be laws, I'm sure, against my going to the states and stealing all their good gold and gems and so these have grown a bit boring. All this is here, somewhere, around the bend, up the mountain, in the creek, I only need the snow to go and the weather to improve and I'll be finding them all myself...
There are countless other videos, America is a selfie-nation, and this super-abundance of videos merely confirms a disturbing trend towards external validation, trying not so much to share information as solicit the admiration of your peers, find like-minded souls, a reaching-out, if you will, into the void of cyberspace and "Likes" and "Subscribers" to connect with people that don't - really - exist.
A plethora of other videos, pitching products, metal detectors, hibankers, sluice-boxes, some just recreational panners, you can tell, FFWD to the end, see what they got in their pan, are their other people in the background (probably hobbyists, not making a living), are they going to great lengths to describe the equipment they're using or begging you to subscribe? There's probably no good information here.
The rules - if you're looking for information, and they can probably be generalized away from prospecting - if they're trying to get you to subscribe, or recommend equipment (by brand name), if they're asking for donations, well, they're probably not doing so well. The old adage: "Those who can, do, those who can't Teach (and those who can't teach, teach phys-ed)" applies here. But look hard, keep looking, and there is good information out there.
Australia. Basically I imagine Australia as a giant gold nugget studded with diamonds. I mean, it's all there, only Aussies are mostly too lazy. Watch the videos. They knock off after a few hours work having collected a few ounces gold only because they're too fucking lazy to pick up the big gold chunks and carry them back to camp. Everyone knows you can't leave your trailer in Australia without stubbing your toe on a giant gold nugget. ...
The Aussie videos, they've fired my imagination. I know it's a case of "The Grass is Always Greener" - and I don't particularly care to immigrate - but the geology - geography, basically scrub and desert, the entire fucking country's a highway, 4WD accessible, temperate weather, only be sure to pack water, well, it's a hell of a lot easier. No forests, glaciation, anything over a two degree slope is considered a hill, if it carries on for a hundred yards you've got a mountain, I mean, really? Really? Don't get me wrong - fuck - there are perils there for sure, open mine shafts dropping hundreds of meters, you've got redback spiders and brown snakes and taipans and duck-billed platypus's trying to kick you with their venomous spurs and rabid koalas and saltwater crocodiles and boxing Kangaroos and those damned dingoes and sneaking Tasmanian Tigers, perils abound, every bush or shrub, but they're out there in shorts for 6 hours a day working the old metal detectors and producing - regularly - a couple of ounces a day.
Again, don't get me wrong - metal detecting is hard work - I mean it - no, stop laughing - try it, it's exhausting, fucking hours without a signal and then you're digging a two foot hole for a rusty boot nail, really, it's not fun. I'd rather be panning. And watching them, I can see where they're going wrong - their not digging out and panning the hole - not "working the hole" as we might say in Canada - we might, we're generally not that vulgar, and all the while I'm thinking how I'd do it better and really - really - a gram would be a pretty "good" day in my books, let alone a 64 gram nugget, and these guys, their hitting it, they don't need my advice (and would do well to ignore it) - riding their dirt bikes into the prospect, you can smell them just watching the video, finishing work to return to the trailer and the barbie, roasting up some bush-tucker, swilling their rum and playing their didgeridoos 'round the campfire...
The Aussies, hate to say it, they're the best, they're finding shit. Gold. Other stuff. Lotsa Shit. And - Aussies - I regard - as a lot more like Canadians than Americans. This is a prejudice, and as such it's probably not true, but that's what I'm thinking.
If you wanna watch these and other good down-under fossicking videos, try these channels:
Goldhounds Nugget Recovery: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCanm0gYhAZNL6-wNKkSXx8Q/videos
Aussie Bloke Prospector: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMullocky/ & https://www.youtube.com/user/19andrew72
"git out there and get into it..."
Liz Kreate: https://www.youtube.com/user/Careneri
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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A few of the phrases that derive from prospecting.
"See how it all pans out" - meaning, of course, that until you've done the work you won't know the result. Don't anticipate.
"Flash in the Pan" - From the web: "a thing or person whose sudden but brief success is not repeated or repeatable."
"All the glitters (glisters) is not gold "- Many sources, self explanatory, many things that appear valuable aren't.
"Good as gold" - used to describe something of value.
"The Acid Test" - I didn't know this. Apparently it derives from the early gold rushes to testing if gold was real by dissolving in a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid. If it dissolved, it was real.
"Working the Hole..." I've heard this one a bit in various prospecting videos. I know, I know, I'm not going to elaborate...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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So the nutball's fired off a few cruise missiles into Syria, and the world applauds...
I mean, it's Syria, stop the murder of Innocent Children, it's fine as long as it's not nerve gas, it's fine as long as your chopping off a hand, it's fine as long as...
Really, really now folks, lets just be real. It's fine to kill children. Everyone does it, the Americans as well (here, and here, and keep looking, you'll find more).
Here's a couple of links to catch you up with how complicated the situation in Syria has grown - arguably "started" by the destabilization of Iraq by the Americans. (Where did ISIS come from? What does it stand for?)
Link: http://www.vox.com/2017/4/8/15218782/syria-trump-bomb-assad-explainer and https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/the-syria-catastrophe/
The Americans have never "won" a war in the Middle East - or improved a situation, however slightly. 50 odd - give or take - Tomahawk Cruise Missiles are not going to end or solve the conflict, they aren't going to influence Assad or Putin or anybody. Trump knows this. He's posturing - improving his image - while Barack Obama stood by and did nothing (and Trump tweeted his support for this view) Trump can say he's done his bit. And by "Angering" the Russians/Putin - probably not, they were given advance notice, and, again, that strike was minimal, he's "distancing" himself from the very government and people that helped to put him in power *(and be skeptical, this might well be collusion to throw a lot of late night comedians off the scent). And conveniently he begins to move his warships towards Korea - again, working for "world" stability - and having launched a minimal attack the North Koreans and China can see how erratic and "Just" he is, and perhaps be a little worried...
I used to think Trump was an idiot (Money, despite what every moneyed person will tell you, does not mean your intelligent.). Apparently he's not. But never for a moment think that he's acting in your interests. And maybe start hoarding the dry goods, because things will probably not improve and may well get an awful lot worse.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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And always the Grass is Greener. By which I mean I watch the prospecting videos, read the literature, think to myself "If Only I was in Australia/Nevada/Arizona/London/Alberta...", always, always the game is elsewhere...
Somewhere in Australia a poor bloke's found no gold and is wishing he was in the Kootenays, away from the deadly spiders and venomous snakes and crocodiles...someplace easy, with shade and fresh, abundant water...
I'm well aware of the fallacy that treasure is never underfoot, when very often it is, I resist the urge to pack up, confine my explorations to an hour's drive.
Yesterday, good, a good spot, I was there before, few years ago, nothing great, but if I crossed over the creek, found a way to get to the other side, there's abundant potential. It's not as easy as it sounds, 6-8 feet wide, deep, swift current and abundant boulders, slip and things won't be so good, but I can see the potential, a good day, try it out, snipe, clean the rocks, the crevices, the moss from the boulders, fill a bucket and pan it out, I might be surprised.
For the moment, living someplace ordinary, but making my plans to improve it...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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"Got it. We'll tune your recommendations." YouTube, they never get it, after doing this they present me the same video again and again.
Waiting for the weather to improve, the snow to go, watching prospecting videos...
Most of them are crazy. Few of them have anything fresh, or informative, to impart, and the more I watch the less I learn, it's a Bell curve of sorts, but still I watch them, my ignorance is vast, and on occasion there are glimmers of good information. But to find it you need to listen to every posters fringe theories about Capitalism, Conspiracies, Dinosaurs, the Bible, The Electric Earth, Fringe Science, all this with bad production values, bad spelling, ornate fonts and bad title pages, graphics, frequently overly-dramatic or irrelevant music, Shaky Cam work and seldom anything of relevance, the narrator picks up rocks, throws away rocks, maybe pretends they are gold or diamonds, I've watched a thousand, I'm getting good at this, 9/10 times I can get through your 20 minute YouTube rant in under 2, find the good information (if it's there), it's a rare video that I watch the entirety of. At the end you're lucky if they pan out their concentrates and show you a quantity of gold that would be a bad day on the North Saskatchewan. I have to be careful in how I rate them, I'm forever reassuring YouTube that I did, indeed, take their recommendation and watch the prescribed video, I don't express opinions, this searching for good information is it's own form of prospecting.