Friday, July 12, 2013

Political Garbage in Nome

Gold mining in Nome has more than it's share of challenges (as if the technicalities of dredging and Mother Nature aren't enough)!  Our claims are many miles West of the Nome harbor.  Getting out and back is challenging and time consuming when the weather can change at the drop of a hat.  By the time you realize the seas are starting to become rough, if you aren't ready to pack up and turn back for harbor then it is often down right dangerous getting back.  

Therefore, the KY Goldenrod crew arranged to mine in the East on one of the local miner's claims, as the claim is much closer to the Nome harbor, and has a great deal of gold potential.  Anything our crew mines, an arranged percentage goes to the claim owner (very common arrangement in Nome).  We have a very powerful 10' suction dredge that could really get some gold!  And, there in lies the problem. Seems a handful of greedy locals don't want outsiders (lower 48ers) to prospect promising land.  It's becoming a political mess.  It started with the underwater lease auction date fiasco (we were given a date in December 2011 and the actual date was in September 2011 which we luckily found out about in the nick of time), and it just keeps getting messier!  It has political garbage written all over it. Do you smell a rat?

 

12 comments:

  1. Welcome to outback Alaska... call it 'Native' Alaska. But you knew that before you got GOLD FEVER didn't you? So now that you are living on dirt in Nome you have a choice - become an elected official, contribute to one, else work smarter and become a true outsider who floats in to mine during the summer then floats out for the winter - RAT? BOAT is the answer with rat guards on the dock lines - but I'd ask why are you tieing up except to maybe refuel? Make sure you have a good anchor system and learn to use it. Comments appreciated.

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  2. How many hours dredging so far? I'd guess in two weeks time you should have 80-120 hours? About 2-3 ounces or plenty more if working a hot zone as claimed.

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  3. I think I have found the problem - all of that jumping up and down on the front of the Nome Nugget Newspaper - here is the online link: http://www.nomenugget.net/archives/2013/07.11.13NN.pdf

    OH MY GOODNESS!!!

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  4. So really... your dredge is up and running well so share a production number - in July you might produce 20 ounces?

    :-)

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  5. Sounds like an opportunity to tell more of the Nome gold mining story... I'm sure the KY Boys knows who is producing color... even in general terms you should consider telling more of the story... how about an update from the Bering Sea Gold story... several of the Stars are still in Nome producing "color"...

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  6. Taken from Nome Nugget Newspaper dated: 20130801 page 2
    (http://www.nomenugget.net/archives/2013/08.01.13%20NN.pdf)
    Dear Editor:
    I’m a retired stuntman who has
    been coming here for four years because
    of what is being done in California.
    Now you are starting to do it.
    Alaska is the last great state where
    a man with just the sweat of his brow
    and the burning determination to
    work hard with his own two hands
    can make something of himself. Just
    the sound of the city, “Nome”, rings
    with adventure to those in the lower
    forty-eight. People come here as
    dreamers and innovators, not just as
    prospectors. These are not the kind
    of people who sit on their butts when
    their country calls, but get up and say
    “take me.” They are the builders and
    they come here to be part of building
    a great state. They exchange labor
    for merchandise and help the economy
    grow for everyone, but Alaska
    and Nome are doing everything they
    can to stifle this group from being
    part of the Alaskan dream. At every
    turn they are met with high insurance,
    no bathrooms, no showers and
    costly permits for everything from
    walking down the street to sitting on
    a rock. It’s not hurting the big groups
    that come here, but it is killing the little
    guys that give up everything to be
    part of this great City and State.
    Prospecting is not earning money,
    it’s making it from nothing and putting
    into the economy
    Tony Cecere
    Duarte, CA 91010

    SMELLS LIKE A RAT? SURE SEEMS TO BE RIGHT ON TRACK... WAKE UP NOME!

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  7. The smell of rats continue... all the way to Washington D.C.

    Nome Editorial... http://www.nomenugget.net/archives/2013/08.01.13%20NN.pdf

    Getting Past Sequestering
    Trust us, weʼre holding back your money because itʼs good for you, and weʼll return it when we feel like it. Just what is sequestering and why is Congress doing this to us? Websterʼs says sequestering is to give up something for safekeeping; the state of being sequestered; separation; removal of property from the person in possession of it. So what does this have to do with Congress and just who made up this
    Juggernaut of financial obfuscation? Speaker of the House John Boehner takes pride in repealing laws,
    not making them. He wants to wind back the clock. It seems that Congress does not care about why they were elected. They do nothing to benefit the people. They just want to cripple government services. They wonʼt fund the Postal Service, they wonʼt replace our aging highway and rail infrastructure, they donʼt protect our exposed Arctic shipping lanes or coast by building ice breakers and replacing aging support vessels for our Coast Guard, they frown upon affordable health care (except their own), and members of our military are given marginal funding. The services that directly impact our lives are taken away or sequestered. We are financial hostages while our Congress pays homage to the Tea Party big money boys. Could someone take a cattle prod to Congress? Could we get the House of Representatives to take their eyes of the Koch brothersʼ dollars and focus on the needs of their constituents? In Alaska our Arctic waters will be jammed with a plethora of petroleum drilling devices
    with a potential for spills and blowouts. (Remember the Exxon Valdez?) We need some attention to details because we are up against a shrinking time line where decisions have to be made and infrastructure and enforcement put into place. Congress needs to get
    off their duffs and get over this petty sequestering game they are playing.
    —N.L.M.—

    VOTE THE RATS OUT IS HOW YOU STOP AN INFESTATION...

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  8. How come your production with a 10" dredge is being kept such a secret. I understand your right to privacy but you could say it was under a hundred, over a hundred or just give the number. We all know that there is a lot of luck involved and you could never re-produce next year what you did last year and that the future is always brighter else you would of not become a gold miner after working all your life. How about some numbers?

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  9. A 10" dredge can move 100 cubic yards of sand a day. The average gold recovery offshore for Nome is 0.02 oz/cubic yard. Hence 100 x 0.02 = 2 ounces/day. Lets say the 100 day mining season only allows 50 days of production because of adverse weather. 50 x 2 = 100 ounces x $1325/ounce = $132,500. Plus a premium for jewelry nuggets call it $150,000 gross. Close enough for ya?

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  10. Where did you get those numbers?

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  11. Dude, you got to do some due diligence homework... try using Google... else take my numbers which are from over 10,000 ounces of Nome offshore production.

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  12. September 5th and not even a blog post... how about it - what up in Nome!

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