Sunset over Rapid Creek...

        Someone mentioned to us that Sunset Valley Mining Company has a new placer claim on Rapid Creek.  They are named the Blueberry.

        We took a look, and it is so!  It’s a nice block of claim and they’re smart about it, running blocks across the creek as opposed to along the creek, as most of us do. 

Why is that smart?  Wouldn’t you want to claim as much creek as you can?  Don’t you want the use of water and avoid long treks to that resource?

Stop thinking like a prospector and think about selling real estate!  Yes, you can sell your gold.  That involves a lot of work though.  You have to find a good deposit, dig and sluice it, pan those concentrates and recover that gold for sale.

Now if you stake the claims across the creek, each lot has about 300 feet of creek and 1500 feet lengthwise.  That allows up to five times as many “lots” for sale on each claim!  Priced at $9,000 to $25,000 you can make a lot of money!

Shame on us for enjoying a day’s work and feeling really good about a pennyweight!  We’re missing out on the big bucks!

These “lots” are 10 acres, and we remind Sunset Valley Mining Co. that every 10 acre block has to have discovery of valuable mineral.

Just a word out to those having active claims in the northwest quarter of Section 28 on Rapid Creek… Sunset Valley Mining Company has them for sale!

Claimjumpers!!

        It never fails… each time we post paper on a new claim, we get a phone call!

        Now there’s two ways to deal with this; you can laugh or you can cry… we prefer to laugh; it’s a lot less stressful!

        Friday we loaded Alex up in the pickup and made our way toward Hill City, finally just walking into an area we’ve been wanting to prospect again.  Yes!! We finally made it!

        We found evidence of an inactive claim (2008) we had researched on LR2000, but no new claim certificate that it had been re-located.  Mineral trespass signs bore the Mining Mineral Claim number of the inactive claim.

We hung a notice of discovery that day.

        Saturday we returned to the area, found a road in and further prospected the claim, hanging location certificates as we went.

        We arrived home Saturday night, exhausted, but still excited about what we had found!

        We’ve talked about how diverse the geology of the Black Hills can be.  The vegetation is at least and maybe more diverse!  Throughout the valleys we traversed on foot, Aspen trees proliferated in the gulches.  There were also many Ponderosa Pine (pine bark beetles setting in) and spruce.  Closer inspection brought Bob to the conclusion that the Aspens were predominately in the disturbed creek boundaries.  That created an ecological map to follow!  As we entered the Aspen groves we found so many historic diggings we knew we had entered into the “nugget zone.”

        There existed at one time what Bob thinks was probably a patented placer mine.  That explains the extensive diggings. Our inquiries at the Bureau of Land Management confirmed that a patent had been applied for, eventually denied and the property had reverted to the U.S. Forest Service.  This was further confirmed by using the BLM GLO web site, showing no patented property in that particular area.

        So we’re good… right?

        Sunday morning we receive the phone call.  For storytelling purposes, we’re going to name the caller Dave.  He proceeds to tell us that we’ve staked over the top of his claim and he is upset about that.

        Bob handled this call, he kindof likes bantering words about.

        Dave said he’d maintained the claim for 15 years (it was first staked in 2005, re-located from 2006-08) and when Bob stated it had been abandoned he said only for 6 months and he re-located June 1 of this year.

        The next question Bob asked was, “Where’s your claim boundaries and claim certificate?  Dave says he re-located June 1 and hasn’t filed yet with B.L.M., but he has filed with the county and repeats that we have claimjumped him.

        Then Bob asked, because the mineral trespass signs cover at least 200 acres (a single claimholder can claim up to 20 acres) of property by our estimation… “So just where is your claim?” Dave said he had added his daughter to the claim and it is at 40 acres.  A verbal description from Dave gave us at least a ballpark idea of his claim location.

        Dave decided at some point or another to not be quite so aggressive and Bob agreed to stay out of his claim area.  We still had the 40 acres we were interested in.

        While all this was going on, I did a little further research on Dave’s claim history, again on LR2000.  I found that he isn’t too well versed in locating or maintaining claims, evidenced by requests and actions taken by BLM.  I’m a little more compassionate now… in staking claims ignorance is not bliss!

        So Monday morning, first thing, we headed for the county courthouse.  It’s always good to verify what you’ve been told, as my four children had to find out the hard way!   “Sure, we believe you Dave… at least until we find out different,” we muttered under our breath.

        So we’re going to re-iterate a few things about staking claims.  Once you have located a claim you have 60 days to file at the Register of Deeds in the county where the claim is located. You have 90 days from location date to file at B.L.M.  The claim must be filed with the county before filing at B.L.M.

        So I can see you’re all perched on the edge of your chair (just kidding) to find out what happened.

        We filed our 40-acre claim, then researched Dave’s claims.  He had filed a location certificate dated July 1, so he is good there.  Another filed in January had never been filed with B.L.M.  The rest is iffy at best.  The location certificate is not notarized, his description lays out approx. 48 acres and is way off his mineral trespass signs as posted.  There is no map, so we had to rely on what is a questional description with discrepancies.  The main thing is, though, our claim does not trespass on his claim as described.

        All is good in the end.  We have another exceptional placer claim which appears to be an excellent candidate for a small mining permit.  Dave still has his claim, if he can get it pushed through BLM without a bunch of trouble.

        Staking a claim sounds easy… just put up your paper and start mining, right?  Are your laughing yet?

The learning process... permits

        This could well be titled, “What we have learned about permitting a mine.” 

        We hosted a pre-inspection for the Department of Energy and Natural Resources at our Iron Creek claim as part of the small-scale mine permit process.

        Before we get into that, we’ve started noticing red-top Ponderosa Pine on the fringes of Iron Creek.  The infestation of the Pine Bark Beetle has us concerned for the Northern Hills, as well as Central and Southern Hills.




Roberta documents flora
and fauna for identifcation.

 

        First let us state that we are very impressed by the professional and friendly approach given to this process.  Roberta Hudson, despite suffering from allergies, spent about three hours walking the proposed disturbance area.  She encourages as many questions as we might have and answered them with well-thought out answers.

        I guess the thing I would stress most about applying for a permit is to address every article in the permitting process whether or not it applies to your situation!   The majority of the revisions we are making are just that… i.e.: We will use no chemicals in this mining operation, etc. etc.

        Secondly, every statement made regarding an agency of any sort must be accompanied by a supporting document.  For example:  Lawrence County, S.D., does not require a Conditional Use Permit for mining on U.S. Forest Service property.  A letter must accompany the permit from Lawrence County Planning & Zoning stating that fact.

        These are a couple examples of how thorough the permitting process has become.  Before we curse the “establishment” though, you might want to remember that each of these precautions has a precedence that established the rule.

        I often liken the legal process to a common user’s manual for anything you purchase.  First you have to page through 10 pages of WARNING before you can begin use or assembly!  Why is that?  I often have to stop, take a deep breath and remember that some fool used their electric razor in the shower and sued the company because they received a shock!

        Last but not least, the Terrain Navigator Pro program for mapping is very helpful, dropping out or adding boundaries and markers as needed.  Bob does an excellent job mapping, but the features of the program make the entire process much more user friendly.

        The tenps were in the 90s, the bugs were out in full force, but we enjoyed our walk-through, the feedback we received and stories told; thank you Roberta!

Wandering...

        We had talked about a trip to Nebraska to visit our new grandson… have you ever watched the movie “R.V”.?

        Maybe I’m exaggerating slightly…

        We left South Dakota Wednesday, getting away from the crush of the Rally and taking the grandkids to meet their new half-brother.

        We’ll take you back a bit, to when we procured a used motorhome in pretty decent shape. There were some problems as with any used vehicle, but the majority were pretty straightforward… gas line to the generator, a reluctant water pump, nothing that created a major issue.

        We left the Black Hills and headed out on I-90.  Two grandkids hadn’t in recent memory traveled farther than Pierre, so they started wondering “how far” within an hour or two.  The roads were in good shape with a little construction scattered here and there.

        We noticed that we didn’t meet many motorcycles… further indication of a small Rally.

        We were in the middle of no-where when Bob asked, “Is that a tire?” The answer was immediate with a clunk followed by the sound of a tire flapping into the wheel well.  Pulling over, I jumped out to see fluid running beneath the motorhome, which caused immediate alarm.  Luckily, I guess, it was the water reservoir draining!  Outside of that, the inside duelly had blown and that was the most visible damage.

        We were lucky enough to be able to limp into a little town named Draper and very relieved to see a mechanic’s shop in the rear of a convenience store. We approached the clerk with our problem and she stated, “Well, the guy who’s got the mechanic shop has closed it and opened a bar,” pointing down a hallway. We ventured down the hall to the bar, where the bar maid said he was out.  A really nice woman then started talking to Bob about the repairs.  I went back to check on the kids, who were literally hanging out the windows of the motorhome.

        As we stood there, a man approached and said, “Is the propane tank leaking?”  I agreed I smelled propane so he turned that off and then stated, “If he’d pull out of the mud puddle I’ll take a look at that tire.”

        We’d found the guy to help us like so many rural people do… he had that tire fixed and us back on the road in no time!  The downside was that it took out the propane line and some of the electrical in addition to the water reservoir.

        So here’s a public thanks to the guy and his wife who run the Busted Nut Bar in Draper, S.D.  They are good people and if you go that direction, stop and buy them a beer!

We made it to Nebraska and had a great time exploring the Ashfall Fossil Beds.

Robey ended up with a really well made science kit called “Crystal Mining” by KidsLabs.  It kept him busy for hours, digging out various stones for his collection. He could identify most of them by name, having learned from Bob.  There was a nice assortment of quartz, rose quartz, amethyst, agate and dolomite.  We’ve got some great clay on one of our claims that we might try to create some Black Hills mineral kits.  It would take about 300 kits to use up just what we have handy here at home!

        Our hosts also took us to the Knox County Fair, which was a real treat for the kids and grownups alike. (I copied this photo from Britt's Facebook)



All the kids in Nebraska minus Alex, who'd rather take a bike ride

          So we said our farewells to our extended family and got about 15 miles down the road before the same tire blew again! 

        We were so fortunate that the first guy who stopped to help was a race car driver, who turned around and went home to fetch his trailer, complete with every tool you could dream of!  His pit crew, probably wife or girlfriend, and he rotated in the new spare we had acquired. There’s good people everywhere, but rural America has the best!

        A good look at the tires showed the two that blew were more than ten years old; all the rest were of a newer vintage. 

        With that in mind, we proceeded home with one trek through some pretty gnarly road construction until the Black Hills were in sight, the air cooled and we were once again surrounded by the smell of pine trees and a crisp Black Hills evening.

Navigation...

          We’re experiencing our annual “traffic jam” here in the Black Hills, when the number of motorcycles outnumber cars and we actually have to “wait in line” for gas, groceries and service.  The Sturgis Rally and Races traffic seems pretty quiet from our perch here outside of Whitewood and on this first official day of the Rally we would venture to say it’s going to pass without too much impact.  A quick trip to town did find bikes lined up at gas pumps and a pretty good crowd at the local restaurant.

          Navigation this time of year is best done on alternative routes and we’ve lived long enough to know how to get just about anywhere using gravel roads (most motorcycle riders avoid them) and the best time to travel.  It’s like living in the city, but we only have to apply it the month of August!

          I told you we were getting a new computer program and it arrived last week.

          First we’ll talk about the why of this program.  The internet is a great place, but every time a service comes into demand it becomes a “pay” site.  A good example of this would be that we used to have several sites where we could look at topographic maps, toggle to aerial photos, do some drawing and print them out for our use in finding a location, maybe staking a claim.  As these sites become more popular, we are now prompted to pay for a service which was previously a free site.  We don’t have a problem with someone making a buck, but know that subscribing is not always the best way to spend money.

          We did a little studying of the subscription services and programs and found Terrain Navigator Pro looking as a good option.  We had to play with it a little and managed to create a map or two that we were very pleased with.  In fact, it measured up to most of the standards we wished for. 

          There is a nice assortment of lines to draw for various boundaries, markers to designate dig sites, old mine workings, whatever you might want to mark!  We like the program.  It’s pretty easy to use; I only had to resort to the help menu a couple of times to figure out what to do.  The print quality is great with a number of options that we like.

          One feature that is so fun to play with is the 3D toggle, taking a regulation topo from aerial to eye-point view.  It really gives you a good feel for the terrain! Bob can do this from just looking at a topo, but I find this feature really brings it to life!  I’m a little frustrated with the fact that the program often freezes with this feature.

          We did find a flaw when printing out our maps and that is we can’t print a map key or legend, depending on the terminology you prefer.  There is a nice option for labeling but no option of incorporating boundaries and markers into a map legend.

          I did, with a lot of experimenting first, call support and they confirmed that it is not an option.  The software support, I must say, was far superior to many I have encountered.  Instead of starting with the basics of, “is your computer plugged in?” the support personnel answered my direct question with a direct answer!  I like that. 

          So thumbs up on Terrain Navigator Pro with one suggestion for improvement!  That would reflect the perfectionist streak in both of us!

          We have another on-site inspection with Department of Environment and Natural Resources next week.  We’ve promised (with fingers crossed) a snow-free inspection and are hoping these temps in the 80s carry through!  We will be looking at the proposed mine and also those features we won’t disturb like the creek, historic mining activities and any structures or adjacent private property.

          We've been staying busy, with one party seeking some Black Hills geology knowledge, two parties looking to obtain a claim, and our continued effort to secure a small-scale mining permit.  Somewhere in between these we will try to take a little road trip to Nebraska so grandkids can visit their mom and introduce themselves to their new brother!

          Bob says we’ve been saving money while waiting for the permit… every day the price of gold goes higher and the un-mined gold is worth more!

         

Sturgis and the Black Hills

          Temperatures are hovering in the high 80s and low 90s… it must be Rally time!

          We’re usually pretty low profile this time of year, preferring to spend these latter years as remote spectators of the Sturgis Rally and Races. We did the biker thing before it was cool… now we prefer a nice shady stream on a hot day!

          We ordered a new computer program named Terrain Navigator Pro South Dakota.  Our expectations are good of this program and we will give you some feedback as we become acquainted with its features.  Bob has some AutoCad experience and our expectations are that it performs in a similar manner, but we are also realistic that this $300 program cannot match a several $1000 app.  We do hope to get our monies’ worth.  Frustrations mount when we try to produce a professional map from the limited available online mapping programs.  You can draw but not label, label but not draw…

          We had a “sweet” experience trying to find a remote claim we are pursuing.  It is either a real drone or will exceed all our expectations, because two trips to the area have failed to get us there! 

          Yesterday we headed out in hot weather, only to have “Old Rusty” overheat and leave us 10 miles short of our goal.  Bob managed to get us within a mile or so of our destination, but continued mechanical problems (probably some bad fuel) brought us limping back home.  Some very charitable women from Rapid City gave us a cooler full of bottled water and we thank them for that!

          The “up” side of the trip was at almost every stop to “cool” the engine, there were wild raspberries for the picking!  There’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, you just have to learn what to look for!  I commandiered this photo from Steve... thanks!

          Back to the Rally, which is a pot of gold of another sort.  Every year the population of Sturgis swells from several thousand to several hundred thousand.  This puts an enormous load on local services but also puts an enormous amount of money into the Black Hills economy.  We’re risking a guess of a moderate Rally since the numbers appear to be less at this point.

          We noticed, while sitting alongside the road letting Old Rusty cool, that the average biker looks to be mid-40s to 50 years old, and right now the car and bike numbers are about even.  Vendor tents are less in the town of Sturgis, but that may well be due to a new ordinance controlling time element on vendor tents.  There’s also a lot of talk about use of the name “Sturgis,” so don’t tell amybody…

          Our friends with the claim being claimjumped have received a reply from the claimjumpers, so as soon as we get a copy of that reply we will comment accordingly.

          So watch for our review of the new computer program and more insight into claimjumping!