Do you have a plan?

       This past week, as promised, we met with a ranger of the local U.S. Forest Service office.  It was a preliminary meeting to discuss our Plan of Operation for a small placer mining permit.

       

We were pleased that everything seemed to be in order for submittal, as we spent about ½ hour answering a few questions regarding where we plan to mine, what kind of equipment and our ideas on what constitutes an environmentally-friendly operation.  Bob’s experience in all aspects of large-scale mining is applicable to this project.  It doesn’t matter the size of the operation, the same principles apply… minimal disturbance, efficient reclamation, and a vigilant eye to maximizing production while minimizing impact.

        So we feel the meeting went well with some helpful comments from the ranger.  The permit will go to various parties for feedback in their area of expertise, with another meeting on the Plan of Operation in March.

        We’ll discuss in a future blog a comment by the ranger that parties are buying claims on Ebay, getting the impression they are real estate.   It’s something we find a common misconception that needs attention.

        So our permit is progressing and we have a “partner” whose role in this operation is developing the equipment we need for this small mining permit.  He’s been very busy building a trammel to process the gravel.  We’re pretty impressed with the result so far. 

When we started looking for equipment it was hard to find anything to process a small-scale operation.  A multitude of options were recreational scale, then jumped to 250-yard per hour equipment.

He has developed a grizzly to separate out large rock which will be reclaimed, the “ore” feeding into a multiple-stage trommel for various degrees of separation.  Black sands, which are plentiful, are mineral rich in this area and will be reserved as concentrates. 

It’s great to have a partner who has mastered so many of the trades necessary to fabricate equipment.  We’re anxious to see a demonstration once everything is in place!  Our partner plans to develop and sell these trommels, so drop us an email if you are interested…

        Our contact information can be found at http:/blackhillsgoldmines.com as well as mine photos, historical information, claim information… we’ve got it!