Why I did not buy a
Fraser River Placer Claim
that was for sale in the Cariboo
Aspects that can Affect the Value of a Placer Claim
or
Not part-time when I live in Calgary
In the spring of 2005, I decided not to buy a placer claim that was
for sale on the Fraser River North of Quesnel in the Cariboo region.
I lost a fair bit of money because of questions I didn't ask, and because
of regulatory aspects that I didn't find out about until after I got the
reclamation permit.
Anyone interested in discussing this subject can contact me,
Brian Marshall, at bmarshal@agt.net or phone +1 403-651-0584
Access and Hiring Equipment
There was access to the claim via forestry roads. It would have been
fine if I was going to bring in some serious equipment to do some
serious work. I didn't have the money for that. To hire a 'guy
with backhoe' periodically would have been very time-consuming.
Cutting Trees and Drawing Water
After getting a reclamation permit, I still had to get a license to
cut and a permit to draw water from the river. My mistake - I thought
they were going to be issued with the reclamation permit. It meant
that I couldn't do any machine digging before I had to decide whether
I was going to complete the purchase of the claim. I could do far
less testing than I had planned.
Fraser River Bar Restrictions and Water Levels
There are recommended practices for mining Fraser River bars. My
reclamation permit specified that I had to follow these practices.
There were many limitations and rules. One was that work on the bar
was only to be done "in the dry". Another aspect about Fraser bars
is that the water level can change substantially and quickly, and work
early in the year can result in equipment (like excavators) being lost.
Fraser bars can only be worked part of the "season". All these factors
affect whether money can be made.
Questions about Prospective Value
- Was the ground worked in the 1800's?
- Have a bunch of different people worked the claim?
- Has the claim been machine-worked?
- Will modern equiptment give me an advantage over previous
owners?
- How were any $/yd figures calculated?
- What are the chances of finding a new, minable deposit?
- What am I paying for this chance?
Making Money - Considerations
- Trees are overburden
- Time spent doing things other than mining - fixing roads,
hiring people, getting fuel
- Amount of ground that has to be worked per day to make money
- Length of the season