Gold Rush Yukon! - From the Alaska Forum

[golden optimist]

Copied from Jim Foley's Alaska Forum

Gold Rush Yukon"Discovery Channel, "How Not to Mine"

Seriously, who didnt see the Hoffmans getting tossed off Earl Fosters claim as soon as the claim holder saw his 20%? These guys showed no prospecting ability at all. They were just digging holes guessing and hoping, thats not how prospecting goes.Why would anyone waste time washing dirt without any gold in it? They just werent testing the ground with conventional methods, a pan and a shovel.Now they have flown to the Yukon in the middle of winter to meet a guy in a bar?How can you test the ground if you cant see it? Water is key to gold recovery, if you dont have water to wash the material,youve got to haul the water or the material to each other,both expensive operations. The new claim holder has 50 claims,but showed these guys "The One" with gold nuggets on it? Come on,ha ha If anybody wants to be part owner of a bridge in NY, send me some cash.Ive talked to some miners from around Dawson, access and water arent at this location.So why arent they up there now moving equipment over the tundra while its covered with snow and ice? Because they shouldve dug several ponds their first summer to catch the snow runoff so they would have water to run with.At least theyre out of Alaska, they cant dig any more ponds next to waterways.I cant imagine what a headache this show must be to DNR people showing "how not to mine".Most miners I know dont have a 1/4 of a million to go play miner with, and would never spend 15 grand on an old rusted JIG, ha ha.Lets hope that "Gold Rush Yukon" shows us all how to fly big machinery into a wilderness claim, along with water.The Hoffmans own an airport and have flying skills, they should be all set.Its just TV and should be watched for its entertainment value not for any educational content. Good Luck this season to all, Later
Dan

[Hoser John]

SOP= standard operating procedure for large claims. Rent rights to noobies--let them work for a %---then eject and profit from their ignorance---been thata way for over a 160 years. Would really like to run their tailings as they lost 100s & 100's a ozs in their insane op---John

[ROKONRANDY1]

I f I were those guys I would fight to keep the lease, The equipment is there all they would have do is dig out the loose stuff and back in the money. If the loose stuf is bar run the it would have a certain amout of resort values and with gravity there friend they could process it for the same cost of moving it plus pumping cost. rokonrandy

[swizz]

I f I were those guys I would fight to keep the lease....

Fight who? Fight Earl the claim owner who was nice enough to lease his claim to them?
Earl is a miner and claim owner, the Hoffmans are reality show entrepreneurs. Obviously it is in Earl's better interest to lease his claim to actual miners than the Discovery Channel for the purposes of filming a reality show.
Apparently the Hoffman's (lesees) did not make the lease endeavor worthwhile to Earl (leaser).
There is no "fight" option available here as the Hoffmans have no rights unless Earl violated the original lease agreement. If this original lease agreement has expired and all terms have been met by both parties, the claim owner (leaser) may or may not consider additional lease agreements or extensions.
IMHO.... these clowns need to move on down the road and peddle their show elsewhere, which is exactly what they are doing.
As a claim owner and legitimate Small Scale Miner,I have absolutely no sympathy for them. They are reality show entrepreneurs paid by the Discovery Channel. The show can successfully be filmed elsewhere at the expense or profit of another claim owner, or they can actually stake and file their own damn claim! Earl's obviously had enough and I can't say that I blame him.
.... that's my 2 cents.

[Joe S (AK)]

You Got It, Swizz,

Those who want a Gold Mining Show need to look elsewhere.

GRA never was, isn't and never will be anything other than a rating magnet with a mining backdrop.

I think of it as a train wreck shot from various angles for 13 weeks.

Joe

[Hoser John]

Great synopsis Joe-simple and straight as a arrow to the heart of the problem as usual-John

[ROKONRANDY1]

Operating in good faith goes a long way and the claim owner knew what he was getting when he leased to them. The courts of Alaska, does not matter who they would be friendly to. The party of the first part, the actors in the show have moved on. This is mining, I have seen it happen before, enjoy the show, just TV. Swizz u got it right the stars moved on. rokonrandy

[ROKONRANDY1]

any one remeber a lawyer named Murrey who did mining issues in Oregon about 20 years ago and had a office in Portland, he would have been able to mix some mining law with comon since and shifted half the blame to the claim owner who leased it to the newbes with out practicing the prudent man law. such as would a prudent man lease to newbes with out a proformance bond? NO, It goes on, Murry is just a flash back to the past when he would put the knee jerk to the land managers and some times he was able to bleed off a fair amout of there budget. rokonrandy