Gold mining in this part of Idaho

[Jim Franklin]

is still active. One is a deep underground shaft and tunnels about 15 miles southeast of the city limits and another new operation is reprocessing old tailings in the Boise Basin about 25 miles north of the city limits.

[Dave McClung]

Yes. Gold mining has been a big part of Idaho's history. Most of Idaho's gold is fairly low grade (compared to Alaska); however, at today's gold prices I look for some of the abandoned mines to reopen.

I was CEO of a company that operated the Thunder Mountain, Yellow Pine and Stibnite mines. All of them closed about 20 years ago because the cost of producing the gold was more than the gold price. At that time an once of gold sold for less than $400. I wouldn't be surprised to read that any of those mines reopened.

In fact, a quick search of Google shows that there is legal activity by companies preparing to reopen at least two of those mines.

[Hal Paul]

There is still a lot of private prospecting as well. I recently talked with a guy who does some panning during fishing trips and he had recently sold 2.5 ounces of gold that he had found this year. Last month my dad and I drove along the Salmon river up to Mackay, ID and saw several people panning, or running small dredges. The place where we stayed while we were in Mackay was owned by a woman who works a claim she owns in the national forest. She would have been in the mountains when we were there except that the area of her claim was inside the evacuation zone of one of the large forest fires we had this past summer.

Londa and I took a drive up to McCall yesterday and while I didn't see anyone looking for gold on the Payette River, I saw a lot of places that looked promising for panning.

[Jim Franklin]

Hal, my cousin and her husband have a claim for panning somewhere along the Boise River up towards Atlanta, I believe. I suppose it could prove to be a remunerative hobby if not a lucrative one.

In my Community Ed. US History class in the session on Westward Movement I offer a handout on gold mining from Wikpedia and it identifies places in about thirty or more states where gold has been found and not just in the West. Some eastern states are included.

[Sarah Smith]

There is an excellent mine tour available out of Victor, Colorado.

You meet at the museum, reservations required, and they take you on the company bus. You get to tour a huge open pit mine, go up in one of the huge trucks, go in a crusher, etc.

And over at Cripple Creek there is still a wonderful tour of an underground mine that takes you down in the cage.

BUT gold prices are very high and these may not be available much longer.

[John Kennedy]

While not absolute law and gospel, it is well to keep in mind Mark Twain's observation that a mine is a hole in the ground owned by a fool down which money is poured. The California gold rush made some miners rich, indeed. For the most part, the people who sold the miners food, clothing, shelter and supplies made far more.

[Dave McClung]

While not absolute law and gospel, it is well to keep in mind Mark Twain's observation that a mine is a hole in the ground owned by a fool down which money is poured. The California gold rush made some miners rich, indeed. For the most part, the people who sold the miners food, clothing, shelter and supplies made far more.

It has not changed much. Today the game is a little different. The money is made in selling stock in the mines. The owners, mostly Canadian Corporations, buy the mineral rights the contract with someone to do the actual mining then sell stock in the company. Most of the money is made in the issuance of stock.