There's Gold in an Old Tanzanian Lake

22nd August 2009

Today we cleaned up perhaps 11 ounces. Better, but still not great. There is a little too much invested into the overhead of this project, and not the gold mine itself, therefore this endeavor may be a failing enterprise. But today we did manage to expose over thirty feet of old shafts, drift mines into the rich placer which supposedly removed over 30,000 oz of gold! Cy also found an old rifle the other day dated 1894, and we had a nugget today weighing in at just under half an ounce, it’s about the size of a date.
My roommate Gerhart has gone home. He flew out on the flight that brought in investor David Atkinson, and tomorrow he’ll return in his own aircraft, a small 126 Cessna. He’s great, just like all the other men and woman working here at camp. We’re still hopeful that the gold will continue to accumulate in the riffles, and I’m anxious to know what tonights clean-up will actually weigh-up to.
After two freezing nights, the weather has warmed a little. Two mornings everyone worried, because once freeze up comes, the water disappears fast. I had to knock ice off everything, get pumps working, but I did have a little fun. In the large circular tubs that we use to pan inside, I took out large 2’ diameter circular sheets of ice, and placed them conspicuously around camp. They melted into things for about 2 hours, looking strange as though they had formed there, and then broke.
The hillsides are wonderful shades of yellow, orange, and red. They should have better adjectives, like Mojave, sepia, and maroon, because it’s really a very magical sight. I’ve seen the first glitter of starlight a few days ago with a pale showing of green aurora slowly waving down from above.
I’m gaining some weight and a little muscle back, which I tend to lose when I’m being all academic as Scotland the last few years. I still hope I can fly Deborah over to Alaska in the coming weeks. I’m sore (especially the back) when I go to bed, but that’s how work should be. The best part of my job is cleaning out the nugget box in the wash plant, which involves climbing up into the innards of the best, the trammel, a 40’ long mesh tunnel where tons of rock, water and mud come spinning down. A small gated box near the top end catches nuggets occasionally, so I clean it out, sort of like the city sewer – it’s a dirty, messy job. I wash my hands, and my face before dinner, because I predictably splatter mud all over my beard and forehead and cheeks.
The future is still uncertain for me, but I’ll be here for a little while yet, and I look forward to seeing family in Florida this Fall.

I met Bob Moriarty last night (24th). Cool, pony-tailed down-to-earth guy. I'm going to Tanzania in October to check out Douglas North's very large paleoplacer deposit for him and Jeff. Should have enough money then to complete a Masters in Mine Management in Sydney, Australia in February.