(Mr.Copper) Feb 27, 13:32
“I think I heard you mention once you were an advisor? care to add more info on that? “
While ment29 has set a high goal, I just as soon leave it at Farmboy V today. <G> I think you have the idea. I did what any advisor did that ran around in war torn jungles dressed in Hi Tech hiking boots (they were the rage), blue jeans, Khaki shirts, and the MUST have accessory, the Banana Republic photographers vest. Ray Bans and boonie hat were optional. But there is a story I can tell here. I met my very first gold miner, actually 6 of them, during one of my ‘adventure trips’.
The year was 1987 and I had just come out of the Nicaraguan jungles after a 6 week ‘hike’. There was a bar in Honduras that reminded me of the bar scene in Star Wars. The one with all the different types of ‘species’ and clothing. Same for this bar. Some had suits, some had camo, some where dressed in disco attire, it was an interesting mixture.
I was getting my first cold beer in awhile and just checking out the surroundings when in walk 6 Americans wearing leg holsters with 6 shooters, cowboy boots, old worn out jeans, and looked like they had not bathed, or shaved for a couple months. Rough looking bunch. They grabbed a table and sat down to do a little drinking. And while the patrons all had their opinions what the proper dress code should be, these guys stood out like a Sunday school teacher in a biker bar. In fact, they would have looked at home in a biker bar. Guessed their ages to be late twenties, one or two early thirties, but life in the jungle can make you look a little older than you are.
Well, after about 20 minutes my curiosity got the best of me so I stuck up a conversation with the boys. Come to find out they were down on the Nicaraguan border doing some gold mining. You know, I was ready to hear what they were doing in ‘town’, but when they said, “mining gold” I about fell out of my chair. First, I did not know a thing about gold, or silver, or mining. That was long before I knew anything about financial matters, or gold. I had a checking account, savings account, and a credit card, and that was about my extent of understanding anything in the financial world.
As these guys told their story I sat in total wonder and amazement. They described how they were panning for gold on some river, and he even done a little cyanide leaching in search of gold. They lived in tents, ate a lot of rice and beans washed down with coffee. Every few months they would load up their findings and come to town to sell it. Spend a day or two picking up supplies, and obviously enjoying a cold one or three, and then return to their ‘stake’.
Understand, the border area was one of the hot places to be. They said they had one exchange of pot shoots one night with the Nicaraguan military but that no one had got hurt. Seems the Nicaraguan Army thought they had run up on a Contra camp. After that little misunderstanding, they were left alone to search for the gold.
I listened and just shook my head a lot. I thought these guys were way off the chart. They did not look, act, like mercenaries. I had seen a few of them down there. They sorta looked like what I thought a drug runner would like like. But looking at their hands and faces, you could tell they had been doing some serious manual labor. The clincher was one of them looked carefully around the room and then pulled out a couple gold nuggets and held them in his palm for me to see. About the size of a dime, maybe a little larger. He said they had found some smaller, a few larger.
Well, that was my first introduction to gold mining. I thought it a crazy idea then, and still do today. But who knows what may happen when the coin stores run out. I may see if I can find those boys. <G>
I think of them from time to time. Especially over the past 5 years since I got into investing in gold and silver. I hope they made it out in one piece. I hope they did not trade all their gold for local currencies. And I hope today they are wealthy and living well. From the looks of them, they earned it. And I hope if they ever read the pages of Gold Eagle, they will check in and tell us how the adventure story ended. On one hand I thought they were nuts, and in another way, I had to admire them for seeking out such an adventure. And its good to know, there will always be some that reject the norm, refuse to be imprisoned in some office cubicle, and will walk a different path, no matter how weird it may seem to others.
Lets just hope the coin stores stay in business for the near future. The alternative makes me tired just thinking about it. <G>
Just a farmer, with a few wild memories, Farmboy
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