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From its headquarters at York Factory on Hudson Bay, the Hudson's Bay
Company (HBC) controlled the fur trade throughout much of North America for
several centuries.
Gold discoveries were not reported – it was good policy (as we shall see),
on the part of Hudson’s Bay, and other fur companies, not to talk about gold
because protection of the fur trade was their overriding corporate interest.
“Small quantities of gold were reported by traders in the 1830s and at
some posts became current in local trading, though not common or in quantity.
Hudson's Bay Company policy, or the good judgement of the Chief Trader, kept
news of such discoveries quiet until a large trove was brought into Fort
Kamloops in 1856 by members of the nearby Tranquille tribe. When news of the
find, and a large poke of gold dust brought to James Douglas, Chief Factor of
the Columbia Department at Fort Victoria and also Governor of Vancouver
Island, decided to ship it to San Francisco for smelting. Some historians
have suggested he did so deliberately to spread news of the gold find so as
to provoke a gold rush so as to force Britain's hand on the status of the
British mainland north of the 49th parallel, which since the Oregon Treaty
had remained unincorporated and had remained solely the domain of the fur
company and its native clientele. American miners had been appearing more
frequently on British soil and Douglas felt he had to take action.” Wikipedia
The Gold Colonies
News of the gold discoveries in New Caledonia (New Caledonia, today’s
north and central British Columbia, was a fur-trading district of the
Hudson's Bay Company and was part of the British claim to North America)
spread like wildfire. From 1858 to 1863, tens of thousands of miners and
others, all infected with ‘gold fever’, invaded the interior of B.C. - HBC’s
native fur-trading territory.
The first major gold find was 15 kilometers south of Fort Yale at Hill's
Bar where miners worked alongside Chief Kowpelst and his people. During its
heyday Yale was the largest town north of San Francisco and west of Chicago,
hitting a peak population of roughly 16,000.
Two French miners raped a native girl near Lytton, they were caught,
killed, and their beheaded bodies sent floating down the river as a warning.
Several dozen miners and natives were killed before an accord was reached and
the Fraser Canyon War ended.
On hearing of the atrocities Governor Douglas set into motion his plans to
enforce British authority and sovereignty on the mainland. Douglas declared
the Colony of British Columbia and was sworn in as its first Governor, on
August 1, 1858. Also in 1858, at the age of 39, Matthew Baillie Begbie, BC’s
famous hanging judge, was sworn in as a ‘circuit’ judge to bring British law to
the colonies scattered mining communities.
Miners spread farther and further afield into the new colonies interior.
Discovery after discovery, gold rush after gold rush followed; Wild Horse
Creek, Big Bend, Similkameen, Cassiar, Omineca, Tulameen, and of course the
largest and most famous, the Cariboo.
Gold was discovered in 1859 on the Horsefly River by Peter Curran
Dunlevey. Other strikes were on Keithley Creek and Antler Creek in 1860.
Further strikes along Williams Creek in 1865 pushed the Cariboo Gold
Rush into full swing.
From the Cariboo Sentinel comes the following:
- June 17th-July 29th 1865 - unparalleled yield of gold
taken off Erikson claim in Cariboo. Above $160,000 taken out in 7 weeks.
- Increase of Gold production of nearly 100% (or 1/2 million
dollars) in one year. Production for June/July 1865 = $950,648.
Production for June/July 1864=$475,158.
Barkerville was named after Englishman Billy Barker whose claim was the
richest and most famous yielding 37,500 ounces of gold for the seven partners.
At the peak of the gold rush Barkerville had about 10,000 residents.
All this activity focused attention on the mainland and led to increased
development. Governor Douglas built, in response to the Cariboo Gold Rush,
the 650-km Cariboo Wagon Road from Yale to Barkerville providing an important
transportation route for further development of his newly created mainland
colony.
The colony of Vancouver Island was also affected. Most miners, after
sailing north from California, landed in Esquimalt Harbor not far from Fort
Victoria to stock up on provisions and businesses boomed.
“The search for gold is the single most dramatic event of British
Columbia’s early history. Although European settlement originally was founded
on furs, it was the gold rushes of 1858 through the 1860s that changed the
direction of development in this province for considerable time. These gold
rushes not only brought a sharp increase in population and wealth but also
initiated development of an early infrastructure of roads and services and
directly influenced the shape of British Columbia’s politics.”
Miners At Work, B. Griffin
Not for nothing was the Colony of Vancouver Island and the new mainland
Colony of British Columbia called "the Gold Colonies".
Today, what is Canada’s Province
of British Columbia would very likely belong to the United States if it
wasn’t for Douglas, gold and prospectors.
Seekers Of Gold
“You see we prospectors are a dying breed. The world doesn't function
around us anymore like it used back in the gold rush. The people who care for
you can’t understand. What in the world would make you want to risk your life
to look for gold? They don’t understand the dream, but in the old days
everybody understood. You didn’t have to worry about your wife leaving ya or
your friends scorning you because you wanted to find the gold.
Everyone was doing it. Everyone dreamed of the day when they would be
the one to strike it rich. represent freedom for all, but what does it mean
to people today? I’ll tell you, a big house and a nice car. People don’t see
that it’s so much more than just finding the golden score. It’s not seen as a
building block for freedom. It’s been twisted and messed up to the point of
being stuck on a scratch and win ticket. That is what is left of the
prospector’s dream in today’s world. All the people around you don’t
understand, they can’t see the freedom and the hope it brings you when you
chase the dream. They just think you’re dreaming, but we know the truth don’t
we?
The truth is you’re living and they are the ones that are
dreaming. Their search for the big car and the nice house. Ha! Illusions I
tell you brought onto their brain less minds by a media machine. How I wish I
could chase after it still, but the fight’s over for me lad. I’ve got a bad
ticker you see, but you can, can’t you son?" he explained eyeing me
almost enviously, there is nothing better than standing high up on a mountain
top and gazing down upon the world. It makes you feel like your own man. Free
from all prison that the world tries to make of your life. You see the world
doesn’t want you to be your own man. If they did, they wouldn’t be trying to
make you swallow the lie all the time and you know how they do it. Through
that little box over there, he said pointing to the television across the
room.
Look at those people over there, he explained pointing to the people
staring at the TV. They’re swallowing every word of it and it makes me sick.
Our pioneer brothers are rolling in their graves I tell ya. They wouldn’t have
wanted it this way, this isn’t freedom. People today don’t know what freedom
is. That little box over there tells them that they’re free, but they’re not.
You see when somebody tells you something enough times you’ll start to
believe it. Tell me you won’t give up, tell me you will follow the dream to
the ends of the earth. If not for yourself then do it for your pioneer
brothers who help create this world and you become one of them. Remember
freedom is worth dying for and I’m not talking about dying in a war fighting
for some illusionary freedom that your government tells you have. I’m talking
the real stuff that comes from the open spaces and when you spent enough time
in the mountains you’ll know what I’m talking about. It will grab your soul
and won’t leave you until the day you die. It’s what pushes all great men and
once you see it you’ll chase it for the rest of your days.”
Seekers of gold is dedicated to all the prospectors out there who have
searched for the dream and all of those who are still out there searching for
it. Daryl Friesen author, Seekers Of Gold
Prospectors are today still scouring the bush, in remote, and not so
remote places – chasing the rainbow and its pot of gold - looking for the
next discovery. Alaska, Canada’s Yukon Territory and Province of British
Columbia are still vast and underexplored places.
Prospecting is of course the integral first step in the process of
discovery, walking the bush and hammering rocks means boots on the ground.
It's people walking through the bush that have found the worlds mines. A
prospectors contribution to our society and to our overall economic well
being is in their ability to find brand new mineral occurrences. These
findings are what leads us to new deposits, new mines and all the benefits that
spring forth.
Old time prospectors are independent minded, bush savvy and, geologically
speaking, very knowledgeable. Unfortunately for them they lack the
wherewithal to advance their discovery and most often option their property,
or project if you will, to a junior they hope will raise money and develop it
to the point where a more senior company wants to get involved, or perhaps
take it over outright.
Making a deal with a junior resource company, a vendor’s agreement, is
often the second step – the prospectors claims are turned over to be worked
for shares and or cash and a one or two percent net smelter royalty (NSR)
from a mine if the showing goes all the way. Being publically traded they
have access to capital and expertise the prospector most often does not.
It’s hard to invest in a prospector. Fortunately, if you want to invest in
a potential discovery or the building of something of value – be in on the
discovery of a mineral deposit and be there as the company moves it down the
development path towards a mine there are quality junior companies, both
private and public, to choose from. There exists enormous opportunities to
back excellent management teams with your investment money. We can dream of
discoveries made and money hard won, we too can chase the rainbow through our
publically traded junior resource companies - prospecting success and drill
programs that are targeting these showings should be on every investors radar
screen.
Juniors outperform majors
Mining is a self-depleting industry meaning mines have an inherently
limited lifespan. Every day a mine operates, it is that much closer to
running out of ore. The industry needs to find new deposits in order to
replace these ever-depleting mines.
For the past decade, junior mining companies have outperformed senior
miners at finding new mineral deposits and generating wealth for
stakeholders.
“These are among some of the findings released in a study conducted by
resource company strategist MinEx Consulting, which analyzed the performance
of explorers and producers operating in Canada between 1975 and 2014. What
the consultancy firm found is that, in the last decade, junior companies were
responsible for more than three quarters of all new mineral discoveries and
were approximately 30 percent more effective than senior companies at
generating wealth…
In 2009, 2010 and 2012 senior companies failed to make a single new
discovery.
Juniors handily beat the seniors when it comes to the total number of
discoveries. Of all the deposits found, over three quarters were made by
junior miners.
 
Juniors also spent more than the seniors on exploration - $14.6
billion compared to $12.5 billion - and their discoveries collectively had a
much higher valuation - $12.1 billion compared to $7.9 billion.” Frank
Holmes, Junior Mining Companies Have Taken a Senior Role
Conclusion
A prospectors place in the resource sector food chain is to explore for
and find mineral showings. A junior resource companies place is to acquire
these showings and develop, to a certain point, the world’s future mines.
Nowhere are prospectors and juniors more important to mining then right here
in British Columbia, a vast and under explored treasure trove of minerals.
When was the last time you heard of a major mining company making a
discovery? Prospectors/juniors find most deposits and prove them up to the
point where a major would step in and buy them.
Today the relationship between juniors and majors is so inextricably
linked that it’s doubtful a major mining company could replace its mined
reserves, let alone grow them, without keeping a close eye on junior’s
activities and a check book handy.
FACT - Without our prospectors and juniors many of today’s operating mines
would simply not exist.
“Without new exploration our mining industry will languish. Without
mining and the encouragement to develop new and large mines, all industries
that support it, such as transportation, utilities, banking, and the service
sectors ranging from catering to equipment manufacturing and sales, will
suffer immensely.”
Perhaps the importance of prospecting and junior resource companies in the
exploration and mine development food chain should be on all our radar screens.
Are they on yours?
If not, they should be.
Richard lives with his family on a 160 acre ranch in northern British
Columbia. He invests in the resource and biotechnology/pharmaceutical sectors
and is the owner of Aheadoftheherd.com. His articles have been published on
over 400 websites, including:
WallStreetJournal, USAToday, NationalPost, Lewrockwell, MontrealGazette,
VancouverSun, CBSnews, HuffingtonPost, Beforeitsnews, Londonthenews,
Wealthwire, CalgaryHerald, Forbes, Dallasnews, SGTreport, Vantagewire,
Indiatimes, Ninemsn, Ibtimes, Businessweek, HongKongHerald, Moneytalks,
SeekingAlpha, BusinessInsider, Investing.com, MSN.com and the Association of
Mining Analysts.
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Legal Notice / Disclaimer
This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment.
Richard Mills has based this document on information obtained from sources
he believes to be reliable but which has not been independently verified.
Richard Mills makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts
no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness.
Expressions of opinion are those of Richard Mills only and are subject to
change without notice. Richard Mills assumes no warranty, liability or
guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any
information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the
consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any
omission.
Furthermore, I, Richard Mills, assume no liability for any direct or
indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may
incur as a result of the use and existence of the information provided within
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