In the owners own words...

In 1980 my Father and I started the Pretty Girl Placer Mine. We were too inexperienced to know that 1/2 acre was not enough ground, so we just went ahead and did it. Within 2 years we had bought up the surrounding ground with proceeds from the gold production, which exceeded our original estimates handily. The property now consists of four patented mining claims, held fee simple, totaling around 20 acres. We mined the property with ever expanding operations, recovering over 2,000 ounces of gold (valued at a million $ give or take) until it was so large that it wasn't fun anymore. My Dad had cancer. We shut down in 1989 and the mine has sat dormant until now. I figured I would open the mine again when I decided to retire, which is still several years away, but Dad passed away a few years back, people are starting to build homes in the area and the price of gold is up again, so now is the time to finish up the mining and reclaim the property.

The estimated value of the proven reserves exceeds $2 million USD. We are in the process of moving the county road for easy access to the last 100,000 yards of "high grade", which shows values of $24 per yard or higher. We operate under a "Small Miners Exclusion Statement" so permitting is minimal. I have most of the equipment needed, including a trommel, Cat 977, Drag line and recovery systems.

I am looking for a joint venture partner with $125,000. This will be secured by the property and equipment, the value of which exceeds the investment. The money will be used as operating capital so that we aren't forced to sell gold at the prevailing market price to pay expenses. Additionally we need a little more equipment, some of which will have to be custom built on site by us, as well as the remaining work that needs to be done to move the road. The mining plan calls for a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 3 years operation. Depending on the weather, the mining season runs from April through September and could be arranged to coincide with either a college or a "snowbird" schedule.

It is difficult to know exactly how to word this next part, so I will just be perfectly candid. The successful JV candidate will either be available to work at the mine or will furnish someone in his (or her) stead. I want a JV rep on site . What I do not want is an absentee investor who wants to send his progeny to "oversee" the investment. Anyone at the mine will pull their own weight. It is a fun, exciting and fulfilling time and a baby sitter I am not.

The mine is located 3.5 miles from Helena, up Grizzly Gulch. It is on a county road, has water and electricity. Grizzly Gulch is a tributary to the famous "Last Chance Gulch" where the discovery of gold caused Helena to be founded.The successful JV candidate will make a great ROI. He will take 50% of all gold as his proceeds. The gold will be divided from three categories, nuggets, scads and fines. Sale of the gold, taxes on same and timing of any sale, will be the responsibility of the JV and myself individually. I am not an attorney, nor is this legal advice, but it is my belief that raw, unrefined gold is not taxable until it is sold, so the JV may benefit tax wise. The agreement between the JV and I would be a limited partnership, as opposed to a general partnership, to limit liability to the original investment only.

Gold from the Pretty Girl Placer runs 920 fine, meaning 92% pure gold alloyed with a little silver, copper and base metals. This is a very high fineness, the average for the general area around Helena is a low of .560 fine to .930 high. About 20% of the recovered gold is in nugget form with nuggets up to 1 1/2 ounce nuggets. When we were operating the Pretty Girl in the 80's it was listed as the second richest operating placer mine, on a per cubic yard basis, by the Bureau of Mines and Geology, out of approximately 300 operating placer mines in the state.

If we are going to mine this season, you should reply with all due haste. Thank you.

To receive more information email us

and ask about the

Pretty Girl Placer JV #L280

 

fax (208) 265 5377

 

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VHS Video Available

If you think you can meet the above requirements and want some fun and excitement, as well as a great return on your investment and some tax advantages, please contact me. Along with tons of pictures and information from the ten years of mining, I have a video of a typical day's run in 1986 which is available to view while you are here checking out the mine or I will lend it out with a $50 refundable deposit, you pay the postage. The reason for the deposit is to sort out people who are not really interested and to keep control of the number of videos floating around.

ADDENDUM

Response to this listing had been tremendous. Several interested JV candidates have made the trek to Montana to meet with me and look over the property. Everyone who has seen the property has wanted to finalize a package and go mining, but for one reason or another it hasn't happened. I have raised the price from the original listing of $105,000 to the present $125,000 in order to fund the purchase of a large hydraulic excavator which will expedite the moving of the road and the mining process itself. With the additional asset of the excavator, the entire investment will still be more than covered by the property and equipment.

Some of the people who have contacted me, did so hesitantly because they said the listing "sounded too good to be true" and they thought there may be some hidden flaw. Please understand that I could probably ask for more money up front, but all I am trying to do is cover the cost of operations for the first two years and that rather than have the price too high where I would be forced to accept the first offer that came along, I have kept the price to a minimum so that I can have the luxury of choosing the JV partner I want to work with for the next three years. I am looking forward to a lot of hard work, a lot of fun and a lot of gold and want a JV partner with the same vision and desire.