> THE GANG’S ALL HERE Jeff Williams (center) with, from left to right, Bobcat Tours owner Steve Lindley, Slim and Mario Amabile, who plays Nevada Jack in Williams’ videos.
Mountain, Gold Basin, Lost Basin and Eldorado Canyon. His biggest find was a 2.5-ounce nugget in Arizona, but he says it’s less about the money than satisfying his gold fever. “It’s not about having it; it’s about finding it,” he says. Occasionally he’ll send placer gold to be melted at a refinery, for which he’s paid 98 percent of the “spot price,” or market rate. I sheepishly ask how much money he makes from prospecting, and he laughs. “Can you make a living at this?
SOLID GOLD Prospector and YouTube star Jeff Williams wants you to watch these gems. Find them on YouTube by searching “Ask Jeff Williams.” “LOST SPANISH GOLD !!!” With a brand-new metal detector, Williams sets out to find an old Spanish mine. He finds it, but it’s guarded by a small army he wasn’t expecting.
If you know what you’re doing and you’re lucky, yes,” he says. “If you have a good capital reserve, if you happen to have a good claim that has good reserves in the ground, yeah, you can make money at it. How many people do that? Maybe one out of a million. Keep it as a hobby—I guarantee you’ll have much more fun. … If you find gold, that’s a cherry on top, but no, I would not quit my day job. I’ve seen too many guys try that and fail miserably. “Just like in the days of the Old West, the 1880s,” he continues.
“BLOWING UP DYNAMITE !!!” You shouldn’t tamper with dynamite tins when poking around old mines, but Slim does what he wants, and he wants to blast a new tunnel. “I FOUND BIGFOOT with his GOLD !!!” Apparently the Sasquatch has gold fever, too. “GET MORE GOLD !!! Sluice Box Set Up” Do you even know what a sluice box is? You will once you watch this video.
16 LasVegasWeekly.com July 30-august 5, 2015
“They said, ‘I’m going to strike it rich in California. What did they end up doing? Working for another guy with a mining claim or working for a mining company for $4 a day. All the good grounds are already claimed up; all the good minerals have already been extracted—the easy gold anyway—so in order for you to actually make money at it, you need to have a big company that has access to big claims and big equipment, or you happen to be a lucky one that you read about in these mining journals, a guy that stumbles upon this 63-ounce nugget with a metal detector. That does happen, but not very often.” Williams partners with Steve Lindley, owner of Bobcat Tours and Desert Outfitters, a prospecting shop in central Las Vegas. Lindley picked up the hobby two years ago when he and his nephew bought a metal detector to seek out treasure in the desert. (He’s found coins, bullets, belt buckles and other artifacts.) What began as a hunt for used prospecting equipment ended with Lindley becoming owner of Gold Rush Prospecting in Boulder City, which he closed when he took over Desert Outfitters. “I just want to expose another generation to gold prospecting,” Lindley says, estimating that there are a few hundred active hobbyist prospectors in Southern Nevada. “It’s another option like kayaking or dirt biking or
fishing or hunting. We’re not looking for the mother lode. It’s another thing to do outdoors.” Desert Outfitters offers mining and prospecting tours based out of Nelson, Nevada’s Techatticup mine. The four-to-eight-hour affairs, which cost $139-$239, typically include a mine tour, a panning lesson and sightseeing at the group’s 80-acre mining claim. For $375 to $2,595, Williams (and Slim) host multi-day ranch stays and hands-on mining tours in ghost town Osceola, Nevada. “You’re not going to teach someone to pan in an hour or even a day,” Lindley says. “There’s a curve, and you develop your own technique. Jeff and I pan similar, but if you really watch it on video, it’s different.” The tours teach basic techniques and lay the foundation for hopeful prospectors, including do’s and don’t’s. Before filming, Williams and his crew check for carbon dioxide and monoxide, the threat of Hantavirus, shafts in the floor, pooled water, old explosives, rock falls and rattlesnakes, especially in the first 20 feet of a mine. “If you’re going to get into this, don’t go running into a mine,” Williams warns. “You might see me do it, but we have a full crew and special equipment.” In other words, don’t try this at home.