Colorado Gold Miner

I have been thinking about doing this article for a while now, but procrastination kept getting in the way. With gold prices at an all time high and there seeming to be no end in sight to the long-term rise; I guess I really need to do it.

I’m not one that sits and stares at the gold price every day to see how much my little stash is worth, but I do like to take the occasional look to see whether or not its time to part with some of it or not. I do not mine for a living (though at these prices, I probably could). The gold I take out of the ground gets put away for the rainy day when I might need some extra cash or my retirement… which ever comes first.

If you are like me and just mine for recreation, you probably have several pounds of concentrates sitting around waiting for their final clean-up. With the price of gold regularly hitting all-time highs, maybe its time to take some of those cons and get them panned out and sent off to the smelter for a nice payday.

There are people who are all doom and gloom about the economy and the future value of the dollar, who think that you should just sit on your gold because it is going to be the only currency worth having in the coming future. While I can understand where these people are coming from, I disagree. This country and its currency are going to be strong for many decades to come.

Politicians will get the message, as they did in previous administrations, that uncontrolled deficit spending is not going to sit well with the American people. There will be changes in the spending habits of the government or the people will vote them out of office. We saw signs of that in the recent mid-term elections… But, I digress…

Will gold prices continue to rise? And, if so, for how long?

I’m of the opinion that gold will continue to rise in the near future, but that there will be a sell-off in the near future that will drop the price 10% or more. So the question becomes: Do I clean-up my gold concentrates and sell them off now or wait to see if the price keeps going up?

I have a few hundred pounds of concentrates that probably contain a few ounces of fine gold. I have several ounces clean and put up for safe keeping, With this in mind it probably would not hurt me (or my future) by selling off 20% or so of my stash. I will probably replace that amount, and more, this Spring when I return to the gold fields again.

By selling that amount and then taking that cash and using it to invest in better mining equipment for next year, I should actually be able to increase my gold production significantly. This would  lead to more savings in the long run and, in its own small contribution, help the economy… At least for a few gold mining equipment dealers.

I could also take some of the proceeds and get my wife an extra-special 25th anniversary gift (November 30th). Yup, she’s put up with this crazy entrepreneur for 25 years… She must be a saint.

The point is that most of us miners have gold or concentrates sitting around. The economy is crap right now, so why not take advantage of the crappy economy (and high gold prices) and take a little out of our stash and send it to the refiner for a quick cash infusion into our own personal economy.

Take the profits from the sale of your gold and invest them in new mining equipment or use them to give your family an extra-special Christmas. Its not going to kill your nest egg to use a small portion of it now to make your own life a little better… or your mining a bit more productive. Sometimes we just need to strike while the iron is hot and make our money before trends change and we find ourselves holding on to some cheap dust.

Drag those concentrates out of the garage and get them cleaned up. Don’t go crazy and sell everything you have, but part with a portion of them, then watch to see what happens to the economy and gold prices in the future.

If gold keeps rising, maybe you will want to part with a bit more down the road. If the economy continues to tank, you may wish to increase your stash.

However you decide to handle things, I’ll see you in the gold fields of Colorado soon.

Related articles

• Factbox: Gold milestones on the road to record high (reuters.com)
• Gold breaks through $1,400 level (theglobeandmail.com)
• A return to the gold standard? (financialpost.com)
• A return to the gold standard would solve nothing (guardian.co.uk)