Alaska Gold Rush Diary

Chapter 120 Land Survey

Chapter 121 Land Survey

Using information from the Gold Rush Guild website, Zhou Xin identified several more plots of land.

He marked each of these lands and determined the order in which they would be surveyed.

These plots of land belong to the same indigenous company. When he called them, they said that several other gold mining teams were also interested in these plots, and the company could arrange for a salesperson to accompany them to view them.

Zhou Xin thought that having a salesperson accompany him would make the site inspection much easier, so he agreed.

Two days later, Zhou Xin set off in an off-road van arranged by the indigenous company.

There were three other people in the car. Through the salesman's introduction, Zhou Xin learned that they were all members of other gold mining teams.

They were all carrying expensive portable deep metal detectors, apparently wanting to confirm the value of these plots of land.

Upon seeing Zhou Xin's Eastern face and noticing that he was empty-handed and carrying nothing, the group's reactions immediately became lively.

"Buddy, we're not sharing our survey results with you. You'd better go back and bring your own equipment!"

The speaker was a middle-aged man in his fifties who looked a bit older than his age. Zhou Xin learned from the salesman's introduction that his name was Chandler, a veteran gold prospector who owned two mines in Alaska.

Zhou Xin smiled and said, "Thank you, I just wanted to get a general idea of ​​the situation, and I haven't purchased any of these cooking utensils."

Another young man in his early twenties chuckled dismissively: "Do you think gold panning is such an easy thing for you? Don't be fooled by the information online. This place isn't paved with gold. If you don't raise your awareness, you might lose all your money."

This man is called Marshall. He has only been in the industry for a few years, but he has a wealth of theoretical knowledge and is a master of theoretical discussions.

Although his words were a bit harsh, Zhou Xin wasn't angry.

"Thanks for the reminder. I don't think gold mining is easy, but I don't want to be too timid either," Zhou Xin nodded politely.

There was also a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties named Griffin on the bus, who remained silent the whole time.

"I've seen plenty of newcomers like you, who think that as long as they get the mine up and running, gold will keep flowing into their pockets, but most of them end up losing everything."

Marshall had an air of superiority, as if he were already a senior figure.

Zhou Xin smiled but didn't reply.

After a bumpy ride, the car finally arrived at the first piece of land.

"This land is approximately 600 acres, and the price is $1300 per acre, with no additional commission charged."

The salesperson provided a detailed introduction to the land, but Zhou Xin didn't listen carefully.

This land was never in his consideration, for the simple reason that it was too expensive.

But since we're here, it's worth taking a look at the land while we're at it.

The others took their instruments and dispersed to conduct the survey, while Zhou Xin wandered around aimlessly.

The scent of gold wafted into his nostrils from time to time. After walking for only half an hour, he was able to roughly determine the gold reserves and burial conditions of this land.

The gold here is buried relatively shallow, so the instruments should be able to detect it easily.

Although he could make a small profit if he found the right location, it wasn't very appealing to him.

The others who used instruments to survey the area were naturally much slower, and it took them more than an hour to gradually return to their parking spot.

"This piece of land is quite valuable. If there isn't a better piece of land available, I'll consider renting it," Marshall concluded based on his survey results.

Chandler laughed and said, "You're really generous, just telling others your exploration results like that. If this Easterner wants to compete with you, you've essentially done half a day's work for him for nothing."

It's clear that he's an extremely shrewd and stingy person.

Marshall, however, seemed somewhat dismissive: "How could a newcomer like this possibly compete with me? I'm a long-time customer of this Indigenous company."

Chandler asked, "Looks like you've opened quite a few mines already. How's it going? How much have you made?"

Marshall was taken aback by his question and chuckled awkwardly, "Not much, just a little profit, but I've gained enough experience. For the next mine, I plan to harvest at least 500 ounces of gold in one mining season."

In fact, his previous mines had all lost money. If it weren't for his father's financial support, he would probably have gone bankrupt long ago.

"You're really ambitious. That's a terrifying number. There aren't many gold rush teams in all of Alaska that can achieve that," Chandler praised.

"What's this? One day, I will surpass Parker and become the true king of the Alaskan gold rush." ​​Marshall was full of confidence, as if he had already achieved his annual goal of 500 ounces.

"I look forward to that day!"

During the conversation, the car set off again, heading towards the second piece of land.

The second plot of land was smaller than the first, only about 400 acres.

This land is leased using a low-rent plus profit-sharing model, with an annual rent of only $500 per acre, but a 15% gross profit share is required.

Although Zhou Xin could fully afford the rent for the land, he was somewhat dissatisfied with the commission arrangement.

He was confident that with his "smell of gold," he would reap a great harvest as long as he found the right land.

However, the higher the earnings, the more commission he needs to pay, which is obviously disadvantageous to him.

In contrast, the previous fixed-price model with high rent and no commission was clearly more suitable for him.

After surveying the land, he ultimately determined that it was inferior to the first piece.

The other people reached the same conclusion as him using the detector.

The detector has limited depth capabilities, and can only determine the gold content of soil within a range of about five meters below the ground.

The soil within this five-meter radius forms the basic foundation for ordinary gold mining teams.

If the gold content within a five-meter radius is sufficient, it is worth mining.

If the gold content is below five meters, then it's like winning the lottery.

If the gold content below five meters is very low or even nonexistent, they can still make a profit by relying on the soil within the top five meters.

But for Zhou Xin, the situation was quite different.

His abilities have improved significantly; he can now smell the scent of gold up to 10 meters underground and use that to determine its quantity.

This allows him to have more accurate survey results and make more detailed selections.

Next, they surveyed two more sites before returning to Anchorage.

Of the four plots of land we own today, three are only profitable enough to generate a small profit, while the other is definitely a money-loser.

Zhou Xin naturally wouldn't consider these plots of land.

There are three more plots of land to inspect tomorrow, and all three are on a no-commission model. Zhou Xin hopes to find something of value there.