What makes a Prospector Tick?

The days of the old sourdough prospectors in Saskatchewan are past, but the fruits of their labour are to be found throughout the North. Most important mineral discoveries were made by these men, including the orebody at Flin Flon, (a part of which is in Saskatchewan), the mines at Uranium City and others.

They worked secretly, when they headed into the bush, by dog team, canoe, or airplane. No one, except those with whom they were associated with in town and their closest relatives (sometimes not even them), knew where they were going. It was essential that if they made a "find" no one else would know about it, at least not until it was staked and safely secured in their name. Soon after the staking, however, the claims appeared on government maps, and it became known that "Joe had made a find".

This brought others into the area, to "tie on" claims to Joe's, in case the original discovery extended beyond Joe's claim boundaries, or that it was a favourable area, and other deposits lay nearby. "Tie-on" claims were known as "moose pasture".

The original finder did not then object to the disclosure and the arrival of new people in the area. It gave his property publicity and enhanced his chances of interested mining companies in it.

Too often the prospector has been pictured as a loner, travelling with all his worldly goods on his back or in his canoe.

He always was accompanied by a partner (there were rare exceptions), usually one less experienced than he, so he became the leader and the partner the trainee. In this way, new prospectors were developed.

In the early days, a prospector needed a backer, or "grubstakes". The backer, after coming to an agreement with the prospector as to what area would be prospected, would put up the money for a percentage of whatever was found.

The prospector and his partner would then depart for the field, his canoe was lashed to the struts of the plane, with food, supplies, and equipment for a planned period in the bush.

When the pilot dropped the men off at a designated spot, usually an island away from bears and insect pests, it was arranged for a pickup at a future date.

When that date arrived, the partners would return to the base camp from their last trip into the surrounding country, to await the arrival of the plane, which would be bringing in the mail and new supplies, to move them to a new location, or to fly them home.

Sometimes the plane was late due to bad weather or oversight at the base. I have sat for four days on an island, listening for the hum of an approaching plane, staring into the southern skies until my eyes burned.

The weather was perfect, so they must have forgotten us! Will they ever remember us? Will we have to paddle out of the country, 150 miles, without grub, which was by now almost depleted?

One begins to hear aircraft and waits expectantly as the hum fades out of earshot, either it was a plane going by, too far to be visible, or it was "all in the head".

In either case, it is hard to imagine a situation more frustrating than this, to my knowledge, no one has been permanently lost in this situation, but there have been many cases of frustration and suffering.

Life in the bush moves fast, but vaguely, the prospector pins a calendar on the wall of his tent and marks off the days.

There are no Sundays in this business and the length of the day is limited only by the light, and daylight hours are long in the summer when the prospector is in the bush.

The modus operandi of the prospector consists of making traverses through the country being prospected.

These are made "across" the formations, to cover all the bands of rock types. The first traverses are widely spaced to detect what the prospector considers to be 'favourable" ground.

The most favourable areas are then covered in detail, a good prospector can detect the best areas and then cover these scrupulously, checking every visible piece of rock, even stripping moss to expose more and following every "twisted" formation that might have allowed the entry from below of valuable minerals.

I realize that I have been talking entirely in the male gender as if women prospectors did not exist, they are few, but they do exist.

I have met one or two in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, one is quoted in this history.

In the field of geology, however, women graduates are no longer a rarity and are to be found working side by side with their male counterparts in all parts of the country. When a find is made, the prospector attempts to interest a mining company in it, if he is successful an "option" agreement is entered into. The ultimate selling price may well be a million dollars, but it must be remembered that this amount is broken down into annual payments, payable only if the company finds sufficient ore to justify further work. For example, an option agreement may call for a $3000 cash payment immediately, $5000 in the second year, $10,000 in the third, with the balance of the million payable if the property becomes a mine.

Most options don't survive past the first year. So when you read of a prospector "selling a mine for a million dollars," it is probably an option agreement similar to the one described above.

He will only receive the million dollars if the property becomes a mine. There are no precise figures available, but it has been estimated that only one in 3,000 to 10,000 finds becomes a mine. Odds at the horse races are much better than this.

So the attraction of prospecting is not one of becoming an instant millionaire, although there is an element of this in the drive to find a mine. There is more - an escape from the "rat race", a life of independence, fresh air, and good health.

What makes a prospector tick? Some answers are found in this history. Not all prospectors are the same, of course. But they must share some common characteristics.

A statement by Art Sjolander, a veteran prospector in northern Saskatchewan, seems to touch on many of these characteristics when he talks about himself, and his outlook on life.

There's a certain amount of adventure to all this, it's different, I'm different, I know I'm different and I appreciate being different, I like being different, and I like being unique, There's nothing wrong with that. No one wants to be one of the herd, really, at least I don't.

The exploration program was supervised by George Shaw (B.Sc. 1932) of the Department of Geology, University of Saskatchewan. It provided the basis for a report prepared by Professor F. H. Edmunds to the Minister of Natural Resources of the Province of Saskatchewan (1933, unpublished).

It's a pretty free life. In one sense perhaps I have some regrets - the domestic lack. I had a choice to make one time, I guess, and I made it, so I'm alone.

In my sort of life, you can't have it both ways, not to be good at the business, not to be devoted to the business, which I am. I'm very serious about this life, in a professional sense. You have to be one or the other.

Plans? Yes and No, I've got the gold bug now, you see, I feel sure I've got a gold mine, it's more than just optimism - it's deeper, well-based.

I would like to make some money on this, I know I'm going to make some money from it, quite a bit. Then I would like to travel a little bit - around the world.

Perhaps even to Latin America, after those diamonds, very possibly, but I don't think I'll ever travel around the world, it's like the man who wanted to be a chicken farmer, but he never got to be a chicken farmer.

No, I'll be prospecting somewhere, this is my abiding interest, every place I go I'll be looking at the hills and the rocks. Oh, if I go around the world, I'll fly, make it in a couple of days, and hurry back to go prospecting again.

Retirement, it's not in my vocabulary, of course not, it's like General MacArthur, except it's "old prospectors never die; they just go on prospecting". I'll be at it as long as I'm able to walk. I'm extremely healthy. I'm a young man yet!