How to buy cheap vacation property in California

There is a foot or more of snow outside my study window.  It has been coming down for over 24 hours.  The hill that leads to the townhouse complex and the local Community College is too steep for buses to negotiate–cars are worse.  So the College is shut down and I am at home snow-bound.  A trifle unusual for Vancouver, but we can always blame it on climate change. 

Being surrounded by so much snow set me dreaming of California–another place where a reputation for sun is belied by frequent snow; can you imagine the Grapevine of I5 closed because of snow? It happened last week.  So I  decided to see if there is a nice property for sale, a nice mining property for sale on the InfoMine Property Exchange. 

There are about ten mining properties for sale in California. Eddy Gulch Mine, Klamath, Mt. Laurel is north of the that most beautiful route 299.  Interesting history too:

Steam Engine, Klamath Mill, late 1800s(?)

Liberty was approved to operate in 1989, but mishandling of the spotted owl issue by the USFS after the fact lead to an unjustified, prolonged work stoppage that eventually resulted in Liberty going bankrupt. A lawsuit over these issues will be resolved early in 2008. The permitting snafu in 1989 and a weak gold price since then prevented Liberty from development of the Eddy Gulch Mines, however the current high gold price and pending resolution of the legal process have renewed Liberty’s resolve to pursue development again. An additional crosscut to the vein was approved in 2000. Another similar mine in the vicinity has been approved and is operating now. We do not anticipate any major problems with permitting an underground operation - the problems we had with the USFS were about surface mining of dumps and apex corridors. Liberty has secured a large patented property just down stream from the mines for tailings disposal.

I wonder why they want to sell now?  For a mere $700,000 this would make a great place for a second country home.  No need to develop the mine if you like that countryside. 

Here is another where I could build a second country home, and forget about the mine.

The property covers 20 acres per claim with an additional 5 acres for mining operations (Total of 125 acres main highway/road access). Located in Sequoia National Forest. Sections 5 & 8 24 S, 33 E Mt. Diable Meridian, Low Spring Mill Camp M.D., Tulare Co, nearest town is Kernville. A patent is pending. This mine has been in the family for over fifty years.

For $300.,000 you can “buy” BLM land–at least until they change the 1872 law–at least I think so, for it gets so complex.  This is how the property is described:

Legal Description: Un-Patented -BLM
Acreage: 400
Claims: 3
Ore Grades: .0042 to .020 gold oz. per ton

Large specimen nuggets have been found in and around the property.

I cannot believe these are “easy” places to “buy.”  You will need a good landman or lawyer close at your side to negotiate the sad tales, the close-knit families, the BLM, the National Forest folk, and a host of pesky regulators.  Of course if you succeed, sounds like you will have some pretty nice properties.  Not for mining of course; there is no way you are going to get new mines going any time soon in California.  But for weekend getaways that include hunting, fishing, and doing illegally what you can do legally in Vancouver, these are some pretty nice properties. 

If you buy one let me know, for I would like to be able to tell the rest of the story.