Nature of Work
Prospectors usually work as contractors. In our family, Dad (Karl) is a contractor for junior and major mining companies and individuals. He then contracts us kids. We do a wide variety of work, but the two main types of work are claim staking and rock sampling.
Exploration is dependent on the investment dollars of shareholders. Thus it is driven by the market and very versatile. Employment is sporadic: when in an upswing, work is overloaded, in a downswing, work is hard to find. Jobs are on a contract basis; therefore, we often don’t know until the night before, what our work will be for the next day. This can be frustrating when making plans for the future, such as purchasing big ticket items and taking vacations. This can also be good if you're willing to take a vacation on the spur of the moment. It allows for more vacation time than the average job (especially for young people starting in the work force).
Exploration is dependent on the investment dollars of shareholders. Thus it is driven by the market and very versatile. Employment is sporadic: when in an upswing, work is overloaded, in a downswing, work is hard to find. Jobs are on a contract basis; therefore, we often don’t know until the night before, what our work will be for the next day. This can be frustrating when making plans for the future, such as purchasing big ticket items and taking vacations. This can also be good if you're willing to take a vacation on the spur of the moment. It allows for more vacation time than the average job (especially for young people starting in the work force).
Photo: Jessica, Katarina, Ruth, Bjorn dragging boat across glass ice to reach open water. Taken on a claim staking job in November.
Travel
Due to the location of properties with mineral potential, we travel all over Northwestern Ontario and even across Canada for the odd job. On average, we travel at least 2 hours to start work, sometimes even 5-8 hours. This is just in truck travel; claims are seldom right on the road! To access claims we use good old walking, ATV’s, snowmobiles, canoes, boats, and once in awhile, floatplane or helicopter. If a job is long enough and/or far from accommodations, we set up a tent camp with either small camping tents, or large canvas prospector tents.
Due to the location of properties with mineral potential, we travel all over Northwestern Ontario and even across Canada for the odd job. On average, we travel at least 2 hours to start work, sometimes even 5-8 hours. This is just in truck travel; claims are seldom right on the road! To access claims we use good old walking, ATV’s, snowmobiles, canoes, boats, and once in awhile, floatplane or helicopter. If a job is long enough and/or far from accommodations, we set up a tent camp with either small camping tents, or large canvas prospector tents.