Gold Secrets of Ecuador - Zamora

by Bill Lanphar
(Zamora, Ecuador)

I´m down here in the Zamora area. I think its region #4 in your e-book, Gold Secrets of Ecuador. I have found a lot of flour gold on the Zamora River.

I have been several other places too. We are trying to find a spot that would be good for a small scale operation, maybe a backhoe, grizzly and a high banker, something that produces better than just a few grams a day.

We have been down many dead ends. As you know, everyone wants to sell a Gold concession to the rich gringos so they tell tall tales of what's there and its pretty hard work checking all this out by hand. We are very low budget.

So, my question to you is, do you know anyone in Ecuador that has knowledge of a placer area that would show us where to go for a % of the operation? After weeks of digging and hauling equipment around on my back, believe me, I know the value of such knowledge.

Or, even you, if you could point us in the right direction. I know you work with a mine company now but perhaps there is something small they don´t want, but you would like to see developed.

I wrote you before about my jet boat idea and you invited me up to Quito to read some maps and show me where that may work. I never had the outfit built so I never got a hold of you.

I´m with a company now for a % of what we do so its not the same. I felt I should ask again in case you have a different policies with companies.

I have met Jack your friend in Salinas. I think that's the name, and we stay in contact, hoping to get something going also. Perhaps it is crazy to run around down here thinking I can find a workable area.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I know you gave me your contact info in the forum but my computer crashed so I´m in a cafe trying to connect the dots again.

My Best, Bill




Stan's response: Hi Bill. Too bad you didn't come to Quito to talk to me months ago. I could have likely saved you a lot of time and money. I have spent 20 years in every backwoods corner of Ecuador. I have seen and participated in every form of gold prospecting and mining you can imagine, from simple panning to a multi-million dollar per month budget.

First off, to really cover things properly, a simple text message like this will never suffice. For what you want to do, you need more than just a few words of advice from me on this page.

I have never said that I currently work for a mining company. I have been an independent consultant and free agent for quite a few years now. I would be happy to meet with you free of charge for a few hours and give you a lot of help. After that, if you want more help, we could try to strike a deal of some sort.

There is an unlimited amount of gold to be mined in this country. The degree of gold abundance is truly staggering. That said, it is a tricky proposition to get that gold out of the ground with a nice profit to show.

Here are the hurdles:

1. a terrible political climate with no active mining law to go by for the moment,

2. incredibly dishonest and sneaky players (Ecuadorian and otherwise) in the game, especially where gringos are involved,

3. incomplete geological information about exactly where, how much and why the gold is where it is,

4. challenging operating conditions and poor country security.

So, we have quite a balance of opportunity vs. challenge out there. As I mentioned, I'd be very happy to chat with you for a few hours to give you my own personal spin on what steps you may want to consider taking next Bill. I would need to ask you a bunch of questions before pointing you in directions that would be most appropriate.