{"id":7652,"date":"2021-02-24T10:02:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T15:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7652"},"modified":"2021-02-24T10:06:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T15:06:36","slug":"episode-261-high-grading-the-art-of-stealing-raw-gold-and-silver-a-rock-fell-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7652","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 261 HIGH GRADING…THE ART OF STEALING RAW GOLD AND SILVER (A ROCK FELL ON THE MOON)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/div>\n
EPISODE 261    YUKON DIARY     HIGH GRADING\u2026THE ART OF  STEALING RAW GOLD AND SILVER   (A ROCK FELL ON THE MOON)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Feb. 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Old shaft at Keno Hill Silver Mine, Yukon<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Abandoned mine adits were unlikely to get much attention as they could<\/div>\n
be dangerous.  A good place to hide stolen bags of silver ore<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There is legal ‘high grading’ and illegal ‘high grading’ in the mining industry lexicon.  Legal high grading<\/div>\n
occurs when miners ignore low grade ore and only select high grade ore.  i.e. Ore with high mineral content.<\/div>\n
Most often, however, the term is applied  to illegal ‘high grading.\u2019<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cHIGH GRADNG\u201d in mining parlance refers to the stealing gold and  silver.   Quite often gold  miners <\/div>\n
feel the discovery of raw gold in an ancient stream bed or gold embedded in quartz is just as much <\/div>\n
theirs as their employers.  So they work out ways of ‘high grading\u2019 (choosing) some of the gold for themselves.<\/div>\n
This  is particularly true of gold miners.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Gerald Priest and Pancho Bobicik and the man that was never caught were the biggest high graders<\/div>\n
in Canadian history (that I know bout).  They high graded 70 tons of silver ore.  No small matter.  Gold<\/div>\n
high graders developed ways of hiding the gold on their body cavities or in the fake bottom of lunch<\/div>\n
pails.  Jerry Priest needed five ton trucks.  Quite a difference.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I think it was back  in 1959 that I first heard the term used.  We were conducting a brutal nearly 3 month<\/div>\n
survey from our bush camp on the Groundhog River\u2026several miles by air north west of Timmins, Ontario.<\/div>\n
We started the job with three of su but by late August had four when the bush plane from Austin Airways<\/div>\n
dropped off poor Walter Helstein, an older man.  Nice old chap but not suitable for bush work. He slipped <\/div>\n
off a moss covered windfall and speared his outstretched hand on a sharp picket.  Right through the hand.<\/div>\n
We called Austin Airways to get Walter out and to bring in another man if one could be found.  Well we got<\/div>\n
the first High Grader I have ever met.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I think he had been fired from one of the Timmins gold mines.  He never said  that but he sure filled<\/div>\n
us in detailing the skills of high grading.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
 \u201cAll kinds of tricks to get gold out, The lunch box trick was<\/div>\n
the least successful.  The mine officials would  search lunch pails.  Using body caviies was another..\u201d<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cBody cavities?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust think about it\u2026a gold nugget in the mouth or the ass.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat was best way?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHide the piece of high grade ore in the mine\u2026get it later with help<\/div>\n
of a mine captain looking the other way\u2026lots of ways.”<\/div>\n
\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
A local Timmins journalist, Kevin Vincent, has written two books titled BOOTLEG GOLD, VOLUMES 1 AND 2.<\/div>\n
He claims high grade gold is Timmins worst kept secret.  Everybody knows a high grader.<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cI met this fellow by the name of Jack Atkinson, a detective with the Timmins Police Department, who I dedicate both of my books to, who told me these extraordinary stories about these gold thefts that were happening in Timmins,\u201d explained Vincent in talking about how he came by his passion for documenting high-grading in Timmins.\u201cI thought ‘Where are all the books on this and the magazine articles?’ and he said I don\u2019t think there are any,\u201d  recalled Vincent.\u201cI think we can fix that,\u201d Vincent told Atkinson. \u201cSo for two years every morning before work I came to the library from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and researched the stories about the theft of gold in Timmins.Vincent has accumulated 17,000 pages of documentation on gold thefts from examining microfilm of the Porcupine Advance and Timmins Daily Press.\u201cEverybody in Timmins has a story about this and it is Timmins’ biggest secret because anyone you meet on the street will tell you a story about someone they know who high-graded, usually it\u2019s a friend who stole gold, never anybody in their family.\u201d\u201cIt was a lot of fun, researching these stories,\u201d noted Vincent, “but it was also very serious because of many people getting hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for the most part it was considered a victimless crime,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n


<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Old mining roads criss crossed the Keno Hill area.  Too bad the White Pass trucker got lost.  Otherwise Gerald<\/div>\n
Priest might have successfully stolen 70 tons of silver ore.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
HOW DID GERALD PREIST AND PANCHO MANAGE TO STEAL 671 BAGS OF SILVER ORE?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
First they needed an inside man who had  a responsible position.  The police, lawyers, mine officials concluded<\/div>\n
that inside man was Swizinski,the night shift boss.  This has never been confirmed. Only alleged .<\/div>\n
Here  is how the  system  worked\u2026.allegedly<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1)  There was a four hour gap between night shift and day shift.  That gave the thieves a <\/div>\n
four hour time to do their high grading .<\/div>\n
2)  Bobicik and the mystery man (i.e. Swizinski)<\/div>\n
 entered mine at 200 foot level via an disused adit.<\/div>\n
3) They reached the Bonanza Stope via a crosscut tunnel that ended at a ventilation door<\/div>\n
that closed off an inactive part of the mine\u2026kept closed to avoid loss  of compressed air\u2026.<\/div>\n
needed to maintain air quality in operating part of the mine.<\/div>\n
4) Bobicik passed through this door to operating part of the mine<\/div>\n
5) Where he encountered a  \u201cLugger\u201d \u2026a machine used to move rocks<\/div>\n
6) forty feet from the Bonanza stope on a gentle incline<\/div>\n
7) Stope contained freshly blasted ore\u2026ready for \u2018high grading\u2019 theft<\/div>\n
8) The two men shovelled the best ore into 5 or 6 burlap  sacks.<\/div>\n
9) They pulled the 100 pound  sacks to a \u2018Slusher\u201d, a giant mechanical  shovel used<\/div>\n
to direct rock downhill to the 400 foot portal (adit)\u2026but the slasher could also<\/div>\n
move the sacks uphill to the 200 foot level when operating in reverse.<\/div>\n
10) Half  a  ton of ore could be moved in a few seconds  up to empty rail cars which<\/div>\n
were pushed 400 feet to long unused part of the mine where the sacks were hidden.<\/div>\n
11) They \u2018high graded\u2019 a ton of ore each night.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And there, hidden, the sacks of ore sat.   Moving them from the mine to <\/div>\n
a food pick up point was the next task..   The Yukon has bright nights in the summer\u2026sunshine<\/div>\n
until late so danger of being spotted was high.   Winter movement in the long dark<\/div>\n
nights was also a  problem since tire tracks would be left in the snow.<\/div>\n
Movement of the ore would be easier if they seemed to be legitimate owners<\/div>\n
of the ore.   So they bought the Moon mining claims. They became reputable mine owners.<\/div>\n
The Moon claims  were almost inaccessible\u2026a long way from where the 671 sacks of ore<\/div>\n
were eventually stashed beside a gravel Road.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Getting the sacks from he 200 level in the mine to the roadside was not easy<\/div>\n
as they were seen a couple of times but Bobicik had a cover story as did<\/div>\n
Priest since they formed  a legitimate mining company and developed the Rock on<\/div>\n
the Moon story.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But there was  a lot of work involved.  The Keno Hill sacks had to be opened and<\/div>\n
the ore piled as if waste rock in a ravine. Then all the ore had to be rescued in their<\/div>\n
own sacks.   Not an easy task.  Stealing 70 tons of silver rich ore was not something<\/div>\n
that could be done with the snap of their fingers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Much  more to the story.  A lot of twists  and turns.  But this  overview at least <\/div>\n
explains some events between 1961 to 1963.   I find it quite amazing that<\/div>\n
none of this activity was noticed by my geophysical crew.  We covered so much<\/div>\n
of the land around Elsa on foot.  We used any road we could find to get to<\/div>\n
our survey properties.   Then again we saw a great many piles of rock and<\/div>\n
derelict  buildings.  We would  not have paid particular notice of Gerald even if we met him<\/div>\n
on a mine road  with a half ton truck loaded with mine sacks.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This trench  was not dug on the Moon claims but gives some idea of how rough the land<\/div>\n
was and hence unlikely to be investigated.  Dead trees from forest fire long ago.  Growth rings<\/div>\n
on the trees were almost invisible because climate was inhospitable.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Investigators said the Moon claims were almost inaccessible.  Took more that two<\/div>\n
hours to reach them by an ATV.   Lots of swamp in that part of the McQuesten <\/div>\n
Valley.  I  know that.  Especially when doing that claim tagging on my last day<\/div>\n
in Keno Hill.  There were so many signs of abandoned work stations\u2026cabins,<\/div>\n
wagons, equipment, even barrels  of gold concentrates\u2026that it was unlikely <\/div>\n
our crew would notice the stolen ore even if we walked right over it.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Feb. 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Map below gives some idea of the number of old silver mine workings around  Keno Hill.   Finding a pile of<\/div>\n
broken rock was not unusual.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
post script<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 261    YUKON DIARY     HIGH GRADING\u2026THE ART OF  STEALING RAW GOLD AND SILVER   (A ROCK FELL ON THE MOON) alan skeoch Feb. 2021 Old shaft at Keno Hill Silver Mine, Yukon Abandoned mine adits were unlikely to get much attention as they could be dangerous.  A good place to hide stolen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}