North Bay Resources Inc (NBRI)

[gitreal]

Salting ore is a historical confidence trick where prospectors or sellers fraudulently add valuable minerals, like gold or diamonds, to worthless ore or a barren mine to inflate its perceived worth and deceive investors into buying shares in a bogus mining company. Methods range from hiding gold dust in shafts and sample containers to shooting gold pellets into walls, aiming to create the illusion of a rich deposit, a practice so common it's detailed in mining textbooks and led to sophisticated geological sampling techniques. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
How it works (the scam)

• Adding material: Scammers would scatter gold dust, nuggets, or gemstones into the rock face, sample bags, or even the equipment used for testing.
• Shotgun method: A classic trick involved loading a shotgun with gold dust and firing it into the mine walls to create the appearance of gold-bearing ore.
• Using productive mines: Sellers might take high-grade ore from a known rich mine and plant it in their own worthless claim.
• Targeting samples: Adding gold to drill core samples or assay containers could significantly alter the test results, making a poor mine look rich. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9]

Why it's done (the motivation)

• To sell shares in a worthless or non-existent mining operation for a high price.
• To hide the fact that a once-productive mine's valuable veins are running out. [1, 4, 6]

Countermeasures (how to spot it)

• Professional sampling: Investors hire geologists and engineers to conduct thorough, independent mine sampling.
• Vigilance: Constant alertness and strict control over sampling locations and procedures are crucial.
• Blasting: Buyers might request the walls be blasted to reveal the true, un-salted rock. [3, 5, 6, 10]

Legal implications

• In many places, intentionally salting ore to defraud someone is a serious felony.

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salting_(confidence_trick)
[2] https://www.mindat.org/mesg-629425.html
[3] https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/salting-a-gold-mine/
[4] http://arcana.wikidot.com/salting-the-mine
[5] https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/geological-sample-salting/
[6] https://www.americanheritage.com/how-salt-gold-mine
[7] https://spyscape.com/article/spyscapes-glossary-of-con-artist-slang
[8] https://time.com/archive/6603225/gold-a-pinch-of-salt/
[9] https://www.mindat.org/glossary/salting_a_mine
[10] https://www.scribd.com/document/692044478/Salting-of-Samples
[11] https://www.azleg.gov/ars/44/01215.htm